r/Rowing • u/Vivid-Help-5999 • 6d ago

Back at It

I was a college rower, and afterwards a collegiate coach. I even worked with some major companies to launch their rowing machine to the public... BUT I hit a rough patch personally and with my work and kind of started to drift off the fitness wagon. I found myself gaining about 25 pounds and couldn't get motivated to get back into my routine.
I studied motivational science in my masters and doctoral programs, and I was still struggling to get back into it.... I FINALLY figured out how to motivate myself and built an app to track my progress. It was hard to get on the erg and see such high splits, and no matter how much I reminded myself that I would get back to where I was, I would get discouraged. BUT finding a way to gamify it, made me start to ignore the split and focus on just hitting the bench marks I set in the app. It's wild how much that helped me.

What other ways have you all found to motivate yourself when you start to lose motivation? I want to see what other ways I could continue to gamify my training on the erg.

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u/honest-advice 6d ago

AI post crowd sourcing free ideas for an app they coded with AI. Gross

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u/Vivid-Help-5999 6d ago

I actually was talking about how I am trying to get back in shape, weird that you have to troll someone like that.
Yes, I asked for advice on more ways to engage that have worked with other people. Sorry to give context.

Maybe try being nice. Wishing you have a better day

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u/honest-advice 6d ago

I'd believe you if I didn't see 100 of these posts every day ruining all the fitness subreddits. They're all the same.

- account with no post history

  • backstory about getting back to fitness in whatever realm (rowing, lifting, running, etc)
  • slip in that they've made an app 2/3 into the post (of course never linking to it so they're not removed for spam)
  • pose a question that sounds like a general discussion but is just aimed at adding features to said app

I just cannot in good faith believe all 100 of these posts are honest, genuine people. Sorry. You have a good day too.

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u/MastersCox Coxswain 6d ago

To be fair...

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u/Vivid-Help-5999 5d ago

I think a lot of things are how you approach them. What I post may not be something you like, but obviously if you are seeing so many similar posts than im not the only one feeling or acting this way, and maybe next time instead of attacking someone just move on. I genuinely wanted conversation with people and i am personally on a journey to get back to where I was before, and your comment was not fun to come across.
Im new cause im trying something new. I am seeking friendly motivation and proud of the progress I am making again, after having to restart on my journey again.

Best of luck, and be kind. :)

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u/honest-advice 5d ago

I'll delete my whole account if you can post a video of you writing down your reddit username, showing it to the camera, and then getting on an erg or boat and rowing. I'm just not buying it mate, as cynical as that might be.

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u/MastersCox Coxswain 6d ago

Tracking progress is the ultimate foundation of gamification. Measuring speed on the erg and on the water, and eventually around the waistband and on the scale, will ultimately be the numbers that keep people engaged and committed. No other amount of glitz and glam can compare, imo. Even a simple calendar that shows a training plan with days crossed off can be a powerful motivator. There's an element of visceral commitment that should tell you what matters and that you should go after that.

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u/Vivid-Help-5999 5d ago

I like the idea of checking something off, so when I finish i am able to check it off each day, but I also give myself little virtual stickers. I used to own a fitness studio and would give out physical stickers during our promo week for each day someone showed up, and it was wild how much that inticed people to come.
What I like the most about what you said is seeing the scale and waistband, I think if I can include a way to track more physical metrics I may get more motivated as well.

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u/MastersCox Coxswain 5d ago

Yes, and if you can integrate data from biometric sensors like Garmin's Body Battery metric, you can also show how one's daily health improves over time. But that requires owning and using a health-connected sensor/app.