We all embark on a health and fitness regime wanting the same thing – a result – and no matter what that result may be we need to look at what factors are going to affect our chances of success.
This is an area that health and fitness professionals are really starting to understand and grow in. Our jobs are not spending 30-60 minutes a week with a client and holding a stopwatch or showing our superior repetition counting skills. It is simply about managing a health and fitness plan for our clients.
My staff and I use our Results Cycle System to highlight the interconnecting factors affecting results.
results cycle
What can make up this Results Cycle include: Exercise choice, Support, Lifestyle Habits, Food Choices, Management of Medical Conditions and Mental Health.
Reaching your ultimate RESULTS depends on many things and each link is interconnected; by ignoring one you are setting yourself up for failure rather than lifelong change.
Mental Health: an area that is often overlooked when looking at our health and fitness planning but an area that can really affect results. Do we need support to answer some of the questions we have with our attitude to our health and fitness, why do I struggle so much with food choices and how can I stop self sabotaging my efforts?
Exercise Choice: an area of management where the results desired will dictate the strength, cardiovascular, flexibility and balance that need to be prescribed. This link also needs to look at reducing our sedentary behaviour by introducing incidental activity into our everyday life.
Food Choices: an area of management which looks at food and drink choices, portion control and patterns of eating. This is an extremely important link in our results cycle but one that is very misunderstood and can often be sorted up out by a few visits to a dietician.
Management of Medical Conditions: the plan which is appropriate for us should be directed by this link and this includes looking at genetics, not just for chances of future medical issues, but reality of goal setting. Matching your results to genetic capabilities to realistic goals is important because if you are 5 foot 1 inch you are not going to attain the dream result of achieving an Elle MacPherson body shape, no matter how well the program is designed. Nothing eats away at motivation more than unrealistic desired results.
Support: the support network we have can really affect our result cycle. Is our family and friend environment supportive of health and fitness, is the work environment supportive of health and fitness and if not strategies to overcome these hurdles must be put in place. In this link we should look at the return we give for this support. For example, are we a positive role model for the family support we receive? I spoke to a client recently who is struggling with regards to her attitude towards exercise and food choices. This client has two daughters who are exposed to their mother’s attitude of:
- Expressing a hatred of exercise and looking at exercise as punishment for the excesses of food and alcohol intake
- A continual rotation of diet and then excess
While these attitudes need further investigation as to why they have developed, the starting point for change for this client should be that if they continue she is setting up her daughters for a lifetime of facing the same issues.
Lifestyle Choices: this link looks at the management of time and recovery strategies such as sleep and work and family demands. While we can ignore this link at times and create an imbalance in our life, we cannot create real lifelong change without a plan.
Around these highlighted links other links that are unique to the individual will affect a person’s result cycle.
What is your results cycle and which link is holding you back from real change?
