I want to keep this short and sweet.
Let’s be honest, the attention spans are so short these days a longer post would be losing altitude the moment it got off the runway.
We all have goals. Whether it’s success at a job, success in the mirror, or a goal for something inner like happiness we all strive to gain something. That’s the reason we don’t through the covers back over our head and hit the snooze button (although some probably do). The point is that the effort you put into your appearance, your job, and those around you is for a reason. To get a result.
Speaking in terms of the fitness world, there is just too much distraction. So much noise in a subject that is so simple. You show up, put in the work, and get a result. Yet there are millions of supplements, new exercises, and fads clouding your vision. Make a karate chop with me and metaphorically cut through all that crap. If you want to gain something, go out and get that for yourself. Nothing ever beats focused, calculated hard work. Put the phone down when you train, stop talking to your friend at every exercise in your program, and zero in on what you are doing. I’ve spent time recently in a commercial gym and it’s just too prevalent. We all want to enjoy the process of getting to where we want to be, but that doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to be distracted so easily.
This brings me to three tips this week for the next time you go to the gym:
- Write your workout down- This can be in your iPhone notes or on a piece of paper. Writing your plan down on a piece of paper has value because it keeps you from starting on a lower body workout and somehow blacking out waking up in a spin class. Stay on point, stay focused on what you came to do.
- Concentrate on great technique- Too much emphasis has been placed on the type of exercise and not enough on the way the movement is performed. Fitness blogs are flooding your search engines with “new squat that tones better than the old one” type of fluff. A squatting movement is just that. How you hold the kettlebell or where you place the bar may make it more comfortable, but a squat is beneficial so work on squatting extremely efficient before you try some new brazilian youtube squat workout. Mastery is still important.
- Save your conversations for later- If you signed up at the gym just to improve your social life, I suppose we are not talking about the same thing. But, if you signed on the dotted line so that you could make improvements to yourself physically, stop wasting 15 minutes at the curl rack catching up with your buddy. The gym is where a lot of nonverbal stuff can happen that has a positive impact on your life. I encourage you to keep tunnel vision and keep your eye on the prize, unless the prize is the girl/guy across the gym. Don’t do that, it’s creepy.
If you can follow these three tips, it’ll dramatically improve the return you see from the investment you are making in yourself.
Anyone looking for an online training resource, check out @athleticagain on instagram.
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