The Olympic Attitude!

When you think of the word attitude, what do you think?  In today's society, attitude is often referred to someone who didn't treat you with the best of courtesy.  However, attitude can be positive or negative.

To an Olympian, your attitude is simply a state of mind.  A state of mind of not just winning, but doing your best.

Peter Haberl, sport psychologist with the United States Olympic Committee in 2008 said, "Attitude isn't something you're born with.  Attitude is a decision."  All Olympians realize that there is a chance that they can't win.  They can't control that.  Everyone is going to try to do their best, so you must do the best you can if there is any chance for you to win.  Regardless, they have already suffered many defeats and victories in order to get as far as they did.   

This is so important to understand, even when you're not an Olympian.  Everyday, I talk to someone who wants to get fit.  Maybe, their goal is to lose weight, decrease blood pressure, or simply decrease the aches and pains they have in their joints.  With over 15 years experience, I can tell you that your attitude can make or break your outcome.  

If you're not honest with yourself and set expectations that are too high, your attitude will cause you to quit and give up.  However, if your attitude is to stay committed, consistent, write in your journal, and listen to your fitness coach, then your attitude can help you get through the most challenging of times.  You can't focus on just outcome.  You have to focus on doing your best.  You can never get angry with yourself when you're trying your best.  What's tragic is losing when you realize you didn't try your best.  

Below are some ways to improve your attitude, taken from ACEFitness.org with some modifications: 

• Set Performance-oriented Goals. Focus on goals that you can attain. Haberl suggests, for example, marking improvements in your performance from month to month. Strive for a little more each time. Then when you enter competition, focus on your performance rather than your finish.
• Find triggers or cues that help you stay focused on your performance during your competition. Then rehearse that plan in practice. Do what Olympic athletes do and visualize yourself going through the competition, focused on your triggers.
• Avoid Mixing Your Self-worth With Your Performance.  This is a danger many Olympians encounter, and Haberl often works with them to separate self-worth from their performance. "Putting the two together places tremendous weight on their shoulders and makes it difficult to compete," he says.
• Relive Your Best Performance.  Write down what you felt and thought. That's your blueprint for how you should capture that performance again, Haberl says. Refer back to it often so that you relive the experience rather than the outcome.  (This is very effective).
• Dump Your Ego (important when listening to your coach).  If not, you won't allow yourself to do things that make you look bad, and in the end, that avoidance will keep you from getting better. Tennis players, for example, who have a weak backhand might try to avoid hitting a backhand shot and run around the ball to hit a forehand because they don't want to look bad or lose. Do this and that backhand will never improve.
• Accept Temporary Letdowns as Normal  (don't dwell on them, but learn from them). Nobody's perfect. Know that you will have errors and mistakes.
• Laugh Often (laugh at yourself). When the going gets tough, the tough laugh, right? Take the negative out of the situation and find something to laugh about.

written by:

Kelly Huggins, A-CPT

Exercise Science, B.S.

Fitness Together - Fitness/Nutrition Coach

P.S.  Be sure to check our blogs weekly as we will continue to post more GREAT articles!

Train Like an Olympic Athlete this Summer: Be Your Best, Work Hard, Have Fun

Olympic fever is in full force this summer as the best of the best compete for gold at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. This defining event is when athletes from across the world represent their countries by competing in more than 30 different sporting events and leaving it all on the line to accomplish greatness.

Take the opportunity this Olympic season to elevate your fitness routine and realize record results. To enhance your workouts this summer, train like an Olympic athlete by including the following three elements into your fitness routine.

Dedication: Be The Best At What You Do

You may not have been born with Olympic genes and natural physique, but you do hold the ability to be the best at whatever you put your heart, mind and soul into. You can demonstrate your dedication to living a healthy and fit lifestyle by scheduling daily workouts and giving your best efforts during your designated workout time. To increase your fitness dedication efforts, enlist the help of a workout buddy to ensure accountability or use electronic tools such as alarms and mobile workout trackers to maintain a healthy fitness schedule dedicated to helping you look better, feel better and perform better than you ever thought possible.

Determination: Work Hard Toward Your Goals

Olympic athletes don’t just set goals – they stick with their goals even when they may be tough to maintain at times. Living a fit and healthy lifestyle takes work and some workouts will inevitably be better than others. The key to determination is sticking with your fitness routine, working through the tough workouts, enjoying the good workouts, always keeping your end goals in sight, and celebrating your successes along the way. By writing down your goals and visualizing successful results, you can establish a determined Olympic athlete mind-set that can help you accomplish extraordinary results.

Desire: Have Fun, Love What You Do

Desire drives results. The best athletes love what they do and hold a burning desire to continue bettering their efforts and realizing real results. You will never reach your full potential in any sport, competition or fitness program if you don’t love what you’re doing. To ultimately succeed in establishing a healthy and fit lifestyle, it is important to uncover what motivates you, inspires you and drives you to succeed. Whether it’s joining a small group fitness environment, training for an endurance event or expanding your strength training with a personal trainer, find what you love and have fun celebrating your successes.

Once you become dedicated to changing your lifestyle, getting active, eating healthy and feeling better, you will start to realize and appreciate all of the little victories in life that can quickly add up to ultimately reaching your fitness goals and aspirations. By incorporating the three Olympic athlete characteristics discussed above into your fitness routine, you will be on the road to accomplishing greatness this summer.

Our local Fitness Together studio is dedicated to further helping you train like an Olympic athlete by hosting a 2012 Summer Games in-studio competition where you can compete for gold medal status and exceed your personal bests in weekly fitness challenges. Fitness Together challenges you to compete like an Olympian, test your strength, endurance and overall athleticism during this eight-week fitness event running July 24-September 18. Call or come into our local Fitness Together studio this month for more information about digging deep and fueling your competitive drive during the 2012 Summer Olympics. 

provided by:

Kelly Huggins, A-CPT

Exercise Science, B.S.

Fitness Together - Fitness/Nutrition Coach