If you want to get fit, eventually the day will come when you’ve got to get started. I always hear people speculating about when they’re “gonna” get back into training and aim towards a fitness improvement, weight loss or event completion. I’ve heard it all, sometimes this chat is a total yawnfest but it forces me to wonder what these people need to get from the chat phase to the action phase.
Many of us currently live in the chat phase and from the evidence I’ve seen, we need to move to the action phase ASAP. So, what do you need to do to get yourself there? What puts you in the right head space? What gets you going?
Many accomplished people talk about their pre-race ritual or getting their training surroundings just right before beginning a training block. From the chat I hear all the time, I can only conclude that the getting-started-ritual applies to us all.
Try to identify your ritual and use it as the catalyst.
We all have a ritual way of getting ourselves into the training zone. One girl I know does a particular hardcore diet, another guy I know starts training when he reaches 99kg and another mate of mine buys new full length tights and shaves his chest just to get himself in the right frame of mind (total guru).
Ask yourself, before you start a fitness campaign what needs to happen for the training phase to achieve a respectable level of longevity?
The examples above illustrate how some rituals seem ridiculous and from an outsider’s perspective they usually are, no question. But if it works for you, do it. It’s important to focus on the positive drive that comes off your ritual than how pathetic the ritual really is.
I did spray my mate about shaving his chest at the time but was happy to stand corrected while he trained-the-house-down in the months following. Focus on his good work, don’t belittle his belief. Coaching lesson right there.
On coaching, it’s become legend that Nudgee rowers drink some kind of exotic beetroot juice before a regatta as part of their pre-race ritual. While the advantage is unknown and could only be marginal at best, its major influence is putting the boys in the right head space to row. I can’t say the coach is as convinced as the boys but that doesn’t matter.
If you’re searching for inspiration to get into some good work, work out what you need to do to get started. The time has come to employ that special strategy that gets you ‘up and about’ and into the fitness space.
Get yourself sorted and shake a leg.