3 Mindset Shifts You NEED To Make

Something that I hope I have helped my clients with as much as their technique and program is making some key mindset shifts around training. I'm not saying I'm some transformative life coach with all the answers, but I know enough about training and have seen enough people come into the gym with the wrong ideas in key areas to know that I can really help affect their progress by helping with their misconceptions. Here's the three biggest and most common ones I see. 1. "Go Hard Or Go Home" to "Go Hard When You Need To" I can guarantee you that going hard or going home is the wrong mindset to take when it comes to lifting. There is some much value to had in the nuance of doing enough when the time is right. Absolutely, you need to be going hard regularly to drive progress through progressive overload and forcing your body to adapt. But that comes at a big recovery cost, and if you take either of the "go hard or go home" options you're missing out because either: 1. You go too hard again too soon, don't recover enough, and repeat this over time to achieve nothing more than overtraining and injury from poor load management. 2. You don't train again until your fully recovered and miss out on 1-2 potential days of movement. Both of those options are sub-par. There is IMMENSE value and progress to be made by working through cycles of Hard/Moderate/Easy days where you can continue to accumulate work without fully emptying the tank. Instead, focus on becoming a professional at going hard when you need to, and filling the gaps with other high quality work. 2. "Cut Calories More To Lose Weight Quicker" to "Cut Calories Less To Adhere Better And Make Greater Progress". You are correct in thinking at a biological level that if you cut calories more severely, you will lose weight quicker. It does work like that. The bigger the deficit the bigger the loss. But what doesn't work like that is the emotional, mental and social aspect of food. What happens for EVERYONE who slashes calories is that it works for a couple of days/weeks, then becomes WAY too hard, then you overeat and you're back at square one. If you work off a less severe deficit, something that is easier to follow, more sympathetic to your emotions, causes less hunger, and more social freedom, you will stick to it way better and make greater progress over a longer timescale. So change your mindset from wanting everything now or tomorrow to pursuing it in a few months time and enjoying the process as you go. It is the only way that this will work for you. Trust me. I've seen it hundreds of times over the years. 3. "I Haven't Got Time To Train" to "I Haven't Got Time To Be Unfit/Unhealthy". I have had a lot of clients who over the years can only make it to the gym 1-2 times a week because they're schedule is too hectic. That statement has probably only been truly true 1-2 times. Improving your health and fitness is a positive equation, the more you put in the more you get out. Sure you will gain some muscle, improve your strength and increase your fitness, but on a whole different level you'll get a ton of other benefits:

• Improved mood

• Increased daily energy

• Improved sleep

• Hormone regulation

• You Time

And many more along those lines. You QUALITY of life will increase from a relatively small quantity of time spent on yourself. And you simply do not have the time to be walking around not being the best version of yourself at home or at work. You do not have the years in your life to be spending them tired, grumpy, drained, emotional and inactive. You HAVE to invest time in this. You HAVE to invest in yourself. So make that time, even if it's 30 minutes a day. It will repay you with more time from higher energy, productivity, mood and appetite for life. It's an absolute no brainer. Thanks, Ian.