Making Time, Being Consistent, and
Having a Plan
Trying to
stay on a program is sometimes hard. Day-to-day activities get in the way, unexpected
things come up, and somehow training and making healthy choices stray to the
wayside. Then before you know it you are making poor food choices, not
training, and going about your day without a plan. It is easy to get lost in
this cycle. The day ends up running you, you feel like you’re not in control,
and there is “not enough time.”
How do we get out of this downward
spiral?
Have a plan
and be consistent! This concept applies to training the same way it applies to
going to work or class, or any other high-priority activity. Making
training/exercising a higher priority on the list is the best way to combat the
aforementioned problem. If you have a hard time justifying this, and you put
menial tasks in front of training/exercising, I’ll explain how I put this into
perspective for myself.
Taking the
time out of your day, no matter how busy it gets, to train is one of the best
investments you can make in yourself. It gives you a chance to focus on the
task at hand, take your mind off the clutter, and most importantly, improves
your performance and health. Choosing to make this a higher priority than
everything else going on reinforces the fact that nothing else I could be doing
at that time is more important than my health. If I decide to skip training in
favor of other tasks, I am essentially creating the mindset that the other task
I’m choosing to perform is more important than my wellbeing. There are most
definitely some rare instances where this holds true, but before you ever
decide to make that trade ask yourself, “Is this thing that I am about to go do
instead of train really more important than my health and longevity?” Sure it
may pay off in the short run and you might get that extra hour to study, run
errands, go out with friends to get some drinks, or procrastinate and binge-watch
Netflix. But at that point you are inadvertently telling yourself that those
things are more important than your long-term health. As far as what I think,
I’d rather take care of myself and “be a little selfish” now to get that
training session in. Saying “I don’t have time to exercise/train” is the
equivalent of saying “Grades and errands and Netflix are more important than me.”
I’m not saying that training should be priority number one, but it should be up
there.
So that’s great and everything and I
should “be selfish” to take the time out of my day to train, but how do I do
that?
Plan out your
days/weeks. Have a routine that makes training just a natural part of the daily
or weekly schedule. Trust me, you’ll find time for everything else you need to
do. Sit your ass down, write out each day, make a list of what needs to get
done, and put training/exercising in there before all the busy work tasks that
seem more important than they really are. This is an example of what my
schedule looks like, with all my most pertinent tasks, before I start to fill
it in with other things:
After all
the more important things are in there, I add smaller, less urgent things into
my schedule.
Taking that
time out of the day to train/exercise is one of the best long term investments
you can make in yourself. It pays off much further down the line in 10, 20, or 50
years, when you are still fit and healthy instead of out of shape and
overweight. Getting in the mindset to take care of yourself for longevity makes
a huge difference. Once that mentality is established, have a plan, and be
consistent with it. This does not happen in a day, and everyone falls off track
sometimes, but having a plan and being consistent helps to keep us on the right
path. Whether you’re trying to become an elite-level athlete or simply a
healthier person, you have to stay on course and keep progressing forward. So
to recap:
1. Value your health
2. Be consistent
3. Have a plan
Ryan
Goodell, CSCS
