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MINDSET – How Can We Change Our Mindset Approaching Fitness

Mindset Around Fitness & Training

Mindset becomes reality so lets understand it!

Mindset Audio Version

What is Mindset?

Mindset is simply a set of beliefs; your mindset determines how successful you are at anything. Whether or not you believe you are capable or deserving of achieving goals.

There are two core mindsets.

1 – A fixed mindset – belief that your abilities are limited and goals may be attainable.

2 – A growth mindset –  in which you believe your abilities & skills can be improved.

Enjoy the challenge

Why Is Mindset Important for Fitness?

1 – You have to believe you are worth it and deserve the rewards that change will bring

2 – You have to believe that your efforts are worth it

3 – You have to believe that you’re capable of doing it

When you’re down on  yourself it’s not productive, you’re not motivated. It then becomes a pattern and it can be a barrier to changing things. 

We know that hitting the gym or going for an outdoor run can make us feel on top of the world, the endorphins alone are typically enough to keep us coming back for more, but sometimes motivation comes in a less uplifting package.

Negative motivation is nothing new – have you ever hit the treadmill because you ate too much over the weekend or you just hate your body right now. You have fallen a victim to this common but damaging type of motivation, and unfortunately our society may have something to do with it. We are in a constant state of comparison with others and it can make us feel inferior. We start thinking about what we don’t have instead of what we do have. The problem is people start to associate exercise with only weight loss as a result and not about feeling good, the focus becomes more about looking good. It’s certainly ok to want to lose a healthy amount of weight or gain muscle, but there is a fine line between working  out to reach a goal or working out as punishment. It’s easy to use workouts as a punishment for something like overeating as it gives us  a sense of control over the situation.

During the two weeks look to trial all services, this will include all classes and potentially even some personal training or nutrition coaching services. Having a broader experience will lead to a better and more accurate understanding of the value they can provide you and who knows you may also learn something.

The Impact!

echo bike
Fun is a state of mind!

It’s easy to understand why negativity can sometimes be dangerous. Hitting the gym after a weekend of cocktails and take-out can feel great physically, but the mental impacts of these negative motivations can lead to negative outcomes.

Over time we start to believe the negative things we are using to push us and we continue with these habits; it can leave us feeling worthless. These feelings can translate into physical effects. Negative motivation forces us to see negative over positive, so we are constantly picking at what we don’t like.

For example, I like my strong legs but they could be thinner. From this our relationship with fitness actually changes, you then become dependent on exercise solely for weight loss and not strength. You then associate weight loss with happiness and success, and now you are in that vicious cycle.

This cycle can lead to injuries as well as physical and emotional stress. This can also make us forget the real health benefits of fitness. Shift your thinking –  when you’re conditioned to think negatively about fitness it’s not always easy to change your mindset.

If you start approaching fitness with a positive mindset you’re going to start actually enjoying the workout; gratitude is a powerful motivator- it will never fail you. 

Find your way: you need to define the reason why you workout and it needs to be something mental not physical – for example, define reasons like “I want to be confident” or “I want more energy.”  These types of feelings will last way longer and lead to more success in other areas of life than any kind of physical goal.

Focus on the Little Things!

What you choose to focus on always plays a big role in how you see your body and the relationship you have with exercise. So what if you can’t run as fast as your friend right now? So what if you missed a workout? So what if you ate one cookie?  instead shift your focus- focus on things like doing quality movements, getting more sleep or even drinking more water. It is always important to celebrate small wins, celebrate when you finally jog for two minutes without stopping or celebrate when you show up to the gym.

functional training with friends
Environment is everything

Avoid Negative Outside Activity!

If you’re feeling down about yourself, look around you, do your friends engage in negative self-talk. If so it might be time to cut ties, try to be around people who will pick you up and not put you down. 

Figure out your feelings! 

One of the major steps in switching your thinking from negative to positive is to identify the reasons why you feel so down about your body or training. Why do you put this pressure on yourself? What makes you unhappy about your body? You can turn your negative statement into a positive one.

So to summarize a postive midset - try these 7 tricks

1 – start with small workouts 

2 – trim down your goals 

3 – adapt a go with the flow attitude 

4 – make skipping a workout a conscious decision 

5 – don’t get pigeonholed into one type of workout or training style 

6 – forget the all or nothing mentality, look at each day as a series of choices 

7 – practise delayed gratification, work for the result

If you change your mindset you have the ability to change your entire world!

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