There’s literally hundreds of exercise methods, and every one of em’ has its own “spin”. Which one is right for you depends on your ability to answer the question, “What’s your outcome?”.
I believe in implementing various training methods to achieve specific results but anything put into practice is done with a single strategy in mind. Check it out in this video I made for you. (6 minute view)
If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or improve your fitness let me save you the heartache and tell you right now, you’re going to fail. How do I know? Statistics. Only 8% of people achieve their new year’s resolution and few of those that achieve it maintain it. Now if you happen to be a part of the 8% chances are it’s because your resolution is more than a resolution, it’s an absolute must.
For the majority of people a resolution is a “should”. They should lose weight, they should stop smoking, they should exercise, they should eat healthier, they should eat less. You never get shit done when it’s a “should” because there is no urgency. But when it’s a must, you act!
However have there ever been times when you knew you must do something and you still didn’t follow through? Of course you have. We’ve all had those moments. Some of us have them multiple times a day.
The reason why this happens is because we don’t have a compelling enough reason to take action. If the resulting pain (negative consequence) from inaction is not painful enough to get us moving or, the pleasure (perceived gratification) we get from the end result is not great enough, then we tend not to act or act with enough effort.
Forget making a resolution, create a vision. Your ultimate vision. To do this you just need to ask yourself some questions: If you could achieve all your fitness goals what would be the outcome? How would you look? How would you feel? What would you think about yourself? How would others see you? What could you do? What type of energy and health would you have?
Without vision, setting goals, taking action, and achieving them is nearly impossible. But vision alone is still not enough. In fact there are a lot of people who have vision but still don’t evolve. They’re called “dreamers.” And dreamers typically live in their parent’s basement while telling others all that they are going to achieve. They have the vision but they’re missing the second critical ingredient, purpose.
Purpose is what drives us. It’s the engine that moves us toward our vision while hitting all the milestones along the way that we call goals. With enough purpose anything can be accomplished. Have you ever achieved something that initially seemed out of reach but because your reason for achieving it was so compelling you found a way? How many parents—in the face of hardship—have “found a way” to make sure their children have all that they need? That level of purpose, of meaning, is what you need to find in order to realize your vision.
The questions you need to be asking yourself are: Why am I doing this? What will it mean to achieve my vision? How will it make me feel? How will it affect my relationship; with my spouse/significant other, my children, my friends…myself? How will my life be different? What will happen if I don’t change? What will my health and quality of look like if I don’t do something now?
Once you have established your vision and purpose now it’s time to start setting some goals—some outcomes with a deadline. Work backwards from your vision. What are all the things you’ll need to achieve to realize your vision? If it at first it seems overwhelming don’t worry. The next thing you’re going to do is to take those big outcomes and break them up into little 90 day outcomes (or quarterly goals). Viewing things from these ninety day increments should make your ultimate goals appear more easily attainable. If you need to take it a step further and break up your 90 day outcomes into weekly results.
You don’t need (nor want) a resolution, you just need a vision and your purpose for achieving it and you’ll be set up for success.
I have a lot of friends in the fitness industry. (Actually I just lost one the other day but hey, some people need to alienate as many people as possible in order to help their brand stand out…I get it.) One thing I always find interesting is that sometimes my fellow fitness professionals have a hard time breaking away from their long held beliefs. They might question a few of them from time to time but rarely will it result in them making a change in how they train themselves and others.
The reason: business.
Many—me included—have built successful personal training businesses that center around a message. This message is at the core of what makes the business tick, why people keep coming back, why others seek you out, and why others run in the opposite direction. Just look at Crossfit.
In order to have people follow you and adhere to your recommendations, you need to be “all-in” and follow your own advice. A big part of the message at our studio is that it doesn’t take more than sixty to ninety minutes of exercise a week to achieve a high level of fitness. Some of my friends take this message of efficiency to another level by promoting fifteen to twenty minutes of exercise weekly.
When someone turns to me and says, “You must train every day, right?” I’m quick to point out that I rarely train more than ninety to one-hundred minutes a week, even during the bodybuilding competition season. I remain true to what I teach and to prove a point in the process. The point being—based on the way I implement exercise I can train less than the majority of fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders and still compete at the highest level.
But let’s back up for a moment. Did you notice in my response to the question I’m often asked I said “rarely”?
I do this not to be deceptive but to leave doors open to other possibilities. Sometimes you need to set the business model (and ego) aside in order to focus on the training; to experiment or explore an approach that is outside of the model. Or the other option is to hold steadfast to what you do, look like you have all the answers because you work within a very narrow system, and come up with reasons why the other methods are complete shit.
If what you uncover through experimental training works but doesn’t quite fit your business model it doesn’t mean the model is wrong and you have to abandon it or eat crow. You may consider revising it, adding on to it, or keeping it exactly as is because it works for the niche you cater to and is what they want. The worse that can happen is that you learn something which helps you to better comprehend the nuances of the art of exercise science.