I’m working hard- where are the results?
“You’re working hard mate- but you aren’t working smart” – that was the advice a fresh faced younger version of me got in a labouring job at the ripe old, know everything age of eighteen. I was told I was spinning my wheels in the mud when there was a much easier way for things to be done.
Over the years I have found myself passing on this advice to clients, members at the gym and often times retelling myself. We all do it.
A society lurching from one motivational video to the next, looking for the fuel needed to push us to the next level of hard work- somewhere along the way we forgot that more often than not it is the smart work that yields the greater results, this is not to say that hard work is a fruitless endeavour. It is essential, the smart work however is the plan.
Us humans are creatures most fond of habit. We love our favourite coffee shop in the morning. We visit our same spots on the weekend. We have our spots for our things and a semi regular routine in almost every aspect of our lives.
In most areas of life routine is a welcome addition- without seeming too contradictory, our health routine should be the happy meeting place between habit, routine and ritual, taking up sacred space within the holy trinity.
This often leads to us following our favourite gym routine- the workout we have been following since we first joined the gym and hovered around until we found a way to train that we enjoyed, we have stuck to it ever since. Some people for months, others for years. The intent behind this is fantastic, but it is working hard, rigidly sticking to a routine that once yielded results and we aren’t quite ready to let it go just yet.
The human body, in terms of health and performance thrives on changing stimulus. New imposed demands are met by physiological adaptations- made simple, our body says “uhhh we can’t lift that?” and the brain says “yet” before going to work laying down new tissue so that we are soon able to.
This SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) applies to strength work, aerobic training, building muscle tissue, increasing flexibility and many other areas beyond the realm of health and wellbeing.
With that in mind, what exactly are we trying to get at here?
Where does “working smart” fit into this? The smart part is the plan. A program that allows for progressive overload- one of the super powers in the gym world. Maybe a program that allows for continued skill development be it your compound lifts or hand balancing. Perhaps a program that builds your aerobic base, before moving on to more complex energy systems.
Working smart is mapping out the big picture plan, working hard is showing up to the gym, the pool, the oval, wherever it is you train and going to work. A narrow pocket of time in the day that is your time- a comment one of our coaches told a member of ours that changed the way she viewed her workout. Training wasn’t meant to be a chore, rather an hour dedicated to her self improvement of her health. A comment that got me thinking too when I heard it.
Rather than showing up to the gym and jumping on the first machine that’s available, or subconsciously wandering toward the fourth treadmill on the right of the gym because everybody knows that’s where you walk on a 6.0 incline at 7km/h to start your workout- let’s start to set a plan.The plan doesn’t need to be overly complex. Often the most simple is the most effective.
The first step is to set a goal- it can be anything, literally anything- but setting something with which you will be working towards at least points you in the right direction. Once you’ve set your true north it is time to map the path you plan to trek- this is where a good trainer or coach comes into play, setting check points along the way, breaking a big goal into smaller and more accessible bite sized pieces. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor was an Adonis like physique, the performance of Serena Williams or the flexibility of Cirque du Soleil performers.
Once this plan is mapped out- now is the time for hard work. The time for discipline. The time to say yes to the work and no (within reason) to the obstacles that get in the way.
This form of hard work is better recognised as it’s cousin- discipline. Sticking to the plan. Remember- as we tell all our Hybrid members, good work done daily will always beat perfect work done from time to time.
By all means, work hard- just don’t forget to work smart too.