You’ve guessed it, the most popular new year’s resolution is along the lines of workout more, lose weight, get huge etc.
However, numerous studies have shown that as low as 8% of people succeed, and many barely last the month!
The underlying reason is because you can’t rely on motivation.
Motivation comes and goes, of course you are going to be ultra motivated in the new year… The key is to find a way to be DETERMINED!
I’ve seen this bit of insightfulness in various fitness memes. In fact, the power of a decent meme can have you in stitches, motivate you to achieve a new PR, or leave you relieved to know, you’re not the only one who does that while pooing.
However, the motivational power of a meme is as short lived as your previous new year’s resolutions.
So how do you become determined?
The first step is to set GOALS.
Why set a goal?
Read any science paper on goal setting, and you’ll read something along the lines of, when you set a goal and achieve it, your body releases dopamine into your brain. Dopamine makes you feel good… Makes sense.
One goal mistake we all make!
We set one big goal, then we post it all over social media. We get so much support and encouragement for having set ourselves such an awesome goal, that it’s almost like we have already achieved it.
Moral of the story… Don’t waste reward hormones on social media likes and words of encouragement. You haven’t achieved anything yet, you don’t deserve the praise!
Instead, spend time creating a plan of action. One big goal is not enough, you need to break it down and create various smaller goals… Get regular, but not too regular, hits of dopamine and all them other reward hormones that make you feel great!
Don’t get me wrong, putting yourself out there and receiving positive feedback and encouragement is awesome (I do it all the time). I just believe it’s too easy these days to talk the talk rather than walking the walk… If you post it… Be ready to deliver!
Don’t allow yourself to feel good for setting a goal… It’s not good enough and will make you complacent!
At this point I could go into “S.M.A.R.T” goal setting – Specific / Measurable / Attainable or Achievable / Relevant or Realistic / Time Bound.
However, although I’ve established that proper goal setting is integral to achieving results. I believe there is a deeper reason people fall off the wagon.
Humans are habitual in nature, and this has pros and cons. The key is to take advantage of our habitual nature and create regimes that fit into our different lifestyles.
Your goals need to be a by-product of a training regime that fits into your lifestyle, and ultimately makes you feel good… They can’t be the sole reason for your training!
How long does it take to form a new habit?
Here’s where I quote a bit of science:
It all started with a plastic surgeon named Maxwell Maltz, who in the 1950’s noticed that when he performed plastic surgery, a nose job for example, it would take the patient around 21 days for them to get used to their new face.
He also noted that when a patient had a limb amputated, they would experience phantom limb syndrome (trying to itch an arm that isn’t there) for around the same timeframe.
These finding resulted in Maltz publishing Psycho-Cybernetics, and this best-selling book fuelled a whole craze – It takes 21 days to form a new habit!
Problem is, more recent studies have shown various timeframes ranging from 18 to 254 days, with an average number of 66 days.
So, that’s pretty much no help at all… Essentially, depending on your personality and the type of habit you are trying to ingrain, it could take anywhere from a couple of weeks, to 8 months.
However, what was also shown, is that if your fall off the wagon from time to time, it has no measurable effect on ingraining long-term habits. It’s not an all or nothing process over a couple of weeks, it’s playing the long game, ingraining good habits and eliminating bad habits over many months – just keep going, show some determination!
This is one of the reasons I hate the Transformation training and diet models, which preach 6-12 weeks of an intense regime, rather than promoting long-term sustainability and health (ingraining habits)… Read my article on transformations here: https://5sfitness.co.uk/why-i-dont-like-the-transformation-model/
How to go about ingraining a habit?
Set your goals & quantify your training!
What are your weekly and monthly targets, and where do you want to be in 1-2 years, or even 5-10 years.
Record your starting point and layout various retesting/reassessing check points i.e. Every 2, 4, 6 or 12 weeks – Make sure these are realistic!
Create a plan:
Now you have laid out your goals, create a plan for achieving them – FITT
Frequency – How often you will train.
Intensity – How hard will you train.
Read my article on calculating the intensity of resistance sessions here: https://5sfitness.co.uk/calculating-the-intensity-of-your-strength-sessions/
Time – For how long.
This also relates to your training volume (how much work you get done), and in turn this relates to training density. For example, a half hour session that involves 5×5 back squats and 4×8 good mornings, has more density than a half hour session that only involves 5×5 back squats.
Type – What type of training i.e. running, resistance training etc.
Quantifying the training you have done:
I am a big believer in quantifying the sessions you have done. When you add up the total number of sessions you complete in a month, missing one session is not as demotivating, while on the flip side, it makes every session feel like it counts.
Just like you add up the miles/km’s you run in a session, if you are lifting, add up the total amount of weight you lift.
Add up the weight you lift over weeks and months, it’s amazing how much it all adds up – 5×5 @100kg Deadlifts = 2500kg total volume (just 1 session of 1 lift).
Read my article on quantifying your resistance sessions here: https://5sfitness.co.uk/quantifying-training-sessions/
My top tip:
Set goals of how many miles you want to run in a year, how much weight you want to lift in a month, or how many hours of training you want to clock up each week… Assess how you have done on a weekly and monthly basis… Some weeks and months will be better/or worse than others, but all this will reinforce a training habit that won’t be broken!
For me, and for 100’s of clients I train, quantifying training over a longer period is the key to longevity… Longevity occurs when habits are ingrained!
Rather than just setting aesthetic and performance based goals (by-products of training) … Set goals for your training!… “I will do 8 runs and 8 resistance sessions this month” … Assess how you do, and more importantly, take culpability and problem solve!
Don’t be too tough on yourself, but get your ass into gear!
Thanks for reading
Jay
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