Training with Intent

I’m clearly on a bit of a kick right now, because I keep having the same conversation over and over with people. Probably because I’m training for two very specific (and related) events — summiting Pike’s Peak this summer and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) towards the end of the year. So, right now my training is very different from what it usually is — less kettlebells and S-Phase work, and more hiking, hills, and running stairs. I’m way more focused on my training and much more consistent at it now that I have something to work towards.

I’ve been having this same conversation with prospective and existing clients. I’m encouraging them to find a very real goal, and then we can align our training to that. I have two general approaches that I take with clients:

1. Choose a physical goal that means something to you. Running five miles might be a fun goal, but if you struggle daily with lifting an aging parent, a better goal might be to get the strength and mobility to do that more easily.
2. Find a professional athlete whose physique you admire and would like to have. Go to the bookstore and flip open a sports magazine or wander in to the fitness aisle. Once you have identified that, since you have a life outside of being a professional athlete, hire someone who can find out how the professionals in that sport train and pull the essentials out in to a plan that can be done in a few hours a week.

I’d love to hear what your goals are, whose physique you are attempting to emulate, and what you are doing to get there. Drop me a note or comment below!