Keep Showing Up
Consistency wins. Have you ever heard that expression? It’s true in anything that you choose to pursue. Right now, particularly in fitness training, we are excited about the results that “intensity” provides. Due to this excitement people chase the heaviest lifts, the most “pukey” looking conditioning or the hardest challenge they can find for the gym that day. And with good reason! Intensity provides the greatest return on our efforts when it comes to “bang for the buck”. If you train with proper intensity you can spend less time in the gym, less days a week and still get better results than someone in there that is practically standing around and socializing with their time. The downside is that if you aren’t familiar with the best training strategy or you don't have a personal coach then you can end up on the wrong side of intensity and wind up hurt or even burnt out from your training efforts.
This is an odd time for us all. Some days I personally wake up motivated to get up early and be productive like writing an article like this, send emails, check on orders then get into the garage for a great training session. But then there are also days where I am just the opposite, don’t want to wake up until I have to, I am much more “responsive” to work instead of proactive and I don’t look forward to training at all. I know that I’m not the only one in this situation and I don’t mean to make it seem like this never happened before, but right now, with what the world is going through it seems more severe I suppose. My point is, that in that specific moment when I don’t want to train or be productive I must “show up”.
“Showing up” is half the battle and maybe even more so when it comes to training. When you feel too sore, or burnt out or demotivated to train, if you simply show up to the gym then good things can still happen. Of course I’m not saying that if you just walk outside or walk into your garage that your workout will happen for you, it won’t. But I am saying that if you can get over the mental obstacle of getting dressed in workout clothes, going to the location you normally do your training or plan on for that day, then you’ll likely do the work. The workout may not be a personal best, and you may not wow your peers watching from their “social distance” away, but you are there! This is the consistency that I speak to that makes for the greatness you are chasing. But how?
When we overcome the temptation to miss a day or skip a session we build confidence. We are in fact choosing a “hard right, over and easy wrong”. This is one of the traits I use to describe someone who is mentally tough. When we continue to prove to ourselves that we won’t succumb to our current emotion, or lack of enthusiasm and do what we need to do anyway then it breeds even greater purpose in what we do. Just because that day won’t be the most intense or may need some modifications to your program doesn’t mean it won’t make you better. In fact those workouts, the ones you don’t want to show up for are the ones that make you great and influence your life outside of the gym more than others. If you are reading this then you are likely human like me, which means we know that on good days it’s easy to be great and be motivated and positive. But on the days we don’t have “it” or aren’t feeling “it” it’s much harder. What if you can be the one who brings everyone else's levels higher at work on slow days? What if you can inspire your spouse to do harder things when they are struggling simply by handling your own life that way? Remember that even the most personal decisions are rarely about just you, specifically if you are in a relationship, have a spouse or children.
The next time you don’t want to train, or feel demotivated to get up and get your work done for the day, try something. Just show up, you’ll be grateful you did. Something is better than nothing. This is just as true for nutrition and supplementation as it is for training. If you want Refuel, Rebalance, Immunity + Complex, Recover or Restart to really work for you then you must develop a discipline with taking them. Create routines, set timers and reminders and the results you are seeking will be that much greater as you combine true consistency in both nutrition and your physical training!
