 Jackie (pictured above) had family visiting last week, so only made it in on Friday to train with me.
Her plan was to drop in at a local gym to hit the other 2 sessions, and not miss training. She only made it for one. I sent her the percentages for the lifts she would do on her own. She covered both lifts in that one session, setting a personal record in one of them - the Press - on her own. Her upper body pressing and pulling strength is something we've spent the past few months working on. Her PR on Wednesday was 5lbs over the top weight I gave her. She wanted to see what it felt like. She reported that "it went right up." Progress is addicting. It will keep you on track when it gets inconvenient to train. Progress builds confidence. Confidence helps you to see a greater vision for yourself to push toward. Create a vision for yourself. Find a path that will lead you to it. Commit to that without fail. If you do those 3 things for a year, 2018 will close on a very different you.
0 Comments
 With Thanksgiving just past, THE HOLIDAY SEASON has officially begun.
This is normally a time when people give in to the busyness of the season - real or perceived, and put off training the body and mind and eating like an adult until after the New Year - when things calm down to a more routine pace. This is weak, plain and simple. You need to manage your life - regardless of what's happening around you. Waiting for the New Year to start improving yourself is, literally, insane. If you're unhappy or unsatisfied with any aspect of yourself, why would you put off taking steps to change? A.) Laziness B.) Fear C.) Apathy D.) Inertia of the status quo I can't help you if your answer falls in one the first three. No one can. If that's you, and you're not satisfied with where you are, then you need to change your attitude and thought pattern. If, on the other hand, the inertia of the same routine and expectation is what keeps you from taking action toward bettering yourself, let me offer you some clarity. Most people who are not already involved in some disciplined form of training, eating, and living will gain around 5-10 lbs over the holidays. The extra weight gain (which they'll struggle to lose in the New Year), along with the absence of a sense of control will cause a low level of guilt, frustration, and disappointment without having any counter in their life to offset it. The conditioned response - once the holidays are over - is to jump at the easiest and least expensive fitness and weight loss option promising the fastest results. Most of these resolution exercisers will fail and drop out of whatever they're doing within the first 2-3 months. Many who last beyond that will start to trail off as the weather turns warmer and Spring turns to Summer. These people will remain trapped in this cycle of mediocrity - never seeing any real or lasting change to their bodies or their minds. They never had the understanding of commitment to begin with. Doing anything when it comes easy requires little to nothing of you. It has little value attached to it. When something costs you - whether it's time, money, effort, or all three, it begins to mean something to you. Seeing results is important. Results are why you invested. Results show you that you're moving in the right direction. What those results cost you, however - the time, money, and effort - are what anchor you to the process. Letting it slip means your effort was in vain. The more you sacrificed to get there, the more you let fall from your grasp. So you push on and continue to progress. The commitment to the process - the effort it takes to do what is necessary - is what separates you from the status quo. In case you haven't been paying attention - The status quo is a disappointment. This year, you can do the same thing, and let external circumstances dictate what you do to make yourself better. You won't be alone. There will be plenty of company. OR You can do something different this year. Start getting better now.  I think a lot of people struggle with maintaining consistency in at least one area of their life. They have a good run starting a new habit or practice until something inevitably comes along that disrupts their routine.
Their momentum gets broken and they have a hard time getting back in it. This leads to frustration, discouragement, and depression. It's kind of like pushing or pulling a heavy sled or vehicle. The worst thing you can do - especially when you're getting fatigued- is stop. It's easier to keep the load moving than to break inertia to get it started again. Most stop because they feel they've run out of strength and stamina, or the motivation or inspiration just isn't there. Strength and stamina are developed by pushing farther than before, over and over. Motivation and inspiration rely on emotion and opportunity. Discipline relies on habit and integrity. Discipline requires you to set standards and goals and find a way to meet them. Discipline will keep you pushing forward through discomfort and fatigue. Setting goals and meeting them will keep you focused and on task, while building your confidence. Consistent repetition will build strength and staying power in that practice. Create a vision of yourself - give it purpose and power, and let it drive you to develop the mindset and habits to lead you to success.  For me, the gym is a sacred place
It's a place of unlimited opportunity It's a place where you can change the very fabric of who you are. It's a place where you can leave the outside world behind in the pursuit of something greater than what that world can offer you. Regardless of your past - your genetics, upbringing, lifestyle, belief systems - it's a place for you to abandon who you were to fight for who you want to become. It’s a place where insecurity is shrugged off and confidence is built. It’s a place where second chances are born and comebacks are made. It’s a place where lives are changed through hard work, dedication, and discipline. What you do in the gym, good or bad, is yours and yours alone. The product is the direct result of your application. What you build there no one can take, and no one can claim. The more devoted time you put into the gym, the more you learn about yourself - how far you’re willing to go, how strong you are mentally and emotionally. If you’re truly dedicated, you learn how to strengthen the mind and spirit along with the body. You don't have to break records, go crazy, or kill yourself, but you do have to show up and give it your best for that day. In your gym, the day's distractions, worries, and weight go away. Or they at least become a little quieter, only existing as background noise, giving way to the focus on the work to be done. The frustrations, fears, doubts, and anger are driven aside by the will to overcome something that can be handled, felt, grasped, struggled with, and bested. You are left more empowered, more self assured, and with a quiet mind. The thought of constant, continual growth, of unrelenting forward pressure toward personal greatness frightens some people. That's ok. The weight room is not for everyone. It's for those with the vision to see what they can become and the boldness to take aggressive action toward that end.  Pictured above is Redemption gym member Mindi - on her way to a current Squat PR of 2 Sets of 125lb x 5. Mindi's been working hard, making a comeback. She averages 4x per week in the gym - regardless of how she feels. She's overhauled her nutrition and the way she looks at food - a MAJOR step for her - leading to significant change in body composition. When she's going through a rough spot, she reaches out for guidance, support, and maybe the occasional gentle foot to the rear. She's kicking ass, pushing through resistance, and crushing the training and the lifestyle - working hard to be the best that she can be. Mindi has a family, and she owns and operates her own business - MH Financial CPA Firm, LLC. She is extremely busy, works long, crazy hours, and is subject to enormous amounts of stress. Through all of this - in spite of all this - she makes a way to get to her training AND to eat in a way that supports her body and where she wants to be. None of this has been easy for her to do. She trains when she wants to stay home and crash. She eats when she doesn't want to, and she eats what she knows she should instead of what she'd rather eat. Mindi is DEDICATED. The product of her DEDICATION is significant fat loss and muscle gain, increases in strength and performance, and both hormonal and metabolic improvement. A side product of all of this, though - and one of the most overlooked yet important benefits of training - has been the development of her mental strength - her Will and Drive. Dedication to a cause or goal leads to discipline. It's how you can do what needs to be done to get what and/or where you want. It's basically being a grown up and doing the right thing as opposed to allowing your emotions to lead you around. We all have our areas where we can apply more dedication and discipline, where we're relying too much on inspiration and motivation instead of raw desire for something more, something better. We can look at people like Mindi - people who are too busy, too tired - overwhelmed and generally not spending their workday daydreaming about lifting weights and odd objects - yet who consistently show up and put the work in. We can see their progress, the momentum they create for themselves, and perhaps we can shake off our own excuses, our own childish need for everything to come easy, and find a way to dedicate ourselves to that cause we hold dear. |
AuthorEric Chasko is the head of Redemption. He is a Performance Enhancement Specialist, Certified Underground Strength Coach, Progressive Fighting Systems Full Instructor, and Blauer Tactical Systems SPEAR: Personal Defense Readiness Trainer. From young athletes to busy professionals, he helps people develop the physical, mental, and emotional strength to win on the field, on the street, and in life. Archives
June 2021
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed Site powered by Weebly. Managed by FatCow