Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. Want to know what holds 95
% of people back from attaining their desires? Themselves. Today we are talking about how you can overcome the fear to succeed by getting away from self-sabotage. If you have any questions about today’s blog or you’d like further tips on how to overpower the “can’t do” attitude, give us a call: 806-322-3188.
When people decide to embark on a new goal of health (enhance their bodies, lose weight, create muscle, etc.) they start the journey feeling like “I’m ready to change. I know the things I need to change. Let’s do it!” Maybe they even get support from gym, a coach, or a personal trainer, but the results aren’t what the person expected. Have you’ve been there when you tried to improve your health? You feel like you’ve tried every approach, but it doesn’t seem to be working.
Sometimes it’s easy to blame the program, or the blame the person who’s providing the service to you, but sometimes you need to look inward for the answer. For people who have been unhealthy for a long time, or a majority, of their life it is easy to allow self-sabotage to get the better of them. It happens when people who deep down want to change and are ready to change, but are scared to go through with it.
For example, let’s say I have a client who wants to lose weight. They are motivated, they are following the plan, and they are seeing positive strides towards their goal. All of the sudden they begin fitting into smaller clothes. The fear sets in. Suddenly, this client realizes they are changing and that evolution is bringing with it a lot of uncertainty for the future: are people still going to like me? Am I going to have spend a ton of money to maintain this? Will my spouse still be attracted to me? Some people are scared to be different than they were before because they don’t know what this new reality holds for them. Others are afraid they will be experiencing weight loss only to gain it back later (a yo-yo effect they have had before because they do not know weight loss can be kept off).
This apprehension builds then, often subconsciously, they begin to sabotage their efforts. Workouts aren’t give their full attention, eating more food here and there, or choosing to binge watch that favorite TV show rather than go on a walk are all prime samples of we begin to cheat ourselves out of our goals.
Have you found your path to success? If not try tracking your patterns. What are you eating? How are you exercising (are you giving it your all or half effort)? How are feeling during certain times? Are you creating your own obstacles? I know that sounds silly, but it really happens.
At Custom Fitness, we claim a clean slate everyday. Our clients who come in and (in their words” “have royally screwed up”. That’s okay, every day is a chance to try again and see if we can find a better way to achieve our goals today. Our team is here for support as well as accountability, a service you don’t get from those big box gyms. We want to build a relationship with you so we can support you in the way that you need it. If you mess up, our team will help redirect you and get you started again. We also have a lot of good referrals for you, if the emotions relating to change become too much. Many people ignore the fact that our emotions are in control of our choices. The emotional part of our brain is much bigger than the rational portion of our brain. Case and point: have you ever chosen to eat a comfort food like pizza rather than eating that grilled chicken breast you know would be healthier? Emotions really drive our choices and sometimes that fear can be too much to handle. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.
I’d like to now give you a tip about how to work your core. I’ve been a personal trainer in Amarillo for a while now and I’ve met tons of people who tell me “I can do 150 (200, 400, etc.) crunches in a row and not stop”. To them I say, you’re probably not doing them correctly. Sure, there are probably some hulk-like men and women out there who could do that many, without stopping, with great form, and blow me out of the water. My point today, however, is performing crunches with the proper form. Did you know that the core is the one muscle group that how you work it, is how it will look when it is done? If you are doing a lot of core work through crunches and situps and you are barrelling your stomach out when you do it, then you stomach will be a nice tight barrel shape when you are finished.
Rather, pull your stomach in and engage your core while doing your exercises, you will come out with a nice flat stomach. Let me show you what I mean. Take it onto the floor into the crunch position. When people lift their head, they fill their stomach with air and push it to the ceiling when they lift up. You feel the glutes and the back lift as well. This isn’t going to get you where you want to be. Instead, push your stomach down, squeeze ribs to hips (pulling your belly button towards your chin) for a tighter, flatter stomach. Pull your stomach down to lift, do not push it out. The next time you do crunches think about engaging your stomach. When I say engage, I mean tighten like you are coughing or sneezing not suck in your stomach.
I hope some of this was helpful for you today. If you have questions or would like to learn more about the services we provide, please do not hesitate to reach out. Our phone number is 806-322-3188 or info@customfitness.biz. We provide a free consultation when you mention this blog where you can come in and talk with a trainer to see if we are the right fit for you. At Custom Fitness we are YOUR personal trainer in Amarillo. See you soon.