One of the biggest parts of working out is the rituals that it entails. Not sacrificial or religeous rituals but work-out rituals. If you don’t have ’em, you need ’em. And that is the purpose of this blog entry. Being ritualistic with your lifting makes this a part of your life, not just something you casually toss in to your schedule.
I love the pre-workout and post-workout rituals that I have created over the years. Most veteran lifters have them and they are important to put you in the mood to lift at your best. A ritual is a series of events you do before you lift your first weight. Consider a movie theater. Most people have a routine they go through every time they see a movie. From personal observation, this is our family movie ritual:
- We get to the theater a half hour early.
- Get the same stuff to eat and drink.
- I gripe about the prices.
- We sit in the same seats. They usually are available because we get there early. See the logic in this?
- Watch the trailers and give either a silent nod or shake of the head as to whether it meets our movie standards.
- Watch the movie.
- Watch the credits.
- Review and discuss the movie
We do it this way every time. The few times we have strayed from this, the movie experience wasn’t the same.
So you need to come up with your workout rituals.
Here is my ritual. Feel free to copy if you think it will work for you.
- Pick kids up from school. Start thinking about the workout.
- Pick the workout music. More on this in another blog.
- Pre-workout drink mixed in blender while music is playing.
- Give final approval to the music. Crank it up a bit more.
- Warm -up with 4 pre-hab exercises
- Start workout
- Finish workout, lie on floor tired and sweaty. Rest until my dog starts licking my face.
- Change music to cool-down music
- Stretch
- Post workout drink, usually chocolate milk.
Now there is a ritual for you. Everything in it’s proper place. So all you need to do is analyze what makes a great workout for you, break down the steps and follow them in order.
What if you don’t work out the same time each day? Alter step 1 but keep as much of it the same as you can.
Have a ritual? Send it to me and I will throw it on here. Until next time…..
Visit me at http://www.mfactorfitness.com Michael Medvig is a personal trainer and owner of M Factor Fitness Inc., an in home personal training company in Parker Colorado. This blog represents opinions on fitness. Do your own research and draw your own conclusions. All information and materials on this site are provided as is and without warranty of any kind. These materials (including all text, images, logos, compilation, and design, unless otherwise noted) are copyright 2001-2010 M Factor Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 2001-2010 M Factor Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. |
