Our favorite season is coming to a close. For us here in San Diego, we will still be milking our time at the beach and in the water, but with part of our team in other parts of the world it means the exercise will start to move indoors.As it gets cooler there are a few things that will scientifically help you stay on point to keep your summer fitness through the fall and winter.
1.) Get Your Sleep.
This is the biggest asset you can take with you as our routines change from less sunlight and more time indoors. Each body has it's own ideal duration of sleep it requires to function optimally to recover from workouts, balance hormones, and maintain overall focus and function. This is usually between 7 and 8 hours per night. When we fail to fulfill this optimal level of sleep, our cortisol levels spike and our mood swings throwing our body down a tumultuous wave negativity. The easiest way to ensure you get your hours is to maintain a nightly routine of powering down, reading and being in bed by a certain time that allows for a full night recharge. You will be surprised at how your body operates, lets go of excess stress weight, and progresses/recovers in workouts when you let it REST.
2.) Write (not type) Your Goals Down
Writing helps our brain register items more so than typing out our goals in our phone! This is BIG. When you write them down and you see them daily, you will have a greater chance of making them come to fruition. We've all tried to put a few goals in our 'Notes' app in our smartphones. We occasionally roll through and see them but not enough to act frequently and make them come to life. SO JOURNAL. Journal each morning the things you want to accomplish in your day, in your month and in your multi-month goal list. When you track like this, you get the fulfillment of crossing items off the list and gaining the asset of accountability with yourself. I keep a whiteboard in my house with my daily goals, monthly goals and my year end goal come December 31, 2018. This is in my face whenever I fill up my espresso in the morning so I'd have to be pretty weak not to address it each day and trust me it makes a world of difference.
3.) Keep Your Training Consistent, Fun and Rewarding
I was listening to Joe Rogan's podcast the other day and he was talking with a Reebox MMA athlete who controversially said that you should never be sore from your workouts. Though this is a bit difficult to digest he eventually made a good point. You should find something that you enjoy enough to do 5 days or so a week (the contrary being going hard 3 days/week) and pushing your body just enough to get a substantial workout but not to be sore the next day. This doesn't mean half assing your workouts but training smart and efficient and allowing your body to fully recover. Now the difficult part here is to find something that is sustainable for not just a few months while you're trying to get shredded for summer but something that is apart of our lifestyle that we will continue to build upon as over 10, 20, 30 years.
So, I challenge you to try something this week that you've wanted to learn for ages but haven't because of the time it might to take to achieve it. Whether it be a handstand, a 315 lb squat, a muscle up... take the time to break the move into tiny little progressions (maybe there are 50 progressions), and begin with the first step. The time will pass anyway so you might as well begin. This type of training mixed with other workouts you enjoy will make this consistency of 5 workouts per week much more sustainable and fun as you are working towards a goal you've always wanted to attain. REMEMBER to put it on that written LIST!
These three tips have helped me work towards goals i've wanted to attain (a sub 18 minute 5k, surfing big waves, and the 90 degree handstand pushup). Our bodies are capable of greatness and all we have is time, so we might as well optimize it.
Cheers,
FITSPI
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