Dear All,
I was always obsessed with watching people with perfect body control and their strong, lean figures. I love ballet because I can lose myself in the effort-less moves of the dancers. I can stare forever on the perfect, powerful strokes of swimmers. I can’t stop watching yoga masters as they pull up into handstand, hover back into plank, and continue with their flows.
I do not earn my money with workouts (yet); and a balanced workout routine won’t get me to master level
That said, I do not earn my money with workouts (yet); and a balanced workout routine of running, pump, and yoga won’t get me to master level in any of the disciplines. With some finetuning, getting better results is possible, still. My aim was to run longer and faster, lift more, and reach my toes easier. And, of course, get lean.
My 5 actions ‘in action’
Here is how my 5 actions from ‘Achieving your goals, even fake ones’ looked like in that setting:
- Be convinced of and committed to your goals: I got expert advice from my orthopedist and my general practitioner: My knees were good to go for 10+ km runs, and I was in good health for workout experiments. What’s more, this increased my commitment, as we set up follow-up appointments, and I wanted to show progress.
- Create ‘lighthouses:’ I signed up for a lot of fitness influencers and fitness brands on Instagram. If all you see are posts of athletes and the new fancy sports gear (vs food porn), working out is a much more natural choice. If unfollowing people is too radical for you – try ‘mute.’
- Remove distractors: I am always surprised why people think it’s appropriate to tell others how to train or what to eat. Unless they are certified coaches, their advice is worthless. Well, most of these interactions simply disappeared with WFH! When comments still pop up, I have my change-the-topic-sentence ‘I know, but I love this too much!’ and add a question about something the person is passionate about.
- Plan for failure, or, set-up for success: Two elements here:
- Getting strong: If I don’t work out in the morning, I likely won’t work out at all. With gyms closed due to corona, spring rain showers, and temperatures below freezing in the morning, I set up my own home gym: weights, step, sliders, TRX, yoga mat, fascia rolls, and much more. There was no excuse! If you are playing with the idea of a home gym, too, but think you don’t have enough space or it’s too ugly for your apartment – a body pump set is very compact, easy to store/hide, and gives you a great cardio and strength workout.
- Getting lean: You can’t eat what you don’t have at home. Fill your fridge with vegetables and protein, and you are halfway there. If you are new to nutrition, it’s also a good idea to invest in understanding what your body actually needs and how much energy which food carries. Cutting down on alcohol and ‘empty’ energy from white bread or food high on fat and sugar is a simple fix with high pay-off.
- Celebrate success, also along the way: My rewards were 100% linked to my goals. Bodypump weights too light? – ordered a second set. Longer runs? – got fancier running shoes. Bored from my at-home routines? – More on-demand subscriptions (les mills addicted!). If you are new to working out, personal training classes could be a nice reward, improving your technique and variety.
In ‘Fake priorities’ I mentioned KPIs to measure success – well, young and fresh out of university, I was dreaming of wearing that wonderful, beautiful dress I got myself a couple of months earlier, and which I have not worn. Until now.
It felt gorgeous. This year, I have real priorities on my anniversary list.
Take care,
Katia