Tag Archives: Coaching

March 31, 2020 · 7:15 pm

Curve ball

2020 isn’t off to a flying start for many, me included. The current global health crisis is affecting the lives of people around the world.

Over the years, I’ve learned that there will be things that are outside of your control and to channel your energy into the ones that you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was set to start out a new coaching gig in Phuket. Unfortunately, that all went downhill very quickly as they decided to cancel the contract the same week I was meant to fly due to the global health crisis. It was certainly a setback. Look on the bright side, I reckon I dodged the bullet because it would have been much worse if I had gotten the flick when I’m there.

So what’s next? How do we deal with setbacks? How should we react? How do we approach it? How should we respond? I have been unfortunate and fortunate enough to learn by practice. For me, it’s about keeping a positive, realistic mindset. We’re not done yet! Keep trudging along. It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s getting back up everything single time and moving forward. A line manager at work once said to me that I shouldn’t be such a perfectionist. What he failed to understand is that me constantly striving for perfection is not the same as being a perfectionist, as long as I have defined my expectations. I think what he probably was trying to say was that don’t set targets that are much higher than his. So keep moving forward, even if it requires you to first take a step back.

I’m certainly no stranger to setbacks, but every time it seems to require a slightly different approach to get back in. Different stages in life, different motivation. Things might not go as plan, but I find a positive mindset drives the motivation from within.

Photo by Velo Velo Singapore

Not everyone will be there to lend a hand, so I’m grateful for those who are and glad to know who are the ones who aren’t. It’s in times of crisis that we are able (not limited) to see what someone’s true values and morals are.

So other than re-building my indoor cycling setup, because I sold my turbo while preparing to move, I’m back on the job hunt. If anyone has anything available, I’m more than happy to explore. Even happy to pick up new skills. In the meantime

ttfn

2 Comments

Filed under training updates

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 11, 2019 · 10:40 pm

Training, Coaching, Exercise

The number of exercise and/or fitness programs has certainly increased in recent years. Along with our society promoting greater accessibility for an active and/or healthy lifestyle, it’s so much easier now for someone to pick up a new sport and/or a new fitness regime.

I don’t have the figures, but I’m fairly confident that just based on your social circle, the number of people who is a member of a gym or part of a fitness/exercise group of some sort now as compared to just 5 years ago, has drastically increased.

We all have our reasons for partaking in exercise. Again, with no figures for verification, my assumption is that the vast majority are on the path of active lifestyle or as a social activity, or both. There is the growing minority who have set themselves slightly more tangible goals. It could be an aesthetic goal: to slim down, build muscle etc. It could be a competitive goal: to prepare for a sportive, race, etc. It could be a quantitative goal: to lose or gain X amount of weight, lift X amount of weight, run X distance in X amount of time. It’s easy to transit from one to another to another and back to where you started.

You hear ‘I’m going for training’ being used often. If you have a competitive or quantitative goal, you are training for something. But if you aren’t, you are exercising. Describing your time in the gym or your run session as training to have an active lifestyle can be slightly exaggerating. Your body does need time to adapt to increased physical activity. But I would hardly consider that a training regime.

From 2007 to 2011, I was training to qualify and compete for the Olympics. The goal was crystal clear. So were the short and mid term goals. I fell short of that. To be precise, I was never given that chance in 2011 to attempt for qualification. When I switched to racing bicycles, the goal was not crystal clear and I didn’t have the short and mid-term goals. In short, it was a complete mess. I made the huge mistake of not getting a coach on board, primarily because of the costs involved. I began straddling the line until the grey area got too big that I went no where.

It’s not just about telling your mates that you’re going for training or exercising. Knowing where you are on the spectrum affects a bunch of other factors in your life: lifestyle and diet choices, work and/or study vs life priorities. If you have goals you are working on achieving, and serious about it, I strongly suggest getting a coach on board.

A coach should not only be giving you a training program to follow, you have to trust him/her as a life mentor. There’s much more to do between the ears than most would expect.

There’s now a whole bunch of cycling coaching groups/companies out there. If you don’t know where to start, give Kristján Snorrason, aka Snozza, a ping through his website:

Cyclingtraining.CC

His knowledge and experience in sport, along with his people skills, naturally steers people to put trust in him. Trust that he will get the best out of you, trust knowing that he has your best interests at heart.

After all, it’s still a two way street. There is no template to find out who you trust your personal goals with. But if even we ourselves aren’t sure what they are, no amount of training or exercise is going to get us there.

Leave a comment

Filed under Randoms, training updates

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,