Motivation or Inspiration!

When we are training Fitness Professionals (Personal Trainers and more) we share with them this point: You are not able to motivate anyone but you are to Inspire them by example, expertise, professionalism, love and care to go after their motivations in life. This is the reason; motive + action = motivation and I can not give you either of these as a professional trainer but I can inspire you to action by living my example and being true about why I live it. We believe if we try to attain greater health, fitness, weight loss (or any of the many reasons people sometimes start training programs) for any other reason than obedience to the Lord and caring for the Image of God in us; not only will our motives be halfhearted or wrong they will soon fail once we are tired of the statuesque.

Though as I have mentioned before, there are true blessings of Obedience such as (looking better in your clothes, feeling better about yourself, living a more vital and fulfilling life) these are not or should not be the primary reasons to start something because these are almost impossible to sustain. However when our motivation in to honor God with our bodies and live physically fit out of Obedience to Him, we will see the blessings of Obedience as well.

I have again listed the 7 success factors which we teach to people as a way to have a realistic outlook on physical fitness. Starting with consistency and hard work then looking at the last 5; please take a look at these and ask your self this question today. "Am I at this very moment committed to doing everything I can to achieve physical and spiritual fitness for the rest of your life?" It doesn't not matter what your status is right now, what the numbers say from doctors reports or how much you think you need to change; it is never too late for you to start and this is indeed the first step. Start doing something to increase you level of vitality; why does it matter? Your bodies are important to God and since He created you in His image, that is enough for it to matter to us; this alone is not it though "Our bodies are important to God because, with them, we carry out our mission assignments to further a greater purpose.” Fitness is not about self-gratification but it's about obedience to God, so the questions we all must ask is "will we seek God and learn from him while doing something to have a greater impact on the lives of those we meet for His kingdom or just go about life serving ourselves and not caring for His image in us". I placed a video at the bottom so keep reading and then watch the 2 minute you-tube of the 40 inspirational quotes just for anyhow. The truth is it's not about others telling you reasons why you should do things, it comes down to your true motivations and finding the heart behind fulfilling these in your life; for some it's getting healthy for kids, family health insurance etc, others it's weight loss, others it's looking good in my clothes and though all of these are good benefits what will you motivation be. Think it over and then get going, don't think too long however because today is a better day to start than tomorrow.

Success Factors

1.) Consistency: the body adapts over time to the traces left over from your previous workout (cumulative effect). The more consistent you are in you workouts and lifestyle, the more adaptation will occur in your body.

2.) Work hard: show up and work hard; Intensity and quality of strain in your workouts causes the brain to affect a positive adaptation and compensate for physical stress being imposed on your body. The harder you work, the more the brain has to prepare the body for which in turn causes more need for positive adaptation.

3.) Follow a realistic eating and exercise plan: Disciplined Nutrition Plan; this does not mean starving yourself, but rather developing a healthy eating lifestyle which you can live with forever, not some unattainable diet also making sure your workout plan works for you.

4.) Have fun: Enjoy your workouts and exercise, do things which accomplish your goal and also allow you to have fun at the same time.

5.) Be creative: Consistency is the most important factor but you still want to change things up slightly every 4- 6 weeks. Keep some of the exercises and add different ones which will work the same joints and muscles but give you variety. The idea is to keep your body in a constant state of “Progressive Adaptation” changing as it goes, rather than allowing the plateau effect with your health and fitness.

6.) Listen to your body: Though you will experience soreness as you begin and continue this workout (if your continue to increase in intensity) we call this effect Delayed Muscle Soreness Onset which will typically happen within 48 hours of the workout, your body will tell you if something is wrong. If you are experiencing specific, focused and knife like jabbing pain during a movement this probably indicates that you have injured that area of your body to some extent. Stop the exercise and consult a physician before continuing.

7.) Plan for the long haul: Your body is created to adapt to what you do over time. Physical fitness is a life-long journey and not just a destination; this is something you want to implement for a lifestyle change not just short distance success.

Physical Fitness Time line:

13 week’s = 75%; 6 month’s = 90% 1 year= 95%

Planning for the long haul means you will need to have a realistic attitude towards weight loss (if needed), as well as the change in body composition. Using the time line above, if we look at your ability to be physically fit; according to studies and science when involved in a consistent and intense workout several days per week within 13 weeks you can be at 75% of your maximum physical fitness level possible; at 6 months you can be at 90% and within 1 year on consistent training you can be at 95% of your maximum level. Problem: The national average for staying on an intense, consistent training program is only 3 weeks. If you start with an unrealistic goal of weight loss or physical fitness, the chances are great that you will become frustrated and discouraged when you don’t see immediate results like you wanted. Remember, this is training for a lifestyle of fitness not just a short distance sprint. The desire and objective should be to obtain physical fitness, health and wellness, while learning realistic nutrition and training which can be incorporated into your everyday life. When it comes to a change in body composition, it normally takes at least 6- 8 weeks from the beginning of a program to start seeing any change; however during this time you will start to notice the change internally with energy levels being higher and strength being obtained.

DON’T GIVE UP! Remember, the 2 most important factors in achieving your fitness goals are

1) Consistency

2) Work hard

If you can get into a consistent, intense (hard working) lifestyle of fitness, the goals you have set out to reach are attainable.