No, not brace yourself… pace yourself.
A few weeks ago my husband and I were doing some sprints in an outdoor training session. When we were finished, he mentioned how well I pace myself.
At first it sounded kind of like a backhanded compliment along the lines of “good work slow poke.” It actually wasn’t how he meant it though and I have to say, he’s right. I am good at pacing myself when it comes to training sessions like that. I’m good at setting a goal and knowing that if I go all-in too soon I’ll never last ’til the end. And not finishing would make Type-A me mad and oh so sad.
By the way, I did some more hill sprints this past weekend with Connor…how awesome is he? Seriously.
I’m type-A, a perfectionist, over-achiever, older sibling… you know the drill. That said, I’m generally patient when it comes to getting what I want. I’d rather think long and hard about how to “get it right” than make a speedy decision that ends up being wrong. So yes, you can say I struggle with taking risks and tend to look for ways to test the waters before I dive in.
Then there’s my husband. He decides he wants something and doesn’t stop until he gets it. {Worked out okay when he decided he wanted to marry me…ha!} He has two speeds… and not a lot of in-between. In fact, when we were sprinting that day he said he went a little too hard on the first 3-5 sprints and kind of wanted to give up before we got to 10. Don’t worry…he didn’t actually give up because he’s competitive and if he gave up, I would have won.
Honestly, this difference in our decision-making and operating strategies is why we work well as a team at home and work. Sure, it’s frustrating as hell sometimes, but it really does balance us out in the long run. If we need to purchase something and he’s in charge, we have it in 2 days. Hello Amazon Prime. If I’m in charge, the process is generally a littttttle longer and includes lots of research and overthinking. I have to remember this and push myself sometimes because usually we’re talking about things like patio furniture, not life or death decisions.
Let’s look at the definition of the word PACE.
to avoid doing something too quickly or doing too much at one time, so that you have enough energy left to complete an activity
If you’re striving to achieve some health and fitness goals, seems like it might be a good idea to discover when it’s best to go full-speed and when you’ll want to slow down and pace yourself, right?
Let’s look at a few examples.
If you look at a young athlete versus a more seasoned athlete, you’ll notice the older athlete is likely much better at pacing herself. You’ll see her sprint only when it’s necessary instead of towards every ball that goes flying. Seasoned athletes are better at conserving their energy for when it counts most. They’ve learned from experience (and age) that there are only so many sprints in the tank. They know what pace they can realistically maintain for a given time period.
Think of the men and women you know who’ve been training for a long time. You’ll notice these more experienced lifters/runners/yogis/etc. have figured out habits that help them stay consistent. They’ve found a balance of training and rest. They’re training at a pace that allows them to keep showing up for the next session, and the session after that. This is ultimately way more important that crushing it every single time.
Compare that to a brand new gym-goer. She’s crazy excited about her new all-in, every day, no days off plan because she’s picturing how awesome she’ll look at her class reunion in 6 months. She shows up to class in her brand new workout gear and nails the warm up. She jumps into each exercise and skips all the water breaks her coach suggests she take. Then she gets to the conditioning component of class and has to bail out and watch everyone else finish.
We’ve seen this at SOS and it’s okay! If this is you, don’t worry, you are not alone.
Believe me, we’ve had a good amount of people show up to their first class who struggle to make it through the entire 60 minutes. Most of the time, it’s not because they couldn’t have lasted the whole time, but rather because they haven’t learned how to pace themselves appropriately yet. Don’t worry…we help them with how to get better at this and soon enough they’re right in there finishing class after class. And resting well in between. 🙂
Need another example? Think of that girl who has the body type you really want. Does she train for 5 hours a day? Does she eat perfectly all the time? Does she stay in every Friday and Saturday night to eat lettuce leaves alone? I doubt it. Sure, she likely has to make sacrifices and eats lots of veggies and protein, but my guess is she’s figured out some staple foods she loves and eats daily. Plus, she probably has strategies on how to incorporate some favorite ‘treats’ into her diet on a very regular basis. (Meh – I don’t like calling them treats, but you get my point.)
Usually when someone makes healthy-eating look effortless, it’s because they’ve figured out how to eat in a way that feels sustainable long-term. Then they modify as necessary.
Let’s say you’ve tried South Beach, Atkins and Weight Watchers. Each of these diets worked for you… for awhile. You followed things to a T, you were all-in and then things started to slip. You got tired of nuts and cheese for every meal. You got bored with the pre-packaged meals that didn’t fill you up. You got busier and slowly stopped counting the points in everything that went in your mouth. The cake at your daughters party looked way too good to say no.
Perhaps it’s not that the diets you tried were inherently bad, but that they weren’t sustainable at the pace you were moving? What can you learn from that before you embark on your next diet? Besides not to do it again…
One warning here. When it comes to pacing yourself, you can’t just follow the person next to you because he seems to have it together. You need to test the waters a bit to help you discover how to go at your own speed, not his speed. Yes, find your speed, preferably a speed you can keep up indefinitely with minor adjustments up and down.
Pace Yourself
Here are the things I want you to keep in mind as you begin your next training or nutrition adventure. Think about how this strategy applies to other areas of your life too… career, relationship, parenting….etc. Learn how to pace yourself, turning the dial up and down a bit as necessary during your journey.
PACE: Patience & Perseverance
Keep in mind, you might not achieve all of your goals when you want to, or as quickly as you’d like. If you keep persevering, and have patience with yourself, you’ll be a hell of a lot more likely to succeed than if you give up because you’re not ‘there’ yet.
Be patient and keep persevering…
Do set a realistic workout schedule doing exercise you enjoy. Take into account what life season you’re in and what else you have going on. If you’re caring for littles and parents and working full time, what’s realistic and sustainable for you?
Don’t force yourself to exercise more than your schedule will realistically allow (once you eliminate the silly excuses – you know you have them). And please stop doing types of exercise you hate because your best friend loves it and got results. If you like exercise you’re a lot more likely to stick with it!
PACE: Arrange & Adapt
Set yourself up for success. That way when life happens, you can adjust the plan as necessary. Plan your meals ahead of time. Arrange your schedule so you can fit in your training sessions. Make it easy to succeed by having a plan. Be proactive instead of reactive. No more of this, “how the hell do I keep ending up here?” attitude.
Arrange your life in a way that basically forces you to be successful.
Arrange and adapt…
Do schedule your workouts each week just as you do important meetings. Only skip training sessions for legitimately good reasons. Do figure out what you’re going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day. If plans change, adapt instead of throwing in the towel.
Don’t wait until next week to get started again if you miss a workout. Can you talk a walk instead to keep the momentum going? Don’t eat a double cheeseburger and french friends just because you forgot your lunch at home. I assure you there are healthy options almost everywhere.
PACE: Consistency & Compliance
Here’s where you need to be honest with yourself. How consistent and compliant have you really been? If you’re operating at 80% or more consistency that’s pretty good for most people. Anything less than that and, let’s face it, your consistency kind of sucks.
Even if you come up with a flawless plan to reach a goal, what good is it, if you’re not taking consistent action? I know, in your mind you’re convinced you’ve been consistent. On paper, maybe not so much. This may be you if you find yourself wondering why you’re not getting results when you’ve been doing ‘all the right things’.
Consistency and compliance…
Do track your food and workouts in a way that works for you. Use a notebook to track your workouts. Mark an X on the calendar for every day you accomplish your goal. Look at the overall week and month to evaluate. Are you at 80%? Use My Fitness Pal for a month or two to give yourself a jump start until you feel confident about your habits. Record it all…weekends too.
Don’t overcommit to a training schedule that isn’t going to work with the rest of your life. Don’t go so balls-to-the-wall in your workouts when you first start that you’re too sore to show up for the next one. Don’t ‘try to remember’ what you ate or when you trained. We tend to overestimate our workouts and underestimate the size of the ice cream we ate after dinner.
PACE: Enthusiasm & Evaluation
The most successful people figure out a way to stay enthusiastic during the the journey, not just when they reach the finish line. I’ll say it again…find exercise and foods you love. No more choking down foods you hate or participating in Zumba classes even though you feel like a discombobulated unicorn. Find things that light you up and makes you excited to keep going back for more.
Evaluate your progress. Are you still enthusiastic a few months in? Is what you’re doing working well for you? Don’t get so wrapped up in the end goal you forget to look up to see if you’re even on the right path.
Enthusiasm and evaluation…
Do eat foods you love that make you feel good. Do exercise you enjoy. Seriously, enjoyment is crucial to your success. If you enjoy something, you’ll keep showing up. Also, do occasionally force yourself to struggle through forms of exercise you don’t love. Because growth is good and getting uncomfortable for a bit is just good for ya. Do keep tabs on your progress and ask yourself “how’s this working?” often.
Don’t eat foods you hate. Don’t eliminate an entire food group {unless you have a good reason like a food allergy or sensitivity}. Don’t try to become a runner or sign up for a marathon if you despise running. Don’t join a gym you’ll never go to because it’s cheaper than the one you really want to go to. Don’t stay focused on goals that require so much sacrifice you are always grumpy.
Is pacing yourself key to success?
Take a breather every now and then to make sure the plan you have in place is working and making you happy. Look up and evaluate how you are doing. If it’s working, great. Keep going. If not, is it the plan that needs to be adjusted or your compliance? Be honest with yourself.
I know it’s hard to break out of the comparison trap. I encourage you to place less emphasis on how fast everyone else is moving, and instead ask yourself…can I keep going at this pace? Is it working for me? If not…what can you change?
Think about the most successful people you know. Athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians… any other role models you have. I bet most of them have mastered the art of pacing themselves in the areas of their lives that matter. They’ve applied the goldilocks principal and figured out how to adjust their dials to the the appropriate volume to keep going.
Keep in mind, the only constant in life is change. What you enjoy now, you may decide you despise later. No worries… adjust the dials, the day-to-day and maybe even the goal. Then, keep going.
If you learn to pair your determination and sense of urgency with the ability to pace yourself, you will succeed. Decide when it’s appropriate to go all-in, push yourself hard or make a damn decision. Have patience when you need to dial things down a little bit if that is what keeps you going.
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