The Mindset To Success
What a birthday week for me. I was very fortunate to undertake the National Three Peak Challenge last Saturday with a small group of 7 hardy individuals. The peaks to scale were Ben Nevis (in a back drenching 32 degrees), Scarfal Pike and Snowdon within a staggering 24 hour period. The time restriction was a huge appeal to me so It was important to mentally and physically prepare for a long day filled with interupted sleep, unbearable walking temperatures and a bus of smelly walkers.
For you to fully understand how hot it was, the tarmac was melting in scotland…at 5pm! Unheard of.
So a very tiring day ensued, where sleep would be compromised, and fatigue physically and mentally would be a factor. With such a grueling day ahead being surrounded by like-minded and positive people is essential, and it was these people who showed strength when perhaps not in peak physical condition that spurred us all on to chase the sub 24hr time. I would even go as far as saying that their mental strength carried their physical conditioning.
Since I begun working as a PT 8 years ago, the one aspect of a client that i struggled with or misunderstood the most was the mindset. Eight years on, the mindset of an individual is enough to tell me whether they will achieve what they set out to or fail in the not so different future.
Feeling in a fit and positive frame of mind, the next thing to get right is to ensure our muscles are prepped for success. Over the course of the 24hrs, a total of 7000 calories were burnt and to ensure performance was maintained I had the tough task of trying to refuel that same amount. As the primary muscle fuel source is glycogen, a lot of carbs were consumed in the form of cereal bars, sweets, sandwiches, malt loaf, oh and more cereal bars. It was a large consumption of food, but I have a big appetite. Even though breakfast had not long been consumed I was already ensuring I didnt deplete energy stores too much by consuming a malt loaf and snack bar on the very first hill. Sometimes we can wait too long and the energy as a result is not there when we want it the most.
When you have such a large amount of food to consume, food choices and food quality can go slightly out of the window. Food quality was also restricted to service stations, but a 1500 calorie burger king meal helped a lot (what a huge amount of calories). Although it was not the healthiest, it did, however, bump up my energy intake. Consuming foods like salad etc would not offer a high enough energy yield which was the primary objective of the day.
As you can see from this blog, I speak about mindset before physical fitness and nutrition. This is exactly how we approach a client in our studio. If the mind is ready, focused and driven, then the results will follow. Failure to address your mindset will always lead to you wanting more or even disapointment.
