It’s safe to say that most of the members at Pinnacle Health + Fitness have established a routine. You show up to the gym at about the same time each day. Or you attend the same class (or four) each week. When you go upstairs, you gravitate to the same machine for your 3–5 minute warm-up or your 20 minutes of cardio. In the weight room, it’s either a chest and arms day or a back and legs workout. Routines are good. Exercise adherence is a difficult thing and as I look around the gym and talk to our members, I can see a dedication to health and fitness. But sometimes routine can get stale. Sometimes routine actually makes a person go backwards. You get bored. Maybe you even burn out. What’s a health enthusiast to do? How do you pursue your health when things don’t seem to be clicking or you just need a change?
“The year I learned to…”
- + Last August Erica watched Ironman for the first time. She had never competed in a triathlon before, but she signed up and trained for Ironman. In August she finished 140.6 miles of Madison’s Ironman course. She learned how to Tri! (see what I did there?)
- + In February 2013, Ken couldn’t swim two laps in the pool without stopping. After about six weeks laps by himself, the Masters swim coach invited him over for a workout. Four weeks later he was swimming 2,000 meters in the 45 minute class.
- + Sarah has completed four half marathons. All of them were horrible experiences because she didn’t have a training plan and so she really didn’t have the miles to run well. This year, she signed up for her first half marathon training class. This year, she’ll learn how to train properly.
What’s next for you?
No matter where you are on your fitness journey, there’s always room to learn something new. Maybe you need to learn a new sport. Maybe you need to develop a new exercise program. The examples above might be a little extreme (especially the Ironman!). But one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health is to get outside your comfort zone and learn a new form of training. You’ll experience a little dip in performance. You’ll hit a few road bumps along the way. And you may realize you won’t do this type of training five years down the road. But when you get deep enough into your training that you can look back and see how far you’ve come, you’ll appreciate the challenge and you’ll embrace the journey of learning something new.
- “This year I’ll learn to swim.”
- “This year I’ll learn to play tennis.”
- “This year I’ll learn a great workout on TRX and kettlebell.”
What will you learn this year?
How can I help?
Email me and we will set up a time to discuss an action plan to get you there.