Training in the Present Moment

“What does being in the present moment mean? It means not thinking about the past or the future. Getting rid of that mental noise that fills our heads every minute of our day. That mental noise prevents us from being present.  Identification with your mind, which causes thought to become compulsive.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

The process of becoming present takes time. It’s like re-patterning a movement. Would you agree that as kids, most of us live in the present moment? Would you agree that it’s that present moment awareness and result in being that makes us miss childhood?  Something switches along the way, and we develop different mental patterns. We become stuck in our ways - our mind controls us because we don’t know any better. Maybe it’s fear, maybe it’s just the ease of avoidance by saying, “That’s how I am. That’s how life is.” But we can re-pattern that thought. And it is life-changing.

Likewise, with movement, most of us begin life with perfect movement patterns. We  move away from them for a number of reasons - injury, “etiquette” for the ladies, etc., and then we are never retaught how to move properly again. We ingrain those bad movement patterns. We live with pain, pops, and creaking. “I was injured. I’ve had three kids. I’m getting old. That’s how I am. That’s how life is.” But we can re-pattern the movement. And it is also life-changing.

The two concepts are the same. One for body. One for mind.

How does this affect my training? Most of us in our training sessions, in my opinion,  carry a lot of stuff with us. I don’t mean training equipment, I mean stuff in our head - that mental noise I referred to above. That mental noise blocks us from really experiencing an amazing workout, both physically and mentally. I’m sure you have amazing workouts every now and then, but I’m talking about a workout where you are truly present in that moment. No thinking about clients, relationship problems, family problems, job issues, or the person who just took your treadmill/power rack. 

Here is an exercise I want you to do. Walk into the gym and sit down and breathe first. Almost like meditating. Just like I teach you as a client - practice diaphragmatic breathing. While you are breathing, hear the sounds of the gym, listen to the plates smack together, treadmills running, the music playing. You can even try to put yourself in that moment right now, and visualize yourself training. This is being in the present moment.

Commit to this approach at the gym for one whole week. You will notice that your training will become more fulfilling, in a multitude of ways.

For my fellow trainers out there, the same can be said for when you are training your clients. How many of you, while training your client, think about the past and the future? What you are going to do when you are done with your client is looking into the future. I am guilty of this at times. Believe me when I say this takes away from the quality of your training. Your client, who may be more intuitive than yourself, will often pick up on it. It is bad for you, your client, and for business.

We all want to be the best at what we do, and our clients pay good, hard earned money to train with us. Take your client to a different part of the gym, where you have more privacy - where you will not be distracted. For that hour of your life, you are present with your client. Once you start to practice being in the present moment while you train yourself, this will carry over to your clients.

Good luck with this, and please let me know your results.

“To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time: the compulsion to live almost exclusively through memory and anticipation. This creates an endless preoccupation with past and future and an unwillingness to honor and acknowledge the present moment and allow it to be.” ~ Eckart Toll

Phil Scarito, RKC TL, CK-FMS, CICS  
FMS Expert and Certification Host, nationwide
www.DV8Fitness.com