Health and Fitness Standards

If you have been training for a while the desire to compare yourself and your abilities with other is probably strong. This desire for comparison and competition is fine if you have an outlet. What happens though if you train alone and don't have the opportunity to compete?

The first thing to do is compare yourself with yourself by comparing your present results with your past results. Regular benchmark session that fit in with your goals are a great idea so you can track your progress. What about how you compare with other though? Ideally you'll only be focusing on improving one or two aspects at a time so don't feel like you have to reach the top standards across all the fitness areas.

ExRx.net has a huge range of health and fitness calculators. Check them out and see how you compare. Don't be discouraged by any weaknesses you have, instead use your results to help shape your future health and fitness goals.

Behavioural Goals

Are you having trouble reaching your goals? It may be because you have set goals that are based on results rather than behaviours. Many goals based on results are hard to achieve because we can’t really control them. Losing fat, gaining muscle and improving performance aren’t exact sciences which is why there is so many different approaches to achieving these things. If you choose the wrong approach for your body, you probably won’t get the results you deserve.

When starting out you don’t really know what works for you so setting results based goals may be setting you up for failure. It is better to set your goals based on behaviours, things that you can control. For example, if you set a goal to exercise 4 times a week and you meet that goal you can feel proud that you have achieved something. This is very different to setting a goal to lose a certain amount of week based on 4 training sessions a week. What if you don’t lose the weight even though you’ve followed the plan?

If you set your goals based on behaviours you control your results through your self discipline. You can and should continue to monitor and evaluate your progress, doing so allows you to adjust your behavioural goals if necessary. Achieving your behavioural goals is a source of satisfaction and motivation that will help push you further along the health and fitness path.

The Winning Mentality

In my last post I mentioned briefly that winners take the necessary risks to win. Today I’d like to expand on that thought a little more. These thoughts can be applied to any set of goals you might have, winning is not confined to competitive sports. You win by reaching your goals whatever they may be.

Winners don’t see problems they see opportunities and solutions. Winners continue to learn and evaluate their progress providing them with solutions to problems. Learning and evaluation are keys to continued success, if all you see are obstacles and no way to overcome them you will become stuck and your progression will stall.

Winners have a solid plan, but they aren’t afraid to change if it isn’t working. Not everything will proceed exactly as you expect so take a chance and change the parts you don’t think are working. There is a saying, “Do what you have always done and you’ll get the results you’ve always gotten.” Fantastic if you are progressing as you’d like, terrible if you are not moving forwards or are going backwards.

Winners are competitive and challenge themselves. Challenge yourself by setting goals and give yourself a timeframe to complete them. Success will be easier to measure and you will push yourself harder knowing that you have goals to attain.

Finally winners continue to challenge themselves and don’t rest on past successes. There are always new challenges and new opportunities to improve. Continue to take these on and remain a winner.

Specificity of Training

Your training must be specific to your goals. This is particularly true if you are training for performance. If your performance relies on you being able to run, then you must be able to run. Lance Armstrong’s performance in the NY marathon is a great demonstration of someone seemingly having the appropriate attributes to perform well but not having trained specifically enough. A sub 3 hour marathon is a great performance for someone who didn’t train for it at all but considering Lance is the best road cyclist the world has seen you would think his performance would have been closer to an elite one.

Unfortunately for Lance his fitness on the bike didn’t transfer to running fitness. If it didn’t work well for one of the world’s elite athletes then it it’s probably not going to work for a genetically average person. Fortunately you can reach your goals despite your genetics if you train specifically for them. Increased strength will require you to lift heavy weights. Increased running speed will require fast running speeds during training. Ball sports require motor skills like running and jumping that must be practised as often as hand and foot skills like throwing and kicking.

Cross training can occur through using general means to supplement your specific training. A sprinter for instance will lift weights to increase their strength to help propel them down the track. This is in addition to their sprint training that trains their technique and speed. If all they do is lift weights they will become stronger but their running technique will fall apart and they’ll get slower.

Make sure sufficient time is devoted to your specific training before adding general training means. This will allow you to progress most directly to your goals.

Sabotaging your Success

Are you subconsciously sabotaging your own success? This can occur when you reach higher levels than you have previously. Success, even when it’s expected can make you feel uncomfortable. If you have changed your body shape dramatically or reached higher levels of performance you may not be ready for the increased attention you receive. Many people experience this situation and some will subconsciously sabotage their own success. They feel it is easier to go back to being average and become wallpaper once again.

Mental preparation is therefore vital for continued success. Not only preparing for how you will look or feel once you have reached your goal but also how others will see you and how the extra attention will affect you. Prepare yourself to deal with everything in a positive manner and use it as motivation to push you forward.

Once you are prepared for the extra attention you won’t subconsciously sabotage yourself because you are uncomfortable with you new situation. This will allow you to set new goals and progress even further.

Planning and Preparation

There are some simple steps to success that must be taken. The first is having a goal. Everyone needs a goal to strive for in their training. It doesn't matter if it's to lose 10 pounds, get your blood pressure under control or achieve something athletically. You need a goal to keep you going, to remind you why you are training hard. Give yourself a time frame and measure everything.

Secondly you need a plan to achieve your goal. Great progress cannot be made without a plan. While your plan should be set out from the start it can and should be fluid. An exercise can be changed if it isn't working, a diet can be tweaked if you are not progressing as you should. Just don't stray to far away from your original plan and evaluate everything at the end of your designated time frame.

Finally we have preparation. Preparation comes in many forms, making sure you can't fail your diet because you have everything cooked, packed and ready to go. Making sure you are physically prepared for each training session by getting enough sleep and following some sort of recovery system. Mentally preparing for each training session by reviewing what you have previously done and blocking out everything else to concentrate fully on the specific exercise you are currently performing.

Once you have a goal, a plan and prepare well success will be made much easier and come much quicker than otherwise.