Thursday, March 17, 2022

Tell What Me What You Want, What you...


 


Really-Really Want? 

"I want to lose weight around here (gesturing a 'putting on a title belt' action, around the waist).  Increase my fitness, but I don't do cardio and tone up (now pinching under arm fat). 
I also want to Build muscle-but I don't want to look too big.  
I want to be healthier and feel more energy.  
Oh yeah, and I've this knee and shoulder injury that want to fix too.  
Can we do plenty of abs, to concentrate on core strength. 
My back aches, so stay away from deadlifts and I need to eat a bit healthier, but I like to socialise at the weekends".  Great.

That's not too far from what most people want to achieve from seeing a Personal Trainer, and to be honest, all those can be achieved.  But, if you re-read that first paragraph, you'll see how vague it is...

"Lose weight around here (waist)" - how much and how do you intend to measure the weight around the waist?

"Tone up.  Build muscle - but I don't want to look too big".  To ' tone up' means to decrease body fat and increase lean mass.  How much fat do you want to lose and how much mass do you want to put on?

"I want be healthier and have more energy" - How are you measuring that at the moment?

"Fix my injuries" - How did they occur?  How long have you had them and what have you done about it them since you've had them?

"Concentrate on abs and stay away from deadlifts"- You've got your priorities the wrong way around here and that's probably why your back hurts.

"I need to eat a bit heartier" - How are you measuring or tracking your food right now?

This may seem facetious and I guess it is, but a lot of the statements are contractive and are based around garbage recommendations, spewed out by the media.   No wonder people are so confused about what they actually want.

The Spice Girls Question 

After my client has given me answer like the one above, I then go into the 'Spice Girls question'

'Tell me what you want, what you really-really want'. 

The reason for that is, it normally takes three times of asking 'what do you want', to get the actual reason? Usually, it's something to do with increasing confidence, or feeling better about themselves.  

As  soon as you say that aloud, it's almost like being set free and being truthful with yourself.  It's you being completely vulnerable and uncomfortable enough, to realise you have a problem and want help.



Questions to ask yourself, before setting your goal 


#1 "How much do you believe you can achieve X, on a scale of 1-10?".  Using the rating from the scale, I can pretty much gather your confidence in much you feel you can achieve the goal.  If the number is low on the scale, it often means that the goal is too much to achieve, by their standards (at the moment).

#2 "How motivated on a scale of 1-10 are you, to achieving your goal?".  From the number here, I can start to find out if they're really 'in it'.  Sometimes, people just aren't ready, they'll fantasise about it, but perhaps the goal isn't cohesive with the commitment they're able/prepared to put in.

#3 "If you were to give yourself a number on a scale of 1-10, where would you say you are now, (if 10 was the ultimate goal?)". This a very simple question to find out where you are now, and how much further there is to go.

#4 Following on from the previous question, I ask a 'future pacing' question, "what would've changed, to now say you' are ... (the next number along)."  Future pacing, is a great tool to help you get used to success, even high level athletes visualise.   Not a visual person? Then "what will you/others be saying about you now".  Or, "how does it feel now, you've achieved this result so far?".

#5 "What are you prepared to sacrifice to achieve your goal?" Owwwf, big question this one.  But it sets realistic exceptions.  If you say you want a six pack in 12 weeks, are you prepared to not get smashed at your best mates wedding?  Are you prepared to wake up earlier, to get the gym before work; or train at 1AM (as a client told me he does recently, to get his workouts in).  Now that's commitment. 

There are more questions I get down too, but at the end I always ask again, "now how motivated are you to achieve your goal?".  If the number is below a 6, it's back to the drawing board, to work a goal that is realistic and cohesive to you.

How do you measure progress 

Well that all depends.  Ultimately though, the best way to achieve a goal is to break it down into small achievable chunks.  If fat loss is your main goal, sorry, but it's going to take time.  So taking as many physical measurements as possible and doing it regularly (every four weeks for my clients).  

Setting yourself a smaller goal that's stretches you, but isn't out of reach is also critical.  Think about it as if it was a task you had to complete at work.  What systems/strategies/methods would you use there.  Once you've established those, just carry the principles across to the fat loss.  Simples.

'How'd you eat an elephant...one bite at a time" 


If you need a bit of guidance with your fitness goals and want some accountability, reach out and let' have a chat how we can do that together, either face to face, or online  phil@thefatlossandperformancecoach.com

keep it reals folks.

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