Developing & Redevloping Habits
Bounce back after a rough patch
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We all hit rough patches. When life gets busy, something has to be sacrificed to make up the time. Instead of cutting out binge watching a TV show or waking up early, they’ll choose to sleep in and skip their workout.
This article is not about avoiding the rough patches – if you’re reading this, chances are that ship has already sailed. What I want to do is help you come out the other side armed with ways to stick to your fitness goals.
Whether you’ve been in a funk for two weeks or two years, these principles will help you out!
How small changes deliver big results
Have you ever heard of the ‘Mosquito Effect’?
It can often be tricky to see your way out of a rough patch. You look for significant actions that can make a big difference… but these can seem daunting and often unreachable.
The trick is to break things down into smaller, more achievable goals – these actions then add up to make a huge difference overall. This idea helped David Brailsford turn British cycling and team Ineos into a world-conquering powerhouse and it can do the same for you, too.
What does that have to do with a mosquito? Well, think about this: a mosquito is less than 1% the size of you, yet it can keep you up all night, torment you with itchiness and even kill you.
If you think that small things can’t make a big difference, think about the Mosquito Effect!
Redeveloping Habits: 1% Gains and 1% Losses
When developing and redeveloping habits, we want to not only look at what 1% gains we can make but also what 1% losses we can remove.
How to identify bad habits
If you ask most people what bad habits they have, they may find it hard to answer.
An excellent place to begin looking is around how you start and finish your day. Screen time habits? Eating habits? Exercise habits? Believe it or not, they’re all connected.
Stressful situations often have us hooked to a screen, desperate to know what’s happening. In this case, ask yourself what you’re monitoring and if you need to be doing it right now.
So many people are hooked to the news to know the following headline. Is it helpful to see before you head out on the run you’ve been putting off all week, or is it better to have a clear head? Should we check what’s going on just before going to bed?
The answer to both questions is: probably not, so the 1% move here is to not look at your phone upon waking or 60 mins before sleeping. Remove the phone from your view!
That’s a small change that’ll make a big difference.
Why do we develop bad habits?
Rough patches usually come with a need to elicit dopamine to make ourselves feel better.
One way we can do this is to eat! Food can trigger a huge dopamine response before eating a mouthful, but be careful – with big ups comes big downs.
Planning out your week of food can remove the 'surprise' our dopamine-hungry brains love and keep levels much smoother. Seeing food as your fuel and not your emotion controller is vital.
People who love food gifts don't actually love the food (or they would already have it in their house). They love the fact they weren't expecting it and now have it. Make a plan that you are in charge of.
Don’t over-commit to unachievable goals
Exercise can also trigger many emotions along the same lines as food and news flashes. Usually good ones!
When emerging from a patch of nothing or even a patch of chaos, be hyper-aware of how you might be thinking. We can get ourselves into trouble repeatedly by setting goals out of our reach or the exercise bar a little high.
3 Principles to make fitness habits easy
If you are a little stuck at the moment or are emerging from a difficult time, try to focus on these three things:
- Small differences can make big changes
- Make a plan that you are in charge of
- Avoid comparisons
How to develop realistic habits
“I’m going to go to the gym every day this week” is not an exercise goal. Nor is “I’m going to complete an Ironman in 2 months’ time” if you’re just returning from an injury.
Seeing exercise as your partner in getting better is far more productive in these situations. Do you prefer exercising alone or with a friend?
If you prefer working out with a friend, then be willing to try what they are doing and go to the workout with an achievable goal – either spending time with your friend or simply getting out of the house.
Don’t focus on burning Kcals or working so hard that you’re too sore and stiff to workout the following day.
If you enjoy exercising alone, then do just that: avoid crowded sessions that may increase stress or data-focused workouts that you can compare with others or your previous self.
All these are possible slip-ups that could set you back again. Exercise is about raising your heart rate above baseline and stressing the muscular system, which has positive knock-on effects on your metabolism, hormones, and cardiorespiratory system.
It doesn't need to be about numbers, winners, losers, or selfies!
ENGINE
Working on holding our MIKKOS score calories for longer blocks of time.
GYMNASTICS
This week, we will focus on rope climbing, doubleunders, and handstand push-ups in gymnastics. We will focus on the skill elements to help you with these movements! Whether you have these movements down or not, this class will help you improve in all these movements so you're ready to attack classes!
HYROX
We start to put together the pieces and do a mini HYROX
MOBILITY
We will go over full-body flow routines focusing on flexibility for full-body alignment.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength, we start the week with some percentage work on the close grip bench press, followed by heavy rows and a shoulder pump to finish. Wednesday, we worked up to a heavy single on the deadlift, with some tough drop sets followed by some heavy single leg work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Snatch Focus this week, and we get into over-head squats before working into some Snatch High Pulls and Hang Snatch and then finish with some heavy Snatch singles!
.jpg)
Track Tuesday
Week two of our over/unders block, this week we move to 1km efforts.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Wednesday Ride
Wednesday ride* 5.59am BOTS. << use links/details from a few months back
4 X 8min at your best effort, what have you got?
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
The Coffee Run
Our classic builders set this week, 5min builds based on effort! A great tempo run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
Back to a long ride today, 105km in the group with some structured intervals to follow.
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
Sunday long run
Team IFE on Tour are 3 weeks out from the marathon in Munich, so they need to run long. Why not come along and support with some miles to? Message sh@innerfight.com to find out more.
Start time: 05:29am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: From InnerFight
.jpg)
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
Today we will hold tempo for 2 long blocks and one shorter block. Keep asking yourself if you are running a 7/10 effort during this session.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week our over/unders have increased from 800m to 1000m. Paces are the same as last week. This is your chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance Community and Coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
We will be running our intervals around the Olivia apartments this week for 1 loop and then in the park for a shorter loop. Try and pick up the pace on the shorter park loops.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week our efforts will build from 4/10 to 7/10 over 3 blocks of builders. You therefore have 3 attempts to hit that 7/10 feeling. We recommend that you do not start off too fast on this one.
Sunday
Time: 5:29am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Long Run
We will be running from InnerFight this Sunday. There are various options from 15km to 35km depending on which races you have coming up. If you would rather run for time, that is also fine! Routes will be shared in WhatsApp and on TrainingPeaks.
.jpg)
We will kick the week off on Monday with heavy single-leg work and move on to a fast interval workout. Tuesday is about the sandbags with a tough set of EMOMs followed by a partner workout. Wednesday, we have more focus on our strict pull-ups and then a gymnastics and running-based workout. Thursday, we will hit some technical work on a clean complex and follow it up with some heavy clean singles, followed by a tough and fast-paced workout with rowing cleans and wall balls. Friday, we finish the week with some heavy Jerks in the skill and then a gruelling chipper.
Monday:
Strength:
Walking Dumbell Lunges
Conditioning:
In a 2 min window
25 KB Sumo deadlift (2x24/16)
Amrap DU
rest 2 mins
In a 2 min window
16 Weighted Box Step Ups 1 x KB 24/16
AMRAP Cals Bike
rest 2 mins
x3
Tuesday:
Strength:
Building Weight Sandbag To Shoulder
Conditioning:
In Pairs
100 sandbags to shoulder (80/50)
Every 4 mins
1 car park lap farmers carry 2 x 32/24
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Strict Pull Ups
B) KB Push Press + Pull Ups + Side Plank
Conditioning:
16 min amrap
Pool Run
10 burpee pull-ups
3 wall walks
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Clean Pull + Hang Squat Clean + Front Squat
B) Squat Clean
Conditioning:
For time:
500/400m row
30 squat clean (60/40)
50 WallBalls
Friday:
Strength:
A) Push Jerk
Conditioning:
It's an awesome triplet to end the week! Therapyyyyy!
We all hit rough patches. When life gets busy, something has to be sacrificed to make up the time. Instead of cutting out binge watching a TV show or waking up early, they’ll choose to sleep in and skip their workout.
This article is not about avoiding the rough patches – if you’re reading this, chances are that ship has already sailed. What I want to do is help you come out the other side armed with ways to stick to your fitness goals.
Whether you’ve been in a funk for two weeks or two years, these principles will help you out!
How small changes deliver big results
Have you ever heard of the ‘Mosquito Effect’?
It can often be tricky to see your way out of a rough patch. You look for significant actions that can make a big difference… but these can seem daunting and often unreachable.
The trick is to break things down into smaller, more achievable goals – these actions then add up to make a huge difference overall. This idea helped David Brailsford turn British cycling and team Ineos into a world-conquering powerhouse and it can do the same for you, too.
What does that have to do with a mosquito? Well, think about this: a mosquito is less than 1% the size of you, yet it can keep you up all night, torment you with itchiness and even kill you.
If you think that small things can’t make a big difference, think about the Mosquito Effect!
Redeveloping Habits: 1% Gains and 1% Losses
When developing and redeveloping habits, we want to not only look at what 1% gains we can make but also what 1% losses we can remove.
How to identify bad habits
If you ask most people what bad habits they have, they may find it hard to answer.
An excellent place to begin looking is around how you start and finish your day. Screen time habits? Eating habits? Exercise habits? Believe it or not, they’re all connected.
Stressful situations often have us hooked to a screen, desperate to know what’s happening. In this case, ask yourself what you’re monitoring and if you need to be doing it right now.
So many people are hooked to the news to know the following headline. Is it helpful to see before you head out on the run you’ve been putting off all week, or is it better to have a clear head? Should we check what’s going on just before going to bed?
The answer to both questions is: probably not, so the 1% move here is to not look at your phone upon waking or 60 mins before sleeping. Remove the phone from your view!
That’s a small change that’ll make a big difference.
Why do we develop bad habits?
Rough patches usually come with a need to elicit dopamine to make ourselves feel better.
One way we can do this is to eat! Food can trigger a huge dopamine response before eating a mouthful, but be careful – with big ups comes big downs.
Planning out your week of food can remove the 'surprise' our dopamine-hungry brains love and keep levels much smoother. Seeing food as your fuel and not your emotion controller is vital.
People who love food gifts don't actually love the food (or they would already have it in their house). They love the fact they weren't expecting it and now have it. Make a plan that you are in charge of.
Don’t over-commit to unachievable goals
Exercise can also trigger many emotions along the same lines as food and news flashes. Usually good ones!
When emerging from a patch of nothing or even a patch of chaos, be hyper-aware of how you might be thinking. We can get ourselves into trouble repeatedly by setting goals out of our reach or the exercise bar a little high.
3 Principles to make fitness habits easy
If you are a little stuck at the moment or are emerging from a difficult time, try to focus on these three things:
- Small differences can make big changes
- Make a plan that you are in charge of
- Avoid comparisons
How to develop realistic habits
“I’m going to go to the gym every day this week” is not an exercise goal. Nor is “I’m going to complete an Ironman in 2 months’ time” if you’re just returning from an injury.
Seeing exercise as your partner in getting better is far more productive in these situations. Do you prefer exercising alone or with a friend?
If you prefer working out with a friend, then be willing to try what they are doing and go to the workout with an achievable goal – either spending time with your friend or simply getting out of the house.
Don’t focus on burning Kcals or working so hard that you’re too sore and stiff to workout the following day.
If you enjoy exercising alone, then do just that: avoid crowded sessions that may increase stress or data-focused workouts that you can compare with others or your previous self.
All these are possible slip-ups that could set you back again. Exercise is about raising your heart rate above baseline and stressing the muscular system, which has positive knock-on effects on your metabolism, hormones, and cardiorespiratory system.
It doesn't need to be about numbers, winners, losers, or selfies!
Track Tuesday
Week two of our over/unders block, this week we move to 1km efforts.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Wednesday Ride
Wednesday ride* 5.59am BOTS. << use links/details from a few months back
4 X 8min at your best effort, what have you got?
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
The Coffee Run
Our classic builders set this week, 5min builds based on effort! A great tempo run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
Back to a long ride today, 105km in the group with some structured intervals to follow.
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
Sunday long run
Team IFE on Tour are 3 weeks out from the marathon in Munich, so they need to run long. Why not come along and support with some miles to? Message sh@innerfight.com to find out more.
Start time: 05:29am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: From InnerFight
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
Today we will hold tempo for 2 long blocks and one shorter block. Keep asking yourself if you are running a 7/10 effort during this session.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week our over/unders have increased from 800m to 1000m. Paces are the same as last week. This is your chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance Community and Coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
We will be running our intervals around the Olivia apartments this week for 1 loop and then in the park for a shorter loop. Try and pick up the pace on the shorter park loops.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week our efforts will build from 4/10 to 7/10 over 3 blocks of builders. You therefore have 3 attempts to hit that 7/10 feeling. We recommend that you do not start off too fast on this one.
Sunday
Time: 5:29am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Long Run
We will be running from InnerFight this Sunday. There are various options from 15km to 35km depending on which races you have coming up. If you would rather run for time, that is also fine! Routes will be shared in WhatsApp and on TrainingPeaks.
We will kick the week off on Monday with heavy single-leg work and move on to a fast interval workout. Tuesday is about the sandbags with a tough set of EMOMs followed by a partner workout. Wednesday, we have more focus on our strict pull-ups and then a gymnastics and running-based workout. Thursday, we will hit some technical work on a clean complex and follow it up with some heavy clean singles, followed by a tough and fast-paced workout with rowing cleans and wall balls. Friday, we finish the week with some heavy Jerks in the skill and then a gruelling chipper.
Monday:
Strength:
Walking Dumbell Lunges
Conditioning:
In a 2 min window
25 KB Sumo deadlift (2x24/16)
Amrap DU
rest 2 mins
In a 2 min window
16 Weighted Box Step Ups 1 x KB 24/16
AMRAP Cals Bike
rest 2 mins
x3
Tuesday:
Strength:
Building Weight Sandbag To Shoulder
Conditioning:
In Pairs
100 sandbags to shoulder (80/50)
Every 4 mins
1 car park lap farmers carry 2 x 32/24
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Strict Pull Ups
B) KB Push Press + Pull Ups + Side Plank
Conditioning:
16 min amrap
Pool Run
10 burpee pull-ups
3 wall walks
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Clean Pull + Hang Squat Clean + Front Squat
B) Squat Clean
Conditioning:
For time:
500/400m row
30 squat clean (60/40)
50 WallBalls
Friday:
Strength:
A) Push Jerk
Conditioning:
It's an awesome triplet to end the week! Therapyyyyy!
ENGINE
Working on holding our MIKKOS score calories for longer blocks of time.
GYMNASTICS
This week, we will focus on rope climbing, doubleunders, and handstand push-ups in gymnastics. We will focus on the skill elements to help you with these movements! Whether you have these movements down or not, this class will help you improve in all these movements so you're ready to attack classes!
HYROX
We start to put together the pieces and do a mini HYROX
MOBILITY
We will go over full-body flow routines focusing on flexibility for full-body alignment.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength, we start the week with some percentage work on the close grip bench press, followed by heavy rows and a shoulder pump to finish. Wednesday, we worked up to a heavy single on the deadlift, with some tough drop sets followed by some heavy single leg work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Snatch Focus this week, and we get into over-head squats before working into some Snatch High Pulls and Hang Snatch and then finish with some heavy Snatch singles!
We all hit rough patches. When life gets busy, something has to be sacrificed to make up the time. Instead of cutting out binge watching a TV show or waking up early, they’ll choose to sleep in and skip their workout.
This article is not about avoiding the rough patches – if you’re reading this, chances are that ship has already sailed. What I want to do is help you come out the other side armed with ways to stick to your fitness goals.
Whether you’ve been in a funk for two weeks or two years, these principles will help you out!
How small changes deliver big results
Have you ever heard of the ‘Mosquito Effect’?
It can often be tricky to see your way out of a rough patch. You look for significant actions that can make a big difference… but these can seem daunting and often unreachable.
The trick is to break things down into smaller, more achievable goals – these actions then add up to make a huge difference overall. This idea helped David Brailsford turn British cycling and team Ineos into a world-conquering powerhouse and it can do the same for you, too.
What does that have to do with a mosquito? Well, think about this: a mosquito is less than 1% the size of you, yet it can keep you up all night, torment you with itchiness and even kill you.
If you think that small things can’t make a big difference, think about the Mosquito Effect!
Redeveloping Habits: 1% Gains and 1% Losses
When developing and redeveloping habits, we want to not only look at what 1% gains we can make but also what 1% losses we can remove.
How to identify bad habits
If you ask most people what bad habits they have, they may find it hard to answer.
An excellent place to begin looking is around how you start and finish your day. Screen time habits? Eating habits? Exercise habits? Believe it or not, they’re all connected.
Stressful situations often have us hooked to a screen, desperate to know what’s happening. In this case, ask yourself what you’re monitoring and if you need to be doing it right now.
So many people are hooked to the news to know the following headline. Is it helpful to see before you head out on the run you’ve been putting off all week, or is it better to have a clear head? Should we check what’s going on just before going to bed?
The answer to both questions is: probably not, so the 1% move here is to not look at your phone upon waking or 60 mins before sleeping. Remove the phone from your view!
That’s a small change that’ll make a big difference.
Why do we develop bad habits?
Rough patches usually come with a need to elicit dopamine to make ourselves feel better.
One way we can do this is to eat! Food can trigger a huge dopamine response before eating a mouthful, but be careful – with big ups comes big downs.
Planning out your week of food can remove the 'surprise' our dopamine-hungry brains love and keep levels much smoother. Seeing food as your fuel and not your emotion controller is vital.
People who love food gifts don't actually love the food (or they would already have it in their house). They love the fact they weren't expecting it and now have it. Make a plan that you are in charge of.
Don’t over-commit to unachievable goals
Exercise can also trigger many emotions along the same lines as food and news flashes. Usually good ones!
When emerging from a patch of nothing or even a patch of chaos, be hyper-aware of how you might be thinking. We can get ourselves into trouble repeatedly by setting goals out of our reach or the exercise bar a little high.
3 Principles to make fitness habits easy
If you are a little stuck at the moment or are emerging from a difficult time, try to focus on these three things:
- Small differences can make big changes
- Make a plan that you are in charge of
- Avoid comparisons
How to develop realistic habits
“I’m going to go to the gym every day this week” is not an exercise goal. Nor is “I’m going to complete an Ironman in 2 months’ time” if you’re just returning from an injury.
Seeing exercise as your partner in getting better is far more productive in these situations. Do you prefer exercising alone or with a friend?
If you prefer working out with a friend, then be willing to try what they are doing and go to the workout with an achievable goal – either spending time with your friend or simply getting out of the house.
Don’t focus on burning Kcals or working so hard that you’re too sore and stiff to workout the following day.
If you enjoy exercising alone, then do just that: avoid crowded sessions that may increase stress or data-focused workouts that you can compare with others or your previous self.
All these are possible slip-ups that could set you back again. Exercise is about raising your heart rate above baseline and stressing the muscular system, which has positive knock-on effects on your metabolism, hormones, and cardiorespiratory system.
It doesn't need to be about numbers, winners, losers, or selfies!
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
Today we will hold tempo for 2 long blocks and one shorter block. Keep asking yourself if you are running a 7/10 effort during this session.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week our over/unders have increased from 800m to 1000m. Paces are the same as last week. This is your chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance Community and Coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
We will be running our intervals around the Olivia apartments this week for 1 loop and then in the park for a shorter loop. Try and pick up the pace on the shorter park loops.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week our efforts will build from 4/10 to 7/10 over 3 blocks of builders. You therefore have 3 attempts to hit that 7/10 feeling. We recommend that you do not start off too fast on this one.
Sunday
Time: 5:29am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Long Run
We will be running from InnerFight this Sunday. There are various options from 15km to 35km depending on which races you have coming up. If you would rather run for time, that is also fine! Routes will be shared in WhatsApp and on TrainingPeaks.
We will kick the week off on Monday with heavy single-leg work and move on to a fast interval workout. Tuesday is about the sandbags with a tough set of EMOMs followed by a partner workout. Wednesday, we have more focus on our strict pull-ups and then a gymnastics and running-based workout. Thursday, we will hit some technical work on a clean complex and follow it up with some heavy clean singles, followed by a tough and fast-paced workout with rowing cleans and wall balls. Friday, we finish the week with some heavy Jerks in the skill and then a gruelling chipper.
Monday:
Strength:
Walking Dumbell Lunges
Conditioning:
In a 2 min window
25 KB Sumo deadlift (2x24/16)
Amrap DU
rest 2 mins
In a 2 min window
16 Weighted Box Step Ups 1 x KB 24/16
AMRAP Cals Bike
rest 2 mins
x3
Tuesday:
Strength:
Building Weight Sandbag To Shoulder
Conditioning:
In Pairs
100 sandbags to shoulder (80/50)
Every 4 mins
1 car park lap farmers carry 2 x 32/24
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Strict Pull Ups
B) KB Push Press + Pull Ups + Side Plank
Conditioning:
16 min amrap
Pool Run
10 burpee pull-ups
3 wall walks
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Clean Pull + Hang Squat Clean + Front Squat
B) Squat Clean
Conditioning:
For time:
500/400m row
30 squat clean (60/40)
50 WallBalls
Friday:
Strength:
A) Push Jerk
Conditioning:
It's an awesome triplet to end the week! Therapyyyyy!
ENGINE
Working on holding our MIKKOS score calories for longer blocks of time.
GYMNASTICS
This week, we will focus on rope climbing, doubleunders, and handstand push-ups in gymnastics. We will focus on the skill elements to help you with these movements! Whether you have these movements down or not, this class will help you improve in all these movements so you're ready to attack classes!
HYROX
We start to put together the pieces and do a mini HYROX
MOBILITY
We will go over full-body flow routines focusing on flexibility for full-body alignment.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength, we start the week with some percentage work on the close grip bench press, followed by heavy rows and a shoulder pump to finish. Wednesday, we worked up to a heavy single on the deadlift, with some tough drop sets followed by some heavy single leg work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Snatch Focus this week, and we get into over-head squats before working into some Snatch High Pulls and Hang Snatch and then finish with some heavy Snatch singles!
Track Tuesday
Week two of our over/unders block, this week we move to 1km efforts.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Wednesday Ride
Wednesday ride* 5.59am BOTS. << use links/details from a few months back
4 X 8min at your best effort, what have you got?
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
The Coffee Run
Our classic builders set this week, 5min builds based on effort! A great tempo run.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
Back to a long ride today, 105km in the group with some structured intervals to follow.
Start time: 05:59am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: BOTS - https://goo.gl/maps/6AwtJXW8nA45Cy9H8
Sunday long run
Team IFE on Tour are 3 weeks out from the marathon in Munich, so they need to run long. Why not come along and support with some miles to? Message sh@innerfight.com to find out more.
Start time: 05:29am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: From InnerFight
We all hit rough patches. When life gets busy, something has to be sacrificed to make up the time. Instead of cutting out binge watching a TV show or waking up early, they’ll choose to sleep in and skip their workout.
This article is not about avoiding the rough patches – if you’re reading this, chances are that ship has already sailed. What I want to do is help you come out the other side armed with ways to stick to your fitness goals.
Whether you’ve been in a funk for two weeks or two years, these principles will help you out!
How small changes deliver big results
Have you ever heard of the ‘Mosquito Effect’?
It can often be tricky to see your way out of a rough patch. You look for significant actions that can make a big difference… but these can seem daunting and often unreachable.
The trick is to break things down into smaller, more achievable goals – these actions then add up to make a huge difference overall. This idea helped David Brailsford turn British cycling and team Ineos into a world-conquering powerhouse and it can do the same for you, too.
What does that have to do with a mosquito? Well, think about this: a mosquito is less than 1% the size of you, yet it can keep you up all night, torment you with itchiness and even kill you.
If you think that small things can’t make a big difference, think about the Mosquito Effect!
Redeveloping Habits: 1% Gains and 1% Losses
When developing and redeveloping habits, we want to not only look at what 1% gains we can make but also what 1% losses we can remove.
How to identify bad habits
If you ask most people what bad habits they have, they may find it hard to answer.
An excellent place to begin looking is around how you start and finish your day. Screen time habits? Eating habits? Exercise habits? Believe it or not, they’re all connected.
Stressful situations often have us hooked to a screen, desperate to know what’s happening. In this case, ask yourself what you’re monitoring and if you need to be doing it right now.
So many people are hooked to the news to know the following headline. Is it helpful to see before you head out on the run you’ve been putting off all week, or is it better to have a clear head? Should we check what’s going on just before going to bed?
The answer to both questions is: probably not, so the 1% move here is to not look at your phone upon waking or 60 mins before sleeping. Remove the phone from your view!
That’s a small change that’ll make a big difference.
Why do we develop bad habits?
Rough patches usually come with a need to elicit dopamine to make ourselves feel better.
One way we can do this is to eat! Food can trigger a huge dopamine response before eating a mouthful, but be careful – with big ups comes big downs.
Planning out your week of food can remove the 'surprise' our dopamine-hungry brains love and keep levels much smoother. Seeing food as your fuel and not your emotion controller is vital.
People who love food gifts don't actually love the food (or they would already have it in their house). They love the fact they weren't expecting it and now have it. Make a plan that you are in charge of.
Don’t over-commit to unachievable goals
Exercise can also trigger many emotions along the same lines as food and news flashes. Usually good ones!
When emerging from a patch of nothing or even a patch of chaos, be hyper-aware of how you might be thinking. We can get ourselves into trouble repeatedly by setting goals out of our reach or the exercise bar a little high.
3 Principles to make fitness habits easy
If you are a little stuck at the moment or are emerging from a difficult time, try to focus on these three things:
- Small differences can make big changes
- Make a plan that you are in charge of
- Avoid comparisons
How to develop realistic habits
“I’m going to go to the gym every day this week” is not an exercise goal. Nor is “I’m going to complete an Ironman in 2 months’ time” if you’re just returning from an injury.
Seeing exercise as your partner in getting better is far more productive in these situations. Do you prefer exercising alone or with a friend?
If you prefer working out with a friend, then be willing to try what they are doing and go to the workout with an achievable goal – either spending time with your friend or simply getting out of the house.
Don’t focus on burning Kcals or working so hard that you’re too sore and stiff to workout the following day.
If you enjoy exercising alone, then do just that: avoid crowded sessions that may increase stress or data-focused workouts that you can compare with others or your previous self.
All these are possible slip-ups that could set you back again. Exercise is about raising your heart rate above baseline and stressing the muscular system, which has positive knock-on effects on your metabolism, hormones, and cardiorespiratory system.
It doesn't need to be about numbers, winners, losers, or selfies!
We all hit rough patches. When life gets busy, something has to be sacrificed to make up the time. Instead of cutting out binge watching a TV show or waking up early, they’ll choose to sleep in and skip their workout.
This article is not about avoiding the rough patches – if you’re reading this, chances are that ship has already sailed. What I want to do is help you come out the other side armed with ways to stick to your fitness goals.
Whether you’ve been in a funk for two weeks or two years, these principles will help you out!
How small changes deliver big results
Have you ever heard of the ‘Mosquito Effect’?
It can often be tricky to see your way out of a rough patch. You look for significant actions that can make a big difference… but these can seem daunting and often unreachable.
The trick is to break things down into smaller, more achievable goals – these actions then add up to make a huge difference overall. This idea helped David Brailsford turn British cycling and team Ineos into a world-conquering powerhouse and it can do the same for you, too.
What does that have to do with a mosquito? Well, think about this: a mosquito is less than 1% the size of you, yet it can keep you up all night, torment you with itchiness and even kill you.
If you think that small things can’t make a big difference, think about the Mosquito Effect!
Redeveloping Habits: 1% Gains and 1% Losses
When developing and redeveloping habits, we want to not only look at what 1% gains we can make but also what 1% losses we can remove.
How to identify bad habits
If you ask most people what bad habits they have, they may find it hard to answer.
An excellent place to begin looking is around how you start and finish your day. Screen time habits? Eating habits? Exercise habits? Believe it or not, they’re all connected.
Stressful situations often have us hooked to a screen, desperate to know what’s happening. In this case, ask yourself what you’re monitoring and if you need to be doing it right now.
So many people are hooked to the news to know the following headline. Is it helpful to see before you head out on the run you’ve been putting off all week, or is it better to have a clear head? Should we check what’s going on just before going to bed?
The answer to both questions is: probably not, so the 1% move here is to not look at your phone upon waking or 60 mins before sleeping. Remove the phone from your view!
That’s a small change that’ll make a big difference.
Why do we develop bad habits?
Rough patches usually come with a need to elicit dopamine to make ourselves feel better.
One way we can do this is to eat! Food can trigger a huge dopamine response before eating a mouthful, but be careful – with big ups comes big downs.
Planning out your week of food can remove the 'surprise' our dopamine-hungry brains love and keep levels much smoother. Seeing food as your fuel and not your emotion controller is vital.
People who love food gifts don't actually love the food (or they would already have it in their house). They love the fact they weren't expecting it and now have it. Make a plan that you are in charge of.
Don’t over-commit to unachievable goals
Exercise can also trigger many emotions along the same lines as food and news flashes. Usually good ones!
When emerging from a patch of nothing or even a patch of chaos, be hyper-aware of how you might be thinking. We can get ourselves into trouble repeatedly by setting goals out of our reach or the exercise bar a little high.
3 Principles to make fitness habits easy
If you are a little stuck at the moment or are emerging from a difficult time, try to focus on these three things:
- Small differences can make big changes
- Make a plan that you are in charge of
- Avoid comparisons
How to develop realistic habits
“I’m going to go to the gym every day this week” is not an exercise goal. Nor is “I’m going to complete an Ironman in 2 months’ time” if you’re just returning from an injury.
Seeing exercise as your partner in getting better is far more productive in these situations. Do you prefer exercising alone or with a friend?
If you prefer working out with a friend, then be willing to try what they are doing and go to the workout with an achievable goal – either spending time with your friend or simply getting out of the house.
Don’t focus on burning Kcals or working so hard that you’re too sore and stiff to workout the following day.
If you enjoy exercising alone, then do just that: avoid crowded sessions that may increase stress or data-focused workouts that you can compare with others or your previous self.
All these are possible slip-ups that could set you back again. Exercise is about raising your heart rate above baseline and stressing the muscular system, which has positive knock-on effects on your metabolism, hormones, and cardiorespiratory system.
It doesn't need to be about numbers, winners, losers, or selfies!
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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