WE’VE all heard the saying ‘Practice makes perfect’.
The correct version of the saying is that “perfect practice makes perfect”. Or there’s another version that goes “practice makes permanent”.
The essence is that you do something over and over and work at doing it well until it sticks.
Repetition plays a vital part in the process of improvement. For some that is tedious or boring. But you don’t get good at kicking a ball without kicking a ball.
However, in the fitness world we are bombarded daily with videos and images of amazing people doing amazing things, which, while awe-inspiring and motivating, can also be massively distracting.
One day you see someone lifting insanely heavy weights, the next running super fast or completing an astonishing gymnastic move or finishing an incredible endurance event or performing some dance variation or working out with a new fancy type of equipment or completing a heroic training session. The list goes on. We then get hooked or think, ‘I’d like to try that’ or ‘I’d like to be like that’. Before we know it, we are hopping from one thing to another and, consequently, making no advancement.
You know I like a good Bruce Lee quote, but the one about how “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” comes to mind.
I can’t recount the number of people I’ve met (because there have been so many) who’ve been doing some form of training or exercise for years and complain they’ve made no or little progress. Usually, it’s because they don’t stick to what’s necessary for long enough for it to make a difference.
Progress comes from being consistent and, in an intelligent way, challenging yourself to make advancements. It also means being patient, staying the course and not taking on too much, too soon.
What we often don’t see on all those Youtube videos are the countless hours each of these impressive individuals spent diligently working on their given craft, movement or skill. We see the finished product.
The foundation of the Amazing 12 is practice. We do select movements and practice them, because that’s how we get better and stronger. It’s not just about lifting weights and performing reps – attention to form is also paramount.
Good technique isn’t only about avoiding injury. It’s also crucial for carrying out a task in the most efficient manner.
“The way you do anything is the way you do everything”.
That may not apply 100 per cent of the time, but there’s a lot of wisdom in that sentence.
My 11-year-old son, for example, wants to be good at football. I tell him to tidy his room, tuck in his shirt (when he goes to school), take pride in his homework etc. What’s this got to do with football? The way you do anything is the way you do everything, I tell him.
If he has no standards or pride in how he does everyday tasks, it will spill over into his footballing performance. If he’s lazy most of the time, he’ll be lazy when he steps on the football field. If he can’t be a team player with his family, he won’t be much of a team-mate on the pitch. It’s a mindset thing.
In the gym it’s important to be focused. A lapse in concentration can be costly. Switch off mentally when you are deadlifting and you risk damaging your back. Fail to get your breathing right on a heavy back squat and you can hurt yourself.
The movements are not risky. How you carry out those movements is.
Most of us don’t realise it, but we’re in practice ALL the time. Everything we do and think is a form of practice. Some of us do so consciously and others unconsciously. Our bodies like to follow patterns and forming habits.
Make sure your habits serve your best intentions.
Stacey and Rich are now at the end of week 2 on the Amazing 12 Chichester at the Core Results Gym. And for two weeks they’ve been doing drills. For five days a week they come in and practice. I’ll watch their form, correct them when needed, motivate them if necessary and make any other necessary adjustments to ensure they are on course to meet their goal.
Some weeks will be tougher than others. There will be doubts and questions and aches and complaints. But we still practice. Because without the practice there is no progress. Stacey and Rich are committed to getting the best out of the program.
Turning up every day, whether they want to or not, is practicing commitment. Sticking to nutritional guidelines is practicing discipline. Doing the extra training I assign them and without me knowing if they’ve done it (and properly) or not is practicing integrity. Dealing with the ups and downs of training in the gym is practicing the art of cultivating a positive mindset.
It all counts, because these skills can be taken into and used in our everyday lives.
We can easily become obsessed with our weight or appearance or fitness or body fat levels, but let’s not overlook just how important it is to cultivate our attitude and mindset.
Many people will look at the Amazing 12 or any form of training as only a means to becoming aesthetically transformed, but, as a tool for growth and personal development, the gym or movement arena is as good a place as any other if you care to take advantage.
I am now taking applications for the next wave of the Amazing 12, starting in January 2018. I am also available for private personal training, either 1:1 or in small groups. For more information, or to enquire about my weekly women’s boxing fitness class or Sunday morning women’s weight-lifting, please contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk