Castle Personal Training
Castle Personal Training is a Corstorphine, Edinburgh based company who specialise in weightloss/toning and Pre and Post Natal exercise.
Blog 03-03-12; Give into the grind!
Hi guys,
This one appeared on Yofittv.com last week. I have been ridiculously busy and just haven’t yet had the time to write a “Castle original” but have 3 or 4 drafts so there should be plenty coming up in the next few weeks.
I believe it was Sebastian Bach who said “You can’t be king of the world if you’re slave to the grind”. Now, before you Google it, I will admit that this isn’t a high-brow reference to JSB (1685- 1750) and one of his lesser known cantatas but I am referring to Sebastian Bach of Skidrow “fame”.
Little side note; I will be referring to him as Bach for the duration of this piece in an effort to convince myself and you good readers that I am actually quite an intellectual, well-cultured wordsmith.
I am here to tell you that, although Bach was right, since “Become King of the World” is probably not on your list of goals that you should embrace the grind. I said last week that motivation is the most important thing required to succeed. Now obviously I was right; motivation is vital to get you started and to pick you up and force you to keep going when things are down and you’re struggling but I have a new saying for you this week;
Motivation is great, routine is better.
Getting yourself off the couch is great, it is where we all have to start. Picking yourself up after you’ve had a little fall is important as you should keep pushing on. But get yourself into a proper routine and you will be successful.
Whether you sign up to a gym or decide to exercise somewhere else you have to get a routine established. You have to know what you’re training and when you will be training it, week in week out. Say you’re going to go to the gym; If you don’t know what’s on the cards for the day it is likely that you will just mess about. There are loads of machines to choose from. Should you go on the treadmill? The cross-trainer? Should you do some leg extensions? You have been ignoring your legs a bit so they could do with a bit of work, but so could your chest and back. And before you know it you think to yourself “Ah well, I’ll just do a bit of each”. Thinking like that will mean that you won’t get the results you’re after. Not seeing the results means you are likely to quit. Quitting, inevitably, means you fail. Failure is not an option, not this time.
So you have to plan your work-outs and get them structured. I suggest planning all your work-outs a month in advance so you know exactly what you’re doing.
There are plenty of ways to go about getting a structured well-written program. Most gyms will have trainers or instructors walking around who can give you a free program. Get one! Find a trainer you like and who has the qualifications and know-how, so not the biggest buffest guy or the slimmest blondest girl there. Find someone who can relate to your situation, who knows his stuff and get yourself a program.
If your gym offers a free PT session, and quite a few do, USE IT! Sure a free PT session is, essentially, a sales tool but it is also a chance for the PT to show off which means that he/she will put you through your paces properly and that will give you an idea how hard you can push yourself and how you should be training.
If you get a free program and can get that reviewed for free every 6 weeks or so and manage to stick at it, 3 times a week, then that’s great and you shouldn’t need a PT but if you find you can’t you should consider getting yourself a PT.
Personal Trainers are excellent tools to help you stick to your work-out routine. There are loads of gyms that charge $150 a month+ and that tie you into a 12 month contract. If you give up after 1 month you’ve just wasted $1650! If you think you won’t make it by yourself spending a few $ on a PT just makes sense. Spending money on anything that will keep you training and helps you accomplish your goals is never a waste of money. Spending $1600 on a gym membership you don’t use definitely is.
What the PT should help you do is get you into a gym-routine. After a few months you should know how to work out as your PT should be educating you constantly. But more importantly; after a few months you should have gotten into a weekly workout routine. And anything that we do without thinking about will be easy to stick to.
Starting to exercise again can be a scary thing. Fortunately there are great sources of information out there, such as Yofittv, with loads of great ideas and advice. You should use as many of those resources as you require. It sounds corny but all of us want you to succeed. There is no greater pleasure than seeing someone accomplish their goals and knowing you have been a part of that.
The only way you will succeed though is to plan properly and to give in to the grind. The grind is a beautiful thing once you give into it; embrace it and remember;
Take care,
Your friend,
Peter
Castle Personal Training 
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