Converting regular studio into the franchise model of the boutique gym with the help of founders and dedicated coaches.
As a personal trainer to one of Prenetics co-Founders, the idea become reality, and reality delivered the creation of the first Hong Kong unicorn Prenetics
It is common to hear “you are overthinking, let it flow” in an accusatory and demanding tone of voice, but also there are other ways that people use to say the same phrase, like for example “You are thinking too much” being the most common. However, is this such a huge problem?
Accusing someone of thinking too much is just mean and disrespectful. Because it underlines being judgmental by criticizing the other person’s personality. Actually, what it means is “you are making me feel dumb” and having to listen to you is getting tired. So basically what this attitude is saying, in many cases is “I cannot understand what you are telling, therefore, I don’t find it interesting so I am going to just change the subject”
In the case that some are telling you about a complex subject that they seem to care about but you cannot seem to find any interesting about it, please don’t go and label them with the phrase “you think too much.” Don’t just make them feel like they are just wasting their time by overthinking because it is disrespectful and it put you in a place where you denigrate their personality just because they are expressing their interest in something you don’t care about. Do not let your ego get the best of you and if the conversation is really that bad, you can always walk out of it. However, don’t forget to be respectful and excuse yourself before leaving.
There is a well-intentioned way of using the phrase but it is still wrong. For example when a good friend sees another friend using excuses, thinking anxiously or being paranoid. In this case, when the phrase “you are thinking too much” is said with compassion for the pain of a friend, what it means is “you are thinking the wrong way”. So the friend can understand that the train of thought that is using is just unhelpful for the situation. Instead of being objective, your friend is letting his or her insecurities get the best of them making them feel anxious or depressed.
So if you have someone who you care about experiencing this problem don’t just tell them “you are thinking too much” or “stop thinking about it” because again, it is disrespectful. Instead, I invite you to change your argument to “you are thinking the wrong way about it.” They are just in a place where their fears are overwhelming their thoughts. So a good friend will encourage them to think about the problem, even more, but in a different way. Suggest other perspectives on the same subject to think deeply about it.
We all know that person that is way too smart so smart and analytical so they tend to miss actual details around them just because they are trapped into their introspection, into their own imagination. So a point can be made, these people might be more interested in their thoughts than in what is going on in reality. But can we judge them, why their thought cannot be more interesting than the reality?
For instance, if someone gets lost in the idea of getting hit by a car, having an airplane crash or that they are going to be attacked by a vicious dog if they adventure outside their homes. You can tell with any remorse that they are thinking too much. But paranoid people and those situations are scarce.
As a matter of a fact, in most social scenarios you can benefit from thinking more but only if you are thinking correctly, asking the right questions to yourself. That way “thinking more” does not mean making judgmental emphasis on other people’s motivation or being anxious or just second-guessing too much.
Thinking more is about put some serious effort in the possibilities that are not that obvious to realize, thinking about the value of the different opinions of others and how their point of view can come across or differ from yours. And the most important, thinking more allows you to filter, to think in the undesirable effect of your words and actions on others.
I can tell by experience that people that tend to think too little are more harmful than those than think too much. You can insult people in a conversation without even realizing it just because you did not were thinking enough. When you didn’t understand a subject your friends were hinting during the conversation, porously directed to you without calling your attention; it is because you are thinking too little. When you blame an argument on someone else before contemplating their point of view and the fact that you might have contributed a great deal; it is because you are thinking shortly.
So I hope my article make you consider not to label someone with the phrase “you are overthinking,” “you think too much” or “you are giving it to much thought.” Because that attitude says more about yourself that what it says about others.
If you analyze the concept of balancing work with life it results to be an uncomfortable aspiration, for a wholesome lifestyle. Because balance is about stasis and staying in the comfort zone: happy family, kids well behaved, work doing well and then pray that everything is going to be perfect forever. Besides this way of thinking result toxic in the end because we are giving categories such as “work” is bad and “life” is good, working is a nightmare and living is a dream, we survived another day at work but instead we live our life happily. Therefore, the goal, or so we are told, is to diminish the weight of work with the pleasure of life.
However, the meaning of work is not something that we could consider as opposed to the concept of life, it is instead an important part of life as it is: family, friends, hobbies and being part of a community. Combined all these aspects of life share the good, wonderful and wholesome moments but also they share the sad ones too. And the same applies to work as well, but since we are conditioned to think in it as bad, we tend to lose sight of all the great possibilities and positivity implicit in working.
Then is logic that is going to be more positive giving up to the idea of trying to balance the unbalanced. Instead let’s treat work just the same as we do with life: by seeking the maximum benefits doing what we love. Here is what I want to say.
Please consider the next, two persons that work having exactly the same task. They appear to be gaining strength and joy in very different moments.
Let’s make the next mental exercise, think in the activities you do regularly as threads; some can be black others grey, white or even red. Then some of this threads appear to be formed by an estrange substance, with all these activities you can develop a love relationship, to say it that way: even before you do them you find that you are looking to it, while you are doing the activities times goes by quickly and after you finish you feel accomplished. These activities are red threads and the more of them you have in your life less probabilities of experiencing burnout.
In order to emulate these results with your job, you can spend a week in love of it. However, this might sound odd but what it means is just to take a regular week at work and with the help of a pad, that is going to be with you the whole week; make two columns and on top of these write “loved it” and on top of the other column “hated it.” Now during that week at any moment when you feel any of the sings of love write it in the “loved it” column and describe exactly what were you doing at that moment. But if you find yourself feeling the inverse then write it down in the “hated it” column along with the short specific details of what you were doing at the moment.
It is likely that many of your weekly activities won’t make it to the list, but since you are going to spend your week in love with your work by the end of this period you are going to see a list with plenty of activities in the “loved it” column and this activities are going to feel different to you than the rest of your work. Because they will have a different emotional value which is going to generate in you a distinctive positive feeling that is going to lift you up.
Conducted research in over nineteen countries that revealed that more than 70% of workers feel capable of modifying their job to fit their strengths better, however only 18% of workers do that so. Now your challenge is to start changing, over time, the perspective and content of your job to contain more of the things you love doing and less or any of what you hate.
Instead of thinking in categories such as “work” and “life” that we should not be trying to balance. We should be focusing in “love” and “loathe.” Then our goal should be that over time, day by day and week by week, to balance the terms of our work closer to activities we love and far from the others. And in result we are going to feel better and our colleagues too; friends are family as well because our good energy is going to be contagious.
If you already enjoy teaching people how to build a healthy lifestyle and even more building a specific body physique, loss fat or be better in their sport, the career of personal fitness trainer or coach is your day to day operation and your reality. Now it is time to ask yourself what next for you, maybe event for your team if you build one. Considering moving to an online model of business, this is what next!
I know you will have some concerns and a lot of questions, and I’m happy to help.
Becoming an online fitness coach has some excellent perks:
Here at MackFitt.com you are going to find many lessons that would help you to become the best online fitness coach.
A common mistake that I have seen in many new online coaches is that they tend to create content according to what they think might be liked by their fitness heroes, idols or person of inspiration. Even worse sometimes they copy them.
The fact is that if you want to connect with the public to help them to reach their goals you need to start structuring your content to make it easily understandable for people that are just starting with fitness.
It is beneficial to have access to people with different perspectives about the goals you have, how to achieve them and overall your career path. That is why you should be looking for someone that has already obtained what you are seeking for and learn from them, but not copy them.
Create a conversation or honest talk with someone successful in the niche you want to exist; this can be more helpful than reading many books about the subject, besides you will be proven that your goals are possible.
Your future clients expect that their online fitness coach looks like someone well trained. That is why in that sense, you need to embody your lifestyle philosophies. This is because it is usual to find qualified coaches that don’t look fit at all.
If your target client with some extra weight you should be showing them that you dominated the lifestyle that they are aiming for then you need to look healthy.
In order to make your online career successful first, you will need to work extra hard. Because besides maintaining your regular job duty, you also need to write the scripts for your videos, manage your social media, posting the content and reading the feedback from your audience. All this takes time and effort.
You will need to mature a new mindset and be prepared because some other parts of your life might be left as secondary priorities. New workflow and creation of some online process can take months to start thinking that you can move forward with your online career. Because you want to build a sustainable business, not a quick buck.
Being an influencer means to have the power to reach, “be listen” and take into consideration by a great person for your followers.
Besides, if you are an online fitness coach having this influence is going to give you authority and validity, which is helpful to sell your brand, services and products.
From the potential client perspective, they will like to get feedback from many people..”how good of a coach you are and how you were able to help all them”. Additionally if your budget alow, they can see your ads all over the internet; it is just natural for them to think that you are serious trainer or couch.
To become a relevant online fitness coach, the only thing that you always have to be producing is new content, new routines, exercises, diet plans and more. This is the only way your brand is going to grow and become relevant. Select what works the best for you, but don’t create falls statements to just to create content, be true to yourself and to your knowledge about the subject.
Now there are many channels from where you could distribute the content you are going to be producing and those channels are mostly free: Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and even Twitch to name a few.
However try sometimes testing new channels, that are not as popular, but they have good traffic. This is an excellent strategy to get to know people and start promoting your brand. However, it is usually really effective if at the start you just focus on helping them without expecting anything in return. Select the channel/s what works for you regarding the creation of the content and distribution of it.
At the start of your online career, you should not be focusing on the profits but in spreading the name of your brand. Because of that, you might want to give some really cheap and even free coaching sessions. There are two significant benefits by doing so:
Once you start managing a big number of people, there is not going to be possible to answer each one of them individually. So you should not be promising that you are going to give them a personalize session since, in the end, everything is going to be automatized, as much as possible. Nonetheless, this does not mean that your service is not going to be effective. Structure your offering so you can deliver what you will promisse, with understanding how much time you will have.
Besides, you need to be ethical, so you should not be telling your clients that they are going to achieve their fitness goals without any effort and in a few weeks. You have to show them you care about them because this is the start of their new healthy lifestyle.
The fact that there is not going to be an individual direct communication, or if need it or designed very limited, does not mean that you cannot know what is going on with your clients’ journey through your program or coaching.
You as an expert know there are several reasons that make people binge into food or embrace other self-destructive habits: a bad break up, being fired from a job or just being sad can trigger these behaviours.
Using statistical tools, you can administrate all this information and prepare for a more meaning full coaching session.
– By Mack Pijewski
If you are looking for intense athletic training, then one of the most exclusive and advantageous equipment is the sled! Sled Training is easy and doesn’t require any complicated forms. When you are using the sled, the risk of injury is very little. Sled training is very necessary for sturdy athletes who cannot afford any inflexibility.
Depending upon your ultimate goals, sled training could result productive in intensifying strength, power, speed, and even conditioning. Not everything at the same instant, but it can be a dynamic tool to address all of these.
Another noticeable advantage of sled training is the number of variables or options that come with it. For instance, you are flexible in adjusting speed, load, position, distance, duration, etc. Based on one’s objectives, there could hundreds of outputs of the sled work. However, one question that I been mostly asked by the athletes is that what should be my arms and hands maneuvers during the sled training? More precisely, where should my arms and hands be while I push the sled?
Well, most common exercises like squats, pushups, pull-ups, dead-lifts, etc. follow some SOP(s) (Standards of Procedure), however, up till now, I haven’t come across any standard of best practice of performing the sled training. Keeping in view, I have illustrated how someone should set-up with the sled, depending upon what he wants to get out of it.
Let’s start with the extended-arm position. This type of arrangement allows one to intensify acceleration angles, open up his pace, and maximize his strength by working at a much higher speed. However, this arrangement restricts the amount of load an athlete can hilt. Not the greatest of an output an athlete can expect from this setup is the only downside here. You cannot move max weight in this position.
The “straighten your arms” applies to the kind of programming that demand moderate to low weight on the sled. Conversely, the speed work, plyos, power work, and conditioning methods could be efficiently and effectively done from this setup; the arms-extended Sled Push.
Contrary to that, if you are willing to go hard on the training, then the arms bent position is an outstanding position for pushing maximal weight on the sled. This position creates a more solid lever system enabling the trainee to follow more in-strength programming.
This set-up will retard your speed for the reason that the crowding of the torso and load being so near to the hips do not allow the trainee to reach a stride length that would transmit over firmly into speed.
Because of increased loading, the strength-gaining activities is going to be significantly provoking, thus will assist in getting stronger and more stable in a unilateral setting.
The answer to the above-mentioned question regarding the position of arms or hands during the training is BOTH! Both arms/hands positions are important. Try to figure out what you want to get out of the sled training and that’s it, use your head and plan accordingly.
I have explained some of the useful plus beneficial ways to use the sled and what arm/hands position would be a good choice for each.
You have to position your arms in bend form for this one. The exercise consists of using a heavy sled for 5-10 steps per leg. This exercise is intense and is great for strengthening legs and hamstrings. This exercise also comes with a squat variant as well. We can work this in as a Lunge or Split Squat. This works significantly well! The low impact boasts productive and fast results.
If you want to take the game of the medicine ball throws up then just grab a sled and throw it instead. This is a great power package that undertakes full body-fatigue. Power is the phenomenon that lies between extremes (max) of speed and strength on the force-deformation curve, you can carry this over into your arm position comfortably here. Here’s an interesting tip, you can start with your arms bent for max tension, later on, extend your arms at max speed.
The Sled Sprint is a traditional exercise that enables the athletes to lean, shred or burn some turf! An athlete can go out with this inertia or variation using a much lighter load. Your focus should be on bringing-up lean, knee drive and triple extension on the focused leg, usually, the back one. Sled sprint is intended to move fast and smooth.
A SLED is the only equipment in the gym that can whip you into great shape! What I suggest for the interval setup for conditioning is a 15-yard working set followed by 50 seconds of rest, repeated 10-20 times based on your capability. It’s a great generation conditioning methodology, however, there are many options to be sports explicit with flexibility on the sled. Like I said earlier, be specific about what your needs are and demands are based on your sport, then build those energy systems whichever goes with it.
These are just the temporary guidelines that I have taken out from a few pieces of research. Try them out and let me know how it goes!
We are living in the world of too much, where technological advancement is increasing at an exponential rate. And, in order to strive for more, people are investing a lot of time and efforts in their work. As a fitness instructor and coach one of the top questions which I come across is “how can I train or exercise when I barely have enough time to takedown even any type of workout ?” Valid question, with a simple answer: Circuit Training.
Developed by R.E Morgan and G.T Anderson back in 1953, Circuit Training is an evolving and intense training exercise series. The program best fits for the individuals who have limited time to carry out intense workout. Circuit Training not only allows one to gain strength, power and hypertrophy, but also boosts up the cardiovascular system. The Circuit Training was proven to be the most effective way of enhancing your overall fitness level, scientifically by a lot of nutritionists too. If you ask me, personally I am a big fan of balanced methodology to workout. I encounter a lot of mates who just like to go heavy i-e lifting like crazy without considering the probability of over-exercising.
In order to be effective the circuit training must ensure a sequence of movements with using almost any rest time between the moves; which is basically the contrary to a normal training. The idea is either to rotate through the different stations and series of movements, making use of weights and resistances such as sandbag, dumbbells or even resistance bands and bodyweight in order to develop your muscular strength. However it is important to include power into your circuit and in general exercises too that improve your cardiovascular health also.
The idea behind the circuit training method is to build metabolic resistance for that it combines intense resistance movements with almost no recovery time between sessions. The result of this is that the body is capable of building strength and muscle mass while activating the metabolism to burn fat.
They technical way of how this mechanism operate is that part of the exercise is aerobic, with cardio and anaerobic (the body is not burning oxygen but glycogen) with the weight lifting.
Since this type of training is so intense and it does not allow much recovery time it is recommendable to limit the time of the whole session between to 45 minutes.
Besides, it is advisable for the circuit to develop from upper part of the body towards the lower body, but also it should have integrated a cardio session and a full-body exercise (resistance plus abdominals). Usually a circuit should be composed of different exercises. However the full circuit can be repeated for at least two or three times.
It is absolutely necessary that your rest between the repetitions do not go longer than 60 seconds. In case you train in a gym please make sure to add to your circuit body-weight exercises as well.
Let’s face it, not everyone as the spare time to full fill a complete working-out session on a classical gym. However a circuit training is a smart option because it helps you to increase your strength and the cardiovascular health as well. Besides it can also be used if you just want to try something different from your usual routine, a new challenge.
Along with the huge beneficial effect of a proper circuit training like the increment of cardiovascular fitness and muscular development. Besides it also affect your body hormonally that way you can add to the list of benefits the release of testosterone and other grow hormones which are going to accelerate the muscle building besides accelerating the metabolism. Nonetheless and like in any other exercise session you are going to enjoy the endorphins and the good feeling associated to them, after the workout.
Have you heard about the high intensity interval training? And why is it associated to a more effective weight loss than the classical cardio. The reason why is the after burn effect where the metabolism of your body is increase around 38 hours after the workout session. This happens when your body is trained very intensively and it has to return to a normal estate and in the middle is going to burn all that fat. That is why is so important to keep the variety of the exercises in your circuit because if it became repetitive day after day your body is going to get used to and the after burn effect is going to disappear.
It is well known, the good effects that physical activities have on mental health. In fact, by nature humans had evolved to adapt and overcome physical challenges. In contrast, nowadays one of the main causes of the deterioration of our cardiovascular system is a sedentary lifestyle. Because of that the world’s first threat for modern humans is heart disease. Besides preventing cardiovascular problems, physical activities are useful to attract and prevent non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and osteoporosis. Furthermore, there is a pile of evidence about how having an active lifestyle is beneficial for our brain and cognitive abilities.
It is known how school children have better academic results if they allow the time for a fitness lifestyle (Spark : The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain). Besides, there is proof of how regular physical activities in the mid-age populations can reduce the risk of dementia. In fact, exercises is a well-known treatment for type 2 diabetes which is also related to Alzheimer´s disease and the decrements of brain functions.
Haven, not you feel that satisfaction and plenitude after a jogging session? And these feelings are even more prominent those days when you feel down and stressed. The reason behind that is the impact of physical activities on your mental health. There is a stunning amount of evidence that supports this statement. And because of that many scientists are starting to believe that exercise should be used as a tool by psychologists in their treatments.
A healthy mind healthy body
Symptoms of depression and anxiety can be controlled by acquiring the habit of regularly doing physical activities this is something known for years. Furthermore, any type of exercise but especially the one that we particularly enjoy the most, certainly make us feel better almost immediately. And by helping us with our mood it also eases the particular symptoms of anxiety and depression. Actually, experimental studies confirm that the effect of physical activities is closely related to the effect of antidepressants in the body.
Besides if you keep exercising, in the long run, it can help to prevent anxiety and depression from reappearing in your life. In the expert’s opinions that have worked with a patient that presented major depressive disorders. They demonstrated how important it is to regularly exercise for treating depression but not only that; after one year of regular physical activities, the patient showed a level of depression lower than those less active patients. Many of them conclude that an active background can set the pace in the brain on how to respond to future stressful situations such as feeling as “failure” or “social defeat.” Specialist in psychology and anxiety treatments also advocate that regular exercise can also help to prevent panic attacks on sensitive patients.
How should you exercise?
There are two main types of exercises and both aerobic and strength are equally good for treating the symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is not a brainer running, jumping, playing a sport or lifting weights is going to have a positive effect in your life. However, simple activities like walking around your neighborhood, washing your car and cleaning your house will also have a positive impact on your emotions.
Overall any exercise that can get your heart moving can be good. The idea behind finding an activity you can relate with is because it is more likely for you to keep doing it if is enjoyable. And because of that, all the benefit for your health will last in the time. Because people who practice, on a regular basis, activities of any intensity are less likely to have symptoms of depression.
How does it work?
All the gamma of positive effects that doing exercise has on mental health can be explained, shortly, by a few theories:
1. It can distract you: from low impact activities like yoga to some more demanding exercises like weight-lifting. It seems to have a powerful effect of just distracting us from our problem. Because of that, our mind can have the time to learn new healthy habits.
2. Confidence boost: Developing habits towards a goal to then meet all your objectives can be really refreshing and it can improve your self-esteem.
3. You will be more social: Exercise it also means connecting with other people, there is always someone willing to help you or at least someone with fitness goals alike yours; the mutual support can be beneficial for your mental health.
4. The good hormones: it is known that physical activities can release noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin in the bloodstream. These hormones are usually on a shortage of someone that suffers from depression or anxiety. Besides exercise can activate the release of endorphin which reduces pain in our bodies and gives us a sensation of serenity and calm.
Final thoughts
Training, exercising or any other kind of physical activity has an important role as an effective, simple and cheap therapy for depression and anxiety. Since it appears to be a tendency, in our society, for people to go on a sedentary path and with that an ever-increasing rate of depressive and anxious individuals. That is why we should really be giving serious consideration to the fact that our society can have enormous benefit from embracing a fitness lifestyle.
In order to be accepted as a therapeutic tool which also includes medications and psychological therapy. People should take into account that there are individual considerations for every particular case.
There is not a necessity to set ambitious goals for our long-term training or active lifestyle. Instead, we should focus into enjoying the ride and appreciating the journey, the control of the cholesterol in blood, self-gratification and mood improvement. Maybe these reasons will motivate you to try it.
The annual dropping rates for gyms is around 25% according to The International Health, Racquet, and Sports Club Association. Usually, people tend to join in but shortly after they leave to never come back. What would you do to avoid this issue?
Although there are many reasons for people to drop the most common ones is to feel uncomfortable and to dislike the place. You can know if the gym is going to keep you as a member as you enter through the doors for the first time. Those first impressions are very important; how is the energy of the place? Do the staff seem to be enjoying their job? Is it clean? Does it feel like a comfortable place? Do they even great you as a new costumer?
In the Hong Kong alone there are more than 700 gyms, so there is a lot to walk before finding the one that suits you the better. Because of that we have prepared the top 10 list of things to know before choosing the right gym.
Make your first visit at your usual workout schedule
It is important to know how is the ambiance and if is overpopulated those days when you are more likely to go, on your routine. Also, take in mind if the machines you are going to be using are too crowded. If that is the case then it is better to try another gym. If we are talking about small boutique gyms with limited equipment, how creative they are with there workout.
It has a good localization
Use google maps to search for gyms near to your home or work, because according to authorities most people won’t keep driving more than 15 minutes to get to their gyms for months and months, despite how motivated they feel, it is just another obstacle to keep coming back to the gym. Easy to park locations are also advisable.
Read the contract twice before signing it
Check for extra fees in your contract especially if it automatically charges your credit card every month. Also make all the promises made by the gym, to be written down. So make sure to read between the lines and ask what happens with the contract in the case that that fitness club goes bankrupt (California Fitness, Epic or Studio Fitness). Know the legislation about changing your mind on the contract, it is usually 7 days in Hong Kong.
Put money on your membership
Once you are convinced that you are in the right gym feel free to use that membership at its max. because is most likely for you to stay and follow with your fitness aspirations if you have invested good money to it, more if you start seeing the results of the training.
What happens if you have an emergency?
At any medical emergency, you would like to be in a club prepared for it. Although many gyms have their staff trained in the basic technics of first aid like CPR.
Always look for a good variety of machines or workouts
Gym equipment is not cheap that is why in our list of priority we have to consider the clubs with the best gear. However, it is common that they have the best of one or two types of a machine but not the best of all of them, this is not a sin. Instead, check if they have only one brand of machines and all of them came from the same vendor. Because this usually means that the owner of the business just got a good deal and was not precisely thinking in offering the best for the members. Remember also that machines are not all, if you looking for class based gym check what kind of workouts they have and if this workouts benefits your fitness journey.
Check the club’s etiquette and Community
Some gyms don’t allow to go loud and grunting and they remove certain machines for not being appropriate (not my style). So if what goes with you is actually be loud and use all types of machines, first make sure what kind of culture does the club has and what is its target demographic.
Check the hygiene
With so many people using the same machines all the week, gyms are the perfect place to grow germs and keeping the facilities clean takes a lot of effort, usually, let in the hands of the night crew. More than 63% of any hand-contact surface in gyms have been tested positive for rhinovirus or common cold virus; according to the Clinical Journal of Sports medicine.
When you are visiting a new gym make sure to check if they are strict about the “wiping down after use” especially the weights. If that is not the case feel comfortable leaving the facility.
Although a professional crew should be coming every night, the rest of the employees should be also entitled to wipe down the machines frequently during the day.
Remember is not about money
Before deciding on the winner gym take in mind that your goal is to keep coming for months and years. Sometimes paying top dollar for a good membership might make you feel accountable for such inversion and that would keep you coming back. And on the other hand, if you manage to get an awesome cheap deal, the pay might be so low that you won’t mind stopping coming back one good day.
Consistency might be the best advice to give to someone pursuing a lifestyle change. Because it is so easy to know all the right steps to follow, so many useful methods, people capable of teaching you everything you need to know. However, most fitness enthusiasts fail to be able to achieve the most difficult part, staying on track for the long run.
If you are motivated to change your lifestyle here are 9 proven ways to help you to keep on track and be consistent with your goal.
1. Build momentum bit by bit
There are some people that at the beginning of their training tend to feel like doing 6 days of a week routine without considering that they can get exhausted. And this attitude is most likely causing them to quit, especially if they used to have a sedentary lifestyle. We must start at a pace that we can keep in the long term.
Start slowly and as you get stronger, building momentum, intensify your routines. One key is to make exercising and habit: it only takes between 3 to 5 weeks to form one. Once you are able to repeat the simple routine it would get easier and more enjoyable. And to make this even easier try starting with a two-day workout routine the first month, after that you can advance to something more challenging.
This slow pace is also beneficial for dieting; start learning how to control the hunger with a low calories deficit and increase it once you build some momentum over a month.
2. Motivation is not infinite
The power of will is like a muscle and it can get tired or depleted, and when that happens, we can lose our motivation. Therefore, it is fiscally impossible to be motivated all the time, even professional athletes can be down from time to time. However, the good news is that if you focus to make the exercise and habit then you won’t need motivation, your body will need exercise, with time. Also, take in mind that skipping training days can also become a habit, so don’t fall for that.
3. Find a good friend
If you introduce someone else to your routines it becomes harder to skip a workout routine or eat unhealthy foods. Because no one wants to show their friends that kind of lack of determination, actually you would feel motivated to be accountable.
Make sure that your bro or sis has the same fitness level, same schedules, and goals as you. Since that would make the process easier for both.
4. Make a precise fitness plan
It is recommendable to search for a routine adequate to your level and compatible with your goals. Because it would help you to stay on track, also it is a way to register your progress. And because of that, you are going to be able to celebrate each small victory building confidence, each day you followed the plan.
5. Focus on monthly goals
Losing a noticeable amount of weight might take months in the best cases. Sincerely maintaining your diet and workout plan for that long might prove to be difficult, for anyone. This is why you need to keep your mind in the short-term goals and live them month by month. Once you start seeing yourself fulfilling the small goals you are going to feel motivated and committed to keeping it going.
6. Stick to your own rules
It shows commitment to yourself to have a strict set of rules and it becomes easier to follow your own fitness plans. By example, you could start by saying to yourself to never to skip more than 3 workout sessions and always have good proteins and vegetables with most of your meals.
7. You can improve your routines by having small habits
Habits, like sleeping 6 to 8 hours every day or eating fruit with every breakfast, are some of many small habits that can be built easily than later might be able to help you to remind your subconscious of your bigger habits and goals. After all, you are doing all of this because you wanted to change your life for the better.
Actually, there are many studies backing up that small habits have a huge impact in long term goals. Since people that are able to rest properly or drink the adequate amount of water are able to lose more weight than those who do not.
8. Start your day by exercising
In the morning you are going to be less tired which makes more difficult to skip sessions but also there are fewer distractions since your days are just starting. Besides, it becomes easier to make healthier decisions with your meals during the rest of the days, if you start focused first thing in the morning.
9. Do not hide behind some weak pretext
Having a healthier lifestyle is not something easy to achieve and it requires a lot of commitment. Don’t fall in those justifications: I feel tired today, there is no time, or I am busy with work, just to name some. That won’t get you anywhere just do what you have to do, and don’t feel afraid of coming out your comfort zone.
Nowadays our society is so deeply connected that it is no longer necessary to go outside to treasure hunt in our towns in order to find the perfect professional able to help us to be healthy. Instead, we can use social media in order to reach our goals in fitness.
Instagram has become one of the most popular platforms to follow experts by example: Jeanette Jenkins (@msjeanettejenkins) or Hilda Laura Amaral (@hilda.laura.amaral). Because, in real time, you are going to be able to see their routines, their results and seek their advice.
Many of these experts have years of experience, their own gymnasiums, fan clubs, and in some cases, they have published books. You can follow all their trajectory with a simple click and once you have the confidence in someone’s method you can let them help you improve your lifestyle and diet.
One of the most common mistake in dieting is to have a black and white vision with food. That might help us to avoid some really bad foods, like junk food, but it will not save us from bad habits. So it is recommended to have a wider perspective over what we are needing to eat.
Lowering the intakes of calories and sugar, even when it has good intentions, is not always recommended. However, precise control of calories does matter. We must keep our attention on the quality of the foods we are eating.
One rule of thumb is to seek that 80% of all our calories are made of real food prioritizing proteins, fats and vegetables. This is fishes, eggs, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and with all these the right proportion of carbohydrate depending on our energy expenses.
You are going to expend more energy the more active you are. Therefore you are going to be able to take more carbohydrates. Our body is like any other machine the more work it does the more energy is going to need.
The human organism can store the extra of carbohydrates as glycogen until certain storage capacity; we use this resource when we exercise. However, when we have that excess without any activity, it is just going to be transformed into fat.
In order to improve your lifestyles, the first big steps are to change your diets and also to exercise more. However many experts agree that changing the diets might prove to be the most difficult of the two.
Usually changing our diets require a long time commitment and some painful sacrifices, at first. But exercising can be enjoyable, relaxing and it only requires a few hours of the week; that way is not near close as overwhelming to most people.
Like in any other discipline to be successful with fitness it is necessary to find something you love about it. Besides, it is best to take things one step at the time in order to build momentum. Those who are able to manage to be at a slow pace without desperate are, in most expert’s experiences, the ones that achieve the most.
People tend to see lifestyle changes as a way to change what they are into some expectation, most of the times unreal, of what they want. This view is totally wrong as it builds unnecessary weigh over our shoulders.
Before starting a new routine let’s remove the phrase “I should” from our vocabularies. Instead, try to find something you feel interested in that new lifestyle and with the new training; becoming stronger, faster, having more stamina or even just being healthier. It is better to find that thing that motivates you to seek your goal.
Take in mind that we live in an era where our time seems to be mostly busy. This is due to the easy access to a never-ending stream of information; that can take our attention in any second. That means that in order to stop saying that you are going to do it and doing it for real it is going to take some will force.
Besides you are going to find so much data and different pieces of advice about diets and exercise that won’t be a mystery if you don’t know how to even start. Because of that, just make it simple and remember your body needs amino acids (meet), minerals and vitamins (fruits and vegetables), omega 3 and omega 6 besides other fatty acids (nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oils, and oiled fishes).
The best advice to anyone interested in a goal is to celebrate the small victories. Small changes add momentum and allow you to see and feel your progress. With time all these changes are going to add up making possible everything you dreamed about.
