Fit to play

Last week I spoke about the importance of easing yourself into training, now I’m going to discuss the biggest reason why people do not stick to their fitness plan: they are not seeing results fast enough.

Every person has a certain shape that their body has reached and is (unconsciously) satisfied with, and it will try and stay that way if it can! This is where the one month wall comes in.

Think of your body like a ball of clay that you’re trying to mould into a nice flower pot.

The clay is cold when you first start as it has been sitting there for a while, it is almost impossible to make into a new shape.

Once you apply heat for a period of time it becomes soft and ‘moldable’. Your body is the same!

You are ‘cold clay’ as you make your decision to get into shape and you go to the gym over and over again for a week or two and get upset that all that effort hasn’t seen any significant results in the mirror.

This is because it takes an average of three to four weeks of training until your body starts to ‘heat up’ and adapt and change where you can see your efforts.

Far too often, people become short-sighted and think a week in the gym will change their body mass that has been that way for years.

With technology we expect everything to come to us instantly but unfortunately our bodies are old-fashioned and do not work that way, go into the gym knowing your results will most likely not show until a month from your start date.

Think of it as the price of admission to a fitter, healthier and stronger you.

* TJ Jankowski is based at Bahrain Rugby Football Club and offers fitness advice and classes. Contact performance@bahrainrfc.com for more details.