As a fitness professional, I spend
a lot of time in the gym. It can be a
wonder of how someone such as myself could keep up a high motivation for
training myself and others. After
working with clients all day and spending most of the day inside the gym,
motivation does not come easy. I have
learned a few things over the years that have helped me to continue to drive
myself to train as hard as I need to and to push my clients in the same way.
For the fitness professional
- Find a different gym to train at other than
where you work.
If you work in a gym, chances are most people know you and feel
comfortable enough to approach you whenever they see you “available” in their
eyes. This is a good thing for business
but it can be a problem when it comes to your personal workouts. I suggest that you get the heck out of there
whenever you can and train at a different gym.
Being unknown or at least keeping to yourself is sometimes necessary to
get the work in that you need and to keep your focus during your training
sessions.
- Plan your schedule wisely
One of the greatest things about working as a personal trainer is the
freedom to manage your own schedule.
Conversely, one of the worst things is that your schedule is at the mercy
of your clients. This often leads to
trainers working split shifts. Many
trainers can manage the split shift just fine but it does take some planning
ahead to pull it off successfully.
Be
sure to prioritize yourself into your schedule setting boundaries of when you
are “available to clients” and “unavailable to clients.” This includes limiting the extra-early
morning clients and the late-night clients that turn a 10-12 hour day into a 14
hour day. Plan your shifts so that you
can provide an honest quality service to all of your clients and to get in your
own quality training sessions throughout the week.
For the competitor
- Find a gym that supports your sport/style of
training
This should be a big priority for those who are serious about their training. It is hard to improve your deadlift in a gym
that doesn’t allow chalk, doesn’t have bumper plates, and frowns upon loud
crashing weights. It is also helpful to
get in an environment with like-minded people and people that are stronger than
you. You might be the biggest fish in
the pond but there is always the ocean.
- Remember that your competition may out-train you
While
you may want to take a day off or only push yourself so far, just remember that
you are giving your competition the chance to out-train you.
For the general public
- Establish a few realistic, specific, and time
sensitive goals
Goals are important. More
precisely, specific goals are important.
They provide your training with purpose and help to establish a means to
measure progress; both of which are motivating.
Training with purpose and recognizing (and celebrating) progress is a
good way to keep motivation alive.
- Find your “Fitness Identity”
Finding a fitness identity can be tricky for some but once you have it,
it does wonders for motivating your training.
A fitness identity is a trait that one can identify with that is related
to fitness. An example of this would be associating
an activity, such as running, to an individual.
“I run often, therefore, I am a runner,” or “I train to improve my
total, therefore, I am a powerlifter.”
Once a fitness identity is established, training purpose is established
or reinforced and you may find that other aspects such as nutrition and
lifestyle choices may coincide more with the new found fitness identity.
To
summarize, your training needs to be a priority if you truly want to reach your
goals. As Adrian would say, “Good things
come to those who wait… go out and f*cking earn it!”
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