IF YOU ARE familiar with this series of articles you will know that it’s all about taking a long view, being strategic and realistic with your goals and approach.
Some key assumptions at this point is that you have already fulfilled the two first major criteria insofar as you have decided to make a change at all and that you are have a rough overview of the entire process, the potential time-frames involved, necessary skills required and that there are no short cuts or magic pills worth taking.
Let us then jump straight into short-term goal setting by firstly giving an example of how someone with the best intentions can run into trouble.
Let’s call this person John.
He has decided that he wants to lose some weight this year. Nothing too specific he just feels like he needs to trim up because he’s noticed ‘a bit of a pudge’ come on the past few years since he turned 30.
About a stone sounds right to him because he felt much more athletic in college. He works a standard 9-5 job, eats what he considers ‘well enough’ and plays five-a-side football with his mates every Thursday evening.
He has decided to join a gym in an effort to start getting more regular exercise in his weekly routine. So far, so good.
John decides that he needs a plan. He’s dedicated, motivated and knows that he’s about to make a lifestyle change that should see him live a longer happier life. He’s in it for the long run.
A quick Google leads him to an exercise website on the cover of which is an Olympic weightlifter. He’s lean, strong and apparently very happy. John wants to look like this guy.
Luckily inside there’s a programme outlining this Olympian’s training in the run up to his gold medal performance at a recent major international competition.
The programme is six days a week training twice a day at times and outlines the need for specificity (John adds this to his ‘to Google’ list) in exercise selection, increasing intensity while decreasing over-all volume, managing recovery and really controlling all the variables in his peaking cycle.
Despite not being very familiar with the rest of the exercises listed, John now has a plan and an excel sheet. He is now a force of nature and he cannot be stopped. Squats? Easy. Power cleans? If he wanted to power clean he’d buy a cordless vacuum cleaner.
According to the author all that’s left to do now is to turn up to the gym, follow the simple incredibly complicated plan and the results will look after themselves!
Now John also noticed that he’s a bit slow compared to some of his friends in the Thursday five-a-side. Having settled on his gym programme he Googles ‘how to be faster’ and is lead to another glossy fitness website. This time he reads an article by a renowned international rugby conditioning coach.
He prints out the conditioning programme and adds it to his new dossier of exercise success. John isn’t done though. He’s on a roll and he knows that he needs to make some changes to his nutrition to really maximise the contours of his latent eight-pack abs.
First thing to go is the pints. The pints kill him, every Friday he has a few and sure that’s the weekend out the window! John decides that he is never going to drink again. Literally EVER.
His body is a temple, he’s too serious about his new business for socialising anymore anyway as the programme he has constructed looks like it’s going to take 22 hours of training a week. He now only drinks lemon grass tea.
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While perusing the many fitness articles online he also comes across ‘this solid lad’ who gave up carbs and as a result lived to 120 years of age or something.
Who needs carbs anyway? He doesn’t even know what carbs actually are but he’s done with them regardless. He’s going to be a hybrid athletic demi-god. He has the training and the nutrition sorted, he has his new compression shorts and runners packed away in his gear bag and a carton of protein milk in the fridge for when things get intense. It couldn’t be easier right?
Wrong.
John is absolutely to be admired for his enthusiasm and commended for his time spent researching different training and nutrition methodologies but he has bitten off a little more than he can chew. Is this his fault? No.
The availability of information now means that the most advanced training protocols ever implemented are only a few clicks of the mouse away and it can often be very difficult to distinguish between good and bad information.
He also deserves respect for joining a gym, playing sports socially and wanting to improve in general. These are, after all, very positive things.
However poor John has completely underestimated his current stage of physical development. Can he make progress doing something a little less complicated?
Absolutely, and probably more than he knows as long as he doesn’t kill himself or burn out following his own initial plan.
To do this John needs to understand where he is now. What does day one really look like? I say this to every new client when we sit down to discuss their project – you simply have to establish a baseline.
This baseline is specific to the individual but without it there are no parameters to gauge progress. Your bodyweight, movement ability, training history and a hundred other variables determine how best to proceed and being honest some people just need to get up off the damn couch and keep getting up off the couch every day.
So what can he do to start out in a manner that allows him to learn, progress and have a little fun along the way? Perhaps if he focused on what successful athletes do in their formative years he might learn the skills that create broader parameters for progress instead of focusing on elite programmes design to sell magazines and advertising space.
Perhaps if he learnt how to move, how to breathe, how to control his body through space, how to lift things, throw things, carry and swing things all combined with how to eat healthily he might just end up with everything he ever wanted.
In a nut shell he needs to learn the basics. Step one is to sit down and set specific goals.
Let’s break John down and help him establish his baseline.
We have already given an example of what a bad first week for John would look like. Complex multi joint high skill movements performed at high intensity with an associated conditioning programme designed for an elite athlete – all combined with a zero carb diet for no reason and relative social seclusion. So if that is a bad week then what could a good first week look like if we have all the details above?
Step two is to write down the goal and be honest with your motivation. What is the significance of his goal? He mentions that he only noticed last year on holidays that he had put on some weight and felt a little apprehensive about taking his top off at the pool.
He has another holiday booked in six months and he doesn’t want to feel like that again. We just established a good time timeline to work within and uncovered the motivation under the desire to change.
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We tell him about the process of healthy maintainable weight-loss, the benefits of progressive strength training, quality movement and where to look for good nutritional information.
He agrees to scrap his initial plan and admits he never wanted to go to the Olympics anyway. Flights would cost a fortune to Rio.
So six months to look and feel better, now we’re getting somewhere. Here’s an alternative example of what his first week could look like making small but significant changes:
- Start to move
- Learn one thing about nutrition
- Make one lifestyle change
It doesn’t have to be complicated but it sets the foundation for the next week and the next. He might not be where he wants to be after seven days but he’s moving, learning and making changes outside of the training and eating habits.
Next week he might learn about food quality, learn a new exercise and decide to start walking to work. Who knows where he could be after one, three or six months – but he will certainly be further along the path than if he had jumped into the deep end straight away.
Now, John does not exist and this is all purely hypothetical but I meet people like him all the time. There’s nothing wrong with that, we all start somewhere and sometimes we get crazy notions in our heads.
However, week in and week out in the environment I work in I see the frustrations and lack of success that go hand in hand with trying to do too much too soon. People worrying about losing 100lbs when they really only needed to be concerned about the first pound.
People making drastic nutritional choices without any understanding of nutrition and people seemingly training for the Olympics when all they really need to do is to master an empty bar and find a way that allow then to have some fun and keep coming back.
If any aspect of John’s story sounds familiar then ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you doing an exercise programme you enjoy?
- Are you making small but regular changes to the lifestyle within which your exercise and nutrition exists?
- Do you have a plan for this week and this month?
- Do you know where you want to be or what you would have liked to have achieved three months from now?
If the answer to any of these questions is no then perhaps cancel those flights to Rio and rethink your plan – simplify, get strategic and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Write down the answers and revisit them next week. After all there will be another Olympics in 2020 and who knows, if you are smart about your training you might just be in with a chance to actually go.
Kieran Hegarty is a professional strength and wellness coach and owner of EverStrength. You can read Kieran’s weekly fitness blog on The42 every Thursday morning.
For more information, you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
One of the greatest players ever to come these shores and he was right to do what he did, McCarthy was wrong.
He’s a bum for walking out on his team and country.
He is a legend, up there with McGrath, Brady and Giles. Dragged us almost single handedly to Korea and Japan and ended up playing the villain for demanding (as team captain) a bit of professionalism. Will the Players fly to the Euro’s in Economy class this summer while the FAI suits sit in Business or First Class? Will the training camps be played on Sunday Pub Team standard uneven pitches with dangerous divets? Keane has achieved a lot more than just honours and medals, and that is from a Liverpool fan!
Paul he just said it wasn’t anything to do with the professionalism of the setup. Suppose it depends which of his personalities is talking
He didn’t walk out, he was sent home by McCarthy…
Still a bum.
Then he is a bum who has achieved more than you ever will Ken and if someone accused me of faking injury after dragging their sorry arse to a tournament and a reputation then I’d blow up and leave just the same!!
He has achieved stuff but you don’t know me and what I’ve achieved. So I’d keep that to your self.
No offence Ken but if you’d won a european cup, a world club cup, 7 premier leagues, 4 FA cups, a Scottish league tittle and a Scottish league cup I think I may have possibly heard of you!! As this is a thread about football, your point is?
It is about football but because I’m no celebrity doesn’t mean I haven’t achieved stuff. He won medals? So what. Bottom line in all of this is he walked out. Ireland could’ve done really well that year but his ignorance and ego got in the way. Probably from years of listening to brandy nose alex ferguson.
Yes, I’m sure you have Ken but in context? This is a debate on football which is an arena where if you are successful and have achieved you are known!! He did walk out, but so would I as a proud professional if I was accused of feigning injury! Yes they could have done well with him there, but without him would never have made it, try to remember his performances away in Holland and Portugal in particular,they were right up there with the one away against Juve in the European cup semi for United
Great player but not as good as Mick McCarthy at management.
Ya stuck to your guns but you let your country down, for what?? Great player but too head strong, god knows what would have happened if you had stayed that year
Indeed. They’re far better ways to stick to your guns than walking out on your country in the world cup.
Imagine the Impact his voice could have had for change in the shambolic FAI had he stayed to be captain of an Irish team that got to the semi-final of the world cup. Instead he devided the country and lost a lot of credibility with his team mates by throwing a teenage girl style hissy fit about the pitch etc
Today the FAI are still the comedy outfit they’ve always been and his way of managing teams has proven to be a failure.
Hoho.. Keane advising us to “respect” a manager’s decision. Ah the sweet irony of it. (….and we’re off….!!)
10 years? Nice one for making me feel old
One of the last true footballers, now a days there are too many footballers that consider themselves part of the entertainment industry. Gave up watching football shortly after Roy quit and stitched to Rugby where you can see true passion and a game that weeds out cheats.
Like Leo Cullen on Sunday? Oh no wait… Boring game!!
Do you mean rugby is a boring game in general or Sundays game was boring ?
Whichever, Keane wouldn’t have lasted a season playing rugby with his thuggery, foul play, sledging and backchat to referees.
Dublin naas, u really are an idiot.. Do you have any idea what you are talking about?? Empty vessels spring to mind!!
They’ve censored part of my ‘empty vessels’ rant which was directed at Dublin Naas… Suffice to say I’d happily put money on the fact he’s never played either sport and thinks by jumping on the anti football bandwagon makes him sound intelligent and hard… Your comments say otherwise but then I’ve read quite a few of them and they all say the same thing about you Dublin naas.. I bet you are neither of the above, intelligent or hard that is!! Go back to you PS2!!
Joey,
-don’t bet, just keep your money in your pocket or you will lose it.
-I think football is a great game, its RK I have the issue with.
-I am very intelligent if you use the standard measures
-A hard man ?? Thats for others to decide.
Stick to the argument Joey, and to use a football analogy, play the ball not the player.
@DubinNass I mean rugby in general, it has promise when they start running and chucking the ball about but they spend far too long pilling up on top of each other on it, no wonder the ball got warped into an egg ;).
And as for rugby being cleaner than clean that argument always got on my tits, it’s posh boys judging the proles from their castles of sand! Cullen on Sunday got away with alot more than Keane was sent off for against Shearer all those years back, remember players such as Danny Grewcock and Dylan Hartley who are basically just animals and that’s not to mention the noteriety of the rugby boys on tour!
Ten years later, who gives a shit what Roy thinks. He failed as a manager. Enough said
Sorry, don’t really give a shit what you think…
Irregardless of his managerial career his status as the most successful Irish player of all time allows his opinion on football to be deserve much more attention than anything you will ever say!
And he’s from Cork!
He’still an opinionated clown, who let his country down thinking he was more important than the team
But if he was from dublin……….
He’d still be an opinionated clown who let his country down thinking he was more importand than the team
A bit like you and most of your posts it seems.
When I read a whole article one the rte sites devoted to how good the facilities are for une Irish team now, including hotel, training ground, extra activities I could not help but think that such good treatment of the players, not to mention reporting about it is a direct result of keane standing up to the FAI. Some of his mouthing off annoys me as much as anyone but you cant take that away from him.
We needed more people at the top in this country to say enough is enough like Roy did instead of just sticking our heads in the sand, because the people who cause and create the system of corruption, cronyism and some truly shameful essential services to our citizens in this country deserve our disdain a hell of a lot more than a young Cork man who has always been honest both on and off the pitch.
Aw ya didnt just drag politics into it too…
Brian! That’s the first sensible statement I’ve read on this Roy Keane issue! He had the guts to stand up for what the other players in that squad were complaining about. and not one of them was prepared to stand by him when he needed them. It’s at this time Ireland, more than ever could do with a few more Roy Keane’s!
Brilliantly put Brian. Only one who had balls, something we are devoid of in this country. Shame he was from cork is the only thing. A legend tho, and dead right
I’d say it’s because he was from Cork that he had the balls to do it!
Great player, crap manager, wooden football pundit. Abandoned his country in Saipan. Arrogant and devoid of conscience.
Roy has high standards. The FAI didn’t meet his standards…. (no surprise). What’s the problem? As far as I’m concerned he’s the best ever player to don the Irish shirt. Pity the fools in the FAI.
Great player. But let us all down.
A gentleman and a scholar ..
What was wrong with economy class anyway? I use it all the time. Nothing a twenty minute jog and some stretches wouldn’t sort. These guys are supposed to be in peak physical condition.
Unless of course you happen to have a big ego!
It wasn’t the team being in economy per say that he was annoyed with, it was that they were there, whilst Delany and his mates were up front sipping the champers, and they had to play in the match.
Slow news day….move on from Saipan
Lot of people talking about Keane abandoning his country or walking away. Whether you like him or not, the facts are straight forward: he was sent home. I don’t know why this has gotten lost over the years. The argument over whether he’s a hero or not should at least be informed by the facts.
Sent home after throwing a tantrum. If you remember, there was an olive branch extended.
fact he walked out came back then was sent home HE DID WALK OUT
McCarthy accused Keane of faking an injury infront of the whole squad at the team meeting, would you blame Keane of throwing a fit, what good is an olive branch then?? Keane has done wonders for Irish sport, his self belief has rubbed off on countless Irish athletes, not to just accept second best and mediocrity, plus he got the players bumped up business class on all flights
Keane has always had too much to say for himself. He was a good footballer but was never great because his mouth and his temper always got the better of him.
George Best was the best player to come from this island of ours. Keane isn’t even fit to shine his boots.
What would no
Empty vessels
Rot in hell keane we could of won that world cup if u hadn’t deserted us or at least made it to the final
Rot in hell, what planet are you on
Some people!! Who got us to that world cup single handedly? Where we over achieved in a band of brothers kind of way. We had no more chance of winning it than you do of making an intelligent comment.
the word egomaniac was invented for roy k yesterdays man fu%& off.as for his pundit skills alan partridge.
Not sure about the rest of the country, but he let me down big time.
Ditto
To this day I don’t think people fully appreciate just how good a player Roy Keane was for Ireland. If you look back and examine it, he was the man who dragged us to WC2002 by the scruff of the neck. We had a joke perpetration, poor facilities and no footballs (!!) so he spoke out against the FAI. For me, instead of having a team meeting in front of all staff and players to single out your best player in front of the lads, McCarthy should’ve had the sense to deal with him 1 v 1. McCarthy was no fool so I suspect that was somewhat calculated on his part. Nobody benefitted when Keane left, but I doubt we’ll ever see preparation for a major tournament by the FAI that bad again so I suppose at least that came out of it all. Can’t believe it’s 10 years!!! The debate goes on….. :-)
Jack charlton ,,,,, Leim Brady jack never played him over something the same ,,,we are never talking about that one …. Roy was a great player ,,,but had to much to say it’s just a pitty he will always be remembered for this
An olive branch was extended to roy though. Even after he disrupted the camp. Shows some resolve on mccarthys part.
Na na nananananaaaaaaaaaaa Keano!
I heard on local radio this morning poor old triggs passed away
‘one of the last true footballers’..he admitted to trying to break a fellow professionals leg!
star newspaper today roys words I DID WALK OUT