Do You Suffer From ‘I’ll Start Next Week Fit’?
We’ve all uttered the phrase ‘I’ll start next week’ at some point in our lives and not necessarily related to health & fitness. It could be in relation to cleaning out the spare room, sorting out your finances (I recommend The Barefoot Investor by the way) or getting stuck into the garden that has somehow started to resemble the Amazon jungle.
One thing I can tell you as a personal trainer is that your success with fitness isn’t actually that far away or as difficult to achieve as you might think. It just requires a few things, namely your ability to set your priorities and the understanding that you don’t have to allocate massive chunks of time to it every day.
When it comes to your health and wellness I encourage you to think of it as a constant work in progress and not an instant overnight transformation. Think of your body as a high performance vehicle. Put good fuel in it, take it out for a spin a few times a week and don’t thrash the heck out of it. Real, powerful transformation comes from small, consistent changes over time. So seek some form of consistency in what you do which is an often overlooked aspect of your health. When you make things sustainable and achievable you’re able to maintain them in the long run. The all or nothing approach often leaves you tired, dis-heartened and with… nothing.
What are ‘Behavioural Goals
Here we go… A wellness wanker talking about goals… I get it, goal setting isn’t sexy but I hope I’m introducing you to behavioural goals for the first time or at least jogging your memory. They’re a great way to keep you on track for your overall goal, or what I like to call an ‘outcome goal’. For example, if your (outcome) goal is to ‘lose 3kg by the end of March’ it helps to put some behavioural goals in place.
Behavioural goals for losing 3 kg’s would look something like:
‘I will commit to walking 40 minutes, 3 times every week’.
‘I will commit to going to bed by 10pm during the week’.
Once you have these behavioural goals in place you’ve made a commitment to yourself. Knock the behavioural goals over one by one each week and little by little you’ll create the momentum required for it to become a bigger part of your life. Momentum helps you develop confidence, confidence breeds motivation and motivation helps create passion. Heck, you might even drag a loved one or a friend with you along for the ride by this stage.
So if you suffer from being “I’ll Start Next Week Fit” take the time to create your outcome goal and then set out some sustainable and achievable behavioural goals. I’ve done this so many times with clients and I hope it can help you create some lifelong, healthy habits.
Do I Walk The Walk?
I know some of you might be thinking alright hot shot, what does your week look like? Truth be told it has changed a lot and I’ve had to shift my priorities which I fought tooth and nail against last year. My family life with my wife Zoe and three children Lucy, Jasper and Bonnie is hectic, I love all of it, but it’s chaotic. With Irish Dancing and soccer practice on from Tuesday through to Friday and games and comps on weekends, my wife and I are essentially ‘Uber For Kids’. Amongst full time work we basically run pillar to post trying to get them to practice on time whilst (unsuccessfully) trying to get a 20 month old to sleep. How am I able to train like I did in my 20’s and early 30’s? I simply can’t right now and I’ve had to reconcile with that. So what am I doing? I’ve committed to going to bed earlier in order to be able to get up at 5:50am to go to the local swimming pool to swim laps on a Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday's and Thursday's I grab my trusty Xpeed Yoga Mat and get bendy in my undies (a sight to behold, sorry neighbours) thanks to Optus Sport Fitness. This allows me to be in the kitchen helping with lunches and breakfast by 7am before I get on my merry way to the Fitness Warehouse HQ for an 8:30am start. As a night owl and a lover of a cup of tea whilst watching Netflix with wifey, this has been a white knuckled rollercoaster ride. I’ve never loved getting up early, however, I do love how my body feels when it is being used properly. I’ll be doing this for the foreseeable future because right now, it is sustainable and achievable given my circumstances.
One other thing… Less is more
I also want to let you know that more isn’t always better. Some of the most success I’ve had with clients (and myself) is by just keeping it bloody simple. Life is stressful enough without trying to layer a fitness class and/or workout into everyday. So when you’re looking at increasing activity try to make sure it’s something you enjoy. Fitness shouldn’t be a chore, your body loves to move and is made to move. The simple act of going for a few walks during the week does wonders.
Good luck setting your behavioural goals and you're looking to get started with your fitness try these 3 workouts!
Written by Fitness Warehouse Personal Trainer, Simon Mitchell. Simon has a Bachelor of Human Movement, is a certified FMS trainer and has worked in the fitness industry since 2003. Simon started his fitness journey as a trainer with iNform Health and Fitness before moving into commercial radio and then back into fitness with Bodyism in the United Kingdom and Australia. A career highlight was being one of Daisy Ridley's personal trainers on Star Wars IX - The Rise Of Skywalker.