Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Train (Or do anything)

A couple of years ago we posted a few of questions on the white board for people who train with us. The idea was to have people consider their motivations, what they were doing, why they were doing it, and as a result assess their commitment to it. The questions are simple but profound in the sense if considered seriously and reflected on, the answers are guides. Taking a look back, it really applies to just about anything in life, work, family, friends, training and more. The consideration of what we are doing with the limited time we have in our life. Many times people get caught up on the details, tasks, deadlines and are absorbed with the busyness rather than substance. We are going to have a bias toward training, but consider the questions in a broader scope.

Every moment in time is an opportunity to check if what you're doing is really what you want to be doing. In today's fast-paced world we often get caught up in the rapidfire details of earning a living, taking care of the family, and generally reacting to what the world throws at us. We rush from meeting to meeting, from task to task, and day-to-day without really considering or taking the time to look inward and decide if what we are doing is what we should be doing. People get so caught up in handling the day-to-day operations of life without stepping back and thinking of what they're doing and why they're doing it.

What do you want? Examine what you want from the individual workout. Examine what you want from the overall scope of the training. There are as many different goals as there are people. Some people have similar goals; some people have very different goals. The goal of going to the gym is to get a desired training effect (Speedo season, 20 year class reunion, whatever) presupposes that there is a goal. Take a moment to consider what it is you want from your training. Results like being more healthy, losing body fat, looking better, feeling better, being stronger, being faster are all easy to accomplish if you know what you're trying to do. Definition of what we specifically mean when talking about what you want is key to success in publishing your goal. One of the real beauties of using CrossFit training is that you can measure almost every workout to chart your progress overall. It allows people to judge specifically if what they're doing is meeting what they want. CrossFit most people from nonspecific to detail oriented metrics to help people know if they are getting what they want.

Why are you here? Seriously, when you walk into the gym, why are you here? What is your goal, your motivation and what you are trying to accomplish? These are pretty broad questions and should be asked to help crystallize your focus of why you would just walk through the door the gym. For many people simply showing up and focusing on getting the task at hand the workout of the day done is the primary focus. Are you getting all the instructional skills and tools to get the job done? We all have limited time to devote to our fitness. Are you able to get what you want done in the time that you have in the place that you are at?

Are you giving it your all? Results come from effort. There is no substitute for hard work. The more people push themselves, the greater the ability to do work. Our clients know the results come from intensity and they also realize going fast with a limited range of motion is not doing it right. For each individual giving your all is different. Some people have a goal of getting her first pull up while other people want to compete in Ironman races. To accomplish any worthy goal requires effort and pushes your ability to tolerate discomfort minor setbacks in the mental struggle of dealing with it all. Whatever you're all is, it's all good. The more you push yourself the more you can push.

Habits are double edged swords. The habit of packing for the gym bag, leaving the office and going to the gym is a great habit. Results come from pushing the edge of the envelope. The habit of going to the gym is a great habit until it becomes an act of going through the motions. Going through motions are not going to give you results.

The very core of the training is you! People get lost in what so and so is doing or did. Distractions from your real goals harm people's focus and in turn, limit the results of the training. Whatever the WOD is, the class, the instructor, the weather or phase of the moon, the objective you set for what you want to accomplish the training is about you.

- Doug Chapman, Hyperfit USA