As we wrap up this year it is a great time to look back and see how far we have come. If you happen to have your old training videos on your phone I find it great to scroll back and look at the movements you’ve been hammering and getting some perspective on what has changed and seeing the real gains you have created through hard work and determination.
If you have been training hard all year it’s also a great time to slow down a bit. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s a lot to life besides handstands and working out in the gym, so make time to spend guilt free time with your friends and family. Enjoy a few cocktails if that’s something that makes you feel alive and eat a few tasty things and tell the person who cooked them how delicious they are.
New years is around the corner and it is obviously a tremendous for setting goals. If you took the time to reflect on your training videos from this year you will likely have a good idea of what you can expect to achieve this year. Can you make changes to your diet, sleep schedule, training consistency, focus during sessions, etc. to be healthier and stronger in 2025?
For many of us we are always on the cusp of starting. This is normal and totally fine. Some people love working out and it is actually harder for people like this, myself included, not to workout. If you dont like working out, here are three strategies that can help you to both get started and to stay on track.
- Hire a coach – shameless plug here, but if you hire someone to write you appropriate workouts that are doable, yet challenging, you are much more likely to buy into it and get excited about the process. Combine this with a coach who is excited to explain the details to you and help you understand the program and progressions to a greater degree and you can begin the process of a real snowball effect on your fitness and health.
- Track your results – if you’re on your own you can easily get a workout program or make something up yourself, but if you don’t track your progress it’s easy to get lost and feel like things aren’t working. Write down the days you train, record the weights you lift, times you hold, thoughts about how you felt on the movement, take videos to reference later, and reference these results to know if you should try to lift more weight or maybe try to improve your form instead in the coming workouts. Tracking is all about becoming more involved and engaged in your own journey. If you can get into the tracking you can get into the training.
- Find a community – I talk a lot about how I had a ton of injuries from doing CrossFit, but I was also competing and being a bit bone-headed through this process. If you can find a local community that does exercise, whether it’s high intensity or otherwise, it can be a great bonus to make you look forward to hanging out with people who make you smile, encourage you to be accountable in a way that doesn’t feel like another job, and you’ll also likely learn tangential things about your fitness and nutrition from spending time with the coaches and athletes who have been doing their chosen method for years.
I hope you all had a great 2024. I hope you all have an even better 2025. 2024 had challenges and 2025 will be no different. It’s all about understanding your purpose and goals, so that you can keep perspective and appreciate the process of training and life as it unfolds one day at a time.
