Last week I discussed what it takes to accomplish a huge goal in your fitness, and, really, in your life. The first two components we outlined were time and patience. I introduced the concept that reaping the rewards from the actual journey are far greater than accomplishing the actual goal. I introduced the idea to challenge yourself with something really huge, like, for example, the photo below.
The last two ingredients for reaching a big fitness goal are commitment and state of mind/practicing mindfulness.
Remember Dominika, my colleague who just completed a Half Ironman. Or how about Jason, another Stylebook regular blogger, in his last Ironman triathlon? Do you think he was committed? Do you think either of their states of mind played a role in how they approached her plan? Think they ever didn’t want to train? You bet!
Let’s add one of my dear friends, Magda, above, a loyal FOR client for years. Back in April, Magda re-committed herself to practicing a “5 Minute Flow” daily. Do you think commitment, time, patience, and her state of mind played a role on those days she really wanted to skip it? Magda’s Flow almost makes me cry…she is crushing them! This is nothing compared to others she does regularly!
3) Commitment
What does it mean to commit to a fitness goal. (Notice I did not mention a body composition goal.)
Do you write it down?
Do you “go public” with it?
Do you block off your busy schedule to practice 4-6 times? Per week?
The euphoric feeling of finally being able to run a mile, placing in a half Ironman, or for me, finally getting to five real pull-ups, is worth making it a priority.
Do you think you’ll get stronger?
Do you think you’ll drop pounds?
Do you think you’ll get to know your body better than ever before?
Yes to all three.
4) State of Mind
Accomplishing my pull-ups took time as I mentioned in the previous post. It also took consciously not letting my mind play tricks on me. Even in the 75 percent of practices where I failed, I turned them into successes by not giving in. I got uncomfortable…
Practicing mindfulness about my body is incredibly important. Jason, Dominka, the women in the Athleta catalog photo also were mindful of how they felt as they trained for their goals. They know their bodies. They fed them what they needed to perform, like an athlete would. They paid close attention to their body, knowing when it was a good decision to train, and when it was not, when to take it easy, and when to crush it.
For me, my sleep is already a huge priority. Yet when it was a stressful day, that wasn’t the day to pull out my 90 percent max. It was a day to do Flows, yoga poses, carry stuff overhead, crawl: all movements that would still complement my goal, yet not tax my nervous system more than it already was.
Back to the photo above, the plyo push-ups that inspired me.
How can you get there? You practice correctly performed push-ups. You do push-ups in every way possible. You need to build strength in your chest, back, and core. Leg strength, too. You need to GET STRONG — everywhere — and make your strength a badge of honor to help get you through your days. But to get to that, what it really takes is:
- Making it a commitment, a top priority, going public with friends and family
- Time (duration and practice sessions) above all other priorities
- State of mind/Practice Mindfulness: Paying attention to your body in the keenest of ways
- Being patient along the journey with your body; it will reward you in ways you never imagined
A fitness goal, my dear readers, will indeed lead to a body composition goal. What do you think the ingredients are? Ha…Time, Patience, Commitment and a positive state of mind.
