Be a Machine

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to help you reach your fitness goals by giving you a role to play.  With Halloween being this week, a lot of people, young and adult, try to decide who they want to pretend to be for the holiday; a superhero, a monster, a mythical creature.  I want you to be a machine...be a robot!  If you can envision yourself as a robot, as a machine, you can have a mental edge to assist you with reaching your fitness goals not only on Halloween, but all year.  In reality, I am not asking you to paint yourself silver and / or wear a costume made out of boxes.  But what I do want you to do is become machine-like in your exercise and nutrition habits.  I want you to act as if you are programmed to complete the task of reaching a healthier, fitter new you.  I'm asking you to take the thought and emotion out of your fitness quest and start acting as if making healthy choices is your job, as if you are wired to do so.  Be a machine!

          Machines are calculated; they are programmed to do a job.  Machines don't think about what they need to do from an emotional stand point, they just go out there and do it.  This is what you need to do with your fitness requirements.  "Program" yourself to exercise regularly and continually make healthy food choices.  Tell yourself that you are wired to move every hour, to get to the gym several times a week, to keep your body moving.  Make these the tasks that you as a machine are responsible for.  When you are looking at a menu, read it as if you are a robot that has the job of finding the most ideal and healthy food choice for your body.  Think that acting on a healthy lifestyle is the task you are programmed to do.

          Machines are automatic; press the "power" button and they are "good to go".  While it is true that many machines require a warm-up or to be primed before starting, just as we do, machines are relatively ready to perform at the go.  They don't come up with excuses about why they cannot achieve their task.  Just like the machine, you need to have a "power" button in your head, that once it is pushed, you aren't stopping until your task is done.  You can envision your alarm clock as your power button...once you shut the alarm off, you turn on and are activated for the day.  A much clearer example could be the power button on the cardio machine you want to use...once you turn the real machine on, you get powered up as well.  Or, you can imagine that the dumbbells are the key to turn you on; once in your hands, you're engine is started and you are ready to work.

          Machines are deliberate; the term mechanical refers to deliberate and precise movements.  Machines are often employed to do repetitive tasks that need to be done exactly the same time and time again.  When you are training in the gym, make each repetition that you perform mechanically deliberate.  Pretend that you are machine performing the movement, making each rep perfect using muscle not momentum. 

          Machines require maintenance; nothing works better than a "well oiled machine."  Without proper maintenance, machines can wear down and break prematurely.  A metal machine left sitting in the elements can rust and bind up.  You are like machine in this way as well.  You need to stay lubricated by drinking plenty of water.  Arthritis and aches and pains can creep up if you don't keep your parts moving.

          If you're thinking about what to be for Halloween, consider being a robot or a machine.  And think about being one for the rest of the year as it can help you achieve your fitness goals.  The pre-programmed, automatic, systematic ways that machines operate to complete their tasks can be copied by you to stay on task to reach your health aspirations.  A fun part of Halloween is pretending to be something you are not.  Acting like a machine can help you become something that you want to be.  Thinking of yourself as a machine with the one goal of being healthier is treat way of becoming a fit new you!

Find Your Motivation

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I want to start by asking you a question.  What is it that is motivating you to reach a fitter new you?  You are reading this blog to get a little more inspiration perhaps, and I am always looking for new perspectives to help keep you motivated.  But I think that most of us already have something that can help motivate us to work a little harder each day.  We all can find something to focus on to help keep us pushing forward.  While it is certainly easier around particular times of the year, such as New Year's Eve and the start of the summer, to find something to focus on, what else will keep you motivated through the rest of the year?  I believe you already have something there, you just need to find the angle.  It could be an upcoming special event, such as a wedding or reunion, a change in your relationship status, such as getting yourself "back out there" while making your ex have regrets, or something else. such as preparing for another sports season.  Whatever it is, having an element that you can focus on to keep training hard and eating healthy, rather than just because its good for you, will most definitely keep you on track to reaching your goals.  So what is your motivation?

          Special events are always goods reasons to be motivated to work just a little harder to reach your fitness goals.  School reunions, weddings and milestone birthdays are perfect examples of events that we want to look as best as we can and will work harder to get there.  What is nice about using an upcoming event as a motivational focus is the timing component that the even can play into your planning.  For example, you usually have a good amount of notice for such events, heck some even come with a "save the date."  Having an awareness of when a future event will be gives you time to plan out how you are going to achieve your goals.  We all know that you aren't going to see a body change through one work out or "overnight."  But when you are aware that you have so many weeks and/or months to prepare for an event, you can make an effective plan to get there.  Another factor that the timing of the event plays is that as it draws closer, you will be even more compliant and motivated to increase the intensity.  Its sort of like that final sprint that a marathon runner puts forth once they know the finish line is near.  An example of an event that motivates me is an annual trip to a water park that I take with my daughter at the end of each summer.  On most days I am usually good about getting to the gym and making healthy food choices.  And at the beginning of the summer I have a little more motivation to look good in the warmer weather like most others.  but as the dog days of the summer drag on, I find extra motivation in this trip that I take with my daughter each year.  At this particular park, as they do at many time places, they take your picture as soon as you walk in the gate for you to purchase later in the day.  Because my daughter and I get it each year as a keepsake, I always want to look as good as possible because I know I will be able to look back on it all year every year.  My motivation is to look as good, or even better than the year before.  Therefore as the trip approaches I get motivated to hit it a little harder at the gym.

           As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of reasons other than events to find motivation in as well.  Striving to beat a personal best on a lift at the gym, or a time on an event intrinsically have built in motivation.  Whether you are the type to record and post on social media all of your lifts, or are someone who just wants to beat what you achieved last time you were in the gym striving to beat a personal best is a great way to stay focused.  However, the same can be true for trying to get out of a rut.  For example, I think some of the most inspired people I ever see are athletes recovering from an injury.  Keeping an athlete off of the field is torturous on them.  But any rehabbing athlete knows that it is best to follow protocol to get them on the field and keep them on the field.  What is particularly good about using a set back, such as an injury, to keep you motivated is that the person usually is even more fired up to lift after the injury.  Having been "on the shelf" for so long, the person typically finds the drive to push harder and harder now that they "feel good."  There is not only additional motivation, but an increase in appreciation for staying healthy as well.  While I am not suggesting that you go out and purposely cause yourself an injury so that you can work back from it, what I am suggesting is that even having a set back can be encouraging rather than discouraging.

          I have been blessed over the years as a personal trainer to have such a diverse clientele.  The diversity in their unique goals has not only benefited me in that I have never felt that work had become a grind, but also because their individual goals goes with what I am saying here today.  Everyone can be motivated by something and some of the more non-traditional goals that my clients have had include things like "I want to get as strong as possible before I go in for a surgery on my hip," "I want to improve my balance to avoid falling on during icy conditions in the winter," and "I want to be able to walk and stand without falling over so that I can get out to field for my daughter's soccer games."  These goals just go to show that you can be motivated by something in your life, on an everyday basis, that doesn't have to end with you winning a contest and/or trophy.  Having something to focus on, more than just because its the healthy thing to do, will help keep you working your hardest towards achieving your fitness goals.  So what will motivate you?  Knowing the answer to that question is the inspiring way to reach a fit new you!