20 Quotes to Keep You Motivated for Success at the Gym

Workouts For Busy Men

iStockphoto


 

Working out is awesome. We get bigger, stronger and more attractive, doing something we love – lifting weights. That said, bodybuilding isn’t always easy. Progress can be slow, and motivation can be hard to come by. So, to help you power through your plateaus and off-days, I’ve compiled 20 killer motivational quotes. Heed these motivating words of wisdom from bodybuilding’s biggest, brightest and best, get pumped up for the gym, and smashevery goddamn one

1. ‘If the bar ain’t bending, you’re just pretending.’

Remember, this quote applies to all exercises. Bench, squat, deadlift, lateral raise and curls. Especially curls.

2. ‘Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Strength is also a huge goddamn deadlift.

3. ‘Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.’ – Mark Rippetoe

4. ‘I don’t believe in bodybuilders using steroids. If a man doesn’t have enough male hormones in his system to create, a nice hard, muscular body, he should take up ping pong.’ – Steve Reeves

5.  ‘I was always interested in proportion and perfection. When I was fifteen, I took off my clothes and looked in the mirror. When I stared at myself naked, I realized that to be perfectly proportioned I would need twenty-inch arms to match the rest of me.’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger

…which is why I’m working towards 30-inch arms 😉 

6. ‘Just remember, somewhere, a little Chinese girl is warming up with your max.’ – Jim Conroy

7. ‘The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.’ – Henry Rollins

…and Henry Rollins is always a goddamn badass.

8. ‘Light weight!’ – Ronnie Coleman

9. ‘Ain’t nothin’ but a peanut!’- Ronnie Coleman

Quotes #8 and #9 are most effective when screamed mid-set, in a crowded gym. Ideally whilst you’re doing 10lb lateral raises, or curling in the squat rack.

10 . ‘The best activities for your health are pumping and humping.’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Pro tip: if you value your gym membership, avoid doing these activities at the same time.

11. ‘Trust me, if you do an honest 20 rep program, at some point Jesus will talk to you. On the last day of the program, he asked if he could work in.’ – Mark Rippetoe 

12. ‘Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don’t nobody want to lift no HEAVY-ASS WEIGHTS.’ – Ronnie Coleman

13. ‘Nothing comes easy, but as long as you’re breathing, you’re always one breath away from making your dreams a reality. Make every breath count.’ – Kai Greene 

14. ‘If a man tells you he doesn’t lift because he doesn’t want to get too bulky, then his testicles have been removed.’ – Paul Carter

and the same applies to men that exercise with Swiss balls and 5lb dumbbells.

15. ‘Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ – Mary Anne Radmacher

16. ‘For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger

17. ‘To anyone that ever tells you that you can’t do something – tell them to go f*ck themselves.’ – Guy Cisternino

…especially if it’s a personal instructor telling you that you can’t drink beer in the gym. 

18. Jerome Mayberry’s 10 Commandments of the Weight Room:

‘Never, ever, EVER warm up!

Fake spot! Trust no one, not even Jerome!

Smoke during cardio!

Take control, mark your territory!

NEVER STRETCH. To LOOK tight, you have to BE tight!’

Pain is good! If you don’t hurt, what you doing it for?

Don’t think, just lift! Your brain don’t lift no weights!

Water is the enemy!

Never re-rack your weights!

Constantly stay oiled!’

Is it just me, or does Jerome Mayberry look like Terry Crews? Weird. 

19. ‘Your dreams are always going to be more important to you than they will be to anybody else. So keep dreaming, keep believing, keep pressing forward. To all those warriors out there – be encouraged.’ – Kai Greene

20. ‘There are no shortcuts. The fact that a shortcut is important to you means that you are a pussy.’ – Mark Rippetoe