Archive for the 'psychology' Category
Well here we all are, January 2009, the new year and a happy new year to you!! Now that we have the pleasantry’s out of the way lets get down to the nitty gritty.
On average over the festive season it is estimated that the average amount of weight that we put on is just over 3 kilos. This could explain the fact that the majority of New Year’s resolutions are to get fit/loose weight or some variation of the same meaning.
Now we have all seen it and we have if were honest probably all done it. After the initial month or so and maybe even sooner, you’ve guessed it, it has petered out and probably come to a complete halt. Bye bye new years resolution 2009 and bye bye a fitter healthier you. So what happened? Scroll down and take a look at the most common reasons why people will fail their training programs, how many apply to you??
The top two excuses we here from clients has got to be 1. I have been busy and 2. I have not had time. These two can also in some cases just mean a lack of motivation. They are quickly followed by, I have been busy at work, been busy with the kids, been busy with house chores, cooking, shopping etc, and the list can go on. These can all be genuine excuses.
If we have a busy lifestyle and you find your self using the above excuses then taking on a training program is not going to work, why because when we use the above excuses it shows we have not planned and organized our time effectively as we could, even if we have taken that first important step and wrote down what we need to get done in one week or even one day, how many do you cross off, and how many have you put off to another time, which leads to another reason why we fail, not taking ACTION! It’s all well and good sitting down and organizing what you want to accomplish, if you do not action it, it amounts to absolutely NOTHING !
All this organizing and actioning can make for an even more busy life. Where has the extra time come from for your training? If your training has just been added on to your endless to do list then it will end up after a while just being forgotten. The mistake made is not sacrificing something else. If we want to add a training program into our lives something has got to give, maybe take it away from those TV hrs!!:o)
If after all this we have time for a social network of friends and family!!, are they being supportive or just being negative, will they help us out once in a while to help us reach our goals and dreams or will they be that niggling voice saying “oh don’t be boring have another drink “, “have a piece of cake it’s my birthday”. Yes negative peer pressure can stop us from succeeding too.
So let’s be honest now, how many applied to you??
Now that you know what to avoid to stop you from succeeding there are no further excuses! and all I can do is wish you good luck in your 2009 new years fitness resolution.
All the best Marie
I have now been in the Personal Training business for about 1.5 years. I have had very successful clients who have followed everything I have asked them to do but I have also unfortunately had less successful clients. So what happened to these less successful clients?? Well, when they came to me they obviously had some kind of goals or else I wouldn’t have taken them on, So down the line what happened to the passion and want to reach these goals???
As mentioned above we do need Clients to follow ALL our guidelines to have a successful result of our training. Quite easy really if these guidelines aren’t followed then the results will be less or none at all.
First off a Main Goal needs to be determined. If you don’t have a goal it would be like sewing without thread. What is the goal: weight loss, fat loss, more muscle mass, functional abilities, confidence? Why is this goal so important? And when should it be reached? And HOW will you feel when you have reached it? Write all this down and you have won half the battle. To win the whole battle make sure do READ your Goal EVERY day and FEEL Passionate about it.
NutritionJ, Interesting subject. To make it easy: There is no possible way to OUT TRAIN a BAD DIET!!! So if fat loss is wanted you have to eat regularly and Make GOOD choices. Put diesel in a Petrol tank and see what happens. How is the body supposed to function in the best possible way if it doesn’t get the best possible fuel??
So eat Often, Eat Clean and Drink lot’s of water and you are closer to the body you dream of.
First, second, third and fourth week goes by and all Training sessions asked where done but unfortunately not much happened in these 4 weeks so client gets pissed off, lose motivation and lack of faith and training goes downhill. For some people the metabolism takes longer to kick in. It is something that doesn’t happen over night. For people with a lot of extra weight it is obviously easier to start losing. Think like this: It probably took a while to put the weight on so let it take some time to get it off. That way it will be so much easier to maintain. Keep Training Smart and the Results will come.
It’s busy at work. Your husband needs his shirts ironed. Kids need to be driven here, there and everywhere. Food shopping needs to be done. Cooking needs to be done. Cleaning needs to be done and on top of that you are asked to do several tasks and workouts and eat healthy and stretching and you just wonder how you are going to get through it all.
It all comes down to the Magic word of Planning and to have a Strong Support Network around you. Think of ways to make things easier for you. Tell people that you are starting a new health regime and that you need their help to not fall back into old habits. Maybe your husband can iron his own shirts. Maybe you can start sharing driving with someone. Have a cooking day where you prepare for the week and freeze or just have ready chopped up vegetable and fruits etc. Have snacks ready at all times in your bag and in your car. Be Prepared!
Jess
“Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” - Muhammad Ali
“My muscles hurt, I must be because I am old ”
“I’m too old for doing ….” insert an activity
“I’m too old to start exercising now”
“It’s because I am getting old, that I can’t lose fat!”
Take your pick, I have heard them all, usually from people young enough to know better.
I was talking to some of my clients today over lunch, the lunch was a celebratory meal after completing a five kilometer race in the wet, slushy horrible weather we are experiencing here in Luxembourg this weekend. A couple of these “girls” are in the most polite way the wrong end of 30 something, but each of them has found that health and fitness doesn’t stop at age thirty.
They are planning to take part in a Triathlon next summer, they are talking about all the training they will be doing over the next few months, planning which preparation events they are going to do, including the relay ING marathon in May.
The thing is, just a few short months ago they were asking me if coming to do ForestFit was going to be too hard for them. Now with massively elevated confidence levels and a new understanding of what their body is capable of. Their goals are now much higher.
Some of my best clients have been the wrong side of fifty years. They still have managed to lose significant amounts of body fat. One of them has claimed they feel fitter and healthier at age fifty something, than they did at thirty something!
… Muhammad Ali’s quote is a startlingly coherent from a guy who did most of his talking with a brutal “right”. But it is a real observation of what is the difference between those that achieve massive results “despite” their age and those that give up as soon as they reach a certain age.
How old do you think you are??
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Credit Crunch Crisis Causes Obesity
08.10.08Oh here we go, hang the current media storm over the global financial situtation on the reasons why we are getting fat… a tenuous link you may be thinking… however a little bit of science may prove this correct.
Over the last few weeks I have noted increased tension in pretty much everyone, all my clients, the trainers around me, my family and pretty much everyone I talk to. I am not going to dismiss that there are some fairly sizeable problems out there, but I am not going to succumb to the frenzy that we see on the tv every day.
The problem with increased stress levels for prolonged periods mean that our cortisol levels remain at a heightened state for longer period. Whilst some cortisol is good for us, the length of time is the bit which causes the problem.
The long periods of elevated cortisol leads significantly to muscle loss and fat gain, in part due to lowered testosterone levels(yes even in females). Symptoms of excess stress include, weight gain, fatigue, spikes in blood sugar levels as well as cravings for carbs and increased regualarity of illness … All pretty grim really… but what can we do about it.
Now I am not suggesting we all shut ourselves in a box for the next 3 years waiting for all this to blow over, but it may be a good idea to reduce the exposure we have to these stressful things we see on the tv and read about on the internet.
- Many of you do work in the financial sector, which is getting hammered as we speak, but certainly I would suggest only dealing with what you can deal with during the time you are in the office.
- When you wake in the morning, DO NOT turn on the TV or read a newspaper, I actually stopped doing this months go and it is a real eye opener to see the changes in your mood at the start of the day.
- At lunch time, get away from your desk, don’t surf the internet, better still get down the gym for a quick and hard 30 minute workout, take you iPod and pump some uplifting tunes in to your head.
- On the commute on the way home, each night make a mental or physical list of the things that you are going to start the following day with. Once you are at your front door, no more thoughts about work, and switch off the blackberry.
- Have a healthy evening meal, sit down with the family and watch a good film, go and do some sport and generally chill out.
- Finally go to bed early to get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Theses changes are so minor, they don’t affect your normal routine, other than simply avoiding being sucked in to the media frenzy of the day. Give it a try for the next few weeks and you’ll find that your stress levels will change, and your ability to lose body fat will be increased.
About 3 weeks ago Tim asked me to fill out a GAS or Goal Achievement Strategy. I looked at my GAS today and realized that my MAIN goal has not changed. The thing that has changed though is that I am finally taking steps to achieve my goal.
The question is what was my goal. Well its a hot subject in the “Forest fit” class as its the (TRIATHLON).
Now this has been a goal of mine for years but I never felt that I had time and as I never wrote it down or told anyone, it remained a goal……. A never-ending one.
Though after writing it down and realizing what I needed to do, it became more realistic.
Well where am I now, I have done the easy bits, bought a bike helmet, got my bike checked out and bought a new swimming hat and goggles.
Now the other bit, well I have cycled a bit but the weather has not been too helpful, running has not been very often excluding sprinting in forest fit and playing a bit of squash.
However swimming has started, I swam my first 1000 meters on Wednesday and was very proud of myself. It was 5 x 200 meters with a minute break between each one. Next week I hope to go again and then 2 x the week following with next week being 5 x 250 meters.
So with me finally talking about my goals, now I have found a lot of other people who would also like to achieve the same goals. This makes it a lot easier to believe that I will do it.
So thanks to me just writing it down in the Goal Achievement Strategy or GAS, I am really going to achieve my goal.
First the TRIATHLON then the IRONMAN,,,,, well lets just complete this one first
Leon
One of the GetFit Fundamentals is the Goal Achievement Strategy. It is a workbook and an on going strategy to go about setting and achieving some of your biggest wildest dreams. Each of my intern coaches must go through the workbook as part of their induction… Here is an account of one of their experiences with it…
“It was about three weeks ago that I completed the Goal achievement strategy, and i have to say I did not find it easy……so why did I find it soo difficult and was it worth it??
When I first read it I almost panicked and felt scared….
I had not asked myself these questions since probably when I was in school talking to somebody like the careers people and even that was not as in-depth as this. It took me a while to digest it and to get on bored with this line of thinking…….why??? well I think that I had fallen into the trap(unknowingly) that allot of women do when they have children
For the last 3 years I have been a housewife looking after my very energetic 3 year old and without really realizing it I fell into the trap of coming last, your child partner house stuff and everything else that is entailed with becoming a mother be it working or not always comes first. There is so much to think about and do that on top of that you never get round to or do very little for yourself.
So I slowly plucked up the courage to write down what I really want and what I want to achieve,even writing that with the words “I” in feels good. It was hard going doing it but it felt like a relief when i had written it all down , it wasn’t to be scared of anymore it was to be broken down into little steps that would get me to achieving my Goal.
So how am I doing 3 and bit weeks down the road?? Well I have taken some small steps towards my goal so, I’m on the right path. I had a very hectic and stress full week this week so when it came to writing about my experience of the goal achievement strategy so far I re-read it, which I am so glad I did!! it put things back into perspective and made me realize what I’m working for and towards, which of course in a way you could say is the moral of the story!!
The whole point is to be active on my goal. It can be so easy to let real life get in the way sometimes, you need to read your goals again and again, and do something about them.
In answer to my question above is it worth it???, Yes it is, I’m enjoying the journey so far and very much looking forward to achieving my goal, so far so good!!!”
My Magic Hundred
23.09.0899 days left of 2008. I have spent most of the last 24 hours stuck on a transatlantic flight after fulfilling one of my previous Magic Hundred goals to attend a major Fitness professional Seminar in the US to meet with many of my peers in the fitness profession.
Whilst on the flight, I dug out my notepad and started brainstorming some of the various goals I have in mind for my Next Magic Hundred. Here is a sample:
- Be a speaker at the next major fitness professional seminar I attend.
- Train 80 times in the next 100 days
- Shoot (archery) 50 times in the next 100 days
- Set my Archery Schedule for 2009, including one major international event to focus on.
- Get 5 skiing lessons in before christmas
- Cut bread, alcohol and coffee from my diet for the next 30 days… see Elimination Diet.
You see the goals are a mix of big goals and little goals, some easy and some require a little more work. With My Magic Hundred, you can easily set in motion some substantial changes in your life with lots of small goals as well as the monster ones that make you get all shaking with excitement about.
If you don’t have Dax’s Magic Hundred pop over to http://www.MyMagicHundred.com to get your program started today.
The New Magic Hundred
19.09.08The summer is over pretty much, the world seems in so much turmoil currently, with credit crunches, markets crashing, rising fuel costs, job losses and political uncertainty dominating the tv, internet and radio.
However I am looking on the bright side as there is just over 100 days still left of 2008 to make a massive up turn in your
own life.
My good friend and mentor has recently revised his magic hundred program, which really IS the fastest goal achievement
program available.
Since starting my very first Magic Hundred, I have gone on to achieve literally hundreds of goals, big, small, weird and wonderful.
Some of my early goals included:
Learning to Snowboard - last season I spent a week in France doing just that
Employ a new trainer to join me in my personal training business - I am now training another 3 new trainers to bring my team to 5!
Represent my country at the Archery World Championships - I have recently returned from my 3rd! World Championships
Take a weeks holiday at least once every three months in another country - This year I have been on my Snowboarding holiday, Portugal to watch the MotoGP from Estoril, I am off to Portugal next month, then finally Spain, at the top of a very big hill for christmas.
To have a business mentor to help develop my business - this is one of the first goals I achieved, hiring Dax Moy himself to coach me over the last 18 months!
To drive a fast car around a race circuit - Did it this time last year, in my own fast car, (although I did drive slowly as my wife kept shouting at me to slow down ;o)
All this was due to the Magic 100 program and the unique way in which it gets you to GOAL GET every day.
Start your Magic Hundred today and achieve more in the last 100 days of 2008.
This one has been prompted by one of the most commonly asked queries about joining both ForestFit and JessBoxing!
I can’t come to XXXXXX, I am not fit enough!
I totally understand why it comes up. I appreciate there is a level of apprehension with joining a group training program when you think you are not going to be able to keep up, complete all the moves, do all the exercises etc… no one wants to be left behind, or stand out and be the one struggling the most.
I suppose it is like a mirror, we always think that someone else looks slimmer, stronger, fitter, faster than ourselves. We hate testing our theory out as well, for fear of being right!!
The problem is unless you actually test out your theory you’ll never find out that you are actually WRONG. I generally find that most people massively underestimate their physical abilities.
You have a choice right now, you can continue to fear the unknown and get more worked up by your worsening physique and physical condition, OR, you can get off your butt and prove yourself wrong. No brainer really!
Tim
