Get Your Workout Done (The Easy Way)
Earlier this week, on a grey Tuesday morning I went to the gym for my workout …
Nothing strange or different there.
Who cares? says you.
Well it might seem that way, but I had just been to a wedding this Sunday passed and the “afters” the day after on the Monday.
The Monday evening, I felt the fear feeling most people get after a heavy night out, but I’m not a big drinker and would only have two or three drinks over the course of the day. For that exact reason of not being able to function properly for a few days afterwards. None the less it seems to hit be far harder than most.
The feeling of negative thoughts, the negative self talk, the negative outlook on life for a few days after the event. It may or may not happen to you, but the important point here is to identify what it is that triggers these feelings and unhealthy thoughts.
I want to let you know, that even people like myself, whose job is to motivate others into exercising and building positive changes and reinforcing new habits, can feel unmotivated and find it a struggle at times.
Tuesday was one of those times.
So today, I just wanted to talk to you how we can change the pre workout self talk, into encouragement and get the job done with a simple brain hack.
And well…how I deal with it
Back to Tuesday morning
So, getting up on this Tuesday morning, knowing I had to drag myself to the gym with 0% interest is a given.
To be expecting this, is one of the keys to help dealing with it.
All the way to the gym, procrastinating, trying to talk myself out of it, parked in gym car park checking emails, texts, anything to prolong the pain of heading inside…
Sound like someone you know?
Suddenly I remember I need to do something on my laptop, order my business cards, YES… I have a reason to go into the coffee shop below (love the light house in cherrywood) and sit down for a coffee. Not because I wanted a coffee but because it put off the gym for another few minutes.
Coffee drank, cards ordered, laptop back in the car, up the stairs into the gym, and got my session done.
Core, mobility, light legs and reset session after a tough 5 a side soccer game last night.
What helped me get there eventually was this…
I made a deal with myself to do a little foam rolling and a light recovery session and spend 30 minutes getting it done.
This way, I didn’t have a massive workload ahead of me and I thought it wouldn’t be too hard, so it was easier to go.
= Less excuses.
But, knowing me, once I’m there, I have my mobility done and some core work completed, my competitive juices started flowing and I felt like doing a bit more. So, I ended up getting an hour done rather than half an hour.
Just that simple trick of getting off your back side and saying to yourself you’ll do a shorter, easy session, it immediately takes away the fear factor and stigma of hard work (which we all have a little fear of, if we are honest)
Either way, if you do a tough session or an easier session, isn’t it better you get there rather than not?
The knock-on effect of the “feel good” endorphins will help you eat better as a result, which will help you get results. As we all know or should be aware, our diet is 70%+ of the getting in shape process.
So, next time you are humming and hawing about going to your class or workout, take it easy on yourself and plan an easier session. Once you get there, you might just surprise yourself with how hard you work once you get into it.
Don’t make it into a big deal, make it a small deal, get in, no faff and get out.
45 minutes and no longer.
That, or be held accountable by a fitness professional, or PT, as I don’t know too many gyms who help you stay on track.
Having your food, attendance, measurements and results tracked weekly with a real interest in how you are progressing towards your goals is the key, I have absolutely no doubt.
We all have a basic knowledge of how to eat a little healthier, to get moving a bit more, to reduce our portions, but, the majority of us need a lot more than that to get to our fitness goals.
- Passionate Motivation
- Big brother Accountability
- Caring Support
- Clear Guidance
- RelatableCommunity
Having these as your support network, means that all the bases are covered when it comes to reaching those seemingly unreachable fatloss and clothes size goals and provide you with a fool proof plan to get you there.
This is part of our culture at CPT, we strive to over deliver and educate our clients on how to get the best results, starting with habit change, mindset, and a good strong base knowledge of nutrition and training, so if, or when they leave us, they are armed with the tools to succeed long term. This is crucial in this world of mixed messages and false noise when it comes to the fitness and nutrition industry.
So, to round up. Give yourself a little break and don’t be too hard on yourself, or put too much pressure on yourself. We have enough pressure these days through family, jobs, accessibility through our phones etc that adding another stress can be counter intuitive, as our major stress hormone Cortisol, can actually promote fat storage, especially around the belly area.
Try not to build up the process of getting to your class or gym and make it a breezy affair, where you plan on doing a bit, but nothing that scares you.
It’s the fear of having to work too hard (where we feel pain). We as humans will do anything to avoid pain. Our subconscious controls this and just loves keeping us nice, warm, cosy and safe.
So, if we can take the ‘pain’ stigma away from our workouts, then, well, it’s something we will be far more likely to get done and on a more consistent basis.
One of the keys to getting results, right?
Try it
Catch you soon.
Damian
Dalkey Fitpro
Ps I’m off on our retreat to Lanzarote, so I will be writing to you from a balmy sunny balcony in our luxury villa, keeping you in the loop on our progress.
PPS, I’m also off with an exciting meeting with Select Stores, Dalkey’s go to health food store and café, to get some of our delicious client recipes onto their healthy menu here in Dalkey. Watch out for my “Damian’s Complete Breakfast Muffins” and “Damian’s Complete Chia Porridge”, see what I did there with the name? 😉
I’m off for a tasting afternoon with them today. yum
