Get Your Edge Back
Here’s a scenario you’re probably familiar with: You go through basic training or a police or fire academy and graduate in the best shape of your life. You feel strong and conditioned and look the part too. You’re motivated and ready to take on any challenge, physically or mentally.
Then you get stuck on a swing shift or nights and gradually that feeling starts to wear away. One day you realize your gear isn’t fitting like it used to. You aren’t sleeping well. Your diet is crap. You start noticing in the mirror, or even worse, other people start to notice.
You don’t feel like yourself, but you feel powerless to change anything. Between working crazy hours, stress, and family life, you don’t feel like you have any time or ability to get yourself back on track. You start slacking a bit at work and stop caring quite so much. You get sloppy.
You’ve lost your edge, but it doesn’t feel right to you. This isn’t who you are. You can’t afford to be sloppy. People count on you, and maybe most importantly, YOU count on you. If you can’t take care of yourself, how will you take care of anyone else?
I’ve had all these thoughts at various points in my life. Evening and night shift wore me out. Between court time, mandated overtime, and lack of time off on the weekend, I didn’t feel like I had much energy left to take care of myself. My diet went to crap and I started gaining weight even though I was still working out consistently. The gym was my outlet, but sometimes I felt so beat up and tired that training felt counterproductive and miserable.
Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can build yourself back up.
Above all, ditch the defeated mindset. Perfect is the enemy of good. Can’t train 8 hours a week like you used to? Get over it, you aren’t alone. You can ALWAYS choose to use your resources (time, money, mental energy) wisely. That’s all anyone can ever do.
Think back to a time when you were at your best, either physically or mentally. Consider making a list of the environmental factors that helped you to be at your best. Were you more consistent with down time? Sleep? Nutrition? Workouts? If so, how so and why? Were you around people that motivated you? Did you have fewer competing priorities? Were you less jaded and cynical?
Next, you can organize these factors into things that you can totally control, things you can somewhat control, and things you can’t control at all. You can’t always control mandated overtime, what shift you work, your days off, or some family commitments. Don’t bother stressing about those. Just let them be what they are.
You CAN control your mindset. With just a little effort and planning, you CAN control what you eat and how you spend your valuable time and money. Look for something that you already enjoy or do well, then build on it.
If you get a lot out of short-term goals, you can also set small daily challenges for yourself. These don’t need to be earth-shattering, but get out of your comfort zone. For example - take cold showers for a week. Wake up 10 minutes earlier and stretch. Book time for yourself to meal prep instead of binge-watching Netflix. Come up with something that gets you excited, is challenging but doable, and is related to your ultimate goal. As you beat these small challenges over the next few weeks, choose bigger ones to keep your momentum going.
Life’s stresses don’t have to beat you down. You can get your edge back and thrive.
Putting together a tactical fitness program is tough. There are a lot of variables, needs, and individual differences between tactical athletes. My 10-8 training programs are built to help you succeed with your tactical fitness goals, regardless of ability level or available equipment. 10% of all proceeds are donated to help first responders in crisis.
If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me