Winter is coming and the inevitable begins to happen as the mornings get colder and the nights become darker.
Motivation wanes as the temptation to stay in bed instead of getting up to training at 6am is too great, or it’s too easy driving straight home and not leaving again for the gym.
For years I’ve seen winter completely unravel people’s amazing achievements in turning their health and fitness around. It’s sad to think that the weather, indeed the temperature outside, is such a determining factor in people’s lives.
One of the best books I have read is Lance Armstrong’s “It’s Not About the Bike”, where he describes his incredible journey from his death bed to Tour de France triumph. Given less than a 10% chance of surviving (I think it may have been something like 7%), he not only successfully fought a vicious illness for basic survival, he achieved what no other man had ever achieved before.
What has this got to do with you not getting out of bed in the morning?
Everything! One of my favourite parts in the book is when Armstrong describes his training and how he planned to not only participate and finish the Tour de France, which most people would be pretty satisfied with, but win it against the odds.
His training and preparation was focused around the Tour, which is in June each year. So was he going hard in April and May to get himself fit for the race? No. In November he would relocate to France and train everyday in the Pyranees, right through to February. In April and May he would be fine tuning and tapering his training off because the hard work was done.
That’s when the hard work needed to be done. When everyone else was resting, or “sleeping in”, he was slogging out in the mountains.
Basically, the Tour de France was won in December and January, in winter, when Armstrong was doing what needed to be done to win.
Let’s face it, most of you want to be looking and feeling your best in summer, when you’re on holiday or at the beach, so it’s hard to justify working out so much during winter. But that’s your Tour de France! Deciding to get in shape in November for the December holidays will do you no good!
You need to be putting in the hard yards now, slogging it out in the cold and the wet, getting yourself ready for the race later in the year.
Here’s an interesting point: the majority of my most successful clients to date began their journey in the coldest months of the year. Why? I’m not sure, but I think it has a lot to do with being so inspired and determined to achieve something of significance that you’ll do whatever it takes, regardless of a little rain outside.
About the Author
Ryan Mitchell is the owner of Evolution Fitness Centre and is a qualified personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach. Ryan is dedicated to helping people achieve their health and fitness goals and draws on his experience and knowledge gained from training people of all ages and fitness levels. Ryan is a former Australian Powerlifiting Champion and Australian team member.
