ASK ANT Q&A 16/12/16
Another week gone fast!
Friday is ASK ANT time so let's dig in to fixing.....
> Overambitious goal setting
> Reaching for the biscuit tin at work way too often!
Q:
I tend to reach for the biscuit tin in work when i get super stressed or when my kiss ass supervisor stresses me out ... how do i stop myself doing this as ive done it for so long it's like an automatic reaction?
A:
If it's not the mindset we need to dig into, which I answered last week (http://rawstrength.co.uk/raw-strength-gym/ask-ant-qa-9121612122016
THEN we gotta look at a few simple habit tweaks.
What I find helps many of my clients is first identifying the unconscious bad habits.
That's literally step one to a great body transformation, identify how you're holding yourself back
SO well done for even NOTICING that you've got this bad habit.
Being aware of it is a great start
To go a step further and fix this we gotta look at two things:
1) what is causing your willpower to be at rock bottom?
2) what GOOD habit can we replace this habit with?
For example:
If you're undereating, skipping breakfast, taking longer than 4 hours between meals
Then your blood sugar levels are gonna be really low
This leads to 'phantom hunger' where your body is begging you to eat
AND craving sugar to bring the blood sugar up
This makes you feel super hungry, sleepy, de-motivated and let's be honest, emotional and grumpy too
....and your supervisor at work may be an arsehole because of the VERY same thing!
Anyway, you then reach for the biscuits after being tipped over the edge.
You know what? It's understandable. Don't blame you at all.
But let's set your day up so you don't let your body get to this point in the first place.
> eat protein and fat based snacks every 2-4 hours
Things like beef jerky, almonds, boiled eggs, roast beef slices, carrots and hummous
eating things like that whilst at work keeps your body at an even energy level
Couple that with good sleep, 6-8 hours most nights in the week (and catching up on the weekends if you dip below this), then you won't feel emotional and crave sugar.
Now let's say you nail this but STILL want a biscuit...
Well then let's replace that habit with reaching for something clean and protein/fat based...
...oh wait...we already did that with the snacks every 2-4 hours.
Job Done.
Two birds with one stone.
:)
Q:
What about ambition and ability? When your ambition is vastly greater than your ability. Not being able to achieve that which your peers are achieving is a great demoraliser (might not be an actual word) how do you keep picking yourself back up from a failure to achieve.
A:
I feel really well placed to answer this
At 5'10" and always around 12 stone yet playing rugby my whole life I'm used to feeling like the smallest guy in the room
So I made up for this by lifting the most weight in the gym.
Really worked hard on building muscle and eating right
And that led me down the path of becoming a strength and conditioning coach.
The important thing about this?
I realised I was never gonna be 6'5" and 17 stone
Even though I desparately wanted that
Just wasn't in my genes.
Now, once we've accepted that, goal setting becomes easier and more WHOLESOME (if that makes sense!) because now it's about you vs YOU.
You must accept these facts:
1) you can't change your genes
2) you have the ability to improve your current strength and muscle levels
Right now it sounds like you are comparing yourself to the impossible and then presuming that you don't have the ability to improve.
So, obviously this is not a quick fix it's years of acceptance, dark nights crying in the bath (just kidding) and realising that you ain't gonna be Arnie.
But what can you do when setting goals?
> compare your strength:bodyweight ratio with other people
Let's say you deadlift 160kg and weigh 70kg
that is 2.28x bodyweight
Compare that to someone who weights 100kg
They'd have to deadlift 228kg just to be EQUAL with you
Starts to look a lot better doesn't it :)
Remember a lot of individual sports have weight classes for this exact reason: it's FAIR.
Right now you're being unfair to yourself.
> set your goals based on yourself
Again, using the above example, you deadlift 160kg
Let's add 20kg to that, so your goal is now to lift 180kg
it is NOT to look at Big John in the corner who deadlifts 230kg and comparing yourself
Then setting your goal to beat him!
So, not an easy topic but again, I've been through this myself and you'll actually end up progressing faster when you think 'fuck it' I'm not gonna compete with anyone but ME.
Just to sum up:
1) you can't change your genes
2) you have the ability to improve your current strength and muscle levels
3) compare your strength:bodyweight ratio with other people
4) set your goals based on yourself
****
Ok guys another great week of questions, hit me up on facebook or twitter to get your question in for next week!
Speak Soon
Ant
Anthony Shaw
Head Coach
Raw Strength Gym, Warrington
PS - I've now got a free fitness community on Facebook, find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefitlifecommunity/