Friday, March 28th Newsletter

Persistence

March 28, 2008

Upcoming Guest Writer
Many of you know from my last e-mail that I will be getting married very soon, April 5th to be exact. Since I'm late on this e-mail, and I don't anticipate being able to send another e-mail out again next week, I convinced a very good friend of mine, Mirna Betancourt, to write the next newsletter while I am gone. She is a cardiovascular specialist, and will be writing about how to get the most out of your cardiovascular training. Look for that e-mail to be sometime around April 7th. You are in for a real treat.

The Art of Persistence

Persistence is what separates those who make it to their results in life and those who don't. Anything you have ever accomplished in life, was accomplished due to you not giving up no matter what. Looking back at the highlights in your life, you will probably find that the things that mean the most to you, were probable those things that you had to face the most obstacles. Walter Elliot once said, "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." When you begin your journey to a goal, I can guarantee that you will always have the same experience. I was once a youth pastor at a Korean church, and I recall one of the students telling me that he no longer watched Kung Fu movies because they were always the same. He said that the student's Father/Brother/Master was killed in a fight by the bad guy, the student goes off into the mountains and trains hard for a period of time, and then comes back and kills the bad guy in the end of the movie. I thought that was interesting insight from a 16 year old, so I'm going to see if I can give you some insight into what happens when you decide to accomplish a goal in the gym.

The Goal - You finally decide that you have had enough and you are going to get serious about working out this time. You have battled this goal in the past, but this time you are going to make changes and see this thing through. You may try to do some of the things you tried before because they seemed to work in the past. The only problem last time was something major happened in life that threw you off. It may have been an injury, a family problem, moving to a new location, etc.... But it was more than likely very significant. But that was in the past and you decide that this time will be different. You get a routine down, you focus on your goal, and you are on your way to success.

The Bump in the Road - Just like in the past, something comes up again. Now, I want to state that I am not making light of those things that happen to people and causes them to be thrown off. This e-mail is not to judge anyone or what goes on in their life, but merely to give you a different perspective so that you can think about it. So you have something that comes up. Maybe you miss one of your days of working out, you have company, or you get sick for a day or two. But you don't let it stop you. The next week you are back at it and everything is going great. You are proud of what you have accomplished by not being thrown off of your routine, and you should be proud of that accomplishment.

Potholes ahead - As you continue to go along you may see that the results start to slow down. You find yourself getting tired of making sacrifices and not seeing the results you were hoping for. Even the infomercials don't look as interesting, but bring about frustration instead. Then something else happens in life that throws you off. It could be one of the same things as last time or it may be something new. But this time you aren't as anxious to get back in the gym. You could sacrifice and make it back, but for some reason the motivation isn't quite the same. Before you know it you have missed a week or two weeks at the gym, and maybe you are finding that it's nice to take a break from driving all the way up to the gym, wasting an hour walking on a treadmill, and then having to clean up again just to so you can do the things you really need to get done later on that day. It's not as happy of an ending as the Kung Fu movie, but often times, it's what happens.

The Alternative Ending - Let's say that the potholes in the road don't throw you off. Let's say that you found a way to make the activity you chose to do is something that you would do for the rest of your life. Be honest with yourself for one moment. If the activities that you chose to do, are not things you can imagine doing for the rest of your life, do you really think it was a good choice to begin with? Those that make it find activities that really enjoy doing. They find things that they can be persistant in,even when the road gets rough. Without that desire to get back to an activity that you will enjoy doing even if you don't see results every single week, it will be hard to keep it up. Do you know anyone who you have watched change every single week for 52 straight weeks? I have a few clients that see results almost every week as long as there are not interruptions in their life, but even they are going to hit snags at times. They may have to travel for a few days, get sick for a week, or they may just have an off week. You have to realize that you can't expect results every single week that you are working towards your goal. The key is persistence though, and not giving up when you hit that time that doesn't go as planned.

The gyms in the area are seeing a surge from people who want to get in shape before the summer gets here. They are going to pick up from where they left off from February, and try again before they have to put on the swimsuit. I hope I have prepared you a little better than the rest of the population though. Here's some quick tips to keep in mind:

1. Find the goal you are trying to achieve.
2. Write down a schedule for working out in a worst case scenario. If you want to workout 5 days a week, but you know you are only guaranteed 3 days, make your workout schedule for 3 days and make the other 2 days as bonus days.
3. Have someone hold you accountable.
4. Your plan should include a nutrition plan/goal, cardiovascular plan/goal, and a strength training plan/goal. Studies have shown that those who include all 3 components have a higher rate of success than those that only include 1 or 2 of the components. (If you aren't sure what your plan should look like, please contact me.)
5. Be patient and don't give up. Persistence is the key.

I hope this has helped you retrace your steps if you have ever had trouble accomplishing your results in the past. If you found this article helpful, feel free to forward it to a friend (the link is at the bottom of the newsletter). If someone forwarded this to you, you can subscribe to my newsletter at www.JasonHodge.org

Out of the Office
I will not be available from Friday, April 4th to Sunday, April 13th because of my wedding and honeymoon. Like I mentioned at the beginning though, you should expect to see a wonderful article on Cardiovascular training from Mirna Betancourt while I'm away. I know you will enjoy it. In my next e-mail I hope to share some exciting news about the future of fitness in the Katy area.