For most, the holiday season is over and it’s back to what in reality is the new study/work year. It’s time to set new goals and plan for the best outcome. So doing this with your health and fitness goals is no different! If your in a boat in the pacific you’d plan to reach the area of land you want to get to right? If you drift along with the current the likelihood of you getting to where you wanted is beyond hope… So knowing what you want with your health and fitness goals and then planing to get there is essential. The other part that comes in line with that? Pushing past your perceived barriers!
After coaching many people over the years I find that there’s a direct link to those that get what they want with their health and fitness goals faster than the rest! It’s an obvious one but one that is overlooked all the time by the people that don’t do it: Pushing yourself.
This concept can apply to everything in your life and is a big subject but let’s stick to workouts here. As much as 90% of people working out do not push to their limit, let alone push past it and that is a major problem for results. If your not pushing your body enough to force it to have to change to cope with the loads, tempos and number of sets, you can forget it, you really are wasting your time. Your nervous system will think that was easy and that you can already cope with the loads, so there’s no reason to put the effort in to change things. Your body is designed to become the most efficient biological organism it can by using the least amount of resources possible and growing muscle and getting stronger is a lot of effort and resources!
If you’re not pushing yourself on every set (you know who you are) I’d suggest a few things to start integrating:
1. Concentrate! These days everyone has a mind that jumps around quicker than a kangaroo on crack while avoiding burning coals. So calming your mind and having total focus on the set involved while knowing (not hoping, knowing) you will get to the rep range you need to get to. This level of concentration is also a form of meditation because if you’re truly pushing yourself, you won’t be able to think about anything else, trust me on that one!
2. Beat yourself. Know how much you lifted last time and beat your last record on either number of reps or the amount of weight. A rolling stone gathers no moss and moving forward in your workouts will prevent stagnation.
3. Redefine your limits. Did people believe that humans could fly before the Wright brothers? Well the Wright brothers did and that’s why they got there! Even though we’re talking about two different concepts here, it’s the same thought pattern. Know what you want to achieve and lift like a champion, you’ll be surprised how far you’ll get with that amount of focus.
4. Get rid of distraction. Leave your texts, emails and other distractions out of the gym, a workout is focus and drive. A current study even found that between 40 to 60% of men and women check emails and phones during sex, so you can imagine just how many let that disturb their workouts as well! Get better workouts and better sex by being present and dynamic with your erm, ‘workouts’
Have a great workout!
Rupert Hambly
