Why You May Be Struggling with Your Fitness Journey, or Any Journey, as a Retired Athlete.
We had structure. We had a schedule. We were supposed to be at the training facility at 5:30 AM and again at 3:00 PM. Sometimes we would have another session in the weight room depending on the time of the season. If you were in college, you had classes spread throughout your day. Cafeteria in the morning, for lunch, and the evening. Homework, labs, and whatever else to fill in that day. What about time to be social and just hang out with friends?
Rinse and repeat this process at least five to six days a week, and it was a hectic schedule to manage. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how I even did it, but you just sometimes go on autopilot and simply do it. By no means was it ever easy. But showing up was mandatory, we did not have a choice.
Let’s face it. We all know what to do. We just were just following a recipe as a cook for so long, that either we needed a break after we were done or we did not know how to reframe it and become the chef. I don’t believe everyone was given the proper tools necessary on how to implement certain aspects of being an athlete into a totally different environment and context.
Reframing Fitness with a Retired Athlete Identity
There are a few key differences when it comes to reframing certain aspects of your daily life. We need to address the change in your career, your schedule, and your duties/priorities, as well as what you enjoy doing now for physical activity, and what it means to you.
- Be Present and Aware.
There is a lot to unpack here, but I’ll try and put it simply.
I just had a conversation with a client the other day, and she told me that she has never heard the phrase “Oh, I really regret that workout.” More often than not, we will shame ourselves for missing a workout when we tried to plan something and losing the motivation to even begin. You signed up for the membership at your local commercial gym that is impossible to cancel. You looked far and wide to try and find a “hip” place to do interval training classes and find a close-knit community. Or you tried waking up at 5 AM, cold turkey, and going for a jog in the local neighborhood, wincing at each plop taken on the sidewalk, akin to self-flagellation. But along the way, it just didn’t happen. And that is okay. Obstacles happen, but not learning from them and realizing that there is an issue that needs to be solved (if you truly desire behavior change) is the actual issue.
Be grounded by being present. Realize where you currently are in your journey, and stop worrying about what you haven’t done or fixating on where you could have been if everything fell into place. Sit down for a few minutes and just be aware of the circumstances and know that it is never too late.
2. Analyze Your Environment.
This is part of being present and aware of where you are. Things like your work schedule, your work environment (do you work remotely or commute to an office?), your responsibilities as a parent if you have kids, your role as a spouse with home duties, and so forth. This is asking where your time is spent.
Now ask how you can build your environment for success where you minimize wasted energy? What distracts you from your goals and behaviors that you wish to alter? Electronics are a hot topic, but are you placing them in areas that hinder you from reaching these goals? For example, a TV in your office or bedroom may not be ideal in terms of addressing sleep habits and managing your focus with work if you have to bring it home.
3. Structure Your Day Accordingly.
This one may take some time, but one way to really take a hard look at where your time is spent and seeing if you are wasting any of the time is literally writing out an “ideal” day, and that could be a week day and weekend. This is not set in stone. But breaking up certain aspects of your day by 30,45, or 60 min increments and putting things down like meditation, breakfast/TV, reading, gym time, commute, etc. will definitely help you understand where you can switch things up. Far too many times have I been distracted by TV or social media and have just watched time go by, but feeling trapped in a moment of helplessness, knowing I could be spending my time better elsewhere. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create time for Netflix, social media, or whatever guilty pleasures you have (we have one life here, live a little). But losing that idea of control to these things is the problem. And for myself, I feel guilty after knowing that I did waste precious time.
Example:
5:30 am — 6:00am: Wake up, cold shower, meditate.
6:00 am — 7:00am: Breakfast, coffee, Sportscenter
7:00am-7:10 am: Commute to gym
7:10am-8:00 am: Gym
……..
This could be ideal for a remote employee as a start to your day. This is just an example of how to begin and structure it. Create your own!
4. Expect the Unexpected and Be Accountable
Not everything will always go to plan. So you have to be willing to get knocked down a few times and get back up. Being adaptable here is key. Always reflect and reframe when necessary. And then implement. If there is one thing that I see gets results the most, it is first trying, and then being consistent.
Showing up each day (and that isn’t only about working out) is key. Be true to yourself and start to interpret the effects of inaction, and how these consequences are more detrimental to your well-being than the perceived struggle of getting out of bed and maintaining your habits. The former can have lasting effects, while the latter is only temporary. Set your standard that enables you to drive action, and then revisit those standards based on your results. Intent + Consistency = Results. If either the intent or consistency fall off, so do your results. Staying “busy” and just going about your day mindlessly is not the same as having intent with your day. Doing something once a week won’t cut it either.
The approach to implementing anything matters. Take the time to look at where you are and how you can address.
And as always, if you need a little push, I have spots open where you can work with me and I can help implement strategies to drive the momentum consistently forward.
I am offering a free month of remote personal training and personal development coaching, where we can sit down and analyze how we want to drive some change in your life and gain back that control.
IG: @thelifewalkon
-Mark Rubin
