“I used to”

It’s a phrase I hear a lot from recreational gym goers right through to competitive athletes, I’ve been guilty of saying it myself. I’m sure with lockdown measures easing and the prospect of fitness facilities opening soon it will be a phrase spoken even more.

“I used to be able to lift “X” amount”

“I used to run at “Y” speed”

“I used to feel this was easy”

When it comes to getting back to the gym/track/field after lockdown even if you have been exercising at home ease yourself back into it slowly. You might want to reduce your sets on your lifts, lower the weight, and increase your recovery. The risk is if you don’t, you may have a few weeks of self-inflicted lockdown due to injury.

Even when things are more like “Normal” or the “New” normal the phrase “I used to” is self-destructive. It can prevent us from seeing what we are achieving in the present. It can prevent us from starting an exercise or nutritional change due to fear of not being “Good enough” as before.

Putting expectations on ourselves based on where we “Used to be” fails to take into considerations on how our lives outside of the gym or sporting arena may have change.

That time you “Used to run “X” time for 5k” may have been set before you had kids to look after and could train more.

You “Used to” go to the gym five nights a week when you worked a mile from home but now you have a different job and a 2 hour commute.

Our desire for instant results, often means we don’t take into consideration these life changes and just put our lack of progress down to not having enough commitment.

Ever started doing a workout from years before and this time you couldn’t stick to it?

That almost certainly wasn’t down to your lack of motivation (You know what I’m going to say ……….” Motivation is overrated”), it was down to the fact the program wasn’t right for you NOW.

If you want to have “Fitness for life not just for Christmas” then you have to master two things

1. Start from where you are now.
2. Drop perfect and go for “Good Enough”

To start from where you are now look at your training as if you are a beginner. If you do that you cut out any expectations, you may put on yourself. As a beginner you start slowing and celebrate the small wins. You can be open to new forms of exercise rather than sticking to what you did before.

Drop Perfect

If you didn’t make it to the Gym four times this week but you made it twice great! You could have not gone at all, but you didn’t, you went. I’ve said it before figuring out what is the minimum daily exercise you can live with, 10 mins a day, 20mins?

Figure it out and stick to it, If, you can do more that’s a win.

It’s about the “Action”, action comes before motivation. Actions turn in to habits and when habits become automatic; they fit our lives without us thinking.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could make exercise something we do without having to think about, it becomes part of our lifestyle?

Having goals are great and important but they only work if the excite and inspire us.

Setting yourself targets based on your past often don’t fit your current lifestyle, or identity. They are doomed to failure, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and defeated.

I understand that it can be a challenge to let go of what we were where able to do, but you can reframe it to take the pressure off.

Simply add the word “Yet”.

“I used to be able to run “x” time for 5k, but I’m not there YET”

By adding yet it changes a negative statement into a more positive one. “Yet” has a sense of it will happen, you have potential. Hit the refresh button and plan how you are going to do it in the now, not how you did it in the past.

Don’t be afraid to start from the beginning and give yourself praise for the small wins.

See you soon,

Laura.

Want to work with me online? Go to http://www.laurawoodley.com

 

Holidays, remember those? It might seem like a distant memory but there was a time when we actually did travel to far off lands, bought souvenir’s that looked great in the shop but awful when they got placed on the shelf at home. Those days will return and until then we can plan our perfect post lockdown trip, down to the tiniest detail.

What would the destination look like?

How would you get there?

Who would you take with you, and who would you leave behind?

Would you go for the best fit for all the family? Or would you do what you want to go and stick two fingers to everyone else.

When you look to start a new fitness regime or change your nutrition, do you plan it as well as your holiday or do you just jump straight in and copy what everyone else is doing?

Except for competitive athletes, the answer is probably “No, I just do whatever the majority are doing at the moment”.

I wouldn’t be surprised that even with all the free resources available at the moment and despite your best intensions your daily 30min sessions drop off to once a week.

I suspect it’s not because you don’t have the will power or motivation. Most of us fail because we didn’t make sure the fitness/nutrition route we were about to take lead to the destination we wanted. Ask yourself is the workout or nutritional change going to get you, your desired outcome?

You have to be consistent to achieve your outcome, you have to enjoy it! Don’t pay a fortune for an indoor cycle trainer if you hate cycling it will just end up as a clothes dryer.

What outcome do you want? When your booking a holiday if you want to come back relaxed and healthy, booking a two-week trip to Ibiza clubbing I doubt will give you that result. If you want to get stronger and build muscle only ever doing cardio won’t get you the results you want. If you want to run a marathon you have to run more than 5k a week. Be clear on what you want to the end result to be, so you can get the “How” to get there right.

Ever go on a holiday with a group of people and after a few days realise it was a mistake?

I think that all the time holidaying with my kids (only joking………honestly). You might want to see the local sights they might want to sleep all day and club all night. Food might be an issue as you want to try the local cuisine and they just want to know where the local McDonalds is. All your high hopes of having a great holiday has gone down the pan, same thing can happen with your fitness and nutrition. If you can surround yourself with like- minded people you are more likely to make long lasting changes to your lifestyle.

I know this can be difficult if your spouse or partner is one of those people that doesn’t share the same health goals as you, if that is the case you need to divorce them……. joking. COMMUNICATE, tell them what you want to change and how you are going to do it. You are not going to force them to do the same but could they at least respect that you want to do things differently.

Don’t feel guilty about spending some time doing what you want, YOU matter. A healthy you is a more productive, relaxed and fun YOU.

Stay safe, Stay Well,

Laura

 

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