The concept of resilience should be embedded in your training. Drilling down and getting in the weeds of your program is a necessary practice; it lets you configure your training to optimize the mechanics. But resilience refers to the big picture of your efforts; taking a much-needed step back and evaluating important aspects such as purpose, drive and motivation. This need for resilience should inform every action, and guide your training toward your ultimate goal. Without hesitation, you should allow it to support your efforts and be the ever-present thread that is consistently strong as you ebb and flow through your training life.

The end goal of building resilience is to be able to take the next step. Resilience enables you to get through hardship; it is the proverbial life preserver. But the next step is to become anti-fragile. Resilience gets you through the wall; becoming anti-fragile strengthens you for the next wall you encounter.

But how exactly do you instill resilience in your training? What are the underlying principles you should adopt so you can build a better base of support?

Define a Deeper “Why”

No matter the training style (power, strength, hypertrophy or any combination) resilience can be applied. To hone in on your real goal, you just need to ask yourself a few key questions:

1. What is my ultimate goal?
2. Why do I want this?
3. How should I be training to get me there?

The last question should not only include the appropriate training program, but also behaviors such as consistency, persistence and discipline. These factors will start to define and build your resilience. With a clear vision, you will start to practice steadfast habits.

Another trick is to imagine stepping outside of yourself, as if you were both the coach and the athlete. What would you put that “other you” through? What would you recommend as far as everyday habits? Would it be skipping workouts when they were tired, being lax on their diet, and taking the easy road in the gym?

Now that you know the “why” behind your “what,” you will need to take an honest look at your current training and programming practices. Does it match up with your goal? Are you training for strength when you really want to shoot for more hypertrophy? How about your consistency? Are you skipping a lot of weekly workouts? Are you eating properly? Could you become more in line with your goal? 

Are you practicing what you preach, or taking the easy way out? [Photo credit: J Perez Imagery]

Program Changes to Emphasize Resilience

• Difficult exercises: Choose three difficult exercises that intimidate you, or you’re not good at. Incorporate them into your program each week on separate days. Make it your mission to practice them to perfection. Your goal should be to make them comfortable, so you can move on to another three.
• Challenging techniques: Do you perform a set then rest? Super-setting antagonistic body parts such as chest and back or quadriceps and hamstrings is a great way to increase intensity and get uncomfortable. Make training tougher.
• Get uncomfortable on purpose: Make it your goal to get uncomfortable often. Great things aren’t accomplished with easy, familiar methods. Those who achieve had hard, unfamiliar climbs.
• Test yourself: Be sure to test your strengths as well as your weaknesses. This doesn’t have to be exclusive to maxing-out on the bench press. Shoot for 100 reps of chin-ups, 10 sets of 10 reps on squats or other nontraditional challenges.
• Always reassess: As you build resilience, you will quickly adapt to your new normal. Don’t get comfortable. Once you master any challenge you laid out for yourself, reassess and push the boundary once again. Keep moving forward.

Build Resilience Through Your Lifestyle

The concept of resilience shouldn’t just be found in your training; it should also permeate your day. Habits aren’t created with a few minutes of focused effort each day. They are strengthened with consistent practice and self-awareness. Do you tend to take the elevator only a few floors up? Do you circle the lot for five minutes to look for the closest parking spot? Do you procrastinate moving those boxes in the garage?

Here are some strategies to reprogram your day for resilience:

• Get un-sedentary: As humans, we tend to take the easy road all too often. It’s in our nature. I propose thinking the opposite. Stand instead of sit. Walk instead of ride, and help someone with a physical task when appropriate. Build on this daily.
• Wake up and be productive: Waking up late, skipping breakfast and rushing out the door is no way to start any morning. Wake up early, prepare a healthy breakfast, plan your day, and take control.
• Challenge your morning: Train early in the morning, if at all feasible. Get up earlier, tackle your training first thing, and you will build incredible discipline. For some, this is the ultimate test of resilience.
• Keep moving ahead: Constantly examine your life and keep a check on your daily activities. Try not to fall into your old habits. Stay cognizant of your posture, time spent sitting, and technology use just to name a few.

Create an Intentional Environment of Challenge

Lastly, there is one resounding skill that can potentially help you improve and facilitate all of these positive changes. Practicing self-awareness is a powerful tool regarding your success. Not every attempt will be perfect; you will fail, try again, and possibly fail again. But this is where resilience comes into play. As long as you keep what you are trying to accomplish at the forefront, you will be driving in the right direction. Remember, the key is to create an environment of challenge to “toughen you up,” so you can finally make substantial and desired changes.

Having a strong mind isn’t an inherent trait:

Can You Train Mental Toughness?

The post Reprogram Your Life for Resilience appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

My fitness, particularly weight training and healthy eating, are normally significant parts of my lifestyle and day-to-day routine. But they were temporarily erased from my priority list within seconds. It wasn’t a sober, conscious decision; an unstoppable force allowed me no choice but to succumb to what needed to be done. Luxuries and comforts like daily workouts and carefully planned meals shifted to absolute choices regarding basic human needs.

But since this fitness lifestyle is such a huge part of who I am, how is it affected in the aftermath of such a disaster? How could I cope with the circumstances, without breaking ingrained habits and possibly throwing away all my hard work? Is there a way to stay steady, or even inch forward, no matter how minute the progress? 

Once the immediate crisis of survival has passed, you have crucial decisions to make. [Photo credit: Brad Borland]

Between Instinct and Conscious Choice

Hardships come in all shapes and sizes: floods, health challenges, unforeseen accidents, or shifts in your family dynamic. Everyone has their own unique story of times of difficulty. One thing is for sure, you won’t go through life without several encounters of hardship. It’s a fact of life right up there with taxes and people who curl in the squat rack. But our ability to recognize and almost expect challenges will better equip us to deal with them as they come.

You must face these hardships. You must take them on and decide what to do next. Flight or fight is an instinctual reaction, but it also gives you a choice. When survival and wellbeing are at stake, your instincts oftentimes make the choices for you, leaving the details for later. But what about the aftermath—the gray area between the stress episode and the comfort of normalcy?

This gray area is a chance to examine what just happened and what is potentially next to come. It is where decisions can become opportunities, and primal instincts return the reins to rational thought. Many will use this time as one of reflection and rest. But I think it’s imperative, however fragile you feel, to recognize the chance for a new beginning and rebuilding. If you’re not careful, your healthy habits can fall victim to the circumstances, and be replaced by permanent, undesired new ones.

Choices in Limbo

This new normal is forced on you without your blessing. The only real choice is to deal with it. But how? I see two main options. One, you could play the victim, curl up in a corner and wait for help. Or two, you can welcome and adopt this new (temporary) normal and press on. Two is the obvious choice, right? But how do you move forward after you’ve experienced great hardship and are overwhelmed and disoriented, to say the least? Let’s break down some simple ways to cope with this delicate time and overcome your setback. 

Practice Awareness

The first step, and this goes for anything in life, is to practice awareness. It’s easy, during and immediately after a crisis, to feel like you are flying by the seat of your pants. This can extend well beyond the actual stressful time. Stay (or become) aware of where you are, how you are doing and what you are still capable of. Any lack of awareness will pit you against yourself and prevent any progress no matter how small.

Be aware that you are alive, have a support system, have a roof over your head and food on the table. Be aware that you still have your mind about you and have the incredible ability to plan, act, and try new approaches to your new challenges.

Take Stock of Resources

With awareness comes taking stock of not only your situation, but also your abilities and resources. What’s available to you right now? Are things still viable, doable, and workable but with some adjustments? What will take longer, require more focus, or a modified approach?

Your current state of living, resources, and environment may not be like they used to be. But remember that this is your new normal. It may not be permanent, but it’s the hand you were dealt. Use what you have and drive forward. Your game of yards may now be a game of inches, but at least you are showing progress.

Do a Self-Check-In 

Whether you’re moving forward a little or kicking more butt than you anticipated, it’s not a bad idea to do a self-check-in. How are you coping? Are you judging your progress or lack of progress too harshly? Do you need to take a pause every now and again to make sure your head’s on straight and that you’re moving in the right direction?

Sometimes you can charge ahead at full speed, but if you’re moving quickly in the wrong direction and making too many decisions at once you’ll find yourself frustrated and with a lot of lost ground to make up. Don’t be afraid to check in with yourself or even ask others for help or advice. No one becomes successful alone—there’s always someone close by willing to help.

Plan Each Step

With a self-check-in done, it may be a good idea to revisit your plan of attack. It’s not enough to simply want to come back after a setback. Lack of planning conjures vague goals, causing you to spin your wheels and delay any real progress. Setting out deliberate, purposeful steps is the simple but effective solution.

If you’re in a new environment, situation or have adopted a new normal, these steps need not be too complicated. Also, you’ll need to think inside that new normal in order to function properly and find success. It’s not advantageous to yearn for the old normal; you must adapt and press on. Use this new challenge to your advantage, find areas to exploit for the greater good and learn along the way.

Accept and Embrace Your New Normal

Yes, whatever you are facing is your new normal, whether only temporarily or for the long haul. Sometimes it’s not your choice; it’s forced upon you and you have to deal with it. Adopting this modified shift in doing things is a must in order to succeed.

All too often we resist that shift and fight tooth and nail against the change brought upon us. I say accept it. Recognize it, embrace the suck, and drive forward. If baby steps are all you can manage in the initial outset, so be it. Your acceptance of your new normal will allow you to start to cultivate new habits, different goals and new learning opportunities—things you may have never encountered otherwise.

Nothing worth having was ever easy. It’s these difficult and challenging moments that create and build character; true character that matters and will endure for the rest of your life. Stand up to the hardships that life throws your way. Fight through them, and you’ll come out better on the other side.

Prepare your mind for the tough times ahead:

Can You Train Mental Toughness?

The post Training Through a Disaster appeared first on Breaking Muscle.