There are programs that have no goals. Some people have the mental fortitude to trudge along day by day, week by week, year by year. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely not that type of person. And I don’t think most people are. Those who have joined our ranks at Kemme Fitness have come and gone usually for 1 reason only – they had no goals. Shame on me for not insisting on that!
I think Mark Twight (founder of Gym Jones -think of the ripped dudes from the 300 movie) said it best with his 10 philosphies of Gym Jones:
1) The mind is primary
2) Outcome-based training (train for an objective)
3) Functional training (high degree of transferability)
4) Movements not muscles (transferable training does not isolate muscles)
5) Power-to-weight ratio (you must carry the engine)
6) Train all energy systems (emphasize the important but not at the expense of others)
7) Training is preparation for the real thing (train FOR something)
8) The mind is primary II (confidence, chemicals, carriage)
9) Nutrition is the foundation (eat for an objective)
10) Recovery is more than 50% of the process
He goes into a lot of dimensions with all 10, but if you look closely you will see how interconnected these are. Oh yeah, notice the word “Functional?” Oh yeah!
Anyway, he talks about the mind – we all know it is a mental game. That is what I am referring to about why we need a goal. That is part of this game. Here are some other excellent phrases: “train for an objective,” & “train FOR something.” One of the reasons Mark Twight and Gym Jones split from Crossfit eons ago had to do with his philosophy of always having a goal in mind and training for that goal. Crossfit is not that focused on that, althought Crossfit is all about transferable training and not isolating muscles, as well as Functional Fitness.
So what are some goals, eh?
Here is a list (not necessarily in order) of some goals I have had through the last 4 years.
-Gymnastics – be able to perform an Elbow Lever. I would practice for a minute or less each day before a workout (functioned as a warm-up as well).
–Muscle-up. I worked on this for several months last year. I made sure to have Dips and Pull-ups in my workouts for a while to help.
-Gymnastics – be able to perform a Back Lever. I never did get great at this, but again it makes an excellent warm-up.
-Each year after Christmas, I work pretty hard to get as toned as possible before my family’s winter trip. Yep, this goal is totally vanity-oriented! I can admit it. You know you do this too!!
-After reading some of Pavel Tsatsouline’s work years ago, I worked hard at mastering the 1 Arm Push-up. This turned out to be a perfect strength exercise to do on vacations in the morning before you start your day.
-Last year my goals had a lot to do with sharing with a large group. I was working out alone for the most part up to just 2 years ago. Then it shot up to 4-9 people with me each day. My goals were trying to create workouts that could logisitcally work in the cramped gym area with such a large group. Plus I worked hard at learning how to get newbies up to speed and working around injuries. I learned alot during this time.
-This spring has been about having fun with Urban Runs and Rural Runs and getting others involved if only once a week for an Urban Run. Also focusing on At Home workouts has been fun.
But I do feel that I need to get some new goals. Right now, I think I will work on getting back toned after the 2 vacations I had this summer. I cut back on the beer & wine (well, just during the week anyway) and am going to make sure I get my 4 workouts in each week no matter what. But after that, I feel I am going to need some more motivation.
So please…PLEASE share some goals. I know they are individualistic, but hearing some of your ideas might inspire many others – including me 🙂