Labeling Yourself As An Athlete To Achieve Your Fitness Goals
An article about how identifying as an athlete could assist you in your fitness journey
Introduction
We always strive to achieve our fitness goals, whether it is to lose fat, gain muscle, or become more conditioned.
Around a year and a half ago, I decided to start working out to improve my physique. I wasn’t overweight or anything, I just did not like how my body looked. I wanted to gain muscle while losing some of that stubborn fat.
Around that time, I lived a sedentary lifestyle. I did not engage in any sports or strenuous physical activity. I would come home from school, finish my homework, and chill in the house almost all the time.
I was not near the definition of an athletic person, or that is what I thought of at that time.
We tend to define an athletic person as someone talented at their sport or someone that is very skilled in specific exercises.
When I began working out, I did not consider myself an athlete or a fit person, but I worked toward being that way. I performed exercises that were not easy. I stepped outside my comfort zone to achieve progress. And I became more fit and lean.
But I still did not consider myself an athlete.
A couple of months into my fitness journey, I noticed that I was reaching a down period. My motivation was near non-existent, and I began to skip workouts when I did not feel like exercising.
I plateaued.
Although I had made significant progress in my fitness journey, my stamina increased, I gained muscle and became leaner, and I barely made any during that down period. It felt like I hit a brick wall in my journey.
When I became aware of this, I decided to take a different approach to bring myself out of the recession.
I decided to take a more mental approach. Even when I slacked on my fitness journey, I labeled myself an athlete.
This simple mind-shift towards my fitness routine has helped me get out of my plateau and power through.
In the early stages of my journey, I would go to the gym, exercise, then rest. I wouldn’t eat completely unhealthy, but also not very healthy. Since I was new to strenuous exercises like weight lifting and running, I saw noticeable progress with this routine.
But after a while, my rate of growth diminished.
Keeping an athletic mindset had put me into sport-mode. I now paid close attention to my diet; I treated food as fuel for my workouts. With this in mind, my diet consists mainly of protein-packed foods with complex carbs and healthy fats. Almost no junk food in my diet.
When I was eating healthier and supplying my body with the appropriate fuel, my performance in my workouts increased. For example, I struggled with a set amount of weight on the bench for a while. But after a few weeks of healthy dieting, I got out of that roadblock.
This mind-shift method is like pretending. I pretended to be an athlete to improve my athletic abilities. And to improve my athleticism, I began to optimize my diet and workouts.
Conclusion
This simple mind shift can work with anyone, regardless of how much experience you have in fitness. If you only hit a few workouts but want to start exercising more, labeling yourself a gym-goer can help make that happen. If you are an athlete wanting to win a championship, label yourself as a champion.
Transform your mind so that it works with you, not against you.
If you have any thoughts or questions, please share them in the comments below!
