Change your people.
If there is one thing that you can do that will make more difference than anything, that is to surround yourself with the right people.
A lot of people in the gym are there for different reasons than you. And, let’s be honest, many people are there to get away from something they don’t love. And that is great – for them.
If your goal is to push harder or be more intense, you need to find the people that will have similar goals and who will push you.
It’s an easy groove to fall into where the people around you suck the life out of your routine. Frankly, it makes sense. We all enjoy working out, we are there at the same time, we all face similar challenges. Suddenly we are talking more than working out. The break between sets creeps from 60 seconds to 6 minutes. We find ourselves cutting parts of the routine out to accommodate the situation.
I want to be clear, there are plenty of people that don’t have a Franco Columbo on their hip. That is you don’t have a best friend who shares all the same goals and workout patterns. There are lots of Pro level athletes that work out in home gyms all alone, day after day. But time after time you will notice that their people share a similar level of high performance.
If it is people in the gym, your people need to be the “I’m here to workout crowd”. Shorter breaks, less talking, no cruising on the phone. If you don’t have that crowd around you in the gym, they are online and they are likely ready to give you a push.
Most serious athletes use coaches. It’s like the gym dad that says “look I’m not here to be your best friend but I am here to see that you reach your potential”.
This is my personal take on training partners. I think it is very hard to work out with someone who is at a different spot. Usually, it is bad for both of you.
The newer person tries to hit weights that are way too heavy and then struggles for days with DOMS. The more experienced person has to “choke back” on an effort to be in the same zone. People train differently. I don’t train with a fitness model, nor do I train with an open heavy-weight bodybuilder. It just doesn’t work. It’s tough to find someone who with work out with you. When you do find that person, you can certainly expect improvement to your performance in short order. One big caveat, don’t expect that the training partner of today will last forever or even through a month. People’s lives change, don’t take it personally at all when someone just abruptly stops working out with you.
A work on trainers and coaches. I think we are more honest with our coaches than with our friends. Talk to a potential coach. It needs to be natural and honest. If it is all about money then you are likely not in the right place. There are numerous certification programs for coaches, that does not guarantee much of anything. Having dozens of athletes only proves that their is a managing en-mass methodology. Don’t go with the first person you meet. If you are headed to a show, find out what they know about the show environment. If you are going with a coach who is entirely online, make sure that you get more than a simple recycled training program sent to you. Honestly, I struggle with the paid consultations that some coaches do. It tells me where there heart is.
So, number one thing you can do, get your team figured out. They don’t need to be there every day, they can be online, they could be a coach. Start setting boundaries for while you are in the gym about talking. This is hard – very hard. But lets be real, you would never stop in the middle of a marathon to have lunch with an old friend.
