How often do you change up your routine?
Most of us get in the same routine ... wake up, go to camp, workout, drive home from camp, get ready for work (and/or get kids ready for something), drive to work, sit at work, come home from work, drive kids to activity X, make dinner, go to bed, repeat.
We all benefit from routine & habit. The various patterns that we run over and over and over allow us to do things easily, efficiently and without much thought.
When was the last time you had to concentrate on brushing your teeth? I mean really focus on it? Sort of silly, huh? But there was a time that brushing your teeth required effort (I know, we’re teaching our 2-year old how to get all of her teeth, not just the 4 in front!).
Or how about driving to work or a friend’s house that you go to over and over?
Hey, there are some mornings I wonder how in the world I got to work, I was so engaged in thinking about what we’re going to do at boot camp or what my day has in store. And I no longer have to consciously think that “I need to get off at the Red Bank Road Exit #9 and go about a mile, and then when I see Cincinnati TaeKwonDo, my work will be next door on the left.”
Routine can be good, or it can be bad.
Do you have automatic pilot habits that support you? Or do they hinder you in achieving the life that you want?
Here’s a funny pattern that I notice – people come into camp and set up their mat in the same exact spot every morning. Like we do different things on the other side of camp or something?!?!
It's funny how we all get into a comfort zone. Even down to the foods we eat.But change is good!
Case in point -- you've added boot camp to your morning routine. And that's good.
Often when I ask people about the foods they eat, fruit in particular, I get the same answers "apples, bananas, oranges...what else is there?"
Improvement & growth happens when we get out of our comfort zone and grow!!!
That's why we do some of the things in camp that we do -- challenge you to push some very heavy things (last camp it was a truck), challenge you to sprint at your top speed, challenge you to do more pushups, lift more weight, take less rest, etc. All these are things you likely wouldn't do without the extra push.
I was reading an interesting article over the weekend and it quoted a coaching legend, John Wooden. Some players were "slacking" a bit during practice. Coach Wooden kindly went over to them and said "you're only giving 50% today. That means you're leaving 50% on the table. Tomorrow, you can't give more than 100% -- that's the most anyone can ever give. So what you leave behind today will never come back to you ... you can't give 150% tomorrow to make up for today."
So true, so true. And that's why I want to remind you to continually get out of your comfort zone.
Take one more step, finish the end of a set - even when we say rest, walk, run, sprint THAT much harder, do just 1 more pushup, talk to someone you don’t yet know in camp, and so on.
THAT is the only way you'll ever get better – asking your body to do more than it’s capable of doing today, and tomorrow it becomes better.
What 1 or 2 things can you do for our last 2 ½ weeks of camp to get out of your comfort zone and the most from camp? Try some new fruits and veggies? Change a sabotaging eating pattern? Use 12 or 15 pound dumbbells in lieu of 8 & 10? Cut down on your rest periods at camp? Get more rest in the evenings?
And as a side note, I’m totally okay with everyone setting up at base camp in the same exact spot every morning – I was just being silly with that one! But it is an interesting pattern to observe, right? Some of you were freaking out this morning, and all I did was set up the stereo and truck on the opposite side of camp!!
Okay, so the message is, write down the 1 or 2 things you’re going to do better or differently…and then starting today, let’s get to them!!
Enjoy your Wednesday! It’s already off to a great start!!
Your friend in fitness,
Cincinnati Adventure Fitness Boot Camp for Women 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-101
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