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No Excuses Mindset - Get It Done

• Stew smith • discipline • habits • mentall toughness • never quit • no excuses

What's Your Excuse?
Build Habits That Are Excuse Proof!

Not Every Day is Perfect Weather with Enough Time to Train

Do you find yourself making excuses to miss a work out? It’s pretty common. Are you a master at skipping workouts?  Or just occasionally fall off the habit of training?  And we all have those days. Some days the excuses win - some days you win. We are all human so give yourself a break when an excuse not to train wins, but try to keep the win to loss ratio higher in the win column.  Limit "excuses" to REAL problems not made up ones. It is amazing how creative we can be when fighting lazy is the challenge. 

Get Comfortable - Getting Uncomfortable

Rain or Shine - Get It Done...

However, some days should be spent on recovery, technique, and other skills especially if you are working hard (high stress), not eating well, nor sleeping enough hours each night. But, there is also a magic moment when you work out "just because you did not feel like working out". That is when you know your new habits you are trying to create are evolving into a more disciplined mindset - a NO EXCUSES Mindset. 

Too Hot?  Too Cold? Forgot your gym shoes? 
No One Cares - Just Get Moving. 

When the Excuses Hit the Hardest (typically) - Be Aware:

The battle of building new habits and breaking old (bad) habits can be a struggle that requires total focus and discipline to win. In fact, during the time of trying to build new habits of fitness this is where excuses to skip workouts are most common.  Every habit you build usually has an equally bad habit you have to drop.  For instance, if you have a goal to start working out in the morning before work or school, now you have to break two bad habits too:  1) sleeping in  2) not exercising.  I am not sure what is harder starting a new habit or breaking an old one.  Both are tough and require time being consistent with the endeavor. Some say it takes 21 days to build a habit. I would agree with that, but it also takes less than 21 seconds to have the right attitude to get you moving each day "even when you don't feel like it". 

Once you have developed strong habits and discipline through pure consistency you will find that the need for excuses tends to decrease.

I always feel guilty when I miss a workout, that I now choose not to miss them unless I am really sick. I am always glad to have completed a workout versus staying in bed even though the pull to stay in bed was strong on a particular morning. However, while guilt is strong motivator, it is not fool-proof as many don't listen to that voice and act. Though many may feel bad for missing a day of training, they have learned to live with it. They are now getting good at compartmentilzing any voice that wants to make you a better version of yourself with self doubt. BUT you can turn that around and compartmentalize the voice that wants to keep you weak and lazy with some practice getting something done regardless of what that voice says.  Eventually, the voice that wants to keep you lazy is replaced by a voice that reminds you of your why you need to get up and get moving. This is the time to stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself with POSITIVE self talk. 
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If It Is Not In the Schedule - It Does NOT Exist (Schedule Goals to be Achieved - Daily)

Over time (consistently), you will build the habit (and break the bad habit) you need and fitness training will be placed it into your schedule (maybe Am, PM, during lunch, etc). My first piece of advice is set time aside each day for you. It does not matter what you do in that time, but for 30-45 minutes you can walk, jog, do something physically active. Setting the time aside is key to making advances to what you do with that time. Often this may mean 30 minutes less sleep or less time playing videos games / watching TV.  As mentioned before, often the key to achieving a goal is starting a new habit and breaking an old one. Often you will find more time in your day IF you find that habit that is eating up your time and start weaning yourself from spending time with unproductive activities. 


Take for example this story of a young man who needed to lose weight in order to join the military. 

This young man wants to join the Army and become an Army Ranger. But he is 100 lbs overweight (320lb football player). He set a goal to lose weight and start improving his physical fitness ability at the same time. He had a foundation of strength but anything over 100m was long distance running. He did not meet the height / weight standards of the Army to even join and the physical standards to become an Army Ranger were even a bigger challenge. BUT - you know what he did?  He got moving and started to walk/ruck and mix in basic calisthenics and high rep dumbbell exercises. He set a goal at one year which is a logical amount of time. He was patient, persistent, and absolutely relentless.  He started off on his journey with a never quit and no excuses mindset and it worked. 
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He did not look for a quick fix like a magic pill, a cleanse, or cabbage diet.  He simply quit eating like a football player and the weight started to come off making everything much easier. He reduced his daily caloric intake to 1800 calories (yes he measured his intake) and he added more water and walking. On days when his knees or back ached from carrying around 100 extra pounds of mass, he rode his bike for extra cardio and stretched. 
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He spent the next two years losing weight AND getting in shape.  Not just in good conditioning, but is Army Ranger (run 5 miles in under 40 minutes type of shape). One thing about spending a decade carrying around 50-100 extra pounds, is you naturally build up an incredible ability to ruck and have to strength to bear a load needed to be in the military and Rangers especially. That journey takes time and consistency. Consistent training with a focused goal will get you to where you want to be every time. Do you think he had to overcome some bad habits and start some new GOOD habits?  Absolutely. Many of them. 

Which Program is Right For Me?
It Depends...Special Ops Candidates  

   

   

What Is Your Goal? 

Finding something you want to do or achieve is helpful, but eventually you will find that just the habit of training every day is nearly as hard to break and the habit of not training.  You can keep the fire of training because it becomes so much a part of you that when you do not train, you feel bad.  Knowing that you will ALWAYS feel better after training (even when you do not feel like it) is a huge game changer in this habit building / learning process. 
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There are days every week, that I feel like sleeping in, but I know after an extra 30-45 minutes of sleep I will feel worse than just getting up and doing something - even if I had to replace my butt kicking workout with a mobility day.  I know I will feel better, but I will be honest, I love those days.  I love training even when I do not feel like it as I feel I accomplished something by just getting up.  I accomplished something even more important than training - I got another notch higher on the mental toughness / discipline scale. Plus the anger you have at yourself for even putting that thought in your mind can be enough to propel you out of bed and into the training mindset. 

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"Training BECAUSE you don't feel like it"

Let that be your battle cry / morning mantra when you have to make a decision to training or skip it and you may find that you start getting really good at NOT skipping workouts. Keep Moving - Never Quit. 

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Most Recent Spring / Summer & Fall Winter Programs:
    

Who Is The Tactical Fitness Coach / Author Stew Smith?

 I'm the former Navy SEAL that military recruits and special ops candidates go to for books, ebooks and online coaching to prepare themselves to get to and through intense tactical assessment and selection programs and qualify for service in their chosen tactical profession.  See More at StewSmithFitness.com


Check out the Complete List of Training Programs (Spec Ops, Military, Police, Fire)

We Have Answers For Beginners to Advanced Spec Ops Level Training Programs (see below)

Fitness for Beginners - Get Started for Free!

Most people who enter the recruiters' offices are seeking regular military jobs and on the beginner spectrum of fitness. Please consider the following before joining the military:

- Run - Learn how to run and get in shape to run 2-3 miles without stopping.  See beginner / intermediate running plan.  But, you may need to start off with just walking depending on your fitness level. If you played sports that had a little bit of running in it (football) or no running in it like swimming, you need to practice running regularly to get over the growing pains accompanied with impact cardio like running and rucking. To do well on timed runs, you need to practice that distance at a goal pace. Learn about GOAL PACE Running. 

- Calisthenics - You will be doing calisthenics not only throughout the day in basic training, but as a fitness test as well.  Get used to exercises like pushups, crunches, plank poses, pullups, squats, and lunges to work the entire body.  If you need some ideas, see the programs below that address all the physical fitness challenges you will see in preparation, testing, and basic training and beyond. The Boot camp, PFT, Bible, and Cals and Cardio are all encompassing workouts that will prepare you for the challenges of Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard basic training and fitness tests as well. The Army and Marine Corps will require more challenging workouts and fitness testing.  See links of the books below to see more details of the Combat Fitness Test you must be able to accomplish when you join. 

    

       

DO NOT RELY ON THE MILITARY TO GET YOU INTO SHAPE AT BASIC TRAINING.  You will get into better shape for sure during your training if you arrive in lower fitness form, but you need to arrive with a foundation of physical fitness that is specific to your future job in the military / fitness tests / training. If you show up out of shape, you could end up failing standards or injuring yourself causing longer delays or removal from training altogether. 

For You Special Candidates (Get in Shape LONG Before You Join) 

High Intermediate Military / Advanced Spec Ops
Building Programming:

The Pipeline of Training Options (Spec Ops Level): 

Books and EBOOKS (Special Ops) – Most of my programs tend to focus on getting TO and THROUGH a specific tactical training program.  So you may see a mix of all the seasons in some of these books, but if you are training long term, you can take advantage of Seasonal Periodization and save yourself some of the over-use, long term pains that tend to follow many of the tactical preparations - especially on the spec ops level of training. 


Start training today with workouts that focus on the specifics of getting to and through tactical profession training from firefighter, police, swat, military to special ops. We have programs to help you get TO and THROUGH training. We also have training programs to help you with training as you age in these professions (Tactical Fitness 40+ series).

        

It is not all just calisthenics and cardio at Stew Smith Fitness

Tactical Fitness, Tactical Strength, Navy SEAL Weight Training Workout, Weight Vest Workout,  Stew Smith's Fall Winter Cycle, Warrior Workout #2, Maximum Fitness

These programs as well as my online coaching programs have Winter Lift Cycles in them as part of our Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization System. But, do not get these lift cycles confused with ACTUAL strength / power lifting programs, these are strength / power programs that also have a focus on cardio fitness maintenance BECAUSE you need to be good at all the elements of fitness and develop into an all-round Tactical Athlete.  

Do You Want my REAL TIME Seasonal Periodization Training - Delivered Weekly? 

Get Weekly Unpublished Workouts Tested and Evaluated by local Stew Smith Training programs. 

Stew Smith Fitness Membership – You have access to years of workouts for both beginner / intermediate and advanced / special ops levels of fitness. Each week you will receive new and unpublished workouts being tested by Navy SEAL veteran / Stew Smith CSCS and his local group of future tactical professionals in both basic training and advanced spec ops training programming. The latest videos, articles, and other programming will be part of the weekly data feed to members as well. We go through the Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization program one week at a time.

Join the Online PT CLUB:
One On One Coaching with Stew Smith

If You Need a More Personalized Approach to Fit Your Needs, Goals, Time per Day, Days per week, Facilities, Abilities, etc...Try Online Coaching

Questions?  Just email me at Stew@StewSmith.com

At StewSmith.com - List of Products and Services

  1. FREE Articles
  2. Podcasts and Swimming Videos at Youtube.com page  
  3. eBooks
  4. Books and eBooks in PRINT
  5. Stew Smith Fitness Club membership site
  6. Online Coaching   

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