Top 10 Challenges When Starting A Fitness Program And How To Overcome Them

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Slide 1: Page \|1 SPR REPORT SERIES Top 10 Challenges When Starting a Fitness Program & How to Overcome Them Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 2: Page \|2 Presents… Top 10 Challenges When Starting a Fitness Program & How to Overcome Them Performance Training Solutions to Keep You Moving! ____________________________________ Giber Becerra, CSCS SPR Performance Specialist Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 3: Page \|3 This special report is free to distribute on the Internet. http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Congratulations!!!! You can now print and redistribute rights to this ebook, “Top 10 Challenges When Starting a Fitness Program & How to Overcome Them”. By owning the reprint rights you can reprint, sell or redistribute this ebook for any price you’d like and keep 100% of the profits. Or you can use this free ebook as a bonus or premium and give it away. It’s your choice. The only restriction is you cannot modify or change the ebook in any way (that’s it) Inside this special report, you’ll find the best ways to overcome the challenges of starting a workout training program and how to overcome them. With this report you’ll be on your way to an active fulfilling lifestyle. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 4: Page \|4 ABOUT GIBER BECERRA & SPR… Giber Becerra is a respected sports performance coach with over 9 years of experience training athletes. He is the President of Sports Performance Republic, a comprehensive sports training company that helps individuals take their performance to the next level. Whether on or off the field, SPR provides solutions through processes that promote productivity, longevity, and motivation. When individuals feel like they have reach a plateau on their performance, or simply don’t know strategies for maximum results, they run to Giber & their team of experts for help. From active individuals to elite athletes, he offers a variety of training and consulting products for individuals, groups, or teams on a variety of sports. An experienced Sports Performance Coach, Giber’s major goal is to contribute his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the continued development of active individuals, elite, and aspiring elite level athletes. The result of his vision to fulfill his aspirations was the development of Sports Performance Republic in 2008. Through Sports Performance Republic’s methodology, he brings tribute to his many years of studying the “Greats” or leading experts in the field of sports performance, such as Mark Verstegen, Gray Cook, Mike Boyle, Juan Carlos Santana, Loren Seagrave, Tudor Bompa, Vern Gambetta, Mike Clark, Gary Gray and many others. His approach empowers both the coach and athlete, giving them the knowledge and the tools necessary to reach their most desired performance goals. His objective is to reach out and bring knowledge and awareness to living a healthy lifestyle. Giber is certified and a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. In addition, Becerra holds a National D Soccer Coaching License from the United States Soccer Association and is CPR/AED certified. Giber currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona. To receive our FREE newsletter “Performance Training Insights” SIGN UP HERE FOR TIPS ON MOVEMENT TRAINING, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS & MUCH MORE. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 5: Page \|5 Top 10 Challenges When Starting a Fitness Program & How to Overcome Them 1. No Time to Exercise Let’s first summarize the typical life of a busy person: Get up early in the morning and take a shower. There is no time for breakfast so they just stop by a Starbucks for a cup of coffee and accompany that with a pastry or doughnut (which will give you a high sugar rush and then have you feeling sluggish after several minutes). Get to the office and take the elevator instead of walking up the stairs. Sit down in a chair for many hours. Get some lunch after going four hours on an empty stomach (some people might even skip lunch because they are so busy to stop and refuel with some food). Because they are so busy, they pick up the fastest place to grab a bite (usually a fast food restaurant) and head back to work again to sit for more hours. After work is done, they take the elevator to hop back on the car. Drive back home during traffic hours and sit on the car for another 30 minutes to an hour or even more for some people with long commutes. For many people, this is the routine of everyday life. No wonder why we are so obese here in America. It’s the lifestyle that makes people sedentary. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 6: Page \|6 Especially when just getting started with a program, you might feel that there is hardly any time to squeeze in any extra physical activity. If you feel that you can’t commit a full hour to your morning workouts because you are already getting up early enough to go to work, there is a solution to this issue. You don’t have to perform your entire exercise routine at one time. Break things up if you have to. Physical activity can be broken down into segments of time—perhaps, doing the first part of a workout for 15-30 minutes in the morning followed by a 15-20 minute walk or jog in the afternoon. Instead of the longer workout sessions, these short sessions broken down throughout the day may be a better fit into your busy schedule. Psychologically, just the thought of doing a workout for a full hour might seem overwhelming to some people. “Chunking” down your workouts throughout the day makes it easier for a lot of people to stick to a program. This chunking process will change the perception and will make it easier for the psyche to be able to perform a workout that takes less time. Remember, it is important to stay active, so any amount of exercise throughout the day is better than none at all. Additionally, it is extremely important to make sure you block this exercise time and commit to it. Make this block time a priority into your lifestyle. Period. Make it important enough for you to get it done. Take action and don’t make excuses. One of the amazing benefits of squeezing in physical activity first thing in the morning is that exercising generates energy. Therefore, after your morning activity you will be feeling invigorated and empowered to keep up with the demands of everyday life. Furthermore, do not skip breakfast. This is the most important meal of the day. Plan ahead and take the time to prepare yourself a healthy and nutritious breakfast as well as preparing some lunch to take to work. If you think about it, by taking the time to prepare your food, you will be saving more time from those frequent stops you make to the coffee shop on your way to work or the stops at the fast food places. Additionally, you will be eating healthier by preparing your own lunch and taking your snacks. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 7: Page \|7 2. No Written Goals Be S.M.A.R.T. about your goals! I strongly recommend that you pick up a pen and a piece of paper and jot down the goals you want to reach using this SMART acronym. Many successful people have used the SMART goal-setting criteria to jot down their goals and accomplish their desired results. Make the changes necessary to ensure it meets the criteria for a SMART goal: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable R = Realistic T = Timely Specific—Make your goals as specific as possible. Just writing down vague goals is not enough to keep you going towards fulfilling your dreams. Here’s some examples of general goals:  Improve my stamina  Lose weight  Become more powerful Your goals need to be as specific as you can get. For example:    Lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks. Increase my jogging distance by half a mile every week for the following 3 months. Start a program (“12-Week Performance Training Program”) and workout 3 days a week for 12 consecutive weeks. These are just some basic examples of writing down specific goals. Remember the famous quote from Joseph P. Kennedy, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This is true, however, with vague goals the tough don’t get going. Measurable—Establish a criteria on how you are going to measure your success. It’s great to have a vision of where you want to be with a long-term plan. However, setting up a timeline with shorter goals to get us towards reaching our objectives will keep us going with the greater probabilities of success. Measuring our progress will allow us to stay on track as well as give us the feedback on what we need to improve upon. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 8: Page \|8 Attainable—There is something magical that happens when we set out to accomplish or attain something. What seemed unattainable before becomes a possibility when you start taking the steps towards your most important goals. There are several quotes from the book The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho, which represent what happens when we start moving towards our goals. “Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” The other quote is this one: “Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Making the decision to begin something will allow you to figure out ways to make it happen. You will start to develop the skills and abilities necessary to attain that goal. Any opportunities that you might have overlooked before become clear now and will get you closer to achieving your objectives. So don’t stop if the goal seems too far out there. Eventually and inevitably, as you grow and expand your goals will become closer than you think. As you begin this new journey of attaining your dreams, your world will have to adapt and figure out multiple ways to adjust to your new self-image. For this reason, it is important that your goals are specific and measurable. Realistic—Being an extremely optimistic person, realistic to me means settling for less. Why? Because I think that the average person usually underestimates their true potential and settles for just being “realistic” about their present situation. Many times, although people’s present realities are not the most ideal, they tend to be conformist and accept that to be true for them. We cannot let our past or current situations dictate our future. We can do better and I have been an example of this. You are the only person who can decide just how high your goals can be and nobody else. You've probably seen the movie "In the Pursuit of Happyness," spelled with a "y" in happiness. My favorite quote from that movie comes from Will Smith playing Christopher Gardner and talking to his young son. Christopher Gardner: "Hey. Don' ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?" Christopher: "All right." Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 9: Page \|9 Christopher Gardner: "You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period." Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. If you have set yourself a really high goal, make sure that you are constantly progressing and moving in the forward direction. Otherwise, you will become discouraged and abandon your dream. Being willing and able to move towards your goals is an essential key component to being successful. Nevertheless, if you set out a goal which conflicts with who you are or where you see yourself in the future, then this goal will not be realistic for you. My advice to you is to set realistic goals without limiting your BIG thinking. Timely—A goal without a time frame is not a serious goal. Setting up a specific deadline for a particular goal will give us a sense of urgency. Additionally, it will provide us with the necessary focus to get things done within a certain period. Here are some sites you can visit to help you to write down your goals: http://www.43things.com (my personal favorite) http://www.mygoalmanager.com http://www.mysomeday.com http://www.mygoals.com http://www.onlineorganizing.com http://www.officearrow.com Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 10: P a g e \| 10 3. Don’t Want to Bulk Up When a female athlete is starting a program, the usual concern is that they don’t want to lift heavy or too much because they don’t want to bulk up. They usually want to lose weight and tone up as part of their goals. Women in particular tend to see weight training as an unattractive way to bulk up muscles. This being one of the biggest and most popular myths, is one of the biggest reasons that females stick to just cardio and light weights. Despite the fact that women do not naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the hormones responsible for increasing muscle mass) as males, it is impossible for women to bulk up and gain volume. It takes an enormous commitment and effort, not only of exercising time at the gym, but also a huge commitment on following a strict diet to gain volume. This is so much more than the average person does for regular physical activity. “Bulking up” doesn’t just happen overnight. So, unless you are spending about 2-3 hours at the gym every day and consuming a massive amount of calories on your diet, you shouldn’t worry about developing bulky muscles. Your muscles will respond to your imposed demands. Therefore, if you are only putting light resistance, then your body will not change one bit because there is no need to. Lifting heavier weights will benefit both men and women. In fact, by progressively adding more resistance to your exercise regimen, you will see and feel better results. The added resistance will help your body feel toned and tight but not bulky. Here are just a few benefits of weight training:        Lose body fat Decreased risk of Osteoporosis Increased overall strength Better lean muscle tone and definition Reduced risk of injuries Enhanced athletic performance Improved emotional well-being Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 11: P a g e \| 11 4. Can’t Stick to a Workout Routine If you make exercising an elaborate process, and if you are not on the habit of exercising regularly, you will not be very successful at sticking to an active lifestyle. Make it easy for yourself to be successful and difficult to fail. Exercising and staying active should not require a lot of preparation. Get creative and take advantage of the activities that you already perform in everyday life. When walking up the stairs you can probably get your knees higher and drive your arms. Or, instead of walking you can jog up the stairs. As an alternative of walking the dog, jog or run with the dog in intervals (30 second run followed by a 30 second jog or walk). As you can see, there are so many opportunities in your everyday routine to work on improving your movements and adding more exercise to those activities. However, people often stop their routines because they run out of ideas and the exercise activities become so monotonous for them that they eventually stop. Naturally, as human beings we like to engage in activities that are fun as well as challenging. Don’t limit your activities to just a few exercise options. If you need to join a group, find a workout partner, see instructional videos, or any other things to get new exercise ideas, by all means do so. Because exercising is a continuum, it is important to schedule an easy and realistic exercise plan and stick to this as a main priority. When you schedule too many exercise workouts in a day or week, this becomes overwhelming and becomes a huge pain to stick to this plan. Like mentioned in the previous chapters, feel free to “chunk” down your workouts into smaller routines. Little is better than none. But, don’t forget and make sure to add regeneration days to your exercise routines as well. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 12: P a g e \| 12 5. Lack of Motivation If you don’t have the motivation to exercise or have just lost it, try staying active by doing activities that you like. For example, you can try walking with your friends or going to the park and walking your dog. There are many activities that I’m pretty sure you can enjoy while staying active and fit at the same time. Additionally, there are multiple sites filled with groups and forums that can help you keep your motivation up. Here’s an example of different sites you can visit: www.fitness.meetup.com www.craigslit.com (look in the community section) http://groups.yahoo.com/ www.training.fitness.com www.exerciseforums.com http://exercise.about.com/ You can also try finding any exciting local events by picking up one the free local magazines in your area. Set your sights high to participate in an event, such as a marathon, triathlon, or join a team to participate in a local league or tournament. If you are already an athlete participating at a high level, more than likely your motivation to get better is there. However, if you feel that you are becoming de-motivated it is time to re-write your goals and look at the big picture. Try to identify and write down those burning reasons that can keep your motivation high. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 13: P a g e \| 13 6. Can’t Afford a Personal Trainer The “12-Week Performance Training Program” is about giving you multiple options to exercise and get you started without necessarily using a personal trainer. Additionally, nowadays there are multiple instructional dvd’s, books, audios, and a vast quantity of websites that contain excellent material to facilitate and support your active lifestyle. Here’s just a few resources where you can find some great exercise videos: http://www.youtube.com http://www.ehow.com/videos.html http://video.about.com/exercise http://www.collagevideo.com/ Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 14: P a g e \| 14 7. Hate to Exercise Exercising should not be a painful experience. Do it in a fun way. Find those activities that you enjoy doing and that match who you are and you will enjoy the process a lot more. Why stick to something that you don’t particularly like when you will eventually find a way to quit? Staying active is a continuous lifestyle and not just temporary. If you enjoy training in a group environment, find a group that does the activities that you like. If you enjoy the outdoors, find those activities you enjoy. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 15: P a g e \| 15 8. Dreading the Soreness It is extremely important to ease into a new exercise routine. In many cases, one of the biggest mistakes that individuals who haven’t been exercising in a while, is to overdo it. We cannot expect to just jump to a program and pick up where we left off. Otherwise, you will definitely feel the effects of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which usually happens between 1248 hours after starting a new program or performing different or new exercise activities. In order to adapt to the new imposed demands, there is a process of adaptation that your body will need to go through. Although it is normal to be sore when staring an exercise program, this soreness, or the effects of DOMS, could be greatly reduce by starting slow, getting a proper warm-up, getting proper nutrition, performing recovery exercises, doing lighter versions of your exercise activities, and implementing recovery days into your routines. You can’t go all out from the beginning without expecting any soreness. When exercising, progress each week by adding minutes, reps, sets, or decreasing recovery time between exercises. Be smart and listen to your body. Upon resuming your exercise activity, it is extremely important and beneficial to start your “cooling down” or recovery activities. (See the recovery exercise strategies shown in the “12Week Performance Training Program”) Additionally, it is important to start with adequate and progressive warm up, or movement preparation exercises when beginning a training routine. These warm-up exercises should prepare your body for the demands of the workout and decrease the possibilities of any soreness. Before you get sore or when you do get sore try to implement some of these simple strategies to aid in your recovery:  Perform light activities, such as bicycling, light jogging, or swimming.  Do a warm-up or movement prep routine.  Take a warm bath or jump in a Jacuzzi and perform light stretches.  Perform rope stretches, use the foam roller, or use a massage stick. (See the recovery exercise strategies shown in the “12-Week Performance Training Program”).  If available, jump in a cold bath (55 degrees F for 5 minutes)  Contrast bath alternating from cold to hot water (2’ minutes in cold 55 degrees F, 3 minutes hot 104 degrees F repeated 3 times). Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 16: P a g e \| 16   Getting a massage by a professional. To provide the depleted body with the appropriate nutrients, consume water, Gatorade, and/or a protein shake immediately after the workout or game. It is crucial that we implement immediate recovery strategies, like the ones mentioned above to aid the body’s regeneration process and decrease the possibility of soreness. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 17: P a g e \| 17 9. Don’t Have the Proper Equipment Although this is a major excuse not to exercise, it is still not a valid one. We see all of this equipment being sold during the late infomercials and we start believing that we absolutely need this special gadget or program to get the results that we want. Let go of the notion that you need the perfect thing to get a great workout. There is absolutely no need to buy equipment to perform a workout routine. There is an infinite amount of exercises that can be performed with just your body weight or just using what we have around the house, park, hotel, or where ever you are. We just need to be a little creative and willing to exercise. If you feel that you need to buy some equipment, there are so many low cost exercise tools you can buy at a regular sporting goods store. You can also find some used exercise equipment in great conditions. Additionally, there are so many exercise videos and books that offer exercise solutions without the use of equipment. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com Slide 18: P a g e \| 18 10. Not Knowing What to Do or How to Exercise With the internet, there are so many outstanding free resources out there to get some exercise ideas. A few excellent links to view videos are the same as shown in challenge #6: http://www.youtube.com http://www.ehow.com/videos.html http://video.about.com/exercise In addition to the videos, you can get your hands on magazines, books, and e-books with creative ways to get you started or get you out of the same monotonous routine. If you have somebody with proficiency in the fitness training industry, you can reach out to them and ask if you could get some tips or arrange some sort of exchange for their expert advice. If you have the possibility to afford a personal trainer or performance coach, this will be a superb way to stay motivated with new and different exercise activities. To receive our FREE newsletter “Performance Training Insights” SIGN UP HERE FOR TIPS ON MOVEMENT TRAINING, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS & MUCH MORE. Copyright © 2009 Sports Performance Republic, LLC http://www.sportsperformancerepublic.com

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susan harissa (2 years ago)
My favorite place to write down goals is definitely www.mysomeday.com because its the only site that actually lets you put together an actual plan for each goal. I find that 43things has a lot of goals but has no planning tools and based on what I've read, stating a goal publicly is just the first step, its the planning that is the key to actually achieving these goals.