I send out a document to get folks prepped for a month of workouts in the fitness bootcamp that I run. It is very basic, cliche’ laden fare but the messages still ring true for me. The aim is to get folks in a mindset of continuing to move forward, step by step and looking at failure in a more philosophical light. Failure is one of the humps on the path to success if you will! I hope these words encourage you on your fitness journey too!
The desire for self- improvement, to be fit and healthy is a powerful drive. It is about self-esteem. I am here to support you every step of the way. I respect you for your courage to fight for a healthy lifestyle, and I am passionate about helping you with what you want to achieve with your physical fitness and life goals.
I am really excited and I hope you are too, about this ongoing journey towards a better quality of life. We are gonna have a lot of fun, have lots of great workouts and you will get a lot fitter, trimmer, leaner and meaner (and by meaner I really mean happier.)
I really aspire to help you awaken within yourself a passion for self-development. I want you to fall in love with taking care of yourself. It takes determination to be your best you. The great thing about life is, their are challenges at every stage of this journey. This pep talk is about giving you the strength to face those challenges on day to day basis.
We should be able to enjoy our bodies but still get a good sweat with some truly functional training. Don’t be scared, ever. Yes you want to be challenged but you always want to be supported, so know that you are in control of your experience and know that the most important element is that you have a good, fun and rewarding time.
Workouts should be aspirational, a goal to work towards. The level of intensity I set the bar at is that of a lifelong athlete, a person who loves an active lifestyle and who needs to keep motivated and in shape. That’s what motivates me. Find what motivates you.
For example, in a workout class, you may get something like 1 minute set of burpees/up-downs (always a challenging exercise). Depending on your own personal fitness level, you may hit the wall after 5-10 and that is great. You take things at your pace. I encourage you to push yourself to take an extra step forward, whatever that means for you. As long as you are pushing yourself that is the only thing that matters.
I encourage everyone during the course of their exercise programs, to push their own personal boundaries relative to where they are in their fitness level. The phrase, "There is no destination, only a journey," is something that makes perfect sense in an exercise program. With exercise, there is no such thing as failure, if you reach fatigue, you are pushing your limits and you are kicking ass.
In fact, here is a cheesy mantra I adopted, “Fail your way to success.” So, when you reach a level that is really difficult and you begin to fail and fatigue, you are pushing your limits and thus, you have reached success. This is when results happen. This is when you get stronger. It kind of makes sense if you don’t think about it too much.
Just keep on moving to the best of your ability. There will be options so that if you fatigue at one level, say full push ups, you can drop to your knees and keep working. We want to burn as many calories as possible, be trim, tight, savage animals, so, use your options. Make the workouts work for you.
My philosophy is step by step, so, listen to your body and when you need to rest, take the time out and do these three things: breathe, hydrate and stretch (they are the most important things to remember when exercising, I know, it sounds silly but hey, I often get caught up in working out and find myself not breathing or hydrating properly.)
Don’t be scared. This ain't gonna be scary, I don't enjoy seeing people feeling bad or nauseous, I get a buzz of people getting fitter, stronger, more confident and living a healthier lifestyle.
Something that I take very seriously is safety. Safety first always. Talk to me if you ever feel insecure about an exercise. There is always another option you can do that will work for you.
Find your happy place, My aim is to provide great workouts in a relaxed environment. You want to have a great time, have a bunch of fun and enjoy a sense of camaraderie. Get out there and fail!
Question: What are you going to do today in order to “Fail Your Way To Success?
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