Don't Get Too Emotionally Attached to Your Training
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The gym is my outlet, my sanctuary. I’m sure the same is true for many of you. The gym allows me to shut off everything and focus on one task. Whether life is confusing, mundane, stressful, or overwhelming, the gym gives me one goal for the day. When I spend an hour or two focusing on that goal, I find mental clarity.
The gym gives you the chance to practice many other mental skills that will carry over to other areas of your life. Today I want to talk about looking at things objectively.
Practice being emotionally detached from your training. If you’re used to psyching yourself up for each set, you’re creating a lot of training stress that may be unnecessary. Getting fired up set after set, day after day, is putting you in a constant state of fight or flight.
If you work a minimally stressful job, that may be fine. But if you’re a first responder, you’re in fight or flight pretty much all shift. Then, you crash. You know the feeling. You lay on the couch, mindlessly browse your phone, and may not even be able to make simple decisions like what to eat for dinner. Training on edge and psyching up isn’t helping you recover from work.
Instead of psyching yourself up and getting emotionally involved during your training session, train calmly and in a state of complete focus. If things don’t go as planned and your lifts are down, who cares? After your session, figure out why. Do what you can on the day and forget about it. In the same way, if things are going well and the weights are flying up, stick with what you have planned. For every good day, you’ll have a bad day. Let them balance each other.
Apply this lesson at work too. You obviously should always be trying to look at things objectively and without bias. Sometimes I would get emotionally caught up on a call. I’d let someone get in my head or beat myself up over a mistake. Of course, emotions aren’t bad, but sometimes they can cloud judgment. Know when to turn them on and off.
Let things be what they are, analyze, then adjust.
I can help you navigate stressful times and keep your training moving forward. If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me