Think about it, let's take formula 1 for example (purely because I love it!). Lewis Hamilton won his second world title last year (wahoo!!) but what would happen if he lost focus? He sure as hell wouldn't have won the title, but even worse, he could have been seriously injured. He drives one of the fastest machines in the world, you think a Ferrari 458 is quick? that's nothing compared to an f1 car. If he doesn't focus every second of every lap, if he just 'daydreams' for a split second, he could end up slamming into the barrier at speeds of up to 220mph. Last year there were some great camera shots of the drivers eyes through their visors, and you could really see the concentration. I rarely saw any driver blink while watching through that camera. Concentration is not only vital to avoid accidents, but it's crucial to go as fast as possible.
Now let's transfer that to the fitness world. You have to really focus on the job at hand, which is training hard, eating a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle. Once you lose focus for a little bit, it's easy to let your focus slip even more. Say if you started by working out once every two days, eating healthy, doing food prep, shopping regularly for fresh produce, avoiding alcohol and processed foods. If you slip a bit by having a regular 'treat', that could easily turn into eating/drinking more unhealthy foods/drinks. You'll then think "ah that's not doing any harm, it's okay", and it just goes downhill from there. But it is doing harm. You may not be going backwards, but you won't be progressing in the way that you want.
There are 3 pillars to fitness success - training, nutrition and mindset. Focus obviously comes under mindset, and if you start to lose that, your training and nutrition will suffer. There is also the danger of completely giving up. That may seem extreme, but it has happened. I have personally known people who were 'gym junkies', and then a few too many parties came around, a few too many holidays happened, and within a year, they went from a 'gym junkie' to almost allergic to the gym.
It takes effort to stay focused. Even the most dedicated of athletes will sometimes feel like they could easily lose focus, you just have to keep yourself reminded of why you're doing it. If your reason is good enough, you will always be able to keep that focus.
If you want real results, then stay focused!
Lee Gregory Fitness
