Beat The Dark Nights

Let me start by saying - YOU are in control of everything you do.

Nobody else, so there will be times you need to be firm with yourself. We all have that nagging voice in our heads that wants us to take the easy option, more so when the mornings are cold and dark, how much easier is it to stay in your warm bed! Coming from a PT I have the exact same voice in my head, it never leaves so you need to learn to challenge it.

The way to tackle this is to get really clear on what you want to achieve with your training, if you can be really clear on your purpose for training this is going to give you a great starting point, don’t get me wrong that voice will still be there but if you have a clear reason in your mind then this will help you fight back against this voice and get up and shit done.

Early Morning Trainers

For those of you that train in the mornings a good starting point is to have a set structure to your morning, and this starts from the night before. Have your training gear ready to go, if that means preparing meals etc then so be it, but if this is done the night before there is a far better chance that you will start the day on the right foot. Stick to other parts of the routine, wake up at the same time, make sure you actually get up on your FIRST alarm, snooze buttons shouldn’t exist! There’s nothing worse than snoozing and finding yourself running late which then leads to missing your training.

Another tip is to have a training partner, if you are accountable to someone else you are far more likely to get up and get to the gym, this works for me with my PT sessions, if I have an early morning PT session, I get out of bed easily, because I know I need to be there, whereas if I have a morning with no planned PT sessions, getting out of bed instantly gets harder for me.

Whether you can train with a partner or not, the aim should be to make your training sessions as important to you as possible, a non-negotiable if you like, just like setting off to work is or getting to an appointment. As I mentioned earlier, having clarity and purpose around your goals is a must.

What else happens in your morning… Do you eat or drink before your training session? If so try and keep this the same, have things ready such as your coffee cup out ready to go, simple things like this can help towards creating good habits and forming your routine.

My next tip is relevant no matter what time you train; Why not change your training for a few months? Most people since the recent lockdown will be more knowledgeable in training from home, using minimal equipment or just their own bodyweight. No matter what your goal is, changing your training routine from gym based to home workouts is 100% better than not training at all and you can continue to make some great progress no matter what your goal. I would much prefer my clients to continue ticking over from home with some short frequent workouts rather than just stopping your training altogether and with an added focus on good quality nutritional intake you can achieve some great results.

Night Owl Trainers

Let’s discuss training in the evenings, before the clocks changed you were probably able to get a session in at the gym, get home, eat tea and it would probably still be light outside. Obviously in the winter that’s a different story and again it can be hard to find that motivation to get yourself to the gym.

Here’s a few things that I think can help you do just that, first off, go straight to the gym from work, that obviously means taking your gym kit with you to work, so ensure you plan ahead and get this out the night before. From my experience in working with clients, they are far more likely to cancel a session or not turn up if they have to go home first and then get distracted with things that need to be done at home or simply get comfy on the sofa watching a bit of The Chase.

Depending on your goal, why not try booking a class at the gym. Similar to the point about training partners, booking a class adds some accountability as you have reserved that space and potentially prevented someone else from getting it, normally that’s enough to get yourself to the gym.

I’ve spoken about this before but make sure the gym you attend is as convenient to you as possible. If your gym is 30 minutes in the opposite direction to home, it’s going to make it so much harder for you to justify going especially after a stressful day at work. Gyms are absolutely everywhere now, so where possible go to one that’s local.

Another thing that applies to everyone is to have a clear structure to your training. Before you step foot in the gym you should ideally know exactly what your session is going to look like, having this set plan gives your session an end point. If you don’t have that set plan, it’s far too easy to think you’ve done enough after 20 minutes and go home. Not only does this give your training structure it allows you to properly track your progress and gives you the best chance of making your training progressive, which equals results, and we all want results!

Finally I want to say this. This post was written to motivate you to get some exercise done, however if you find that Monday comes around and you miss the session that you planned,

DON’T beat yourself up about it and certainly don’t write the full week off.

Learn about why you missed the session, did you have a bad day at work and for that evening relaxing was more important to you? Did you have a lack of sleep the night before and tiredness prevented you from training? Maybe that’s something you can work on improving? Did you eat your lunch too late or didn’t eat enough and was starving? Plan your meal timings better. Use these things as lessons learned and start again on Tuesday.

One missed day is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Last thing, celebrate your wins! Did you plan to go to the gym after work, maybe using some of the ideas I’ve mentioned in this post, and you actually made it there?

Celebrate that!

Give yourself some credit for actually following through on what you planned to do. We are quick to punish ourselves, but slow to cheer ourselves on.

Fuck winter, you got this!

Mark