Axeleration

Let's get one thing clear: motivation is not feeling inspired to take action all of the time.

Seeing a super cool body transformation might inspire you to want to hit the gym and change your diet. But it won’t motivate you to get up out of bed when you could spend that time sleeping, or motivate you to skip the takeout and cook healthy meals at home.

So what is motivation, then? And how do you get it?

Motivation is valuing your long term goals over the short term satisfaction of taking the easy way out.

Motivation doesn’t mean being gung-ho happy about making healthy choices 24/7. Getting up at 5:30am isn’t something I particularly want to do. But what I ultimately want is to be fit and healthy, and I want that more than an extra hour or two of sleep.

If anything, recognizing that there IS an easier way out, and knowing that you are CHOOSING to do the harder work, is a huge factor in cultivating motivation. It reinforces the idea that you can do hard things, and as I discussed, making healthy long-term choices isn’t always easy. Understand that you’re not going to always want to do the hard work, and that is perfectly natural. There’s nothing wrong with you if you’re not in love with every step of the journey.

The good news is that building and using motivation is a skill, which means that even if you feel you aren't motivated now, you can get there with practice!

A good first step is to implement delayed gratification.

Step 1: Identify the hard action, and allow yourself a reward after completing it

Step 2: Do the action and reward consistently

Step 3: As you start to build the habit, the reward will become less of a factor, and you’ll get satisfaction from doing the action itself

Step 4: Once the action has become an established habit, you’ll do it regardless of feeling or reward, and that consistency will bring about results

As always, it’s important to remember that finding your path on your journey will take time, and much trial and error. But by using these techniques, you can build resilience and motivation that will carry you through the hard days and out the other side of your goals!

Is your training specific enough? The type of stress you put your body under will ultimately influence the results you see, which will depend on your goals.

Do you want to lift lots of weight to hit those PR's, or do you want to look muscular? Or are you training for performance in a specific sport or activity? Once you narrow that down, you can begin to apply the appropriate training to challenge your body to build the specific adaptations that get you to those goals.

There are four general areas of training:

Hypertrophy refers to increased muscle size and definition of isolated muscles. Weights will be moderate to heavy, with reps at a range of about 8-12.

Strength allows you to move heavy weights through compound movements that use many muscles together. Weights will be very heavy, reps at about 5 or less, and will require longer rest periods.

Endurance increases the time your muscles are able to continuously work without fatigue. The weights will be relatively lighter, and the rep ranges will be higher.

Power will make use of lighter weight with a focus on speed, and will have smaller rep ranges.

These are all very brief overviews, and there will undoubtedly be some overlap between the categories. Different sources may show different ranges for numbers, but the principles remain the same. If you want more details about the topic, let me know and I can make another post delving deeper into the science.

What I most want to emphasize is that for best results, you should stick to just one of these areas and use progressive overload in order to ensure you’re getting the specific results you’re looking for.

If you need help with setting a goal and/or getting started on a program, feel free to send me a message, I’d be more than happy to help you out!

Like and follow if you found this post useful, and comment down below what area you most enjoy training!

Nobody gets it right on the first try.

There’s a reason it’s called a health and fitness JOURNEY. You will take all kinds of twists and turns, stumble, backtrack. There will be times you feel lost and don’t know how to get to where you’re going. You could watch every video and read every blog on "mistakes to avoid on your fitness journey" and STILL fail, because you are your own person with your own circumstances that will affect your progress.

But the good news is, that *experiencing* failure does not *make* you a failure. You only fail if you choose not to continue.

As Winston Churchill famously said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

I always say that “failure” is the opportunity to begin again with more information. I wouldn't be making the progress I am now without the knowledge I gained from my past attempts of what I should and shouldn't do.

Falling short of your goals can be discouraging, especially if it’s not the first time it’s happened. But you have the power to change your perspective of the situation, and from there change your future outcomes.

Track your progress, be consistent, and make changes as needed.

If you need more tips on achieving your goals, send me a message and I’d be happy to have a chat with you!

Comment down below how you overcame a past “failure”

Focusing on the gym is the easiest hard thing to do.

You show up, sweat for an hour, then carry on with your day feeling good that you took action on improving yourself.

But an hour-long session twice a week alone isn’t enough to undo months or even years of bad habits.

This is why they say to make health and fitness a lifestyle.

Meal prep, managing your calories and macros, limiting alcohol intake, proper sleep, tracking your workouts, incorporating rest days, having morning and nighttime routines, understanding your weaknesses and how to plan around them. All of this and more.

It sounds boring. People will tell you to “live a little.” They’ll reassure you that “you look fine.”

But sticking with it through the grind is the TRUE hard work required to hit your health and fitness goals. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

So what can you do to ensure you’re making the progress you want?

Having a clear goal with plans on how to reach it is essential. Creating a goal forces you to examine your current lifestyle and habits to see what is helping or hindering you on the path to where you want to be. Keeping it at the forefront of your mind can help you stay motivated when you’re tempted to take the easy way out. If you struggle with goal-setting, I created a worksheet which I’d be happy to share if you send me a message.

Being consistent with the smaller more boring things is the true hard work in achieving your health and fitness goals, because over time, those small changes will add up to produce big results!

Comment down below how you’re putting in the hard work outside of the gym!

You don't hate the scale. You hate what the scale tells you about yourself.

The scale does what it's programmed to do. It displays a number.

Your body does what it's programmed to do, too. It takes in energy, uses what it needs and stores what it doesn't. Builds muscle when prompted by stressors, metabolizes what isn't being used.

You're not unhappy with the scale. You're unhappy with the lifestyle choices you have continuously made that led you to this point. A lifestyle that kept you comfortable, at least for a while.

That number is objective. It speaks the truth and doesn't sugarcoat. It hurts.

But the good news is, the hurt doesn't have to be forever.

When you start take your health seriously, make it a lifestyle and fully commit, the scale starts to tell you a new story, one you can feel good about:

"I didn't think I could do this at first, but I've already made such progress!"

"I put in the hard work when I could have taken the easy way out."

"I used to always blame my circumstances, but my results now prove I have significant control over my life."

"I've become patient, as I've learned to trust the process. I've become disciplined, knowing when to treat myself and when to adhere to my boundaries."

"Each past failure has taught me something new. I won't be discouraged by bumps in the road."

If you have issues that cause you to avoid the scale, then I understand and respect that. Do what you need to do. I'm always an advocate for making your personal health and fitness journey an enjoyable one. There are plenty of other ways to measure progress that have nothing to do with the scale (I even made some videos on the topic).

My ultimate intention in making this post is to encourage people to see that this tool that is so often demonized, has the potential to bring about joy too.

Comment down below how you like to measure your progress!

Client Spotlight: Darren!

In the months we've been training together, Darren demonstrates consistent effort inside and outside the gym. He pushes himself with his weights, hitting multiple personal bests when we tested last week! On his own time, he's passionately diving into research and how to apply it to his training.

"I no longer feel like the insecure skinny kid that I used to be. Strength training makes me feel better about my body, and I'm more aware of how I feel physically and mentally. It's improved my life in so many ways, and I couldn't have done it without Loreena's guidance and support."

Darren continues to get stronger, and I'm excited to keep working with him and be a part of his growth!

Leave a like down below to share your love and support for Darren and his progress!

If you're wanting to improve your health and fitness in a way that feels good and fits your needs, send me a message! I offer a FREE consultation and first week, and would be happy to help you get started!

I'm looking for 5️⃣ PEOPLE who want to make real and sustainable change to hit their health and fitness goals!

This intro package is designed to give you everything you need to kickstart your journey and includes:

⭐️ 2 weekly 1-on-1 training sessions
⭐️ 1 at home workout
⭐️ Goal setting worksheet
⭐️ Intro to healthy eating and building consistent habits
⭐️ And more!

The price you see is the price you pay, no membership or signup fees

Message me to schedule your FREE consultation and one week trial!

Hurry, this offer is only on until May 15th!

Do you find yourself discouraged with your skating progress, especially when compared to other adult skaters?

This is your reminder that everyone's journey is individual

It's already hard enough to make progress as an adult. When you see someone doing better than you, it can be easy to compare and diminish your own accomplishments. But that's doing yourself a huge disservice. It's important to recognize all the hard work you put in to be where you are now, and all of the amazing things you are already capable of!

Comment down below something you're proud of when it comes to your skating!

And that's a wrap on this year's Resolution Reboot!

You have no idea how much I wanted to cheat and say I did the last square so I'd have a finished card. But I'd rather be honest than perfect. Still very happy with everything I accomplished.

And the winner of the free month of personal training is.... .17 ! Thanks to everyone who played and followed along! This challenge was a lot of fun and I plan to do more like it, so stay tuned!

Happy Family Day! Hope you get to spend it with those you love most ❤️