Friday, January 27, 2006
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Law Number 7
#7 The Plan
SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that we could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and workout together. Now we’ve got people in Trumbull Ct. (my hometown) doing Power 90 with people in Hollywood at the same time. That is cool!
I believe that your workout calendar is your most important tool. Power 90 and P90X have everything you need to stay consistent. But for those of you that are having trouble with motivation and consistency, you need to place that calendar where you’ll see it often, every day. The bathroom mirror, refrigerator, next to the TV or right on your front door if you have to. I have a desk calendar that stares back at me all day long. After 25 years of training I still write down the type of workout I’ve done, and circle the day I did it. At the end of the month, I add them up. My goal (for the last 21 years) has been a minimum of 20 workouts a month--that’s 240 a year with 125 days off.
I've always said that you can focus on Intensity & Variety, but if you don't know what you're doing and when, you're toast. It amazes me how so many people wake up in the morning and don't know the exact time they're working out. We’re pretty good at scheduling when to go to bed, and when to eat, when to watch our favorite show on the tube, but for some reason we're trying to fit the workout in whenever we can. The "fit it in whenever" philosophy might work short term, but never survives the long term. You can't have a fitness lifestyle if you don't have a long term plan.
Beachbody provides the variety--and even the motivation through the boards. But you need to plan way ahead. In most cases, if you don’t plan when you’re doing your workout, you probably won’t do it. If you make a point to schedule your workouts in advance you’re chances of success will sky rocket. My calendar has been a simple and powerful tool for me for over twenty years. Without it…I’m lost. With it, I’m organized, committed and successful.
WOWY is another tool to help you lock it in because it creates accountability. Accountability: The obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions. I schedule 6 workouts every week. I am accountable to the people I schedule them with. Monday I take off. Tuesday I meet 4 guys at 5:00 PM for a weight workout. Wednesday I meet 1 to 3 people for cardio at 5:30 PM. Every other Wednesday I meet friends at 7:30 to rock climb. Thursday I do weights at 5:00 PM with the boys. Friday is cardio or leg/plyo day at 4:30 or 5:00 PM with 1 to 3 friends. Saturday is Yoga at 4:00 PM. I meet 2 to 4 friends at the yoga studio. It's Locked In!
Even at a million miles an hour, anxious thoughts and feelings take you nowhere. Stop the mind chatter and plan when to Push Play. Move your workouts way up the priority list. Don’t think about doing them whenever. Schedule them as if they were very important meetings or appointments. BECAUSE THEY ARE! You can love what you're doing & eat like a star, but if you don't plan those workouts (a month in advance) you won't go far.
SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that we could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and workout together. Now we’ve got people in Trumbull Ct. (my hometown) doing Power 90 with people in Hollywood at the same time. That is cool!
I believe that your workout calendar is your most important tool. Power 90 and P90X have everything you need to stay consistent. But for those of you that are having trouble with motivation and consistency, you need to place that calendar where you’ll see it often, every day. The bathroom mirror, refrigerator, next to the TV or right on your front door if you have to. I have a desk calendar that stares back at me all day long. After 25 years of training I still write down the type of workout I’ve done, and circle the day I did it. At the end of the month, I add them up. My goal (for the last 21 years) has been a minimum of 20 workouts a month--that’s 240 a year with 125 days off.
I've always said that you can focus on Intensity & Variety, but if you don't know what you're doing and when, you're toast. It amazes me how so many people wake up in the morning and don't know the exact time they're working out. We’re pretty good at scheduling when to go to bed, and when to eat, when to watch our favorite show on the tube, but for some reason we're trying to fit the workout in whenever we can. The "fit it in whenever" philosophy might work short term, but never survives the long term. You can't have a fitness lifestyle if you don't have a long term plan.
Beachbody provides the variety--and even the motivation through the boards. But you need to plan way ahead. In most cases, if you don’t plan when you’re doing your workout, you probably won’t do it. If you make a point to schedule your workouts in advance you’re chances of success will sky rocket. My calendar has been a simple and powerful tool for me for over twenty years. Without it…I’m lost. With it, I’m organized, committed and successful.
WOWY is another tool to help you lock it in because it creates accountability. Accountability: The obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions. I schedule 6 workouts every week. I am accountable to the people I schedule them with. Monday I take off. Tuesday I meet 4 guys at 5:00 PM for a weight workout. Wednesday I meet 1 to 3 people for cardio at 5:30 PM. Every other Wednesday I meet friends at 7:30 to rock climb. Thursday I do weights at 5:00 PM with the boys. Friday is cardio or leg/plyo day at 4:30 or 5:00 PM with 1 to 3 friends. Saturday is Yoga at 4:00 PM. I meet 2 to 4 friends at the yoga studio. It's Locked In!
Even at a million miles an hour, anxious thoughts and feelings take you nowhere. Stop the mind chatter and plan when to Push Play. Move your workouts way up the priority list. Don’t think about doing them whenever. Schedule them as if they were very important meetings or appointments. BECAUSE THEY ARE! You can love what you're doing & eat like a star, but if you don't plan those workouts (a month in advance) you won't go far.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
What Next?
2005 is coming to a close and it's time to look forward. The beginning of every new year is filled with so much promise. We start the annual process known as "getting our acts together" on January 1st. We tell friends & family that we're going to improve our lives in one way or another. There's an energy and enthusiasm that seems palpable. Everyone is talking about quitting smoking or starting projects or losing weight and getting fit. It's fun to be around people when they talk like this. The focus is so positive. There's never any talk about obstacles or failure. We clean our slates of the muck and mire, look to the future, and set goals with exuberance. A brand new attitude to kick off the new year.
Why the hell does it all fade away? Why isn't this mojo sustainable for most people? Where does all the energy and enthusiasm go? The short answer is; happy thoughts are easy, action is hard. Talking a good game is an American pastime. Talk is cheap. Talk doesn't cook rice. Great Americans turn their hopes and dreams into something real with persistent action. An un-relenting constant movement forward. The ups and downs, twists and turns don't detour them. This is behavior that must be learned. It doesn't just happen based on some nice thoughts about the future. If you've started something and could not finish it then you weren't ready in the first place. The foundation and plan were never in place on day one.
If you really want to succeed, if you really want to see something through to the end, then you need a new approach. You need deadlines, goals and help. This is why Power90 has worked so well for so many people. There is a start date and an end date. You stick with it because I guarantee that if you do what I tell you to do then great change will happen. You take your photos, your measurements and your weight and you begin to move your body. You get into the boards, chat rooms and WOWY and get connected with other people who need you as much as you need them. Success is achievable because this system is time tested.
If you take this simple system and apply it to all other aspects of life then they will dramatically improve as well. From finance to romance deadlines, goals and help are how you get there. Winging it with happy thoughts will surely fail. Deadlines and goals can and will change sometimes (that's okay) but if you continue to seek help from people you trust then the process and journey are enjoyable and rewarding. With the new year fast approaching it's time to see if you're willing to apply a method to your gladness. See if you can turn positive wishes into substantial life long change.
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