When most people think about getting fit they literally have no clue whatsoever as to why they’re doing it, when they will achieve success or how.
Those who do have a big goal in mind (and they are in a very small minority) can feel weighed down by the monumental task they have finally decided to face.
Lose 5 stone – HOLY CRAP THAT’S A LOTTA WORK!!!
There are so many steps to take.
There are so many things that could go wrong.
How the hell do I link up exercise, nutrition and my lifestyle so the results flow like a good Guiness in a Dublin drinking hole?
The key of course is integration.
I spent all last weekend working with an Israeli movement specialist called Ido Portal. As you can see, he’s a pretty cool guy to work with!
If there was one message that came out of the weekend it is that you will succeed at NOTHING if you don’t work at alignment and ‘rebalancing’.
In our case it was to simply do a handstand and hold it without collapsing to the floor in a heap.
In your case it will be to either shed body fat, improve your strength and power for sport, or simply get healthy again and stop your hormones playing cowboys and indians around your body!
Think about this little challenge.
Take a broomstick (minus the head) and try to balance it on your hand. Either straight away or with a little practice you should be able to balance it quite easily.
It’s rigid so it only takes a little movement on your part to keep rebalancing it.
A small effort at the bottom end controls the entire broomstick. The ridigity of the chain makes it easy.
Let’s now chop the broom stick in half and reattach the two halves using a blob of blu-tac.
Now repeat the test.
Tough right?
The chances are you, the stick came crashing down almost instantly NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU ‘TRY’.
This is exactly what’s going on in gyms around the country every day.
Many people are trying their hardest and putting in lots of blood, sweat and tears for no reward!
Why?
Because somewhere along the chain there is a blob of blu-tac which keeps making them drop the stick and start again.
Either that or it takes a MASSIVE effort to keep your results in line and the broomstick in balance.
This blob of blu-tac comes in the form of…
- Poor nutrition (too much processed food)
- Too much partying
- Too many toxins clogging up the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems
- Too many negative thoughts about themselves and their potential
You can’t fault their effort in the gym.
But the rewards are neglible if not non-existent – it’s not fair!
Brute force just doesn’t work.
You see it’s not about forcing results.
Whilst struggling for balance whilst trying to stand on my head the other day at the workshop, it dawned on me that due to the significant amounts of bullsh*t we get fed about health and fitness through the media many people are just trying to force things to happen.
They keep driving themselves into the ground in the gym hoping it will finally burn off that flabby bit.
Others seem to just glide through life effortlessly and look and feel great.
Now don’t get me wrong.
Hard work is ESSENTIAL but without the correct alignment between your thoughts, your nutrition, your training and the people around you, you are at best destined to fail and at worst likely to end up depressed, frustrated, sick, tired and fat all at once.
This is another reason why you can’t expect to find an exercise or nutrition plan that just delivers results with no thought on your part.
Life changes, surprises arrive, sh*t happens.
Only if you understand the principles behind what you are doing can you remain in a state of rebalancing enabling you to get back in alignment.
Any movement along the wooden chain will send the rest of the chain into a new place requiring a rebalancing on your part.
Note that I say ON YOUR PART. You control everything. You hold the broomstick and must be willing to yield in a certain way to rebalance. Don’t expect it to happen any other way!
I am constantly monitoring personal training clients during sessions to see what rebalancing needs to take place.
Yes I have a plan for the week but depending on where I see some blu-tac that needs removing from the broomstick I will change things to try to rebalance.
I’m not just trying to preach about life goals and alignment.
I’ve had to take a long hard look at my own actions recently after getting frustrated with niggling injuries, tiredness and frustration despite eating very well and TRYING to train as hard as I could.
Something just didn’t feel right.
So I have taken the following steps – none of which are easy believe me!
1) I instantly booked the workshop with Ido. I saw his flexibility and movement and knew he would have something that could help.
NEVER PARTNER UP WITH A GEORDIE.
When in doubt surround yourself with people who are BETTER than you – they will drag you up.
2) I have committed to 45 days of reducing my strength training with weights and focussing on bodyweight movement, learning handstands and performing a 15 minute stretching routine everyday.
3) I booked in to see an osteopath to get my ankles sorted out as they were restricting progress on my weight lifting.
I can probably lift more than many people on certain exercises and less than many other people but I have released myself from competing with others. If I believe it will improve ME I get on with it.
4) I spent more than I would have liked on flights to a 7 day detox, fasting, massage, colonic, sun, yoga, Thai Boxing retreat in Thailand.
I can find ways to make money whenever I like (as can anyone) but health is much harder to restore.
5) I stepped away from a business opportunity which was stressing me out and making me a bit of tw*t to be around at times.
I’m now much happier!
6) I’ve started being grateful for what I do have, the people I get to work with and everything I ALREADY have. Literally in days this has brought me many positive things.
I’ve worked hard to be doing personal training and fitness coaching in Guernsey, a place I love with great people around me. The present is more important than the future.
I realised this upside down in a car in Death Valley last year!
The universe brings you what you dish out and what you think about all day everyday – trust me on this one.
7) I’m accepting of the fact that 1 step back will bring 5 steps forward in my training. I might lose some endurance and strength over the next month but when I get back from Thailand, there will be a STORM.
I have taken on a business mentor to help me with a project which REALLY excites me and will change my lifestyle and that of many around the world.
Don’t try to do this alone.
Anyone of these factors, without correcting them would have been the blob of blu-tac that derailed my big plans.
What are your blobs of blu-tac?
And what can you do RIGHT NOW to get rid of them?!
April 4th, 2011 at 3:47 am
Great analogy Jon to illustrate such a significant point. Hope you’re well!!