Just my opinion – but I firmly believe that health and fitness is 85% mental (not physical).
I developed this idea waaaay back when I was a young lad who enjoyed running in Belfast.
I’d take off through the estate and as I grew slightly fatigued, I’d notice that my mind started to play tricks on me!
- “Your knee feels a bit sore. This impact probably isn’t good for it.”
- “You’re thirsty, that’s why you feel drained today.”
- “Sleep wasn’t great last night. That’s why this feels hard.”
- “It’s been a few hours since you’ve eaten. You’ve no energy.”
Truth is: It was all nonsense of course. Just my mind spinning yarns to protect me.
And at the end of my run, after I had ignored the noise and soldiered through, I’d look back and realise it was all a hoax. And I realised how powerful the mind is!
There is a proven physical reason for this: >>>> Our bodies DON’T LIKE EXERCISE!!
(Sounds like I’m shooting myself in the foot here as a gym owner that professes the huge benefits of exercise).
But ….. The reality is – our bodies like to be relaxed, calm, breathing easy, heart rate low, safe, unthreatened.
Once we begin to get our heart rate pounding, we struggle to breathe, legs feel weary, our brain kicks into survival mode and tried to get us to calm right back down ASAP.
**FYI – this is exactly why our workouts should be short (circa 30-45 mins), effective, efficient). Drop those two hour slogs you might be doing!**
But back to my point about our mind.
It can tell us anything it pleases – and we very quickly believe it!!!
So let’s use a common example …….
You pack your training gear in the morning and promise yourself you’ll DEFINITELY go after work this time.
Work’s pretty stressful (or boring) and during the afternoon, as the clock ticks down, you convince yourself that it’s been a bad day, you’ll have a bad workout, better to start tomorrow, fresher.
Then tomorrow, we follow the same pattern. Only this time, it’s because you had a meal deal for lunch and you’re starving. You need proper food. Tomorrow …. Definitely!!
And a you have to take a call at 4.55pm, meaning you’re slightly behind – and stressed – so, best not to go. Wednesday is a better day…..
See the pattern?
Life is never easy, there is never a perfect time and our head will convince us that tomorrow is better. Our head can convince us of anything.
In a nutshell, here’s how we solve this dilemma at our personal training facility in Ely.
In the first month, we simply make sure people turn up. Yep, that simple.
And when they turn up, possibly as a deconditioned, unfit, overweight, unhappy person, things start to turn around.
They gain more energy, they give themselves some self-love, they gain some pride and self-respect, their body feels ‘nicer’, their motivation increases, they become more disciplined, and more!
NOW WE ARE OFF!
Most importantly …. They feel better in their head and mind.
Meaning, they make better decisions with exercise and food, they THINK more about prioritising their health, they put themselves first, for a change, or more often.
Over a decade, we’ve seen that when people FEEL better mentally, they exercise more.
Hence, we feel, that fitness is largely a mental (and a little bit physical) game.
If you’ve been stuck in this loop in 2025, January has passed without action, and you wish to kickstart things, drop us a message ASAP. 🙂