We wanted to get a pulse for what our listeners are most concerned about on their fitness journey, so we asked you on Instagram and there was a common theme: balance, and keeping going. So let’s talk about ittttt!
HOW DO YOU FIT GYM AND FITNESS INTO A BUSY LIFE
This one can be tough because 24 hours doesn’t look the same for everyone. Just like your fitness and nutrition journey and what works for you is going to be dependent on person… your mileage is going to vary.
- A couple of things to ask yourself: what are your goals?
- I feel like we will probably beat this dead horse until we’re heard on it. Goals are super important. That motivation everyone always asks about? It begins with goals. Having a goal helps to lay out your plans for attaining that goal: the steps on the staircase you need to build to get there.
- Setting goals also helps to trigger new behaviors and habits.
- Habits play a big role in anything you’re doing. We have an entire episode on the importance of habits, and how habits work. Go check it out.
- Goals also help align your focus and promote a sense of self-mastery. In the end, you can’t manage what you don’t measure and you can’t improve upon something that you don’t properly manage. Setting goals can help you do all of that (Fail to plan, plan to fail)
- What this really means is don’t put off until tomorrow what you could do today. We tend to value things in the present moment much more than we value things in the future. You just have to start, that honestly is the most important thing when it comes to any goal.
- Once you know what those goals are, you have something to work toward, and something that is important to you. As human beings, we make time for the things we deem important.
- Sometimes that’s going to mean working out in the morning, even when you’re not a morning person. Think about this: how tired are you when you get off work? Pretty tired, probably. Especially if at the end of your day you’re picking the kids up from school or practice, coming home and making dinner, and doing any of the other chores you may have to do.
- Not everyone is a morning person, and we totally get that, but if you’re having a difficult time finding time, it may be an opportunity to try morning workouts. You can do things like laying out your gym clothes the night before, programming the coffee maker, setting out your pre-workout snack, etc, to make it less daunting.
- If that isn’t appealing or won’t work, you could maybe make some time over your lunch break to fit something in (even if it’s doing calf raises at your desk while you’re eating your lunch)
- Don’t sleep on the high quality of walks in your life
- Maybe the weekends and one day during the week are the only time you have, that’s OK! That’s what fits.
- Ultimately, it may just take a little more planning on your part.
WHAT KEEPS YOU TWO MOTIVATED WHEN NOT WANTING TO WORK OUT?
This question ties in nicely from the first question we answered. You cannot buy discipline. At some point your journey has to become that thing you do. So we’ll each talk about what keeps us motivated here, because again, your mileage will vary, and we’re two different yet similar people
- At the beginning of the year I was coming off a rib injury, so my goal then was to perfect my form on the movements I could do. Once I was well enough to start lifting heavy and pulling again, I upgraded my goal to a certain set of numbers by the end of the cycle I was on. And then, once I reached that goal, I made a new set of goals for training for the market to market relay followed by the half marathon.
- All of these goals are vastly different, but the common denominator is that I had a place to go. I had something I wanted very badly in mind, and did the things that I needed to and am currently needing to, to attain them.
- Honestly, a lot of days, I don’t want to. But I have to constantly remind myself that if I don’t, I’m not going to accomplish my goals any faster. And while I may begrudgingly do the thing I need to do that day, I 90% of the time, feel better when I’ve done it. You’ll regret the workouts you don’t do, but you won’t ever regret showing up. And sometimes it comes down to just doing it anyway. I have to rely on that on the days I really don’t want to. Do it anyway. find a way, not an excuse (we have that poster in our merch shop)
- Some days it’s honestly hard to find the motivation to life, let alone gym. For me lately, discipline has been the driver, because motivation is nowhere to be found. I get it in because I know I need to to recover from surgery, so I can get back to throwing heavy shit around ASAP.
- Before I got injured, my goal was to lift 150% of my bodyweight, now my goal is to be able to walk and move without any pain or limitation of range of motion… this is where motivation gets weird, motivation is kind of a fixed thing in our brains, and sometimes life doesn’t want to follow our plans. That’s when you’ve gotta know to say “fuck it” and keep doing what you’ve been doing, because you know it works.
- Ronda Rousey said it best: “Don’t be a do-nothing bitch.” If shit is tough right now and you find it hard to focus, then do something that requires less focus, or is something you really want to try out… make it interesting, because if you’re currently feeling uninspired at the gym now, there’s good news and bad news – this won’t be the only time in your life that it’ll happen.
Nutrition followed by balance are some of the toughest things you’ll experience on this fitness and nutrition journey. It isn’t always going to be easy, and I’m sorry that there’s so much shit out there that tries to tell you otherwise. We gotchu, though. Just remember that your 24 hours isn’t the same as the person next to you, set some goals, update and create new habits, and do what you can when you can. That’s all you can expect of yourself is the best you can. You’re crushing it
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