Plan your workouts for 2 weeks
With all the schedule changes and unusual shifts you don’t have the luxury of leaving it up to chance. If you want to be consistent you must plan your workouts and your training schedule based on your work schedule which comes out every 2 weeks. Planning this way ensures things like “I’m closing tonight” don’t become an excuse. You’ve known for a while, be prepared for it.
Correct your imbalances
With all the repetitive motion of making drinks and handing them out with the same hand, reaching over the same side of the bar, over and over again, you better believe you have an imbalance. Many, if not all, of the Starbucks Partners we train have them as a consequence of their jobs. These imbalances will alter your technique, decrease the effectiveness of your workout, and increase your chance of injury. Getting an assessment done by a knowledgeable coach or performing some assessments on yourself, if you’re comfortable, will allow you to see where your weaknesses are and put you in a position to correct them.
Have 2-3 meals prepared for work
Your scheduled breaks are actually a blessing in disguise as you can use them for designated meal times. Where most people drop the ball is when they don’t have their meals prepared and have to resort to eating what is being sold in the store or, possibly even worse, the surrounding area. Preparing 2-3 meals at home for your breaks will allow you to stick to your diet guidelines and keep attaining results at work. You’ll save tons of money too!
Sit and nap when you can
You stand all day and it sucks. I used to work in a grocery store and there were times where I could barely stand from being on my feet all day. So what can you do? Take advantage of the times you get to sit and elevate your feet to help prevent all the blood from pooling in your feet. You know that swollen feeling? You know what I’m talking about.
Also, you have breaks so grab some nap time. 15 minutes may not be the most optimal length of time for a nap but it will give you some relief and recharge you a bit.
Drink a glass of water every time you have a caffeine containing beverage
This may seem like overkill but every caffeinated beverage you have dehydrates you. Not good for functioning throughout the day and most definitely not good for your performance in the gym. By making a point of drinking a glass of water every time you will make sure you’re staying hydrated and over time you will probably decrease the amount of caffeine you have as a direct consequence of having to pee all the time. Seriously. Whatever works.
Get to the gym
We’ve all been there. We finish work and we really don’t feel like starting our workouts. The exercises run through your head and you think “I hate those” “Those were really painful last time”. You think of what it will cost you and you convince yourself not to go. This is normal.
But you’re not normal!
Sorry, that came out wrong. What I mean is that you want above average results so you will not be stopped by average obstacles. So, when you feel this way make a deal with yourself just to get to the gym. That’s it. You just have to go there. Working out was not part of the deal; if you get there congratulations. Once you’re there you’ll be surprised that maybe you’ll want to do a little exercise. So make another deal to complete your warm up. From there another deal can be made to complete the first exercise or two.
Before you know it you’ll complete the whole workout. The good thing about this is that you can actually stop whenever you want. You can stop making deals and go home whenever knowing you’ve already kept to the first deal: getting to the gym. In the end, even just completing your warm up puts you a step ahead of the “You” that would’ve just went home.
There is no ground breaking information here, just ways that you can make your training and nutrition work despite your obstacles. The best program is the one that works for you and your lifestyle.
