How I turn non training activities into training

Strength and Endurance tests are all around us 

One of the greatest myths of modern fitness is that exercise happens in serious places like gyms and with serious people like trainers.

But open your mind a bit and you’ll realize there are countless moments everyday to test yourself physically. Every day you’re a bit tired and need to push through to accomplish a task. Every day you lift, carry, or move something over a distance.

You can incorporate these daily situations into your training no matter what you’re after.

The importance isn’t in what you’re doing but in how you think of different situations throughout the day. 

Adopt an attitude of training in non training situations

It doesn’t matter if you’re training for a marathon, aiming for a PR in the weight room, play a specific sport, or just want to get fit and lose a little bit of weight, you can find extra movement and challenge throughout your day.

Here’s how you do it. Anytime you start to feel uncomfortable in the body and have a chance to stop that action or take an easier route you consciously CHOOSE to keep going down the hard road.  It’s the same mentality you adopt with your training, to push through that final rep, the final mile, that final PUSH.

If you recognize how discomfort can help you grow inside of they gym and in physical exercise it’s the same with pushing through other physically inclined struggles outside of the gym.

Engage your creativity 

The most important part of this attitude is embracing creativity.

This is how you turn an uncomfortable situation into a growth opportunity. It also lets your imagination run free and helps you stack as many small W’s as possible. Because instead of complaining about how hard a situation is, you begin to enjoy the hard as a chance to consistently prove yourself.

Here are my best tips on how to turn non training situations into training scenarios in 3 of the easiest places to find the opportunities and some examples from this past weekend of me turning my family life into a training opportunity.

1. Travel

Travel is the PERFECT crucible to test strength and endurance.

Strength: Don’t push or pull your bags, carry them. Don’t take escalators or elevators, walk stairs with your bags.

Endurance: Jet lag becomes the time in a race you’re tired. Avoid eating unhealthy airport food and practice fasting. Move quickly and with purpose even when tired to simulate late race style conditions.

Are these perfect training situations? No, but they are better than complaining and whining about things out of your control and doing nothing.

2. On the Town

When you’re out and about there’s lots of opportunities to turn the everyday into a training activity.

Mindset: Waiting in line at a store and it’s taking forever? Practice breathwork and patience. 

Endurance: Bad weather? Don’t run from it, instead push through it to gain confidence in sub-optimal conditions. Missed a meal or a hit of caffeine? Now’s a chance to grind through. 

Strength: Walk and carry your bags as much as possible. Be of assistance to those weaker than you throughout the day and volunteer to carry the load if you’re able. 

Again it’s not about perfection but about making a positive out a negative by adopting an overcoming mindset. 

3. At Home

At home this can be tricky but it’s all about attitude and mindset.

After a long hard day or work do you get to ‘relax’ when you come home or should you go after more duties? If you just had a long workout session, come home and get active around the house. Do house work and chores on those sore muscles (within reason).

When you think you’re too tired, see how much longer you can go and you’ll find it’s a lot more than you imagined (just like how pushing through in the gym helps break self imposed limitations in the mind!)

4. Examples from my weekend

I’m inspired to write this post by a few moments this past weekend that fit this description.

My son wouldn’t sit in his stroller so I had to carry him for a 15 minute walk to and from a restaurant on a busy street. This was in high humidity and right after I’d gone on a quick 10K. I just imagine a long race and pushing through instead of complaining that my arms were sore and I was sweating a lot.

In the pool the next day my daughter wanted to launch herself continuously from my legs while inside the pool. My legs were sore from stretching out but I have to run some ultramarathons soon so I just got into the mindset of performing on tired legs. 

I went on 14 mile trail run and instead of coming directly home and refueling I went right back out for a walk with the family. 

My situation usually revolves around my young kids and family, but you can see how my attitude and not my circumstances dictates how I turn an ‘uncomfortable’ situation into a training one. 

Takeaways  

The takeaway is simple.

You attitude determines your perception, just like the saying “If you’re holding a hammer everything will look like a nail.” When you attune yourself to finding training moments in uncomfortable situations you’ll find more and more opportunities throughout your day to embrace challenge and grow tougher. It could be 10 seconds or 2 hours, the time isn’t the point.

The point is to embrace challenge in many ways and use the chances daily life gives you to build a mind strong with resolve that the body can push through and triumph.

If you’re interested in how physical challenges can unlock mental and spiritual strength book a call with me and let’s find the challenges you need together.