6 Lessons Learned From My Fitness Journey

A few key lessons I learned (and tested myself) are the following:

  1. Slow, consistent progress over time is KEY.

    • Beginners can make progress faster than intermediate or advanced trainees, but “overnight“ success, or “30-day“ diets are not what create real, lasting change.

    • Take it step-by-step. This is a process. Your body cannot be rushed. Focus on the little, short-term progress whilst remembering the long-term vision/goal.

  2. Mindset, lifestyle, and identity change are the REAL goal (and reward).

    • Yes, everybody has a goal and results obviously matter. But, more than anything, WHO you BECOME is FAR more important than WHAT you GET. Read that again.

    • Imagine an extremely overweight person. Now imagine I wave my magic wand and suddenly give them a six-pack. How long do you think the six-pack will last for? For 99% of them, it’ll be gone ASAP. Why? Because I might have changed what’s merely on the surface of their body, but I didn’t change what’s inside of their mind. I didn’t change their daily habits, their approach to dieting and training, their relationship to hard work, etc…. I didn’t change THEM nor their LIFESTYLE.

    • On the other hand, imagine I make a healthy, super active athlete very overweight using my magic wand again. How long do you think it will last for?? You get the point.

    • This doesn’t mean you should not have a goal in mind. On the contrary, research shows having a specific & challenging goal increases the chances of reaching it 90% of the time. So in essence, let your goal motivate you, but don’t get discouraged when you don’t get there overnight. Focus on the process, and on achieving the steps that will take you to the goal.

  3. Consistency, and commitment are non-negotiable.

    • Listen, you don’t need to be in the gym for 2 hours a day, 6 days a week. I work with enough normal, every-day people to know that volume beats intensity. Don’t stretch 1x per week for 2 hours, stretch every day for 10 minutes. Don’t train hard for a few weeks, only to shortly after go on a month-long hiatus. Train regularly, every week. Whether it’s 2x or 4x per week, just do whatever you can uphold over the long-term.

  4. Have a strong WHY.

    • "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche

    • If you only "kind of" want to lose weight, you’re not going to. You need a strong, real reason WHY you want to lose weight. Otherwise, the second that resistance begins to creep in, you won’t have a strong enough reason to push it back, and you’ll give in.

    • Remember: Motivation is cool, it can get the engine started, but discipline and a strong reason why will keep the engine going.

  5. Focus on Weakpoints.

    • sdwew

  6. Have fun!

    • Changing your body can be a daunting task, especially when you have much to change. Obviously, it will take work, and there will be times where it will suck! But guess what, otherwise it wouldn’t be a goal worthy enough of pursuing.

    • On top of that, your discipline can only go so far. Don’t get me wrong, discipline is super, super important, but absolutely nobody has infinite will-power. You need to also enjoy what you’re doing. You need to have fun. You need to be passionate about it. If you don’t, your journey will be like a yoyo, guaranteed. You will suck up all of the will-power on the way down, and when you eventually run out (which you will), you’ll cave in and jump right back up.

    • You must find something you enjoy enough so you can stick to it. Again, volume beats intensity. You won’t stick to your workouts if you absolutely dread them. You won’t stick to eating healthily if you absolutely hate your meals.

    • Also, if your trainer (a.k.a. me) is a jackass, or if you absolutely hate your training’s with him, you won’t stick around very long either, will you? So it’s important to make the process as enjoyable as possible, to switch things up from time to time, and in case you’re working with a trainer, having one who isn’t a jackass isn’t a bad idea!

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