Nothing feels better than tearing open a brand new calendar or day planner at the start of the year. Don’t you agree? Whether you know it or not, your brain likes system and order. The calendar is a cyclical system that repeats every 365 days, which allows you to reevaluate and re-prioritize your life. This sense of renewal is what drives the New Year’s Resolution. It’s like a fresh start: hopeful and inspiring! The start of a new cycle is what motivates you to want to change and set a resolution.
If it is so motivating, then why do 23% of people give up after 1 week, 64% after the first month, and only 9% of people who make resolutions are successful? This is why Strava has dubbed the second Friday of January “quitter day”, because that is when most people fall off their resolutions.
What happens in the first two weeks of January that causes you to lose your hope and inspiration for the new year? 35% of people attribute it to losing motivation, 19% are too busy, and 18% change their priorities. However, the number one resolution across the globe is “to be healthier” – what is a bigger priority than that?
It is not the first two weeks of your resolution that is preventing you from being successful, it is the first day. Picking an arbitrary date to start a generic goal is NOT setting yourself up for success. You need to be ready to change, and you need a plan that is approachable and sustainable. Do you want to redefine the odds? Here is how you can be part of that 9% and never have to set a resolution again:
- Make it about the journey, not the destination: 35% of people who were not successful in their New Year’s resolutions said it was because they set unrealistic goals.
The key to success is consistency. Building consistency happens after you set your goal, by making a plan to reach it. Think of your goal as the peak of the mountain and your plan is the hike to the top. Small, consistent steps over and over again. In Strong Academy you are committed to a 12 week program to help you build the habit of consistency. You work with your Coach to set a realistic goal and follow a customized program to help you reach that goal. Learn more about setting realistic goals here - Track Your Progress: 33% of people who were not successful in their New Year’s resolutions said it was because they didn’t track their progress.
The only way to know how many steps you have taken up the mountain is by recording them. Small wins are contagious, when you celebrate them it will increase your motivation to keep going. In Strong Academy you track your weights, reps, habits, and proud moments week after week. At the end of the season you have 12 weeks of small consistent wins, and you have a big picture of how far up the mountain you have gone. - Plan To Fail: 23% of people who were not successful in their New Year’s resolutions said it was because they forgot about it.
Consistency is not about being perfect. It is about building resilience, so when you slip 7 times on your way up the mountain, you get up 8 times. Part of being consistent is being held accountable. In Strong Academy you work with a Team. In the 1:6 Coaching ratio, you have a team of 7 people holding you accountable to your goal. You don’t just show up for yourself, you show up for them too.
Before the year ends and that rush of hopeful inspiration motivates you to set a resolution, I want you to ask yourself: WHY DO I WANT TO CHANGE and WHAT DO I NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL? If it is consistency, structured programming, and accountability then Strong Academy is for you. Join now to become your most energized, confident, and strongest self.
Are you ready to set a resolution for the last time?
The key to lifelong success is consistency. Building consistency happens after you set your goal, by making a plan to reach it. The only way to know how far you’ve gone in your journey, is to count the steps. Those small wins are contagious and when you celebrate them it will increase your motivation to keep going. Consistency is not about being perfect, it is about building resilience.
If you are looking for consistency, structured programming, and accountability to reach your goals, then Strong Academy is for you. Join now to become your most energized, confident, and strongest self. Sign ups for the Winter Program go LIVE tomorrow
In a world where you spend the majority of your day in a static position, whether it is hours in front of a computer or extended periods of standing, it is important to train for function and longevity. This is where the deadlift comes in. The deadlift is a compound movement that activates the posterior chain, which is the group of muscles and connective tissue along the back of your body. The posterior chain plays a vital role in all lifting, carrying, bending and jumping movements. The best thing you can do for the longevity of your body is to ensure your posterior chain is STRONG.
TRAIN FOR LONGEVITY, TRAIN THE DEADLIFT
As you age, you experience something called spine degeneration. The pressure of gravity begins to compress the spine, which can limit your flexibility and movement over time. Static positions, like long periods of sitting and standing, can accelerate this process. Developing the muscles in your back and along your spine is crucial to combat sitting posture and protect your spine as you age. A deadlift targets almost all back muscles, including the muscles along the spine, the hamstrings, and the glutes – another muscle that plays a big role in training for longevity. Although the glutes are the biggest muscle in the body, they tend to be the most underdeveloped for the same reason of prolonged sitting. Yes, I am sure you like training your glutes and you are always striving for that instagram booty, but training for functionality is different from training for appearance. When you train for function, your goal is to train the action of the muscle – mimicking what your muscles do in everyday life. The deadlift is amazing for glutes, because it trains the action of hip extension through a functional movement pattern. Here is a visual of this from Coach Sarah.
Your glutes are working every time you extend your hip, every time you sit and stand, walk, jump, step, bend over and pick something up – movement patterns that you are doing continuously throughout your day and most likely want to keep doing for the rest of your life. Longevity means having a strong back and strong glutes. Longevity means heavy deadlifts in your training. Are you curious about what weight to choose for your deadlift? This post from Coach Jacq can help!
NO MORE LOW BACK PAIN
Now what about low back pain? The coaches at All Day Fit commonly hear people experiencing low back pain during their deadlifts. Is this you?
It is not just enough to know how to pick the appropriate weight for your deadlift. If you want to progress and continuously get stronger, you need to ensure you are performing your deadlift properly. The right cues can help you build that mind-body connection and help you activate the appropriate muscles for the exercise you are doing. You can learn founder Cassie Day’s favorite cues to help eliminate back pain in your deadlifts right now!
When you deadlift with the proper load and technique, it can actually help reduce back pain in the future. If you haven’t picked up on this yet, deadlifts help combat the negative impacts of prolonged sitting. After a long day at the office, do you typically have tight hips, tense shoulders, and low back pain? Deadlifts help strengthen the muscles that are most affected by your sitting posture. When you have strong back muscles, they will be more resistant to rounded shoulders. When you train your glutes for their action, they will be working in your everyday movement and help to reduce low back pain and tight hips. It almost sounds too good to be true, but the deadlift might just change your life!
Do you want to learn more about strengthening your deadlift? Join our upcoming workshop, where an ADF Coach will assess your deadlift form and teach you the appropriate warm up and activation your muscles need. You will also go through a series of deadlifts with a Coach to help you learn the proper technique and determine the appropriate load! Will we see you there?!