The value of training…
…or just anything — and why you don’t reach your goals.
Today, my topic is a very worrying trend of our time:
Leaving all your options open for as long as possible.
As the owner of CrossFit eo in lovely Munich I can assure you, we have been suffering from this trend extremely hard for about one and a half years now. In the past, our classes were booked up over two weeks in advance, and today most of our clients book their classes for the evening during the same afternoon. Some people even book their training sessions when they are already in the gym!
The mere fact that this makes it almost impossible for a small business like us to plan and design a timetable adapted to the needs of our members is just side note here.
The much bigger problem is that this behavior does not just occur in leisure activities alone, but in life in general. Funny enough: The people who are guilty of this behavior are often those, who constantly complain about not being able to plan anything and rant about the chaotic behaviors of others in their work environment, so they can not achieve their goals. This must be some kind of karma.
In order to become not too philosophical, we stay with physical training again. If I can’t plan my presumed two training sessions a week in advance — that is, in the previous week — -I should on the one hand start to rethink the structure of my whole life. It might be worth it.
On the other hand, and this is the more important part, I don’t need to be surprised if I do not make enough progress.
If it isn’t important enough for me to plan my workout sessions in advance, I neglect the training the value it deserves. If I shift my exercise time around from day to day week over week, it just is not important enough for me! If I do not know at lunchtime whether I am going to work out in the evening, I will never reach my goals.
It is a just matter of priority — if it’s important to me, i will find and take the time to plan and do my training. And if it’s not a priority in my life? No problem! But don’t complain about the results you don’t get — if you are not willing to but in the time and work then you can’t expect the reward. Spoiler Alert: There are no shortcuts, there is no free lunch.
That also applies to almost everything else in life.
With picking CrossFit as your sport, you have already chosen the best possible sport to avoid that trending trap! Why?
Not only because it is significantly more effective than anything else, but because unlike the traditional gym you have to book your lessons way beforehand and adjust to a given schedule! This imposes a certain planning ahead on you. The same would be true if you work with a personal trainer.
Do not get me wrong here, it’s not about becoming the world champion. For 99% of all people, the goal is to maintain or improve health — even that is not very likely to happen with sporadic, spontaneous training. And your health should be the greatest priority in your life!
Therefore my advice as a coach (and request as a CrossFit-box owner):
Plan your training sessions at least a week in advance! Better make it two weeks. You do yourself the biggest favor! Start right now! And let this be your time of consistency and progress.
P.S.: Take a look at successful people, whether in sports, art or business, they have their important appointments planned for weeks, if not months. Because their value is right and therefore they are successful.
