Some of you will know that Ralph and I became part of the Battle Of The Nations - Team Scotland in early 2013. Well 2014 has rolled around and it's time to get training, better late than never!
I love organizing things, so when it came to training I decided the only way I was going to start is if I had a plan, pinterest has come in quite handy, something any techy-guru will have already stumbled upon. Inspiration from other great men & women fighters in HMB (Historic Medieval Battle) have been a big influence on me at the moment along with the giants of Worlds Strongest Man, which kick started my fuel just at the end of 2013 to roll into training for the new year. There is nothing like watching hard work payoff straight in front of your eyes to get your workout juices flowing! Yeah that was a little gross, wasn't it? Good...
Starting my training I have no problem with, it's keeping at my training that's the problem. I get bored easily, distracted, and in order to keep my interest I need something to force me to keep up, keep going. So with the help of a few things, I will be keeping a progress report via Bumped-Up so that I have to keep checking in. Plus I can look back and see the progress, that's always a great way to stay inspired!
How To Start & Stay on your training regime!
- Get Inspired! - Here are a few ways I got inspired
1. Watching Worlds Strongest Man.
2. Aspiring to a weightlifter or person of the body build/strength you want to be. Mine is Mother Russia from Kick Ass 2. - Planning Your Training Routine.
After you get inspired the biggest mistake people make is going full out rather than starting slow. You get all worked up and excited about the finish line of a goal you've made in your head and you immediately go out and try and lift weights too heavy for you and either get an injury or deterred because you couldn't pick them up or got too tired after the workout, putting you in a workout hangover for the next week which causes all that inspiration you had the first week to evaporate into thin air.
A fitness routine should change when you change, you calculate your strength, speed, agility and health and coordinate a routine that fits to those things. When you start to feel that the routine is getting easy, you add/change things to make it tougher, this continues, it never stops, you will ALWAYS be adjusting your routine!
A routine should never bore you, if it's boring, you WONT stick to it, a run in the park is good for one, but maybe a run on the treadmill in front of the T.V fits better for another. If you don't like it, you shouldn't be doing it, that being said, if you don't like it because it's "too hard" then chances are you've tried to do too much at once and you've made that mistake I was talking about earlier. - Check In! - Keeping a log of your progress
Whether it's starting a workout journal, creating a fitness blog, or even hiring a personal trainer to check in with. This is a great way to keep at the workouts, but it has to be the right one.
A Workout Journal is great for someone who wants to keep a log of what they've done, the weight they started at, the weight they've lost, and the muscle mass they've gained, this can keep you inspired to stay on your training regime.
A Fitness Blog is great for someone who spends their spare time at the computer when they're not working out, plus it reminds them to work out when they are on the computer and not just get stuck at the desk, like I would... It also helps you get inspired when other's start to take note or also get inspired by your progress, this is great at fuelling you to make it to the finish line. You can also keep track of what you've done, return to it any time you need too, and you're not clogging up the house or workroom with paper. Also great for those of you who are prone to losing the workout journal you started!
A Personal Trainer is a good investment for someone who needs to be pushed, who knows they will not stick to the goal or know when to change their routine. Someone to check in with every week makes sure you don't listen to the voice in your head that says "it's fine, I'll do extra tomorrow" Everything you need will be done for you except the actual exercising. They'll keep track of how you're doing, so you don't have to. A personal trainer is also good for someone who is going into speciality training, like martial arts, etc. as if you're a beginner you're not going to know where to start, which is alright, even the biggest and the best started from the bottom when it comes to training. Otherwise they wouldn't need to train, would they? - Creating a goal/s
In order to keep training and to even start, you need to have a goal. Well my big goal is to be fit enough to win a BOTN battle. But like I said before, it's good to start slow. In training not only do you have to have a set goal, you have to have smaller goals that help you work your way up to the set goal. My smaller goal for the next couple of months is to be able to lift the Ancient Testing Stone of Fianna, located along the Glen Lyon, in Scotland. It weighs around 300lbs. And even that I'm starting to think is too high of a goal for the next few months! We'll have to wait and see! - Take Care Of Yourself - It's time for a treat!
For all your hard work, it is vital that you don't over do it, as this WILL set you back rather than help you forward. With this, if you get an injury, make sure it's treated properly and that you work your injury in with your routine (if a doctor permits it) even the smallest of injury's need to be nursed properly or they could become more serious ones. So this is where treating yourself comes in, and I don't mean by rewarding yourself with food!
If you've been working hard, a rest period is al right, as long as it doesn't throw you off your training, besides you deserve something for all the time you've spent on yourself. A massage is a great way of relaxing and even tending to any muscle problems you may have come across during training, new clothes that show off your progress etc. these are things you've earned and also help you with your training at the same time as being a reward. But don't think giving in to binging on food or stopping any exercise for a week/month is a good reward, this WILL make you feel like you've gone backwards instead of forward and could throw all progress you've made so far. That's not rewarding, that's punishing.
If you stick to it, the end results will be fantastic, no matter how far away and impossible as it seems, you can get there! I say this as a sluggish housewife on the couch at 12am after having TWO dinners because of family events and stuffing myself with the left over chocolates. I've been here before, I got out of it, and it was amazing. When I had our son, I let myself go again as it was time to enjoy that event in my life. I probably shouldn't have forgotten about myself, but as a mum, that's what we do isn't it? Well, it's time to include myself again, get my flabby bottom off the couch and back, no, forward to the even better version of who I was before I started picking at the champagne truffles for the second time in my life!
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