Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fitness...how to keep going..

Hey everyone, thank you for continued reading.
I'm going to move on to fitness and training, something that is a real passion of mine.

One of the questions I get asked a lot, or that people mention in passing is, 'How do you keep going?' or they say, 'I get bored at the gym and never keep going long term.' I personally think that everyone has it in them to be in reasonable shape, to tackle any target/event they set themselves. The two biggest problems I have found is that people think that the gym is a quick fix and it doesn't really take much effort, and people have no target/goal. Most people just show up for an hour, go home and it didn't really do anything for them.

So let's target these two areas. Let's be honest you can't just go gym once or twice and expect this huge result, and also you can't go and not try while you are there and expect a huge result. Some of this comes down to how you think people look at you. There's always that thought, 'I can't do that people will think I am weird and I will look silly!' But when you see someone going after it and doing the very thing you thought would look stupid you think, Wow, I wish I was that fit...Let's put 2 and 2 together...To get that fit, in shape, thin, muscly (insert here) then you have to do what they do. Be bold be strong. Put the effort in, when you feel like you have had an amazing workout no matter what level of fitness your at, your whole look on life is different.
Let's be honest about people's thoughts and looks. What can a look and thought really do to you..? It's a huge question because in so many areas of life we hold back from our dream because we worry what people think of us. The problem is that thought is powerless against us. It's only going to fester in their mind until jealously takes hold. If they are your friends they will know what your doing, why your doing it and if they are real friends, they will be cheering you on, if you don't know them outside of the gym then they can never drag you down, and probably will be having same thought's you used to have...'Wow, I wish I could do that'.
The looks, if I am honest I do look around while I am in the gym...But what I am looking for is new techniques or motivation for myself. If I see someone going after it hard then it inspires me to. So if you go to the gym knowing that people will be looking at you when they want new techniques ideas, and are cheering you on, how much more are you going to do?

So next big problem or stumbling block I have seen time and time again, no goals. We always need motivation, whether it is your stomach telling you to get up and cook, or your trousers getting to tight after Christmas. But the key to fitness is right goals and right maintaining of these goals.
I ALWAYS say you need one big target and little targets getting higher and higher towards your main goals. So an example...I completed my first Ironman in 2009 in Bolton, England. I trained myself with some advice and help form others but with total input only from myself. So what I was advised and decided to do was hold your big target of the Ironman up, and then have little triathlons, Half-marathons and marathons...going from smallest to biggest. So 6months before I would do a sprint/Olympic triathlon, then 5 months before do a half-marathon, then 4 months before do a longer distanced triathalon that I would manage/design... etc etc. See my process.
So my point basically is find something that you enjoy, find something that you have a passion for and aim to be the best at it. If you are just trying to loose weight then still don't just go to the gym for that reason, ask yourself, what do you enjoy, do you love football, boxing, swimming, hiking, dogs, horse riding...find something that is active. Then when your at the gym do the workout that are relevant to it, and then do the thing your passionate about. You will find you can put more effort in, you can 'go longer' and you actually bypass the brain where as in the gym you have to fight past boredom and thought life.

It is so simple to get fit/in shape and maintain it. You just have to have the right goals and motivation and then go after it. Learn to love yourself and love what you do. The gym can bore some people, so don't do it, enroll in classes you enjoy, join clubs, get out with your dogs and out walking.

I believe you can do it!

bootcamp training

No comments:

Post a Comment