While attending an out-of-town personal development event last week, the topic of fitness arose numerous times during lunches and breaks after other participants learned that I own a gym.
As you might expect, we discussed some specific routines and strategies. But more often than not, I found myself circling back to describe some subtly non-mainstream ideas that have guided my own fitness progress and coaching philosophy over the past 15+ years.
Implementing and living any ideas for that long—especially those that sound mainstream but that are actually just outside of it—can easily make anyone forget that they’re not necessarily obvious or “normal” practices. But I was reminded of exactly that based on the questions and comments that I received from the others.
So I thought it only made sense to review the three biggest ideas in this week’s tip.
If you’re new to reading these tips, I hope you find them as perspective-shifting as my discussion partners from last week did.
If you’ve been reading these tips for awhile, all three ideas may sound somewhat familiar since I’ve discussed them in past tips, although perhaps not so directly.
Either way, while the terms may seem (and, technically, colloquially are or almost are) interchangeable, the meanings behind the distinct phrases can make a tremendous difference in your mindset and how you approach fitness.
Student vs. Client
When referring to individuals who participate in group or private sessions at TNT, I typically use the term student as opposed to client. The main difference lies in the realm of responsibility.
A client is someone who has something done to them while they remain a passive participant. For example, any time you get a haircut, massage, or root canal or you hire someone to fix your car or modify your house, you’re a client. You basically show up, answer some questions, and then pay the person you hire to responsibly do some work.
A student is someone who is effectively required to learn something in order to actively participate in the process. Using the gym as an example: The other TNT trainers and I can’t lift the weights, decide to improve technique in order to enhance results, follow an improved nutrition protocol, or get enough sleep for you. We can teach you useful information and guide and encourage you to implement it. But, ultimately, the responsibility to implement lies with you.
As an aside, I also consider myself a student for three reasons: (1) I need to actively show up in my fitness life just like you; no one else can do the work for me. (2) I don’t know everything. (Don’t tell my better half I said that…) (3) It’s my job to stay on top of what works (i.e. learn continuously) so that I can be a great guide for you.
Training Session vs. Workout
Workout is such a short and succinct word compared to training session. And, admittedly, I do use it when my point revolves around something else. But the mindset around the two phrases is immensely different.
As a mentor has said (paraphrased): “What does workout even mean? You’ve worked yourself out…? Of what? Energy? Sweat? Calories? What’s the point? That’s purely short term.”
On the other hand, training session implies doing something in pursuit of the development of a skill or characteristic that will have long-term benefits. Sure, you might also sweat and feel fatigued when you’re finished (or not), and you’ll definitely expend calories. So training sessions do produce short-term benefits. But those are the side benefits as opposed to the primary ones.
Think of it this way: If your goal is to become a concert pianist, you don’t do “piano workouts” every day. Instead, you practice, sometimes more challenging skills and sometimes easier ones, with the ultimate goal of improving for the future instead of for what your piano instructor thinks of today’s session.
Approaching fitness the same way may or may not feel amazing today, but the results will be better than they otherwise would be tomorrow.
That said…
Pursuing Goals vs. Chasing Feelings
In the previous idea and this one, I do not mean to imply that exercising in order to experience a specific feeling is a bad thing. It’s not.
Going for a jog, throwing around some weights, practicing a martial art, or whatever else you might do to de-stress after a tough day is fine. De-stressing is a good thing!
However, I’ll then suggest that “de-stressing” is the primary goal you’re pursuing. There might be side benefits like “improving conditioning” or “expending calories”, but those are byproducts of your training session (😉) to de-stress.
Alternatively, if your goal is to improve your body composition, then going for a long run (for example) might be suboptimal to having a short weight training session, eating a healthy dinner, and going to bed early. You may not feel as de-stressed after the latter (or you might) as what you would after the run, but you’ll probably make more progress toward your body-comp goal.
I make these distinctions because I often hear people say things like “I don’t feel like I got in a good workout”. My point with this comparison is for you to determine your #1 most-important goal and to then pursue it instead of something else about which you don’t really care.
If your goal is to de-stress, then do whatever most produces that feeling. But don’t necessarily be surprised if you don’t get stronger, lose weight, improve conditioning, etc.
On the other hand, if your goal is to get stronger, then you need to do what produces those results. And if you don’t feel like you “got in a good workout” on a given day while following the plan? Well, I don’t really care, and neither should you. Because the feeling of getting in a good workout isn’t your goal. Getting stronger is.
Putting it into practice
Of course, change of any kind takes time. But one of the best ways to make the process easier is to work on building your self-image to align with the actions that you want to take.
That idea is echoed in different ways by both Lanny Bassham, an Olympic gold medalist in rifle shooting, in With Winning In Mind and by Dr. Nate Zinsser, a former director—for 30+ years—of the Performance Psychology Program of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, in The Confident Mind.
To that end, I’ll suggest consciously thinking two specific thoughts any time you exercise going forward, especially if any of the ideas above are new to you:
- Before exercise: “I’m a student pursuing my goal in this training session.” (Inspired by Dr. Zinsser.)
- After exercise: “That’s like me to pursue my goals and learn from training.” (Inspired by Mr. Bassham.)
Doing so might seem trivial. But it could potentially be among the most impactful 6-second fitness habits that you develop.