Redefining Failure in Fitness
Failure is something that hurts.
Probably more than most physical injuries.
It really beats down your ego and can make you feel like you’re not enough.
As if you don’t DESERVE to reach your goals…
When in reality you really do.
So how can we look at failure from a different angle?
An angle that helps us GROW rather than breaking us down to dust.
In my opinion, that’s why failure exists.
It’s a red light that is trying to tell us that something is off.
That we are leaving a learning opportunity on the table and don’t even realize it.
How do we do this though? How/why should we pick ourselves back up after failure?
Common Perceptions of Failure in Fitness
Let me explain below:
Overtraining
- Have you maybe been pushing too hard? OVERTRAINING can lead to burnout or injury. Once you’re burned out then you’re not going to have that fuel you need to reach your goals.
Undertraining
- This is the opposite of the above, undertraining can lead to something called stagnation. Stagnation is a point where you’re not progressing in the way that you originally intended. Yes you’re putting in work but is your intensity enough to match where you’d like to be?
Nutrition
- This is a great time to take a deep dive into your nutrition. If you’re a macro tracker, how accurate have you been? Or say you’ve been on a cut for weeks or months — it may be time to take a diet break. If your meals haven’t been balanced, maybe it’s time to reanalyze what those could look like.
Mental Barriers
- What barriers have you put up around yourself recently that may be holding you back? Are you feeling discouraged or intimidated at all? Good time to remind yourself that fitness is a marathon and not a sprint, keep your why in the back of your mind.
Lack of support or accountability
- Trying to achieve fitness goals alone can be difficult since there is no one cheering you on, no one there to hold you up and also no one there to provide guidance. Getting out of your silo can often be a key factor of your success.
How Redefining Failure Can Help
Don’t shy away from failure.
Also don’t let it break you down when it comes knocking on your gym door.
Failure is nothing but a wake up call to find those areas of opportunity so you can really start the next, and best, phase of your journey.