Making the "right" decision

I had a client ask me on our Live Q&A this week:

"I signed up because I want to get strong and lean but I really enjoy running and I don't want to be too sore to go for a run. Should I keep my weight training light?"

Important things to consider before making any decision:

- Values: What are the underlying values that you consciously (or subconsciously) live your life by? For this client is might be health and happiness, and this is why she enjoys running. 

- Goals, and the order of importance: This client signed up to the program to get stronger and lose some body fat. To her, this might be more important than getting out for a run right now. Or maybe by writing down the goals and putting some consideration into it, she might realise that she wants to be able to go for runs, more than she wants to change her body composition.

- Knowledge: I explained to the client that while she may suffer from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) after the first couple of sessions, this will not go on forever, as her body gets used to training in the hypertrophy rep range. I also explained that getting out on a run when experiencing DOMS might even help loosen out the legs.

- Sacrifices: With the knowledge, values and goals in mind, she can then decide whether to sacrifice her performance at running, in the short term, while her body gets used to the new type of training - or decide to sacrifice her body composition goals to keep her running performance consistent.

(The Siobhan of 2015 would have been more dictator style and told her that hypertrophy training is the best way to train and not to be wasting any time doing unnecessary cardio!)

This can be applied to any decisions you have to make in life. Get clear on your values and goals, try get as informed as you can on any decision and realise that a sacrifice might have to be made.

Acceptance of the results of any decision is so much easier to deal with when you have made an informed- and value-based- decision.

I see this a lot when it comes to check-ins after the clients have made decisions around something like going and enjoying a holiday. I didn't tell them how they should handle it - I just give them the knowledge and mindfulness tools to make their own decisions, and then they can accept the results of those decisions without any guilt or fear of what myself and the coaches think.

Hopefully that can help you with any decisions you have to make this week!

Thanks for reading,

Siobhan "Sacrificing goals for the craic since 2019" O'Hagan