Setting Yourself Up For Failure

Hi everyone,

Another week and another blog. I am going to name and shame my wife today. Why? Because I have seen her over the last 6 months do something that I think a lot of other people who are getting into exercise do wrong. What is it? She consistently sets herself up for failure.

I am sure many people, maybe even some of you reading this are guilty of it. There are a number of different ways in which you can do it. You set out towards a goal or target and fail. Not because you were doing the wrong work but because at the start you made an often simple error which meant it would be extremely difficult to achieve your target. What does my wife Dez do? She always goes out too hard. It must be difficult living with me because I spend a lot of my time training and almost as much time talking about it. Dez is a pretty active person. She has a full time job which keeps her busy and is pretty good at making time for her exercise. 

So what do I mean when I say she goes too hard. I think in the last 12 months she has probably trained for about 8 of them. Probably in 2 month blocks with a month off in-between. She gets super motivated to do something or lose some weight and off she goes to the gym. Now when we lived overseas Dez was extremely active. The fact that she worked at a gym probably helped but she trained consistently for a good 18 months. So when she goes to the gym now she starts hard. She doesn't accept that her body is not at the same level that it was at. She starts to lift heavy weights, run longer distances and train too often. Yes she manages to maintain this for a little while. But eventually she gets either sick, injured or fatigued. What do you think is the first thing that stops when that happens? Her exercise. Now I am not shaming my bride because I miss my days of being single. No I think it is important to show this as an example of something which can easily be avoided.

The other big problem I often see with people embarking on a fitness journey is that they set unobtainable goals. This is when you decide right, "I am going to run a marathon in a month" or "I am going to lose 20 kgs in a month". When I hear this goals it automatically sets off alarm bells. Very quickly it will become obvious to these people that their goal is outside their reach. If by some chance they are motivated to actually work towards them chances are they will hurt themselves or get sick.

So how can this be avoided? Simple. Take it easy to begin with. Set realistic goals and don't forget to set both long and short term goals. By doing this you are able to track your performance and adjust any goals you may have. If you are on track you can also find it extremely motivating to see your improvements. But what about the people like my wife who go out too hard. What should I tell her so that I don't get relegated to the couch tonight? Simple. Realise your limits and ease back into it. There is no other person for you to compete against or measure yourself by except yourself. 

Training benefit comes from consistency. So by setting yourself up to train consistently over an extended period of time there will be better benefits. If you are unsure how to structure your load or volume don't be afraid to ask. There are a number of great sources out there. It doesn't have to be one of the pushy gym PT's who will tell you to train with them twice a week. That is rubbish. Ask a friend or someone you know who has had training success. Yes, even start with a PT but do it on your terms. Take responsibility for your journey and its success and you will reap the benefits.

To tri now. I picked up a little bit of a niggle over the weekend which I think is caused by my soccer training. I did a lot of volume last week and was going to those sessions a little fatigued. I am trying to manage it with ice and using my roller which seems to be helping. I also picked up an absolute bargain today. Got myself a new Rudy Project Wingspan 57. Looking forward to trying it out over the next few months. I am planning on signing up for Tri the Gong this week too so I will keep you all updated.

Anyway that is it. If you have any comments or questions about this or even just want to find out whether my wife cracked the shits after reading this feel free to leave a comment or check out my Instagram feed.

Have fun, stay consistent and remember to TRI!!!

I reckon I look like a superhero in my new TT helmet

I wonder how many happy snaps like this will be taken today after Dez reads the blog...