Today I wanted to talk about how to stay on track when things get tough. The longer you stay on your fitness journey the more you will be tested. Life can be an unforgiving Mo Fo sometimes. Now, how we handle those situations when they occur is completely up to us.
We have two options: we can let people, work, finances, politics, or just life in general get the best of us. We can play the “victim” card and blame everyone and everything around us. We can feel sorry for ourselves and just watch all our hard work be washed away.
Or, we can lean into it. Embrace whatever is happening, analyze it, learn from it, and come out even stronger.
I know it’s easier said than done, but option 2 sounds much better.
So how do we do this?Â
- Mental Preparation– Right from the beginning of our fitness journey we need to understand that there WILL be tough times and obstacles. That alone makes a huge difference. If you go into this journey thinking everything will be smooth, the first time something knocks you off a bit, boom the chance of you staying off is much higher.
- Adjustments– We need to have the knowledge or hire someone that does to make the proper adjustments to keep us going when the shit hits the fan. Let’s take an injury for instance. Many people completely fall off their training regime due to injuries. It’s an easy out. “Oh, I can’t workout anymore because I hurt my back”. “My doctor said I can’t workout for a while”.
Here’s the thing, I’ve had almost every injury in the book when it comes to training. Neck, shoulders, wrist, fingers, back, hips, hamstrings, quads, knees, ankles, and even foot. You name it, I’ve done a number on it. What’s even crazier than that, In my 20 years of fitness the longest I’ve ever taken off was 3 weeks due to injury, and even then I was squatting around the house and going on small walks to not go insane. Believe me when I tell you, THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY. Modifications just need to be made.
- Patience– This is a big one. Especially if you’ve been training for a good amount of time. First off it’s extremely hard to not rush back into the same type of training we were doing before “the situation” occurred but once we do get back into the swing of things understanding that we aren’t going to be at the same fitness level we were before, is a hard pill to swallow.
When we are so used to a certain intensity, or we know the amount of weight we used to lift, it can be such a blow to the ego that all motivation leaves, and even any desire to train drifts away. It can feel like, “what’s the point”. But going back to NO. 1, if we are already mentally prepared for this and understand ok it’s going to take some time to build back up, this is a normal part of the process, it’s much easier to stay patient, stay consistent, and eventually get back to where we were and even surpass that.
Remember, when things get tough (and they will) just know that’s life, shit happens. How you choose to handle it is completely up to you. If you are struggling with something that it’s taking a toll on your health and fitness, ask for help.
We’d love to sit and chat with you. From there we can come up with a great game plan that will keep you going and get you through rough patches.
Coach M
