I’ve lived in the land of quick fixes, magic beans and 10 minute abs for nearly 20 years. All the quick fix, fast fitness makes for quick results and a speedy regression back to s previous unhealthy state. I can’t count the number of clients that have tried to hire me to get them” beach ready” in 2-6 week, or “wedding” ready in a month. WTF does that really mean anyway???
Ever wonder why the “Biggest Loser” never has a reunion show? It’s cuz very few participants maintain their quick TV show results.
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news! But fitness, health and wellness is not a quick fix. Our modern lives are so comfortable (sedentary) that we need to make activity a major priority in our lives. Our farming ancestors had enough physical stimulation from day-to-day living/farming that a gym was not necessary to maintain a reasonable amount of muscle mass.
Now that you have decided to make fitness a priority, how will your focus and development change over time?
STAGE ONE: Mental & Physical stage
- Become familiar with movement
- learn about your body and what it can do
- Training is usually focused on body image
- Your brain starts to connect the pathways to your muscles
- Largest and quickest stage of development
- Largest failure rate (24 hour fitness)
- Athletes can become deeply attached to a particular short term outcome (today’s WOD “score”)
- This stage can last between 3-6 months
STAGE TWO: Emotional stage
- Start to understand law of diminishing returns
- Training becomes focused on performance
- Can become positively and negatively attached to results
- Learning how reps/loads/sets/times/intensities effect the mind and body
- Understanding that results and success take time and effort
- Learn about how to recover and fuel the body
- This stage can last 1+ years
STAGE THREE: Spiritual stage
- This stage is where the true master lives.
- Largest success rate
- Learn how to recover and fuel the mind
- Emotionally detached from results
- Compares results to oneself and not to others
- The true passion comes from the practice and skill development.
- This stage takes years to enter and can last a lifetime
When fitness becomes something you hunger for and not something you “have to” do the real results appear. My goal with all clients is to teach and develop true spiritual master’s of fitness.
Are you a master of fitness? Click on this blog post to see: athlete personalities
-K
