Cian Minihane sporting his Movember moustache for Men’s Health Awareness.

Let’s get focused this November!

By Cian Minihane

November is a funny old month. For many, it can be a struggle to focus on fitness – there are so many distractions in the lead up to Christmas, and increasingly cold, damp weather.

My own clients need a helping hand to stay on track, so we’ve developed a 5 Week Challenge to keep them focused, driven and accountable on the lead up to mid-December where we focus on protecting our results.

I want to bring this to you guys now, so if you’re tempted to take your foot off the pedal, this challenge will help a lot. There is a lot of progress you can still make on the lead up to mid-December before the silly season kicks off.

We have our own private group for this challenge so I would advise getting your friends, colleagues, family, or fellow gym members to get on this with you and create your own ‘accountability pod’ on WhatsApp that you all can be added to – it makes a huge difference.

How the challenge works:

Each week/day you must complete the following.

1. Hit 10K steps a day or 70k steps overall in the week each week.

2. Get at least three workouts in a week.

3. Have one weekend planning session to set yourself up for the week with food preparation – being organised stops poor food choices.

4. Take time out of your day to do one thing for you, no matter how big or small.

5. Post into your accountability pod at the end of each day and week as you tick the boxes. This is the most important part of the challenge as staying accountable means you stay motivated.

This is a no brainer for anyone who wants to raise the standards before Christmas and needs a rocket under their bum. The benefit of an accountability pod is that you’re not in a vacuum, you have the support of like-minded compadres.

I have been doing this challenge with my clients also and it really has held me to the standard I need to be at for Christmas, as I’ve been a little lax myself. It happens to the best of us.

Get on this now and organise your accountability pod over the weekend so it is ready to go for Monday.

If you need help in setting this up or would like me to help run and guide your pods, then please message me on Facebook or Instagram at CM Fitness and I will happily light a fire under you!

Cian Minihane is the owner and head coach at CM Fitness And Personal Training.