In this article, I explain to you how to make bodybuilding not a chore for you, so you can stay regular.
Many people have already made it their goal to exercise regularly. Easy to do over a week or two. Doing it all year round is more complicated.
But it is not impossible. By proceeding step by step.
Clearly define your goal
In engineering or marketing, we often hear about goals S.M.A.R.T. :
- S : Specific
- M : Measurable
- A : reachable
- R : Feasible
- T : Temporally defined
We can also define this type of objective when it comes to sports.
Specific
“gain strength”, “Lose fat”, “gain muscle”. Make sure you have a clear guideline. A person who seeks specifically strength won't train the same way than a person who mainly wants gain muscle. Don't scatter.
Measurable
“Lose 10 kg”. “Faire 10 squat reps to 100 kg”. It's important to cipher your goals. You will be able to accurately measure your progress.
reachable
“Look like the Hulk” is not something attainable, for an obvious reason. Even with all the training in the world, you will never be able to turn green.
Feasible
Do you give yourself really ways to succeed ? Starting with choosing your gym.
Choose a weight room away from home or your work (just because she has great equipment for example) is the best way not to stay regular. It's good to have a room with a sauna, massage chairs and sexy coaches. But at least unexpected (what often happens), you won't have time to go there.
Brief, be pragmatic to maximize your chances of being regular in training.
Temporally defined
“Lose 30 kg” may seem complicated at first glance. “Lose 30 kg in 2 year” seems much less insurmountable. Put yourself in mind that changing physically takes time.
It is very complicated nowadays to estimate the time really necessary to achieve a given objective, because we are constantly bombarded with advertisements that promise us spectacular results in a few weeks.
Clearly, programs of the type “2 weeks for rock abs!” Where “super ball 10 days!”, these are bullshit ! Ces “programmes” exist only for a purpose marketing. And it's not very selling to tell someone that they will get what they want in several months or several years..
Good, you have finally set your SMART goal. It's very beautiful, but how to stay regular all year long, about your strength training ?
Our life is a reflection of our little habits
We spend a good part of our life in mode “Automatic pilot”.
“95% of what we are 35 years is a set of behaviors, emotional reactions, unconscious habits, pre-programmed states of mind, beliefs and perceptions. It works like a computer program.”
Joe Dispenza, American neuroscientist
We get up at the same time, we go to the toilet, we drink a coffee, we take a shower, we go to work etc.… Our life is made of little habits.
And it is the accumulation of good habits who creates success.
It is therefore logical to assume that to have a dream body, the good habits to adopt are, for example :
- Sleep and wake up early, everyday.
- Eat healthy at all meals.
- Train 2 hours a day, 5 times per week.
- Regularly document training, nutrition etc.…
You guess right 🙂 . The problem, is that in reality, unless you are a professional athlete, following such a routine over the long term requires effort far too important.
people have children, a work, a social life, get sick etc.…
It is impossible to have a life calibrated to the minute.
The other reason is that these new habits are probably too far of your current comfort zone.
Manage your comfort zone intelligently
A bit higher, I talked about comfort zone “current”. For the simple and good reason that it is something that evolved, based on our behavior.
The comfort zone is a psychological state in which a person feels comfortable. In this area, she can maintain control while experiencing a low level of stress and anxiety.
Source : Wikipedia
The mode “Automatic pilot” mentioned a little above is actually a way of referring to our comfort zone. We naturally do things that are easy for us..
Take the example of driving :
Most regular drivers can talk to their passengers or listen to music while driving. Driving them asks for a minimum d’effort. However, so that this activity is now part of their comfort zone, these people had to “learn to drive”.
And this learning phase has often been uncomfortable.
When we are outside out of our comfort zone long enough, things that seemed difficult to us become less and less so.
Gradually establish new habits
Suppose you have the habits below :
- Sleep at 2am (villain netflix).
- Eat fast food or junk food (+ sugary drinks) everyday.
- Do not do sports.
If you want to embark on the adventure of fitness, I advise you to define different difficulty levels, in the new habits you want to put in place.
For example (per week):
It is better to start by trying to follow the habits of the level 1 until they get into your comfort zone (Even if it takes you several weeks or months).
Even level habits 1, as “sleep at midnight” can be difficult to adopt. It requires a slight adaptation of your lifestyle, how you use your smartphone in the evening (Cf. blue light), about saying no to your friends when they propose to you “just one last part” What is a cookie " Call Of Duty.
Once you have made the necessary adaptations to be able to follow the routine of the level 1 in a way automatique, go to level 2. And so on. Increase gradually the size of your comfort zone.
Manage the levels as you want according to your difficulties. If you want to start by improving a single item (food for example), you are free to do so. Your “cutting” may very well look like this :
You can even set up to 10 difficulty levels if you want. Go at your own pace.
Regularity is the key word !
To conclude, don't set yourself overly ambitious goals, just because you have a peak of motivation at the moment (Hello New Year's resolutions 🙂 ).
You do not have to(e)s to train every day and eat broccoli and chicken in the morning, noon and night for the rest of your life, to get results.
Consume fresh vegetables, it is the best. But if you don't have time to go to the local market, frozen vegetables will always be a better choice than Burger King.
And bref, don't try to be parfait all the time, at the risk of feeling frustration.
Over several years, a person who would have trained 3 times a week without stopping will have made more progress than a person who has trained 5 times a week for 2 month, would have given up 1 month, then resumed for 2 month etc.…
The results will come, but for that, you have to stay regular, whether in bodybuilding or in any other activity (learn a new language for example).
Whether you are a beginner, practicing “temp worker” Where “regular”, I hope this article has helped you.
Feel free to share it if so. !
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