I run into the same roadblocks in my training over and over again. You would think by now I would have learned my lessons. Truth is, I know better, as do you. The constant change of life is the true challenge. Busy at work, projects pop up at home, kids have events, someone gets sick, all facts of daily life threats to your personal health. Just this past week I was at a meeting and had to scrap my AM workout due to the fact that it was -7 outside and I forgot my hat, ugh. I ended up training late at night when I was tired and not feeling it. Not ideal, but it felt great that I was able to be consistent and make my workout.
Point is, while you can't control or change many of these things, you can control your habits and the consistency in which you apply them. To help combat the forces of everyday life it is important to take a look at the critical factors in making progress in terms of your health and fitness.
This brings us to the question, why do you train in the first place? There are thousands of reasons and it is unique to everyone. General fitness, mobility, strength, getting jacked- whatever floats your boat. The one common goal should be progress. No one consistently performs an activity to get worse. Yet so many people don’t make any progress year after year. Maybe they blame their metabolism or injuries, but the real culprit holding them back is their habits/consistency and how they respond to the stresses of daily life. I have compiled a short list of important habits for making progress with your fitness. Feel free to share your thoughts.
- Focus on process not a goal.
- Goals are great but what happens once you make it, or worse, don’t? The people I know that are consistently in great shape focus on the process of fitness. This means showing up for every workout, training smart and eating well 95% of the time. If staying in a consistent routine is a struggle for you, pick a time of day that you can always control for your training. For many this is early AM. It doesn't matter, just be consistent with your routine.
- Don’t let great get in the way of good.
- Nothing is perfect, no time is perfect and something is always better. If you are waiting for conditions to be perfect of great, you never end up doing anything. Go out, take action and make things happen.
- One step at a time.
- Rome wasn’t built in a day…neither is an athletic physique or health lifestyle. Bite off small chunks and make them habits. Once they are engrained, take another step or make another positive change. Too much at once almost always leads to disappointment and failure.
- Keep a journal.
- I am not big on keeping journals for everything or writing all things down. However, when you are making changes or starting a new fitness regimen, journals help ideas become tangible processes. Reviewing and writing in your journal every day keeps us honest by being able to review actual work as opposed to perceived work. It also adds personal accountability to keep you on track. Which leads to my next bullet…
- Add accountability.
- Lack of accountability kills many noble efforts. When things are tough or you are not feeling great, being accountable and having skin in the game can make the difference of you training or not. One of the best ways to add accountability to your fitness regimen is to have a friend or coach keep track of your progress with you.
- Eat well.
- You are what you eat. A cliche but so true. No amount of activity can make up for bad eating habits. Eat natural whole foods and stay away from processed junk, soft drinks, and anything that has more than one ingredient.
- Get some sleep.
- I struggle with getting enough rest, as do many people. Bottom line if you are not getting at least 7 hrs a night minimum, preferably 8, you are not performing up to your ability. Sleep needs to be a bigger priority in many of our lives.
Of course there are more steps you can take, but implementing even a few of these will move you in the direction of getting strong, ripped and being awesome, if that’s what you want.
Take action, change some habits that are holding you back!
Getting ready to do some sprints with Duke