When Training Makes You Worse

TrainingMindset

10 Mar

Written By Marco Augusto

It feels like a lifetime ago.

I was working in engineering at the time, and the boss asked me to stay back. Work needed to be done.

Generally I left on or close to on time, but that day was different.

I was not keen, but of course I did it.

I remember the feelings and thoughts I had.

What were the positives I thought...well I avoid the worst of the traffic. That's a plus.

But I felt stressed. Why? Because it might mean I would miss my training session.

Yep, I was stressing over missing a training session.

That's the sign when you love something.

But it's also the sign when maybe, you've got the wrong perspective on things.

Now if I miss a training session, not a major issue. It happens.

That's not to say that I'm casual about it. In fact, my training is the first thing I prioritise each day on my schedule.

But if I miss a session, I know know know how to get something in, anything.

I know something is better than nothing.

I know that life isn't about training. Instead, training helps my life.

It helps me be Strong for Life.

Have you ever felt like this? Stressed out because you can't train?

Or maybe you're thinking to yourself "who gives a shit about missing training, what an idiot".

These are two sides of the same coin I often see in people.

Extremes at either end.

Either a feeling everything in your life revolves around training or a feeling that training is a waste of time.

Both can get you in trouble.*

There are a few points I want to highlight to help you.

Unless you have a desire to improve your health, get strong, get fit, you will never do it. If training or exercise is the last thing you could think about doing right now or ever, then you probably won't get healthy. Most people give up because it's just not a priority.
You actually need to prioritise training/exercise. Now, this doesn't mean you'll always get to the gym or wherever, but you need to have clearly in your mind (or better still, in your calendar/schedule) when you are going to train.
Training is meant to make your life better. So if you're getting stressed about not training, you need to get perspective back into your life. Training shouldn't be an all or nothing thing. Even competitors who obsess over how they look for competition, switch off in the off season for a bit.

This is part of my Strong for Life ethos. Training helping you through life.

Not making it worse for the the sake of numbers or competition.

And yet teaching us we need to be disciplined. We need to be consistent. We need to focus on a goal, develop grit, persevere, overcome challenge and failure.

But this isn't an all or nothing proposition.

It's a scale from 0 to 100.

When we are Strong for Life, we know that sometimes we're not at 100, but we still do what we can, and let it go.

The next day, we show up and go again.

And to touch on my story earlier, if I was in the same position nowadays, I'd go home, do a 10 minutes bodyweight circuit and know that something is better than nothing.

Always remember, something is better than nothing.

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