Do you often feel like your workouts are monotonous ?
And maybe you need something “more exciting ?”
If so, that’s a frequent problem and in this email, we’re going to solve it .
In fact, I was just on a call with a personal client on Monday and we were talking about this same topic.
For him, it was about doing his recovery work vs. his kettlebell work.
His kettlebell work is significantly more fun and because of that, he was having a hard time doing his restoration work because it was “ tedious ” in relation to the KB work.
So, let’s start where he and I started:
1- PURPOSE:
What is the “purpose ” of your training?
Get stronger ?
Lose fat ?
Get rid of aches and pains ?
Notice how each of these 3 things - along with any other target / goal is a endpoint .
In the case of those 3 destinations, once you reach them, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something - because click here you have.
2- PROCESS:
Each outcome … goal … finish line… has a process…
Guidelines that you follow, like a plan to get from here to there - where you live, to the other side of your country…
From San Francisco to New York City for example.
There are multiple paths - all of them head from west to east.
The one you take is dependent on how fast you want to get there.
And of course the means you want to use - your feet, bicycle, car, plane - walk, bike, drive, fly.
(And of course each vehicle has a price correlation - the faster you get there, the more it usually costs financially, and vice versa.)
Workouts - Training programs are the same .
3- PARADIGM:
A paradigm is your stance on something.
Now that we’ve been reminded that workouts are for a particular purpose - goal achievement…
We need to adjust our paradigm - our frame of them - our frame of reference.
If workouts are to be “entertained ” - which is what we’re really saying when we’re saying “these workouts are tedious …”
Then we’ve forgotten perspective of their purpose.
I told my client that if his workouts were tedious , then he was missing the whole point of them.
This gets us back to the purpose.
Their purpose is to meet a goal.
I also told him what I’ve been telling people for the last 20 years :
If your workouts are dull , your life is likely lacking true fulfillment and you need to go find that apart from your workouts.
Examples would be a pastime or a outdoor pursuit - stamp collecting, hiking… That sort of thing.
And this is why so many people remain unchanged year after year …
They bounce from workout plan to workout plan - never finishing - and end up with nothing to show for it because they’ve ignored of the purpose of that plan -
To reach their stated goal.
And to me, that’s the very definition of monotonous -
Doing the same tedious thing and never having anything to show for it.
This making sense so far?
I hope so.
So, what’s the easiest way to “ reduce ” boredom in your workouts (besides finding a hobby or sport or activity)?
Use focused diversity .
What’s that?
Simple .
It’s different versions of the same exercise.
Let’s take the Press for illustration…
You have the -
Single KB Press
Double KB Press
Single KB Push Press
Double KB Push Press
Single KB Bottoms Up Press
Double KB Bottoms Up Press
Kneeling Single KB Press
Kneeling Double KB Press
Half Kneeling Single KB Press
Half Kneeling Double KB Press
Single KB V-Sit Press
Double KB V-Sit Press
Each one of those has its own advantages and downsides , but it’s all overhead work that stresses the upper body musculature in the vertical position.
Make sense?
Perfect.
Now, next time you feel bored in your workouts, remember the purpose of your program - to get you to your goal.
Worst case scenario, throw on some better music.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.