Chasing the Perfect Training Session!

How do we change from forcing ourselves to do a workout to looking forward and feeling passionate about our fitness goals?

It’s inevitable that at some stage you are going to have a training session that you aren’t feeling very good about. Could be that your undernourished, dehydrated, mentally distracted or just lacking motivation. How do we go about this and not let it bring us down?

Lets start with Nutrition..

Think of your body as a machine, it needs fuel to sustain hormones, blood sugars, bodily function. The old saying goes, “You are what you eat!”. So, don’t skip meals, pay close attention to what you’re eating. The most important factor is what you are eating before you work out. I always suggest 30-40g of fast acting carbohydrates such as bananas, rice etc. Obviously factor that into what your fitness goals are. Ensuring you have those carbs in you 30 minutes before hand will allow your body to store glycogen. This is energy that will be dispersed during activity. It will allow blood to transport to your muscles carrying vital nutrients, energy to lift weights and maintain intensity in the gym. This tip alone will make a very big difference to your training. But of course, overall nutrition is key.

Mental

This is one I can relate to very strongly. Everyday stresses or something more serious can obviously change your mental state so of course It will affect your training. I use training as a form of therapy. I often look pi**ed off when I’m training because of two reasons; I’m very focused and take my training seriously and secondly because I’m gathering all negativity and harnessing that towards my workout. I consciously decide that whatever stress or emotion I’m carrying is dropped and use that energy towards something good.

Motive

Often we get lost in our training and routine and we start to forget why we are doing something. Like in my previous blog I explained about setting out short term goals and long term goals. This allows yourself to stay committed and is incentive to stay on track. Routine can often seem boring so this is a great tip to stay motivated.

Lifestyle

Perhaps it’s something else in your life that is a negative imbalance making things seem dull. Remember sleep and rest are very crucial. Try to limit alcohol and other substances if you are serious about health and fitness goals.

Remember, at the end of the day that we are only human and we have bad days – sometimes for no apparent reason. You may feel weak or just not motivated. I’ve personally had days where I was flawless with hydration, rest, food and felt good but when it came to training I struggled and had a bad workout. I’ve also had the opposite where I’ve missed meals, 3 hours sleep and training at midnight and turned out to be some of my best workouts. The body is a strange yet beautiful thing and literally has a mind of its own.

Jack