The Five Whys

Pep Talk

You may have heard of the concept of the "Five Whys" before.  It's usually associated with business principles and root cause analysis.  Basically -- what is the REAL cause of your problem?  Finding the real cause ensures that you are actually fixing the problem, and not just trying to temporarily relieve symptoms of the problem.

For example, you might find that you can't fit in your workouts because you don't have time.  But is that all there is to it?  Asking yourself "why" five times might help you figure out the real underlying cause of your obstacles.

For example, let's say your problem is, "I keep missing my workouts."

1. Why do you keep missing your workouts?
• Because I don't have time. (Keep in mind that most people just stop here.)
2. Why don't you have time?
• Because the kids' schedules are crazy and I have to taxi them around.
3. Why do you have to taxi them around?
• Because no one else will do it.
4. Why won't anyone else do it?
• Because I haven't asked them.
5. Why haven't you asked them?
• I don't know.  I guess I could see if my friend could drop them off.  She's driving that way anyway.

This is just an example, but you can see how it can be effective in problem solving.  Let's look at an example related to nutrition.

1. Why are you finding it hard to eat healthy?
• Because it's too much work.
2. Why is it too much work?
• Because I end up having to cook two dinners.
3. Why are you cooking two dinners?
• Because my family won't eat the healthy meals.
4. Why won't they eat the healthy meals?
• Because they prefer eating junk food.
5. Why do they prefer the junk food?
• Because it's what they're used to eating.

From here, we've learned the real cause of this person's struggle with eating healthy:  their family isn't on board with a lifestyle change.  If we had stopped at the first question, we might have just accepted that it's just "too much work."  But by digging deeper, we can see that we need to engage the family more.  Some options could be to sit down and explain to the family why we are making a change to healthy eating, or even include them in the menu planning and cooking.

As you can see, using the "Five Whys" can be very helpful in removing obstacles from your goals.  Use it to stay on track and overcome any barriers getting in the way of your health and fitness!

Challenge Workout

Complete 3 rounds, taking breaks as needed, of:

• 50 Squats
• 25 Crunches
• 10 Pushups