Archive for May, 2016

Challenges, road blocks, what stops you? Sometime its life. Sometimes its routine. Most of the time it is our mental state of being. How we think and feel can be a primary stopper or starter to how we progress at anything in life. This holds true for our fitness journey, in the workplace, in our relationships, and in all we pursue in life.

Tackling the mental and emotional side of life. Like anything we have to remember habits die hard. A mental or emotional state of being is no different. If you have spent any amount of time, like me thinking “I am not good enough” or “I am not worth it”. This road block is not going to be an easy one to overcome. And even if you think you have beaten it, it’s possible it can creep back again. It happens to all of us. How old are you? It has likely taken the better part of those years to develop the habit you are now fighting. Time is your friend here. Stay the course to change.

Another angle to this, is thinking “it will never be the same or as good as it was before”. Our life like a sport goes through seasons. Some of us peak early and some of us peak later. A few incredibly gifted are able to sustain the duration of their days. No matter the root of your challenge, it is a habit. If you are looking to improve, this takes time, it takes practice. Like seasons pre-season, season, post-season you have to plan out your approach in cycles. Apply this to your mental and physical health. These seasons of practice apply to everything we do.

On my journey I have had to tackle a few things. 1) showing up. Scheduling myself to workout is a must in my world. And it comes and goes as far as my ability to stick to it. 2) eating. It has taken a special effort in this area, a journey that forced me to engage some professional help for to understand my body and it’s tolerances better. 3) the mental fight. convincing myself I belong and I should be there. It has taken me time but in each of these areas I have focused on improvement. If I was perfect, there would be nothing to change. I’m seeking change and I have accepted that will take time. Stay the course and things will get better.

In a rut? Can’t seem to kick it in gear to hit that next pound of weight loss. Can’t seem to unlock the triggers for healthy eating habits, that help reduce the bloating, or fatigue feeling.

Routine can be both good or bad. It works for some. Sometimes it works for a window of time, then change is needed. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, and you need constant variation. This is true for exercise, diet, meditation, relaxation, and work. If you find yourself in a rut, try something new.

When it comes to diet, this could be as simple as making minor changes to your macro’s. It could be adding in some additional cheat days or meals. When it comes to exercise, it could be taking on a new type of workout. Modifying the length and capacity at which you are working. When it comes to meditation and relaxation, it could be using some new techniques, or actually adding this in to your weekly calendar. Changing it up is good!

Thinking about your year more like seasons. Having on and off seasons is a good approach. Think about any sport. There are training windows, off-season, pre-season, and the season. Baking seasons in to your training programs are a good approach to keeping it fresh. Maybe focus on a strength cycle for a period of time, then return to your triathlon training. Maybe pick up a yoga class in addition to your crossfit routine. Maybe move around some rocks in the backyard and help a friend build a patio, instead of hitting the gym one week. Maybe take to swimming two days a week to replace your gym workouts. These are all good practices to keep it fresh, and allow your body to recover from consistency and hopefully prevent overuse injuries. Repetition of a movement to learn more is good for a time, until it becomes too much repetition and turns to injury.

Wherever you are today, and no matter what you are doing… keep moving!

Archive for May, 2016

How the un-fit ‘fit’: challenges

How the un-fit ‘fit’: Needing Something New