Archives 2014

Building Mental Stamina

Do you find yourself struggling through workouts or cardio sessions, or at a plateau in your fitness? Is your challenge more mental than physical, and you find yourself giving in easier, telling yourself you just can’t do it, or making excuses to not exercise? If that’s the case, you just might need help increasing your mental stamina.

Techniques and tips for building mental stamina or toughness are plentiful; think positive, visualize your goal; don’t beat yourself up, etc. But, just like will power during dieting, what works for one person, might not work for another. However; there is one thing across the board that works wonders for building mental toughness, regardless of your personality type, where you are in your fitness journey, or your age. That single silver bullet is this: proper rest. That’s right. It’s that simple, but it has to be consistent, and for some people, this may be a new way of living.

If you’re a night owl, or have trouble sleeping, proper and consistent rest might be just the prescription you need to build mental toughness to go the distance. Although it has many benefits, proper rest results in three important effects that build mental stamina.

Proper rest:

–       Curbs inflammation. Studies have shown that inflammation is directly associated with increased fatigue.¹ When our body is fatigued, it is not primed for a good workout or cardio session, which definitely breaks down mental resolve and toughness.

–       Boosts emotional stability and decreases depression, which in turn reduce anxiety. These three benefits combined are great building blocks of mental toughness.

–       Increases physical stamina – This is supported by findings that many of the major restorative functions in the body like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and growth hormone occur mostly, or in some cases only, during sleep².

Studies have also shown that getting enough sleep can also improve reaction time and split second decision making.³ So, it might be time to rethink your sleep habits and routine if you currently just can’t seem to power through your workouts. If you’ve taken the step to get fit, and get your nutrition right, making proper sleep a priority just might be the final move you need to make to bring it all together for maximum performance and well-being.

So, how much sleep do you need? Seven to nine hours — and more if you’re under a lot of stress, or doing intense workouts. And just like you can’t ‘out-cardio’ your diet, you can’t catch up on sleep. If you sleep deprive yourself during the week, and play catch up on the weekends, you’ve cheated yourself 5 out of 7 days of all the great benefits discussed above. So, don’t try to cram one more thing into today. There is always tomorrow, and you’ll have a lot more energy. Just go to bed.

Sources:

 1A 2010 study conducted at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia study found that people getting six or fewer hours of sleep per night had higher levels of inflammatory proteins in their blood than those who get more than 6 hours.

2National Sleep Foundation

32009 study at the University of Texas at Austin with West Point cadets.

A client recently shared with me that she had the best run of her life, having shaved 3 minutes off her 5k time. Then she shared that she had only done one thing differently – she ate before she ran. My response to her was this “food is fuel, that’s what I always tell everybody.”

She shared that years ago, in high school, she had eaten before a run once and became nauseous, and couldn’t finish her run. After that, she never ate prior to a run again. She’s been an ‘on again, off again’ runner over the years, despite that it seemed to get a little more difficult with each passing year. She figured she was just getting older. When she first started working out with me over a year ago, she was wary of eating prior to working out for the same reason. It did take a while for her to find the right type and quantity of food to eat, as well as the right amount of time to eat before her workouts. Ever since she found that magic combination, she’s always been able to power through her workouts.

I share this story with you to challenge you to step back and think about your cardio, fitness and nutrition habits. In this case, it was the timing of when to eat food that made all the difference. (If you’d like more information on food as fuel, see my February 24 post Carbs and Protein – What to Eat Before and After a Workout) Maybe for you it’s switching up your food, or perhaps you’re not getting enough water throughout the day, which can make you feel tired and hungry.

Other things to think about include how often you are working out. If you find yourself at a plateau right now, consider adding more cardio to your routine –  a spinning class with Chandra, or take part in one of Ana’s HIIT classes.  Maybe you’re hitting the pavement two days a week right now. Try adding one more day to boost your metabolism.

The duration of strength training can also be something to consider. If you are currently doing 30 minutes of training 3 days a week, consider boosting it up to 60 minutes either one or two days a week. A simple way to add additional time in this area is with a TRX class on Saturday. It’s affordable and fun.

Like the saying goes, “Do the same thing you’ve always done, and you’ll get the same results you’ve always gotten.” Sometimes just a little tweak or change in your fitness routine can yield dramatic results.

Fitness advice floods the internet, exercise DVD infomercials are plentiful, and there seems to be a monthly membership gym on every corner. With all these options available, why in the world would anyone need or pay for a personal trainer? Is it really necessary?

If you’re like most people, you’ve tried either one or all of these options and they yielded little to no results – but it wasn’t for lack of trying! You either pieced together your own fitness regimen from different sources, followed the DVD program perfectly, or went to the gym religiously, but still came up short. Why? Well, there are three things a personal trainer does that will help you meet your fitness goals, which are very challenging to do alone. These three techniques are the golden nuggets that make a personal trainer well worth your time and money.

A personal trainer will:

1. Motivate and guide you
2. Hold you accountable
3. Provide nutrition guidance

Let’s explore how each of these offerings will benefit your fitness.

Motivation and Guidance

The decision to start exercising sometimes starts strong, but then quickly fizzles. Like many things in life, it’s tough to go it alone, especially if you’re not sure where to begin. A good personal trainer will assess your health and fitness history, design a custom fitness plan based on your goals, and help you start out strong. Once you get going, you will find that a personal trainer will push you harder that you will ever push yourself, and have you testing and pushing your limits beyond what you ever thought you were capable of doing. A good personal trainer will also ensure proper training of all muscle groups, adjusting as necessary for any health limitations or injuries. A seasoned trainer will also keep you motivated by changing your workout routines and introducing new techniques to keep workouts fun and interesting.

Accountability

Why do we typically fall out of an exercise routine? It’s a simple decision to start exercising, but to stay the course is a challenge. When left to our own devices, we often default to ‘easy’ mode, and exercise is not easy. A committed personal trainer will make sure you stick with the program, encouraging you to work out the proper number of times per week for your fitness goal. They can also help you identify self-sabotaging behaviors such as rationalizing missed workouts, not performing to your capability, or defeatist ideas and negative self-talk. At the same time, a wise personal trainer will encourage you when you feel like giving up, instill the confidence needed to help keep you focused, and celebrate successes with you along the way.

Nutrition Guidance

A veteran personal trainer also knows that healthy eating is essential to fitness and weight loss and maintenance. As such, a good personal trainer will assist with a proper nutrition plan to maximize your workouts, help with recovery after a session, and assist with weight loss goals. Personal trainers should also be knowledgeable about vitamins and supplements, and if they are right for you. They will also be the first to remind you that fad diets never work, and are a waste of your time and money.

Despite these many advantages, some may still struggle with the investment of a personal trainer. I encourage potential clients to think about “The 3 L’s” – lifestyle, long-term, and loved ones. Deciding to work with a personal trainer is a lifestyle change and commitment. It is a decision to take a positive action in your life to benefit your health, well-being, and overall outlook and attitude. Working with a personal trainer has a long-term benefit too. I encourage people to think of it as an investment in their future self and future health, which is money spent wisely in the here and now versus later in life on medical bills, medicine and long-term care facilities. This naturally brings to mind loved ones. When you invest in your health now, you ensure your well-being down the road so that you can really ‘be there’ for your loved ones in the future, to enjoy time together as well as a good quality of life. In addition, your decision and commitment goes a long way to ensure that you will be healthy and self-sufficient later in life, and not reliant on others for your long-term care or needs associated with failing health.

Is a personal trainer really necessary? If you are serious about taking care of your health and well-being, and acting in the best interest of your loved ones, the answer is self-evident.