While 2020 was a crazy year, I was fortunate enough to still be able to train many people. Every person you train is going to be different and present different challenges. However, there have been many themes I have noticed that will really help anybody reach their fitness goals. Here they are…
Measure
What gets measured gets managed. Progress is addicting. How do you truly know if you are progressing if you are not tracking anything? Write down your workouts, what you ate, how you felt on a certain day, etc. The crazy thing to me is that there are so many people out there who struggle with losing weight but have never tracked their calories for a week. There are so resources out there that will calculate your maintenance calories. Once you’ve done that you just need to find a diet that will keep your calories below your maintenance calories and ta-da, you will lose weight. Measuring things definitely takes effort. Anything that leads to significant change requires effort.
Avoid Gimmicks & Misinformation
There sure is a lot of it. The easiest thing to sell to people is a product that will get them “fast results.” This usually involves some BS fairy pixie dust detox celery juice fat burning powder potion. All of this is garbage. There is also no such thing as a magic program. No, you won’t put 100 pounds on your bench, gain 8 inches on your vertical, or gain 20 pounds of muscle in a month. Bradley Martyn’s workout will also not make you look like him. Seek out information from people who have gotten themselves and other every day people results without any PEDs. Anything that promises fast results is probably a marketing scheme that preys on the insecurity of people.
Be Consistent
A quote by Dan John that has always stuck with me is “Most champions are built by punch the clock workouts rather than extraordinary efforts.” An average effort over years will always lead to better results than a significant effort over weeks or months. It’s really easy for anybody to get into an exercise kick, but to ever see lasting results it needs to be an everyday thing. You know that gross feeling you get when you don’t brush your teeth? You have to get to the point where you feel that way when you don’t exercise. I am not saying you have to crush weights or run long distances seven days a week, but you should do something that elevates your heart rate daily.
Stick to the Basics
There are always fads that come and go in fitness. There’s always a reason they go. Squatting, pressing, pulling, eating a lot of protein, drinking water, and going for a walk are among many things that will never go out of style and will always render results. Find methods of exercise that you enjoy. Another great quote is, “The best program is the one that you will do.” The basics will always provide you with a stimulus strong enough to yield physical change.
I hope my words will get the gears in your head turning a little bit. With everything going on in the world right now, your health should most definitely be climbing up your priority list. Make your body a nightmare of a host for any virus or illness.
Andre Rossignol's Blog 