Hi Team,
Thanks as always to everyone who got into the gym last week. I have to say I am really battling to get my training done right now – my right shoulder is in a very unhappy state and I feel like I am modifying more exercises than doing them as per the ‘plan’…but that’s OK. Doing extra squats instead of pushups isn’t a terrible outcome, doing extra cardio instead of overhead barbell work is fine. Changing combos in boxing so there aren’t too many right hooks? Yep – that all works for me. Ultimately I am still moving, still getting my heart rate up and (hopefully) fighting off the keys (and the years!).
Big Congrats to everyone who finished the 28-Days-Later Challenge yesterday. Looking at the results there are – as usual – some amazing outcomes (it is genuinely incredible what some people can get done in one month) and I will deconstruct some of those in the blog next week. Somehow I am always surprised when people jump on the body scanner and loose 5kegs + in 4-weeks…I mean, I shouldn’t be because this style of training/eating challenge has been providing these results for nearly 10-years now – but it still feels shiny and new when people work hard and return great results…anyway, more on this next week but congrats to everyone who got to the end. How did I go? 3 kegs down which was good. Got all my sessions done (22 done for the month which is my most for any 4-week period all year!) and enjoyed a well deserved glass of wine with dinner last night! Great feeling to get to the end to be honest!
I got an email a couple of weeks ago from one of our members. I’m not going to cut and paste it but it sort of said this:
“We aren’t going to come to the gym any more. I can see you rolling your eyes at me now but we’re just too busy with life”.
First off, I’m always a bit sad when people leave the gym but at the same time, you have to do what you have to do. Secondly, I’m not going to roll my eyes at the ‘too busy’ line – it is 2022 and the world has gone dead set loco with ‘busy’ – work, kids, kids sport…I get it. I LIVE it myself (remember though – we all live the lives we have created for ourselves…no complaints here about being stuck in a 7-day per week work week…afterall, I – ME – CREATED IT!!). BUT. As I tried to say in my reply, there is always time for things that are important and if living a fit and healthy life is important to you then, well, you will find time to get to the gym.
Now – when you read that it probably sounds like I am saying ‘EVERYONE has time – NO EXCUSES’. I’m not really saying that. No excuses seems to imply that you ALWAYS have time to get to the gym – EVERY DAY. And ‘No Excuses’ also implies that you ALWAYS have time to prepare something fresh and healthy for dinner. But making something important to you doesn’t necessarily being perfect. And it doesn’t mean being perfect every Wednesday – or it especially doesn’t mean being perfect THIS Wednesday…it means having a clear priority and doing the best you can from week to week and month to month and – critically – year to year. What happens on ONE day doesn’t matter…
(When I read that back, I wondered if my use of ‘WEDNESDAY’ was too subtle? What I was trying to say was that there is no point in assessing how you are going based on a single day of the week…or particularly a single day…)
You need to be able to ‘ZOOM OUT’ from time to time and look at your life big picture rather than getting stuck in the minutiae of the day/week/month. You need to be able to step back at the end of the month and acknowledge what you have done well…and if things have gone awry (aka NOT to plan) rather than be critical of yourself and essentially ‘give up’, take a big picture view at what you have been able to achieve over the past 6 months (12 months??) and understand that OVERALL your actions – getting to the gym, preparing and eating fresh, healthy food – match the image of yourself you have in your head. Sure, things might have gone wrong LATELY – a few missed gym sessions, a few too many visits to the takeaway restaurant world! – but that doesn’t mean much in the big picture…
Obviously you should be aiming to train regularly – 3-4 times per week – and, when you are in the gym, you should be focussed on training hard. Those two things (regular attendance + above average effort) are obviously the keys to positive results. But if your life has knocked you for 6 and you’ve only managed an average of ONE (1) session per week for the last month or so (and a couple of those weeks featured a grand total of ZERO sessions!) well…no point worrying about that. First off, one per week beats none…so give yourself some credit. Secondly, it’s putting together a plan to move forward with that matters. What is achievable? If 3x sessions per week isn’t achievable short term, put together a plan for two! Do what you CAN…it’s going to be a helluva lot better than doing nothing.
Lastly, if you’ve been doing great in the gym for a while and you’re feeling like letting loose, well, you should absolutely have at it. Miss the gym, take a break, party on Wayne, party on Garth. On the other hand, if you have been going through a patch where you have only been training those times you feel like it, and you’re feeling “lazy” today, there’s probably no excuse for missing the session…
See you in the gym,
Michael.
We know this can be a daunting time. You’re probably wondering if we really are the right fit for each other. And it’s OK! Many people before you, have felt the same, and that’s why we want to offer you something special – our $29 Health Check.
Let’s work out together to see if we’re the right fit. Just hit the button below to let me know if you’re ready to see what’s included.