YOUR BODY - What to focus on to feel and perform at your best!
Focus # 1 The 23-Hour Secret to Progress
You are excited for 2025 and ready to push your limits, hit personal records, and crush your goals. But here’s the truth: the real progress toward your health and wellness goals happens in the other 23 hours of the day.
What you do outside the gym—your sleep, water intake, nutrition, and stress management—plays a far greater role in your results than just your workout. If you’re showing up consistently to class but aren’t seeing the progress you hoped for, it’s time to take a closer look at these foundational habits.
The way you recover, fuel, and care for yourself when you’re not working out can either accelerate or stall your progress.
Here are the BIG ONES!
Sleep helps your body repair muscles, balance hormones, and restore energy.
Water intake is essential for everything from energy levels to joint health.
Nutrition provides the fuel your body needs to perform and recover.
Stress management helps prevent burnout and supports overall well-being.
Dialing in these habits will make every minute in the gym more effective, and more importantly, improve how you feel in your daily life.
Focus # 2 - WARM-UP!!!!
Show me how you warm-up and I can likely predict your fitness future…
If you are feeling stagnant with your progress, your body feels beat up between workouts, or you just aren’t feeling it during your training sessions.
TAKE AN HONEST LOOK AT HOW YOU WARM-UP.
Get get the chili hot
One of the most important aspects of warming-up is getting your core temperature up. (aka break a sweat!) If you fail to do this, your muscles, joints, and tendons CANNOT prepare properly, which leads to feeling like the TIN MAN.
Focus on full range of motion
Doing lots of “mobility” is HIGHLY overrated. Instead, put emphasis on moving through full range of motion in your warm-ups. This will not only translate to be more prepared for training that day, but a more mobile and durable body overall.
The best opportunity to set movement patterns (bad or good!)
Your body is a programmable machine. It remembers your every movement. If you move poorly in your warm-up day after day, week after week, and year after year…GUESS WHAT, this is how you will move ALWAYS. What’s the flip side? Move with intention and quality in your warm-up and watch how your movement patterns sky rocket. You play how you practice right?
Effort and attitude sets the tone for training to follow
Warming up isn’t simply physical. You are preparing yourself mentally as well. When you warm-up with a poor attitude and low effort, you are setting the tone for a poor workout! Yes, I know, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, but shift your mindset to being positive during your warm-up and truly focus and give effort and PRESTO!!!! your workouts are much improved!
FOCUS # 3 - Training Approach - Use a Self Monitoring System
We all know the benefits of moving daily. We feel great when we train, but when pushing too hard—especially with high-intensity workouts like CrossFit or Hyrox—training 5-6 times a week can leave you feeling drained. The key is not just consistency, but also regulating your intensity based on how you feel.
Here’s a simple system to help you stay on track and adjust your approach as needed:
Thumbs Up Day (rare)
These are the rare days when everything aligns—your sleep is great, nutrition is solid, stress is low, and overall, you feel amazing. On these days, go all out in the gym. Push yourself and make the most of this high-energy window.
Thumbs Sideways Days (most days)
For most of us, these are the norm. You feel okay—sleep and nutrition are decent, stress is manageable, but nothing is extraordinary. You can still train hard, but listen to your body. Be mindful of how you’re feeling and adjust accordingly. A PR or mind blowing effort is unlikely, so don't get emotionally attached to your performance on these days.
Thumbs Down Days
These are the tough days, when you’re just trying to get through. Sleep has been a struggle, nutrition is inconsistent, and stress from work, kids, or life is running high. On these days, getting to the gym should still be a priority, but it’s not the time to push your limits. Think lower intensity, flow workouts, and use the session as a chance to reset while still getting some movement in.
If you are having THUMBS DOWN DAYS all the time, it is time to check yourself on the 23 hours outside of the gym. How can we improve your sleep, nutrition, stress, and movement to get you feeling better for training?
Warm-up FIRST, then Decide
This is a tidbit I always share with my members AND use for myself. Sometimes you AREN'T having a thumbs down day, but just need to shake the funk from a shitty day or poor mood. This happens by getting the chili HOT during a warm-up. If you still feel THUMBS DOWN, then take it easy that day!
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Whatever your fitness goals, this self-monitoring tool helps you stay in tune with your body and optimize your training. By adjusting intensity based on how you feel, you’ll ensure you’re progressing without burning out.
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