We are all capable of achieving incredible things when it comes to our health and fitness. Why is it we see so many people give up?
It is super tempting in our moments of inspiration to ramp things right up – we’re gonna:

  • get to the gym 5-6 times per week and train the house down every session
  • throw a 5km run in each week
  • cut out all “cheat meals” and cut out alcohol for a month at a time
  • eliminate sugar and carbohydrates from your diet
  • try some fasting because that’s good for weight loss someone said

This inspiration generally doesn’t last long – the soreness starts to kick in, maybe you get the odd niggle/injury. Your “new diet” is way too restrictive and you’re feeling like crap and not functioning well in your day to day life.

Early in my coaching career – I fell into a bit of a trap here with clients that wanted to change “everything” and in my enthusiasm to want to help them, I’d work through a whole series of things the client could do. So whilst this worked for some people some of the time, invariably a number of people got overwhelmed, and/or found it too hard too soon.

Building a foundation slowly can also be a challenge, but has a much higher success rate. The compounding effect of simple habits mastered and built upon is a sure fire way to set yourself up for long term success.

Take the humble (and generally undervalued) walk – the convenience of modern society has meant that most people don’t do enough of it. How hard would it be to set your alarm for half an hour earlier tomorrow morning? Use that extra half an hour to get your walk in. Aim to do that for 3 -4 weeks, 3 times per week. If you miss one morning, make it up before the week is out.

Once you have mastered that habit, add some strength training in, pick 2-3 other days each week for that slightly earlier alarm – you’ll be in rhythm of waking up that little bit earlier. 6-10 push ups, 10 air squats, 10 sit ups – rest as needed between exercises and completed rounds – see how many you can work through in 15 minutes – write it down and try to get more each time. Aim to do that for 3-4 weeks, 2-3 times per week.

More than likely you’re body will be wanting for better food to fuel your exercise – as your movement habits are now built, you can pay more attention to your nutrition. 2.5 – 3L of water per day is a great goal, and everyone benefits from adding a full cup of vegetables to their meals – focus on these 2 elements first and solidify them consistently as habits.

Our mantra at GSD is to meet our clients where they are at – this applies to our initial consultation and initial few months post joining, and remains a consistent theme along their journey with us. At points along our journey, we may need to dial our habits back a level or two, this is just as important to recognise as when to stretch ourselves.

We’re all on our own journey, moving the needle forward from where you are will mean different things for different people, particularly given what our own end goal is.

If you’re feeling a bit “stuck” right now and not happy with where you’re at – reflect on the simplest thing you can do to gain some momentum. If you need some help working that out – shoot me a message colin@gsdperformance.com.au