Have you ever seen the military motivation drill sergeants clearly show military recruits during boot camp? Have you had friends or family members go through his arduous 10-week schooling, possibly ranger or special forces training?

Military motivation is certainly a tool anyone can use, whether military or civilian, to get the best out of your training and racing.

Physical training or ‘PT’ has been an integral part of many countries militaries for years to keep personnel physically ready. What are some of the things that come to your mind when you think of military motivation?

Drill sergeants screaming at the top of their lungs at young recruits possibly? Well, you would’t be wrong in that department, but one of the things that I have respected for years is the level of commitment those who have chosen an armed forces career bring to their work.

How does this relate to running? Do you think you are training and preparing to your utmost level? What if you were in boot camp, an uncomfortable environment I can assure you, and had no choice but to succeed. Drill sergeants are not as scary and bad as they seem.

What they are trying to do is see just how mentally and physically tough each recruit is and they can tell quick who needs extra motivation and those who are utilizing their innate capability. They will not accept negativity or recruits giving anything less than 100% effort.

People are already highly motivated. The majority of the time you, me and everyone else just need a wake up call, a jolt to the system. We often aren’t working at full capacity simply because we have a choice to decide how hard we want to work.

Military motivation isn’t what we always use because we don’t have to be so rushed as things can be in the military.

What if you had no choice? What if you had that drill sergeant next to you every morning screaming at you to not slack. I had a Sergeant Major I worked with in Europe who became the first female to take over as the head drill sergeant at the US Army’s Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson. Her nickname? ‘No Slack’. She lives it too. There is no room for just good, it has to be excellent. You have to be working at full capacity, at all times, around this woman. It isn’t that you can run great times, win age group awards, qualify for the Olympic trials or even make the team for that matter.

You have to have an enormous amount of determination to make it happen but the truth is, you do. How often can you honestly say you are working with that amount of hunger? Do you ‘just kind of want it’ as minister thomas says in the video below or are you giving it your whole heart and soul? The sooner you start, the sooner you are going to amaze yourself and others with your fitness and race efforts.

Ask yourself the same question. Are you slacking or truly putting all the energy you have into being the best runner you can be. The Army’s slogan use to be ‘Be all you can be’. Well, you don’t have to be in the Army to be all you can be, but you can use military motivation to get better. Here are a few ways.

military motivation

The First Step To Use Military Motivation To Better Your Running? Wake Up With A Purpose..As If You Had No Other Option

You have the choice to sleep in or get out the door to to get one step closer to your goal. Military members don’t have a choice. They are taught to get up like clockwork. The best way to overcome those hard days when you really don’t want to put in a run or go out for a second is to consider how you would react if you had no other option but to train. How much more effective would you be?

military motivation

You have Three Choices Using Military Motivation..Be Average, Be Good, Be Great…Choose Great

Why? You were born to be the latter. Who told you your not talented or disciplined enough to run a stellar time, drastically cut weight or become an elite athlete? It is almost as if we are unconsciously conditioned to limit our capability based on how we were raised, the culture we live in and the people we associate ourselves with. You don’t have to fall into peer pressure to do something you don’t want to do. If you have a 15-mile run planned for the morning and you know it is necessary to earn your goal time, then do it. It should be that simple but when you have a choice to slack it isn’t necessary to make it such a big deal.

When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, then you will be successful – Minister Eric Thomas

When you refuse to accept anything but 100% commitment, when you put yourself into your own military-type training mindset, than good will never be enough for you and your running will completely take off. You are working at your full capacity. No slacking allowed.

Remember the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability – Ho Chi Minh.

military motivation

Military Motivation=Faster Times

Military boot camp is not fun. What is fun is seeing Soldiers do things that they thought they were not capable of doing. This is what I took away from my boot camp experience. I was already an athlete prior to enlisting into the armed forces over ten years ago. You put forth the same focus and commitment, the same military motivation that drill sergeants bring to their recruits and you are going to see results in your racing, period.

You don’t need someone screaming at you for motivation.The question that needs to be asked is what type of athlete can you become when you commit 100% as if you had no choice and were in boot camp. You could not give yourself the luxury of sleeping in but were up before the sun came up preparing for your race.

No slack, no excuses…train and be the warrior and champion you already are. Use your God-given capability to the maximum.