Health and fitness is extremely important to me. I am bound to say that as a personal trainer but hear me out. Every day I make a conscious choice to do something that improves my fitness, and therefore my health, because I want to look and feel healthy and fit. However, fitness is not the most important thing in my life on any one day. Family, friends and my influence on others are a bigger priority. So I tend to think of my fitness training as I do my breakfast – it’s important to do it, and to do it well. But just like breakfast, the success of my day should not depend on it.
Fitness training becomes all consuming
When you set outcome goals for your training it’s important that you also set the process goals that will help you to achieve them. Being motivated and committed are key components of being in the 8% that actually realise their goals. Achieving a certain performance level or body type should be exciting and challenging. Because of this, it can fast become all consuming too. Whether it’s being able to see your abs in the mirror for the first time, or being able to run a mile without stopping – fitness can be extremely rewarding. Over time the body adapts and you notice improvements in performance and appearance. This motivation can be extremely powerful and keeps you going. However, there are certainly times when it can become all consuming. After all, hitting a target bodyweight is way more exciting / rewarding than making supper for the kids!
There are certainly numerous times when I have allowed fitness training to become the focus of my day. Looking back, this has been to the detriment of other important areas of daily life. As someone who enjoys competitive P.E in the form of CrossFit, where everything it measured against time or load, I can get sucked into the competition of it all. Who’s going faster, who’s lifting what? How do I compare? What do I need to do to become more competitive. Sometimes this has meant I’ve spent too much time at the gym when I could have spent more time with the family. But at the end of the day who cares if I get faster or lift heavier. It’s a nice to do, not a must do. Being their for other people, and impacting positively on them, for me is a must do – non negotiable.
Fitness training is not so important
If you allow your fitness training to become the focus of each day then be prepared for some ups and downs. Allowing it to get the point where an under performance at the gym makes you miserable or poor company for those around is not the healthiest perspective. Being able to place your health and fitness regime into perspective is a valuable skill, requiring a decent level of emotional intelligence. And that is why my fitness programme, whilst comprehensive, has the same level of importance as my breakfast. I need to do it well every day. To the best of my ability. But if I miss it or can’t have my breakfast of choice for some reason then it isn’t going to ruin my day or my life!
NK Fitness are Ascot’s leading personal trainers and help many people achieve a healthy lifestyle. We do this through fitness training and instilling proper lifestyle habits. Our friendly personal trainers are completely mobile and possess the necessary experience and expertise to help you achieve your health and fitness goals in a way that suits you and your lifestyle. For a free, no obligation consultation please contact us using the contact page.
