For many of us starting a new fitness journey can be both exciting and daunting at the same time, excited to be moving in a positive direction but daunted about some of the unknowns you may encounter along the way. Intrinsically anything new will require a combination of new information, skills, and habits to be formed and a strategy to play the long game will ensure success along the way.
But the long game will be dappled with challenges that will test your commitment so expect a few bumps in the road and be prepared by training the muscle that hands down will never let you down!
The muscle we recommend you train the hardest is the “Just Turn Up” muscle.
Life can be hectic and it’s easy to appreciate why you may not feel at your best when arriving to a training session and to tell you the truth for most of us we feel exactly the same way, and that’s why we recommend focusing on just turning up as the best way to sustain a long game strategy.
Building the “just turn up muscle” is absolutely the foundation of all long term success, and thus prioritising this action will build the frequency you need to maintain progression.
Like with all muscles you need to train it so here are a few pro-tips to help you set the tone
- Our first tip to train the just turn up muscle is to turn the phrase into an incantation. To do this simply utter the words “just turn up” repeatedly whilst thinking about the goals you would like to achieve. The best time to employ this strategy is in moments of weakness when you subconsciously will want to default to your normal behaviors. A good example of this is when the alarm goes off in the morning and you go to hit snooze. Rather than this, begin the incantation process and get out of bed, repeat out loud or in your head until such time as you arrive at your session.
- Our second tip is to set up a routine that best supports your goals, a good routine will start to embed the ideal habits to maintain your actions. Booking classes, or sessions in advance directly into your daily calendar is the best way to mitigate any risk of going off track.
- Goal setting is a great way to set the scene for the outcome you are trying to achieve, set a big audacious goal and then reverse engineer that to simple weekly and daily tasks. Such tasks may also require you to use the “just turn up” muscle so be prepared to work a little harder when the going gets tough. An example of this might be going to bed earlier or preparing your meals in advance, you may not feel like doing this especially when you’re tired but “just turning up “ to the task is a vital action to build more and more completion into your journey and set you up for the win.
Of course, there are a couple of other important disciplines to develop but we will save those for another time, for now, keep it simple, focus on just turning up and you will naturally build the momentum you need to meet with success.
Author – Coach Richie