Do you know the names of the last five movies to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards?
I certainly did not.
Between running a business, my own training, being a husband and a Dad, walking the dog, playing guitar and watching about 18 minutes of “Ridiculousness” every Monday night after the family goes to bed, I guess I haven’t spent too much time diving deep into critically-acclaimed cinema.
So here are the last five winners just in case you, like me, have no idea who won.
Starting in 2020 we had Nomadland. Then, in order, it was CODA, Everything Everywhere All At Once (which is quite the ambitious title), Oppenheimer and Anora.
Now, as much as I hate to reveal my lack of culture, not only did I not know these movies won the award, not only have I not seen these movies, I don’t even think I’ve heard of half of them?
Am I alone here? Or have you also not been so interested in movies about a love affair between a person and a fish and the history of dropping the first atomic bomb?
Speaking of dropping bombs, I’m about to drop a big one on you about training.
But before I do, feel free to push your chair away from you desk, stand up and give me a rightful round of applause for what may be the greatest transition from my normal introductory nonsense directly into fitness content.
Take your time. I think about 3 minutes of standing ovation is appropriate.
OK, now that that is out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff.
If I asked you “what is the most important outcome you can get from any training session” what would your answer be?
Is it adding more weight to the bar so you know you got stronger?
Is it running faster?
Is it the number of calories you burned?
Is it the fact that you didn’t get hurt or learned a new exercise or spent time improving yourself while surrounded by like-minded people?
While all of those are good outcomes (perhaps with the exception of the calorie burn) I would argue that none of them are the most important.
No, the most important thing you can get from any training session is that after it is over you want to return for the next one.
In other words, a successful session is the one that drives your desire to come back.
So much contributes to this. And many of the factors are things that we’ve already named. But here is a more succinct and targeted evaluation of what needs to be included in most training sessions for you to catch the bug and look forward to your next session.
The first is simple, you have to enjoy the activity.
If you absolutely despise running, the most effective running program in the world isn’t going to have you going to sleep with your shoes on because you can’t wait for tomorrow’s program to start. If your knees are in a ton of pain every time you squat you probably aren’t going to list “squat” as your favorite exercise when they ask that question on the intake form at your dentist.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work on improving your weakness or engage in some activities that aren’t your faves if they benefit you in the big picture. But if you are miserable every time you do any endurance training, signing up for a marathon is probably not going to lead to 16 weeks of great training.
One last note here: you may want to prove to yourself that you can accomplish something you don’t enjoy as some sort of character-building vision quest. And that can work for a very limited period of time. But even people who fall into that category will get a huge spike of dopamine when they sign up for the event but come to quick regret the first time they see an 8 mile run on their calendar. So beware.
The second is that you have to see progress.
This doesn’t have to be on a session by session basis, but your training plan has to be measured and you need to see some progress towards those measures.
This could be getting stronger by adding more weight on the bar. The ability to do more reps at the same weight. A faster mile time. Better blood markers at your next physical. Body composition improvements. A higher placement at your next powerlifting meet. Attending a certain number of sessions in a month.
There is no end to what you can measure and manage in a workout or training plan. Even more nuanced things such as rate or perceived exertion or range of motion are things that can be progressed by even the most experienced lifters. But if you cease to hold yourself accountable to any outcomes, training can become a bit rote and that won’t keep you coming back.
Next up, you need to train in an enjoyable environment.
Whether you like a country club gym, a gritty, humid dungeon, training in large groups or working one-on-one with a coach, you need to put yourself in a training atmosphere you enjoy. This will not happen 100% of the time. There are points in our lives when you can only afford a less-than-ideal bargain basement gym or we won’t feel comfortable in where we are at with our training to sign up for the powerlifting gym (This is silly, by the way. Strong men and women are some of the friendliest and welcoming gym-goers there are.). There will be days when you have to train in a less-than-ideal hotel gym or have to get your miles in by running in the rain.
But, in general, you should put yourself in a gym you love, surrounded by likeminded people and a support system that energizes you, elevates you and makes you feel like you are in the right place.
Finally, and this is a bit of the secret sauce here, a training plan must be psychologically engaging.
This is counter to what most people think - that training is the place to challenge the body and shut off the mind. And I do love to think about training as a form or mediation. But to think that you are mindlessly go through a training program that has you running 50 miles per week or squatting so much weight that you might poop out your spine is silly.
A good workout must engage you and give you a reason for completion. You have to see the vision.
This is not so easy to accomplish. Many people either do the same workouts for too long or just randomly assign themselves workouts that have no purpose. Your workouts need to put you on a path to something - lifting more weights, beating other people at the gym in a 2k row, peaking run mileage one week and focusing on speed work the next - if you want to have the best chance of surrendering to the process and getting yourself to keep coming back.
Making sure you can’t wait to step back in the gym the minute you walk out the door from your previous one is the absolute key to your success.
And this extends beyond training.
If your hobbies, your relationships, your work and everything else you do - at least to the best of your capabilities - are set up so that you constantly crave returning to them, it would be pretty damn hard not to win at life.
That last paragraph would actually make a pretty good Academy Awards acceptance speech.