WAS YOUR TRAINING DOOMED BEFORE IT BEGAN?
I’ve seen a lot of people highly motivated to start training, but in a few months completely stop, for this process to be continued in a cyclic pattern. Others are achieving the same goals they’ve already accomplished, sounds crazy, but it gives them a sense of purpose and something for others to marvel at. So the 20kgs they are losing this year are actually the same 20kgs they lost 5 years ago, that’s not really progress.
Unfortunately our motivation to get started is often coming from a negative place – the spare tyre you put on over the holidays, you were overweight at school & got teased, your arms look like knots in cotton or someone mentioned you look like an hourglass except all the sand has gone to the bottom.
So our goals are ‘away from’, not liking what we’ve got, trying to escape the pain of being that I.e lose 10kgs, have bigger biceps etc.
Also the problem with most exercisers is that they negotiate their exercise programs all the time.
To put this into an exercising scenario: how many of us wake up, in order to train, but instead of getting down to the gym, turn the alarm off and go back to sleep, saying that we will train at lunch time. Something else more colourful than the gym distracts us at lunch time and we end up going to bed, with no exercise completed, saying we will do it tomorrow, which leads into next week, next month…..you get my point.
What we have to do is set ‘toward to’ goals which are SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reward-Based & Time Framed. So let’s say you want to lose 10kg’s, tone your arms and have a flat belly, and you like running. Rather set a series of goals which are specific & keep you focused on the outcome. I.e 1 month goal: to do 10 push-ups, 3 month goal: to run a 10km in under 1hr, 6 month goal to do a pistol squat (high carry over to your running ability). While achieving these you are more likely to get the results you want and stick to it (results momentum).
Most of us see exercise as pain and not pleasure. These beliefs soon change once you are involved in a training regime where training sessions are regular, objectives are being met and a change in body shape are being seen. You can’t imagine life without exercise. It feels so great when you’re done. You feel horrible when you go too long without exercise. But it takes quite a few months before people actually lock in and start experiencing these types of sensations. Most people drop out before they actually get to this point. If however you do get here, training becomes a pleasure and part of a lifestyle – THAT’S THE REAL GOAL!