Enjoyment: The key to success
I have been talking about my Hyrox training. The pros, the cons and the training structures around progress, maintenance and having a long term strategy.
These are all key aspects to any form of result and journey.
But what is most important?
The result? Sure. Especially if it’s life dependant as many journeys start from necessity as opposed to “wanting to”.
Even though many want their journey to happen by tomorrow, for the large majority of people, there will be a requirement to commit over the long term to achieve success.
25 years of living a certain way isn't going to change overnight, but making small steps on a daily basis will all add up, and with commitment to certain lifestyle changes will make big differences to improving and achieving any sort of health and fitness results.
But what you have to do is enjoy what you are doing. The process. Believe in it first and foremost, and commit to it. But if you don't enjoy it, the chances are that at the first hurdle or lack of motivation there’s a risk that some will potentially give up on their journey.
But, if you enjoy what you are doing, and put into practice things that improve you, once you start to see these improvements hopefully the motivation to see more results will mean that you will continue to stick to a journey.
If you don’t enjoy something particularly, something that's important to your end goal, e.g. fat loss and you don’t like the diet you have created, then you’re less likely to stick to it.
Another aspect along with enjoyment is to tie your goals in with “Your Why”. Your Why is the outcome you want to achieve.
Now for me, and for my Hyrox training, My Why was specifically to be competitive and to be able to complete the course. My race was done in pairs and I wanted to make sure that I held up my end of the partnership.
I did not want to get to the start line and feel that I could have prepared better. I also didn't want to either not finish, or finish regretting the fact I didn't do what I set out to do at the start of my training.
This last sentence is so key. I did what I said I was going to do. Long after I said I was going to do it. This is why so many people forget their why, forget what they wanted to achieve, and then get to e.g. an event and regret that they hadn't put in the effort.
But, if enjoying the journey is something that anyone reading this did, then that's half the battle.
If you don't enjoy running then don’t run.
If you like to cycle then cycle.
Of course there are some aspects of training that may be more beneficial to you e.g. if fat loss is your goal, then strength training is probably best to do. But there's no absolute best.
There is no best exercise to do for everyone. Something you enjoy is more beneficial than something you hate the prospect of.
Realistically, if I hated all the aspects of Hyrox then why sign up? I’m not a massive fan of running but I don't hate it.
Exercise should be fun and enjoyable.
There will be aspects of all fitness, no matter how much you love something, that you hate it (maybe only for a second!) The feeling you get after a session is a feeling that we want all our clients to hold onto, because no matter what this feeling is, it’s one that will benefit you because you turned up for yourself.
If you enjoy the prospect of training, enjoy doing it, enjoy the feeling afterwards, and start to notice yourself improving, then you are more likely to stick to it.
Remember, the golden rule is exercise along with enjoyment, otherwise you risk not achieving what you set out to do. You don't turn up one week and then go missing for two, you don't miss sessions that you could make. Stay consistent and over time you will start to achieve success.
In the next blogs, I will start to talk about “My Why” for Hyrox in more depth, but also the feeling I wanted to have at the end of the journey.
Our training prgrammes are designed for you, based on what works for you. We want you to enjoy what you do and feel amazing as a results. Get in touch to find out how.