After putting the kids to bed this past Sunday night I started to plan out my week ahead. Part of this practice always includes reviewing my workouts for the week. I opened TrueCoach to see what my coach had laid out for the week and there was only one workout piercing deep into my soul.
This could only mean one thing. My latest training block had come to an end, and it was time to see what kind of progress I had made.
Surprisingly though, I wasn’t worried about it. I had an uneasy confidence that I was going to destroy this workout. I don’t go into every workout with that feeling, but for some reason I was calm about the next day’s painful test of my physical fitness.
The next day I got on the rower and gave it hell!
My wife happened to come down in the basement while I was in the middle of rowing my heart out and I later asked her how I looked?
Her response?
“You looked like you were ready to die.”
A pretty good sign I was giving it my all 😉
And the results verified it!
I managed to smash my previous PR by 4 seconds!
So what went into achieving this outcome?
Did I take fancy supplements?
Did I have some kind of secret biohack?
Did I implement some kind of crazy training routine?
Keto?
Carbs?
Intermittent fasting?
Carnivore?
Nope, none of that.
I focused on the boring stuff.
Here is what I felt made the biggest difference over the course of this training block.
Training: I put in the work. I put my best foot forward into each and every workout. When my body told me to take it easy, I did. When I felt good, I went hard. I trusted my body and adjusted my intensity accordingly.
Food: I ate more! Yup good old fashion calories! Just adding a 200-300 more calories during this training block has made a huge difference!
Sleep: I think this is more related to the food piece above than anything else. I tend to sleep better when I am well fueled, and subjectively my sleep has been excellent. Yes some nights my kids woke me up a few times. Some nights I had pretty crappy night’s of sleep. But one night of bad sleep is not going to outdo a week’s worth of good sleep.
Stress: While this training block was far from relaxing due to “remote learning”, work deadlines, mentorship deadlines, new clients starting and the continued adjustments to life with COVID-19, the week leading up to this workout was pretty relaxing.
Notice something about the list above?
It is most of the things we hear to focus on day in and day out, and many of the things I advocate for in my newsletter, blog posts, and videos.
No matter the goal, whether its athletic performance, strength and muscle gain, fat loss, or just general health, there is never going to be a “hack” that works better than focusing on the big rocks of food, training, sleep, and stress. If you focus on these areas day in and day out, year after year, you will continue to make progress.
Can you ignore some of these things and still reach your goal?
Yes, of course. But from what I have observed, if you don’t focus on food, exercise, sleep, and stress, chances are you will be right back where you started eventually.
Why?
It is the hard work, the learning experiences, and setbacks, the wins….it going though the process of achieving the goal that allows you to sustain that goal for the long term.
My newsletter is a great resource that covers the importance of focusing on the big rocks and gives you plenty of information, tips and tricks on how to incorporate them into your lifestyle to help you achieve your goals. Click the link below to sign up now and take the first step in putting in the work!