Successful training hinges on the ongoing relationship you have with your body…
Staying motivated to train….
Successful training hinges on the ongoing relationship you have with your body. Any plan for your body starts with your mind and the conversation you have with yourself.
You can become more BODY AWARE when you know how to listen to yourself. I first learned this in my final year of college.
Part of the early morning school swim squad, way back then, I had just come through a bout of glandular fever and to be honest, at the time my body had an full on energy crisis and was far from pumping.
I remember sitting in the city library and coming across a book called The Health Revolution by Ross Horne which promoted self-responsibility through holistic methods.
I was intrigued with the idea of setting the stage for success for my body by setting up the environment it needed to thrive.
Fulfil your body’s needs
I devoured the material, it ignited my love of learning and showed me how to improve the process I used to fulfil my body’s needs.
One skill I learned was how to ask a quality question on behalf of my body. I learned that the quality of the question determined the quality of the result and the new focus bought far better results. Where before I had been asking, “What’s wrong with me” and my mind was coming up with answers like, “You’re just being lazy, you need to get up earlier and train harder”
On the flip side, when I asked questions like “How can I take this experience and use it to help myself and others with low energy?” my brain came up with far more constructive answers.
I was able to focus on the pathway forward rather than feel like I had reached the bottom of a deep pit.
Questions to help train your body.
What do I feel happy about my body right now?
What does this make me feel now and long term?
What am I most excited about in my training right now?
What do I feel grateful for in my training?
What am I committed to in my training right now?
“Now Effort” v’s “Past Outcome”
These questions helped me focus more on the areas I could put effort into now and less bogged down by the outcomes I had achieved in the past. I came to understand that our brains are built to problem solve. Gradually I learnt my brain will work on these questions even when I was not thinking of the answers specifically.
I’ve lost count how many times I have set off for a run, mentally filing a burning question in the “too hard basket” for a spell and then as I come up the hill to my driveway, as if by magic, the solution pops into my head with no effort at all!
There is a world of difference between “Why are my events always so difficult?” to “How can I use the time between events to benefit from this experience?”
Engage questions that empower your training. If you seek a shift in your physical capability, then make this a routine part of your planning process.
Over time, you’ll find the answers to your questions move from, “I’m getting too old for this” to “This new foot placement will likely reduce the stress on my knees.” By asking yourself these types of questions, you inspire new answers, fresh insights which ultimately change the pathway you choose to fulfil your body’s needs.
Have fun training this week.
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