Rachel’s Tips to Overcoming Obstacles on your Challenge

Move With Us Challenges aren't called a challenge for no reason. It's not an easy road to levelling up your fitness game, your mindset, and your habits, but it’s not meant to be. This journey requires a whole lot of self belief, determination and hard work, but we promise it’s always worth it.

Move With Us Founder and Coach, Rachel Dillon says that her experience in competing to be crowned the 3x WBFF World Title Bikini Champion was a surreal and rewarding experience, with so many valuable lessons that can also be applied to the MWU Challenge experience.

“Beyond building my dream physique, my comp preps have taught me so much about myself and my mind and body, and they’ve challenged me to become the person I always knew I could be. As with anything in life that's worth having, it’s not easy.”

To give you an insight into what it takes, Rachel shares the 5 Biggest Struggles she experienced when preparing for her WBFF World Titles competition, to help support you in your Challenge journey.

1. Finding Time

This is the most common issue for me and also my clients. There is no denying the simple fact that you need to invest TIME into your body in order for it to change.

I personally aim to workout 6 days per week, and on top of that I need to make time to prepare my meals, and I also need to make time for sleep and recovery in order to look my best.

The best solution to this problem is preparation and prioritisation. I need to create an environment and plan my days so that I can achieve everything that I set out to. For me, despite my busy lifestyle, I aim to make fitness a priority so I like to ensure that I make time for my workouts and meals each week. I like to set aside a few hours on Sunday and Wednesday to prep my meals for the coming days. This way, I can avoid the temptation to eat out and ensure I stick to my nutrition goals and macronutrients. I also like to go into the week knowing which days I am training therefore I can ensure I pack my gym clothes if I am going into the office, or if I know I have a busy day working on a shoot I will schedule in my rest day. 

2. Am I Training Hard Enough?

This is a question I ask myself all the time. I am very aware to not take the easy route of just going through the motions in my training, and view every workout as an opportunity to better myself. I always challenge myself to maximise my workouts and hate the feeling of knowing I left the gym without giving my all. There is a difference between training hard, and training smart - and there is a place for both.

I am not in the gym for hours on end, instead, I focus on my training quality and intensity. Showing up to the gym is not enough in itself - you need to constantly remind yourself to push your limits with every single set. 

3. Training Towards a Goal

In order to achieve a very specific goal, you need to consistently follow a specific approach. During my comp preps, my training was very focused on working on specific areas to change my shape and achieve the physique that’s required for competing.

During preps, training towards a goal means changing my usual style of training and resisting the temptation to do the workouts I prefer more. I have to keep my eyes on the prize and stay focused on my goal, and this is important for you too!

Have you identified your goal for the challenge? If you have a specific physical goal such, are you choosing a training style that aligns with this goal? 

4. Finding Balance

I am very aware of how to maintain a healthy relationship with my fitness journey.

Competing can be a very selfish sport, and although I have to make a lot of sacrifices and focus a lot of energy on myself, I am very conscious that I made the decision to do this and that it's my responsibility.

There is no point in feeling sorry for myself when I need to make sacrifices. Instead I choose to remind myself to make time for my loved ones and in my case, my business. While fitness is a huge part of who I am, it's not the only important thing in my life. I love my family and my business with all my heart and I'm always aware of giving the right amounts of myself to everything.

It’s important to find a balanced routine that works for you, and to make your health and fitness routines a priority while also fitting it into your lifestyle and other priorities.

There will be some days where you experience unexpected roadblocks or run out of time and this is when you may need to compromise your lower level priorities to ensure you stay on track. Even though this may seem counterintuitive when discussing balance, you will actually provide your future self with additional freedom by making smaller compromises now. It will all be worth it at the end of your challenge 🩷

5. Maintaining a Positive Mindset and Discipline

While comp prep may appear to be all about my body, my mindset is equally as important. Through competing, I have trained my mind to be strong and confident, and I have been able to challenge myself to see what I'm truly capable of. Through your challenge, you too will feel this thrill of testing your limits, overcoming hardships, and pushing yourself to be your best.

I have earned a sense of self-belief knowing that if I set my mind to something, I won't stop until I achieve it. Remember that if something is worth having, you're going to have to work for it, so you need to decide from the get go if you're in it or not. I decided a long time ago that I'm definitely in it. The moment I committed, I knew I was 100% in it and never looked back on this journey.

Like I did throughout my comp prep, every morning and night I encourage you to manifest and visualise what you want to achieve. I truly believe that the universe gives back what you put out, so each day focus on being the best you can, and direct your energy and efforts towards your goals.

I hope these tips will help inspire you on your Challenge journey! If you have any questions feel free to reach out to our friendly MWU team here. 

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