I have talked about this before – it is important to have goals. This is an essential part of the mental game that is inherent with working out. Unless you are jogging around or are going on a nice barefoot run (those are always fun to do) then you have to fight yourself mentally to keep going.
THE best way to keep in the game is to have a goal set. Here is a list of the goals I have had in the last several years:
#1 – in the beginning I had the easy goal of learning the new exercises such as Turkish Get-ups.
#2 – I tried to master some gymnastic moves such as a Back Lever, Handstand, and an Elbow Lever. I practiced these for a warm-up before every workout. I used Pavel Tsatsouline’s theory of Grease the Groove to get better at these. By the way, I never did mast them well, but I still can do a decent Elbow Lever years later.
#3 – I spent some time increasing my strength with Turkish Get-ups and Deadlifts.
#4 – I ended up without a goal for a long time, but focused instead on training others and sharing more and more at the gym at my work. I learned a lot during this period on training around injuries and dealing with people of all fitness levels.
#5 – About a year ago I really stepped up my At-Home workouts and spent time mastering the Slosh Tube and the Clubbell, among others.
#6 – oh yeah, every year I let vanity help me and I work hard to get into shape for my winter vacation trips. Hey, don’t judge it until you try it!
#7 – I now have 2 new goals. The first goal is to fix my posture by the end of the summer. I recently wrote a post on this. I also wrote a post about the upcoming videos I need to shoot of new exercises, so again I will let vanity and my ego kick in and I am planning on working hard to be able to be in good form for the videos. I would hate to film myself doing them improperly due to being full of beer, donuts, and pizza!!
Whever you goal is, without one I guarantee that you will struggle harder to keep in the mental game.
So what are some of your goals you have had? Feel free to share them with us. Just leave a comment on the post.
Funny you should mention this Pete. My fitness goals have changed many times over the years. In the very beginning it was traditional weight lifting & the goals were pretty basic – learn how to lift, learn how to stick to a schedule, maybe even gain a little weight (I weighed 170 at the time).
Then it evolved to functional combat strenght training – getting stronger core muslces & combat muscles to deal w/ real world fighting (ie. personal protection).
Then I went to law school & got fat. So the goal changed to weight loss.
Then I decided to fight again – so the goal changed back to training for cage fighting.
Now my goals have changed yet again (I’m out of the fighting business). I have to preface this w/ the fact that I now own a sledge hammer & have a used tire in the back of my Explorer which I use ALL THE TIME in my wods.
Let me share a recent e-mail that I sent to both Pete & Harvey. I’m totally serious about this. I mean I’m serious – really I am. Here’s the e-mail:
So over the past couple of weeks I’ve found myself up in the middle of the night, sitting on the couch while my youngest daughter (just over 1 year old) sleeps on me & tosses & turns doing a phenomenal job of keeping me awake… Always looking for a sliver lining I found it this weekend (after a particularly bad night in which I maybe got 2 hours of sleep – due to illness w/ the little pumpkin). The silver lining – a new WOD format designed for a specific goal in mind – survival of a zombie apocalypse.
What the heck am I talking about & how did this come about you ask? Simple – while I find myself up at 2, 3, & 4 am I find myself watching many zombie movies – one of my favorite types of movies. It seems that most z-movies now incorporate the fast moving zombie, as opposed to the more traditional slow, lumbering zombie. What dawned on me this weekend – is that the vast majority of the still-living-yet-soon-to-die characters (SLYSTDC) have got some serious stamina! Not once have I seen a scene where the SLYSTDC run out of stamina & the zombies overtake them. Not once have I seen a scene where the SLYSTDC runs out of stamina while swinging a weapon to defend themselves. Normally, it’s a take a stand & they die routine (to save someones else) or the zombies don’t actually catch them, but manage to get a bite in, thus killing the SLYSTDC.
This struck me as very odd this weekend. Odd – b/c since I have started my WODs w/ the sledge hammer I can most assurdely say that swinging that thing for more than 30 seconds full tilt is extremely exhausting. Let alone doing so after running for your life. In fact, I have specific wods where I have incorporated running (slow running mind you) & sledge hammering & let me tell you what – it’s exhausting. How is it possible that these SLYSTDC are doing both w/o ever sucking wind in the movies??? This brings me to the wonderful movie – Zombieland. Rule #1 – cardio. ( http://www.zombielandrules.com/ ) A new wod format (and fitness goal) was then created.
Since this e-mail a few weeks agao I have begun to incorport my z-wods into my routine. This is especially easy now that the weather here in MI is turning very nice (despite what Pete would have you believe from his earlier post about not having new videos up & running… 🙂 )
My new z-wods involve running (at a sprint mind you – WHILE CARRYING YOUR WEAPON) & smashing of tires w/ said weapon. Guns are great – but remember that in the post-apocolyptical horror that is the zombie end of hte world you can count on a) guns misfiring, b) running out of ammo, & c) just having a sledge hammer or baseball bat (or any other blunt force trauma weapon) on hand to protect yourself. Thus, when scenario C manifests itself you better #1 – have awesome running cardio, #2 awesome blunt force weapon cardio, & #3 a fantastic combination of both 1 & 2 over a long period of time if you don’t want your guts & brains eaten.
Since the implementation of my z-wods I can say w/ confidence a few things: #1 – jogging & sprinting (esp w/ a weapon) are COMPLETELY different. If you are not used to sprinting, but are a jogger – don’t assume you can sprint, let along sprint for long periods of times while avoiding being eaten by zombies. #2 – it is clear to me that cardio rich SLYSTDC are a complete Hollywood myth. I’m in decent shape & these z-wods are kicking my toosh. #3 – people are somewhat taken aback when you are sprinting around w/ a large sledge hammer. #4 – this is also a great type of wod if you are looking to drop some weight. Since Jan, I’ve lost 14 lbs. (full caveat – small diet change has also been implemented. My 37 year old metabolism doesn’t seem to kick as much butt as my 20 year old metabolism. And finally #5 – most people think I’m pretty retarded for believing that the world will eventually be over-run by zombies. All I can say to those skeptics is that when it does happen you all better hope it’s the slow lumbering zombies, b/c if it’s not – you’ll all be dead LONG before I am. 🙂
Holy cow, that was incredibly well said my friend. I can see a new ebook coming by Lawrence Boivin: “working out to avoid SLYSTDC,” or “Zombie survival workouts.” Aweseom man. Awesome