Exercise Psychology and what not ...

Haven't updated this blog as much as I would like so I am going to include a couple of different things here.  First - a little about what is going on with me.  I have entered a new phase of my training.  For the past 6 weeks or so I was doing a high intensity training regimen.  Basically, as I mentioned in a previous entry, this was a way for me to do one to two workouts and cover my whole body.  Also, the weights were much heavier and the sets and reps were much lower.  Less overall numbers but increased intensity.  The idea is that you get the most out of each set so you don't have to go back and do set after set with lots of reps.  Well, it worked well for me and I definitely got STRONGER.  I also think my body responded quite well.  For those of you who I haven't given my spiel ... basically my body is not genetically prone to gaining a great deal of muscle and my long skinny-ish frame has taken years to add shape and muscle size to.  So this was worth a shot.  I felt like I maintained and maybe even gained some muscle through this past 6 weeks.  Like an idiot I did not record my initial measurements to compare against.  Anyway, one other thing I did a lot of this past 6 weeks was write out all of my workouts.  In 16+ years of working out - I have never done this.  But I think now I won't ever stop.  It truly is an incredible way to document and remind yourself of what you have done and where you came from, so to speak.  I almost got excited writing out each of my workouts - which actually didn't vary too much as they were "one or the other" - but there was still something exciting about sitting down with my pre-workout drink and mapping out what I was about to do.   I WILL definitely continue to write out my workouts and would suggest that to anyone who is struggling with issues of consistency or motivation.  Anyway, now I am moving on to a higher rep - higher volume routine to hit more of my body parts more effectively.   I still am going to continue on with the 2 day split routine because I find that really "works" for me.  This routine is more reps, sets, and exercises per body part and a faster paced workout with super-sets and all that.  The idea is that hopefully it will lean me out and continue to shape the muscle that I have built.  Of course, I have to make sure the cardio and the diet are in check in order to make it all work together.

Okay - enough about me.  So the title of this blog is Exercise Psychology.  What prompted this was a lot of the conversations I have been having with people.  The more I think about it and talk with others about it ... the more I realize what a huge variable psychology is in all of this.  No matter if you have all the experience, tools, background knowledge, and resources .... if you don't have the right "psychology" - it can sort of kill you.  Why else would anyone who has spent hours of time and money on diet stuff, gym memberships, trainers, and even personal research, still struggle with their goals.  It is all the mental aspect of it.  And it is more than just motivation and drive.  I know plenty of folks that have both but still lose the battle day after day.  

I am not a psychologist, but if I was, I would open a practice dedicated to "exercise psychology".  My background in education and psychology related fields has given me plenty of perspective though.  It seems pretty apparent that behind every behavior or lack there of one - there is a significant mental factor playing a role.  But it seems that we pay the least amount of attention to those things.  Like when someone is putting a food item in their mouth that they KNOW is not on their plan and defies all logic when it comes to what they would like to achieve ... why do they still throw it on in?  Or when a person comes to the gym day after day and is very regimented in there routine, why are they able to continue on with such discipline?  There is so much going on in these different situations that impact our choices and motivation.  I guess I encourage myself and others to continue to explore these issues with themselves or others further and see what role psychology plays in our own successes and failures.

Andy

What Works for YOU?!?!

I get to spend a lot of time talking to members at the club and as such I hear all sorts of interesting ideas on fitness. One of things I find most interesting about some of the people that I get to talk with is the individual differences there are in their lifestyles and respective bodies. I know people who eat whatever they want and workout, and as a result they look great. I know people that eat whatever they want and work out, and as a result they look not as good as they want and never seem to change. I know people that work their selves to the bone, try and eat what they think is an appropriate diet and still struggle to make the littlest amount of change. I know that don't work out much, don't eat right, and as a result look that way. And of course I know people that don't have a clue about what to do, don't really watch what they eat, and still look just fine. All of the variations in different people can most likely be attributed to genetics and a bunch of other factors related to lifestyle that I can't get into because I can't give all the information I need to here. Point is, people are different. As such, people need different approaches to reach their goals. I said to a client the other day, "It is really simple - you do X amount of work and take in X amount of the right type of calories and you have no choice but to lose weight". But of course, even though I was trying to put things in perspective for that client, it never seems quite that simple.
So what does all this mean to someone reading this (assuming that someone else is reading this besides me and I am not rambling to myself???)? It means that we have to quest to find what works for us each individually. Most likely you fall into the category of struggle with diet and struggle with workouts. If you don't and you happen to be one of those people who has found results through your efforts, then kudos to you. However, if you are the person that needs guidance and direction, start thinking about what truly works for YOU. Now - the most important thing to consider to determine this, you need to get a little scientific. What I mean is that you need to take a look at the variables in your life that you can manipulate. Things like what you eat, how much you eat, what sort of training you do and how much of it you do are all very important variables to consider. By looking at each of those individually and thinking about what you are currently doing - then thinking about whether or not that is currently working for you - you can start to think about what changes you may need to make. And not every variable may need to be changed right this moment. Some things you do because they really do work for you and without them, things wouldn't work. (Does that all make sense or I am lost in la la land?) Take an individual who is struggling to lose weight, get to the gym enough, work out effectively and eat right. So I take those variables and break them down. How much exercise seems doable right now ... and what are you currently doing ... how is that working out for you??? (Dr. Phil anyone?) Then I take a look at diet. What are you currently eating, what changes could you make, etc. etc. Some things may not work for you. For instance if you know that in the past you have done hours of cardio a day with little change, then you may need to consider that sort of cardio just doesn't work for you. What other sorts of cardio does your body respond to? If you have tried low carb or low fat diets and they have had mixed results not only in how your body responded but also in how you felt while on them and whether or not you wanted to continue ... then again ask, what works best for you. I know all this seems ambiguous and that is because there are so many variables that can be manipulated in so many different ways that to comment on them all would take a book. My thoughts are though, after talking with different folks and hearing all of the things that work and don't work for people, it really strikes me as important to take some time and really think about/meditate on/write out or whatever ... what works for you?
Finally, I am always struck by some of the people that I seem in the gym consistently that have everything clicking and really seem to have found what works for them. What I often find is most consistent amongst the people that have found that is they are strong in the following areas:
Consistency
Effortlessness (not in effort that is put out but effort it takes to muster up the energy to make them do what they have to do)
Schedule
Routine
Discipline
Contentment
Take those words for what they mean and think about that next time you are thinking about what will work for you.
Andy