Sustainability.
One of the core values of my coaching philosophy.
Resolutions.
They don’t create sustainability.
There, I said it.
Here are a couple of my tips on how you can mold your New Year’s motivational high (short term) into a successful 2022 training journey (long term).
Chances are you feel inspired to get back into the groove of strength training after the holidays, want to play to your full potential, be more mobile or seriously need to drop down to averages of 70, 80 or 90 this year. Great! Make sure you have written down your goals, have the reason(s) behind them clear and start breaking them down into subgoals. Have you also considered writing down what it would feel like having accomplished them? No, then do so now.
I know like no other how daunting, intimidating or confronting it can feel to start again if you haven’t done something for a long time. Maybe you have been neglecting your movement practice in your life or perhaps you haven’t been treating your body very nicely, then just remember it only takes one day to get back into it. You can decide to make the change right now and right now is the perfect time really!
Those changes don’t need to be hard or brutal (trying to change every single habit in your life while training like an olympic athlete on a calorie-deficit-zero-carb diet) for them to be effective, create lasting results and make you feel good along the way. Rather, focusing on small action steps - habits and manageable training sessions is the way!
Honestly, for sustainability to happen, your training program has to be gradually loaded up to higher volumes, intensity or complexity. Levelling up (or starting) a performance (or fitness) golf journey is challenging enough as it is. There are so many individual and program variables to take into account. That’s why I offer 1:1 mentoring. Also in 2022.
I want you to leave every training session feeling happy about having made the decision to train. Every session should have at least one element that you actually enjoy doing/feeling. Move with intent. And make moving your body every day in one way or another a non negotiable. Movement is the action that takes you from here to there. Stagnation's antidote. The opposite of stuck.
There’s no need to make your journey even tougher with an approach (defining success by just numbers, going too fast too soon, neglecting your current personal mental/emotional state etc) that sets you up to feel like you’ve failed. Invest in support.
Another core value of my coaching philosophy that will help turn motivation for 2022 goals into a fulfilling, successful training journey while creating lasting impact is making safety as a part of, not the opposite of, performance.
Practice makes permanent. And under stress, we revert back to training. So how can you expect to shoot your lowest round during that peak tournament later this year if you grooved wrong habits during practice rounds. Similar to how can you expect to manage the last reps of the heavy weights if you grooved wrong movement patterns during body weight reps.
Again and again, I’m coming back to the biggest impact and return on investment you can give your body – mind – game in 2022 and beyond:
I want to thank you for absorbing the lessons and insights I shared in 2021. I hope 2022 is going to be fantastic for you. Let’s do this!
Keep Strong!
Liesbeth Pauwels
PS. I have two options for you in 2022: call us about The High Performance Program, my 1:1 coaching & mentoring program. Or sign up for my online training plan: Fundamental Routines (lifetime access & no subscription!) and Full Body Freedom (in collaboration with Me And My Golf).
