by Colin Aina
I've never been one to sit still...hence my choice of career; aiding in enabling people to be hyperactive just like me. I was the hyper kid in school, the class clown, and one that couldn't not talk to my classmates while the teacher was in the middle of an enthralling lecture. Had I grown up in the later 90's-00's I would have been "diagnosed" as ADHD or one of those other funky disorders designed to facilitate our booming prescription drug economy.
In order to blow off steam I did what was normal for a kid growing up in the 80's and early 90's...I played outside. I would ride my bike everywhere, find trees to climb, get into mischief and got dirty. To channel my energy, my parents got me involved in baseball at 6 years old. A noticeable change in my classroom performance followed. After 9 years, baseball became a severe bore. I found my real calling once I started to run.
When I stopped competing, I still found the motivation to train hard mostly because it was such a routine for me for so long. I then found strongman and luckily my years of sprinting and the required training translated directly to the sport of strongman. Once I started ice and rock climbing, I realized that I needed to adjust my training a bit. Once I was peer-pressured into mountain biking 2 years ago by a few friends....well, I got hooked pretty badly. I once again had to adjust the training focus a bit. I didn't necessarily need to change the modes of training, just the timing, frequency and the focus. There is a bit of overlap in the demands of biking and climbing. Both take finesse and control and the demands on the forearms and grip go "hand in hand".
Everyone starts training with an end goal in mind and hopefully that goal is achievable. What happens once that goal is met? This question is usually never taken into consideration and motivation and focus is most likely going to be lost once said goal is reached. I had a client ask me, "What's going to happen when this challenge is met and I don't have anything to look forward to?" My response was that we would come up with a new goal, a new challenge, something to train for.
Think past your main, primarly goal as soon as you can and let that goal be known! Vocalize it to a few people or a ton of people so that it doesn't die. Write it down on a piece of paper, make it the background on your phone or put it on the 'fridge. If your primary goal was something major your next goal doesn't necessarily have to be as well, it can be as simple as, " I want to maintain what I've achieved". "I want to be in better health to have a better quality of life". "I want to keep feeling better". If it's a major goal, that's great too! There will be those days when motivation is hard to come by and that's okay...take the day off. Just be certain that whatever your goals may be, they are attainable and measurable.
Keep on keeping on.
