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Motivation – Have You Got Your PERM in Place?

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As most of you will know, my core beliefs when it comes to health, fitness, weight loss and exercising are that whatever changes you are going to make in your life, they need to be sustainable. For a change to be sustainable you must have the correct reasons and motivation for making that change.

Now you may ask ‘What is the correct motivation for making a change in your life?’. This is where you need to know your goal or target. What do you want to achieve? When you know what you want to achieve you can then begin to work out what it will take to get there. These are the changes that you need to make in order to achieve your overall goal.

Just to go slightly off on a tangent for a minute; there are two types of motivations that we need to know about. These are Intrinsic and Extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one’s capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge. It is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a desire for consideration. People are more likely to have intrinsic motivation if they

  • are interested in mastering something new, even though there is no reward at the end of it.
  • engage in a task willingly
  • attribute their results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy of control
  • believe they have the skills to be effective agents in reaching their desired goals, also known as self-efficacy beliefs

Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain a desired outcome and it is the opposite of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from influences outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are:

  • rewards (prizes, exam results, personal best times) for showing the desired behaviour
  • the threat of punishment following failure/non-compliance

 

Competition is an extrinsic motivator because it encourages the performer to win or to beat a personal best, not simply to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity.  So in order to achieve the extrinsic goal, you need to have an interest or self-belief in the activities you need to complete to get there.

With extrinsic motivation, the harder question to answer is where do people get the motivation to carry out and continue to push with towards their target.

 

Now back to where I got distracted with explaining motivation. You need to know your ‘why?’ for your original goal/target. If it is weight loss, ‘why’ do you want to get to your goal weight? ‘Why’ did you choose that weight? Is it the weight on the scale you crave or the look you had when you weighed that weight last?

In 2011 a psychologist, Martin Seligman, published the book ‘Flourish’. This included a model with five elements that if all are in place we have a great chance of making lasting changes and experiencing well-being. This model is the PERMA Model. The five key elements are:

 

P             Positive Emotions

E              Engagement

R             Relationships

M            Meaning

A             Accomplishments

 

Let me explain each one in relation to a healthier lifestyle.

P             Positive Emotions – This is often described as sensory pleasure. This could be tasty (nutritious) food, warm baths, being in a place you love (outdoors, gym)

E              Engagement – When we’re truly engaged in something, you we experience a state of flow: time seems to stop and we concentrate intensely on the present. This could be cooking your favourite healthy meal, a gym class or a run outdoors

R             Relationships – These are often the social ties between the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Think of the friends you have made through exercising or the strengthening family ties that follow fun outdoor activities

M            Meaning – This comes from us thinking that we are serving a bigger purpose than ourselves. This can range from being religious, to being part of a running club, gym or even Facebook groups.

A             Accomplishments – These are usually the extrinsic motivators (certainly previous ones). If you are reading this, the chances are you will have something in the future you want to accomplish. This could be weight loss, getting new running PBs, learning a new language, etc.   As these have an outcome at the end, they are the easiest to struggle with. This is where you need your PERM to be in place (no, not the 80’s hairstyle) to ensure that you have the intrinsic (internal) motivations in place to carry you through the days or weeks where things don’t go to plan.

 

So, to bring everything back together as this has been a little disjointed (sorry), you need to find your intrinsic motivation to achieve your extrinsic goal. This means that to get to your goal weight (for example):

  • you need to know why you want to get to that weight (Accomplishment)
  • what can you do that you enjoy and gives you positive emotions that will keep you on track (Positive Emotions & Engagement)
  • do you have the relationships, social groups and belief, or can you find them, to support you towards your goals (Relationships & Meaning)

If you can get all of these in place, you have a far better chance of not only reaching your goal, but also in sustaining a healthier lifestyle than you had previously. Sustainable progress needs to be enjoyable and fit in with your lifestyle or you will just find it to hard and not enjoy your new life.

Good luck and if you need any help, please contact me.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

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London Marathon 2017 Training – Week 2

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After Week 1 was a total of 77 miles, Week 2 was due to be more of the same.

Monday started at 6.30am with a 3.3 mile walk with my wife to encourage her to get out in the dark and to test my left calf, which was feeling a little tight yesterday. Once home, a quick change into my shorts and then back out for 6.6 miles of running, including 3 miles in the middle at an average pace of 6.23, which I would describe as ‘comfortably challenging’. The pleasing thing for a stat-geek like myself, was that my heart rate (HR) was slightly lower than my normal marathon pace HR meaning I could have pushed harder. My calf was fine.

Tuesday was my ‘normal’ double-day. I started with another 3 mile walk with my wife, followed by running 10 easy miles. Running through Knighton Park in the dark was a different experience (very eerie). The second run of the day was 4 miles before our Wigston Phoenix club run. The total run for the evening was 10.8 miles with only 2 miles of those under 7.00 pace and they were just striding without any extra effort. 20.8 miles for the day but I felt strong and fit.

Wednesday was a very easy effort 4.2 miles. The wind was not helping my effort levels on what were very tired legs!

Thursday was a frustrating day. For my Personal Training business I have converted half of my garage into a gym. However, when the mirrors were delivered they were damaged so a replacement set were sent. This meant that for the gym area to be safe I had to put them up as quick as possible. Annoyingly, this meant skipping my morning run to get them fixed before my clients were due. My first run of the day was with my Couch-to-5k group at Next. This week we ran continuously for 2.6 miles. I followed this with a mad-dash to Victoria Park to join in the club speed/hill session. My legs were working well and I pushed hard to get the most out of the session.

Friday was another very easy effort recovery run of 5 miles. My legs were a bit tired from the speed training the previous night and I had a long run to do on Saturday so I ran as easy as I could while keeping my form.

Saturday is the day of the year I usually dread the most; my first 20 miler of the year. I don’t know why they affect my head the way they do as I have ran so many over the years and they are not much further than the 18 miler I had done the week before. Anyway, I was up and out by 6.30am for an ‘easy-effort’ 20 miles. I hadn’t planned a route but as it was dark and raining I thought I would go for a ‘tour of parks’. Starting in Wigston I ran to Great Central Way, then across and through Braunstone, crossing the park long before any parkrunners were around. I then took the ring road to Western Park and cut through the park to Fosse Road where I ran through The Rally, up by Leicester Tigers, up New Walk and then across Victoria Park, where the parkrun volunteers were just setting up. Finally I headed up Queens Road and through Knighton Park and on to home. 20.05 miles in 2hrs 31mins of cold, mainly dark, but with a lovely sunrise. I would call that a confidence booster at this time of the year.

Sunday was a recovery run, at a very easy effort, of 4.76 miles to get my legs moving again. Weirdly, my legs actually felt quite spritely, so I had to force myself to slow down. That is very pleasing after another long week.

 

Week 2 Totals: 70.2 miles covered over 9 runs, 6.4 miles covered over two walks, plus some basic core exercises on my BOSU ball.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

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When to Exercise When You Are Ill

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We are getting into the winter months, which generally means the cold and flu season is on its way. I often get asked if it’s okay to exercise when sick? I know there is nothing more frustrating than enjoying your exercise programme, getting results and then getting ill, whether it’s a common cold, full blown flu or another horrible bug.

Asking if you can exercise when sick can be a bit like asking how long is a piece for string? It all really comes down to your symptoms, how you feel and the type of exercise you want to do.

I personally use the general rule of thumb that if my symptoms are just above the head (so runny nose, sore throat or sneezing) it’s still okay for moderate to gentle exercise. Take it easier than normal and do nothing that’s going to be too tiring. Personally, I find it hard to take a step back and not go to the gym or run but sometimes you just have to learn to listen to your body and rest up when needed.

If I can feel a cold coming on, but the symptoms aren’t too bad I will just start with some gentle exercise, see how I feel after ten minutes and then either stop or keep going depending on how I feel. If you aren’t too sick and do the right exercise it can actually help your immune system. So if you do just have a common cold and feel like you could do some form of exercise then do just, just far easier than normal.

However, there are some definite signs and symptoms of when you should avoid any type of exercise (usually ‘below the neck’ symptoms): – High temperature – Achy muscles (not your usual post-workout type of aches) – Chesty cough – Swollen glands – Vomiting – Diarrhea

If you display any forms of those symptoms, then you need to rest. It’s more important to give yourself the time to heal, sleep and stay hydrated. There is no point pushing yourself to only make yourself worse. It’s also important that when you are sick that you don’t spread your germs to those around you (you wouldn’t want them to do it to you).

Once you have got over the worst of your symptoms and want to get back into your routine, always make sure you start with an easier workout to make sure you are fully over whatever you had. Going too hard too quickly can sometimes lead to a reoccurrence of your symptoms.

Unfortunately getting sick is a part of life and we can’t be super human all the time. I generally know when I get sick (which isn’t often at all nowadays), it’s my body’s way of telling me I need to listen and slow down a little bit.

Remember it’s okay to put your feet up sometimes and let your body heal. It is better to have a couple of days off to fight off an illness instead of battling through regardless and missing a month when you make it worse. Be sensible.

I’m also not a medical expert by any means so I always advise to seek professional medical advice when you really are unsure or symptoms persist.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

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Should I Do a Cool-Down After a Run & Why Do I Feel Dizzy After Racing?

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The short answer to both of these questions is yes, you should do a cool-down. Cooling down after a hard session, race or realistically, any exercise, helps with the recovery process. It allows your body to get back to, or certainly closer to, it’s normal resting state more gradually instead of finishing quickly and then suddenly stopping. This will keep the blood circulating with the lower intensity finish and help to clear the metabolic waste products of exercise (lactic acid, etc). It also prevents the pooling of blood in the legs because your blood pressure is allowed to return back to normal and your veins can constrict.

Have you ever finished a race really fast, stopped after the finish line and suddenly felt dizzy? This is due to the sudden lack of muscle action when you stop suddenly. This is why keeping walking, or a slow jog is more beneficial and will help the blood return to the heart.

Here’s the science:

As you run, blood vessels dilate, muscles contract and the heart pumps faster in order to meet the energy demand of running. In addition to providing movement, these muscle contractions also serve to pump blood back to the heart, assisting with the venous return of blood flow. This pumping cycle helps meet the increased oxygen demand running requires. 

 When you cross the finish line and stop, the heart loses the pumping assistance of these muscles. With blood vessels dilated and no return pumping action, blood quickly pools in your extremities, causing your blood pressure to drop.

 Also, your race effort typically means a faster run pace than a training run, and this increased intensity means a higher heart rate and an increase in sweating. Race effort also may mean a lower fluid intake during the race as you speed through water stations, pushing for a PB. This minimal fluid intake combined with heavy sweating results in lower blood volume, which means lower blood pressure.

 It’s best to keep moving after crossing the finish line. Keep walking if possible, and, if not, pick up your legs like you are marching on the spot for several minutes. You can also contract your upper-body muscles by clenching your fists, or pressing the palms of your hands together.

Pick up water and a sports drink if possible at the finish and start drinking immediately to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Also, wearing compression socks can assist with venous return to the heart, so you may want to consider giving them a try, even if you put them on after you finish.

 If you do feel faint or dizzy, lie down immediately and elevate your legs. This helps the blood flow back towards your heart.

 

In my running training plans I always advocate at least half a mile (usually a mile or more) of easier intensity running to finish a session. In my one-to-one or group training sessions I will always incorporate a cooldown to ensure everyone leaves the session feeling great. All sessions also finish with some stretching.

Not only will this stave off blood-pooling, it will also make you feel better immediately (you don’t want to be hobbling around all day) but it will also help to stave off the dreaded DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). You know; the stiffness that appears the next morning and lasts for the following two to three days.

Remember, finish a training session with the next one in mind. Preparation for the next session always begins towards the end of the current one. Keep this in mind and you will be able to train more consistently, meaning you will get fitter, faster and healthier quicker than if you have to stop exercising while you recover from your last workout.

 

 

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com