What’s the point of having a lean body if you don’t do anything with it?
Happy New Year and welcome to my first blog post of the decade. For Personal Trainers, it’s the busiest time of the year because, you’ve guessed it; it’s resolution time!! This year we’re going to smash out fitness goals, just like last year … well … we don’t talk about last year. All the ‘New Year, New You’ ads are coming out, so you can be confident, in four weeks’ time you are going to have a total body transformation.
Reality check! If you can get your ideal body in four weeks, you probably aren’t looking at those ads.
So what is the reality? We promise ourselves year in year out that this is gonna be the year, and it never is. Why? Answer’s easy. We give up. Then we start again. And we give up. Hardly surprising so many people never achieve their fitness goals.
We all know about Yo Yo dieting. Well, this is Yo Yo fitness. In the same way dieters go back to their bad eating habits, gym members keep getting on and getting off. On average, a gym membership lasts three months. To keep it up takes a lot of commitment and a massive life-style change. When you work in the fitness industry, you see people come and go, and literally a handful who commit long-term.
What is the difference between a Yo Yo gym goer and someone who commits long-term? I’d say the key thing is the bigger lifestyle picture. It comes down to lifestyle needs verses lifestyle wants. Those ads you see popping up all the time really are appealing to people with a short-term goal, like slimming down for a wedding or getting ready for a beach holiday. ‘Summer Bodies are made in Winter’ has become an old adage. Believe me, it takes a lot longer than 6 months to get that body and if you don’t use it, you lose it.
So when you look around and see people rocking those athletic bodies, it’s because they are using them. Fitness is an integral part of their life. These people have fitness hobbies. Their social life is their local sports club. And yeah, there are people who make the gym a lifestyle, but more often than not, there’s something else motivating their gym habit. The irony is, the more people get into sport, the less they think about the way it’s making them look. They become more focused on training goals like getting a PB on a Strava segment.
The lean body is a byproduct of their fitness lifestyle.
If you want get off the yoyo, you take yourself in direction other than up and down. Be goal focused and be realistic about when you will achieve it. Break your goals into milestones and when you’ve reached one, set your sights on the next. Focus on getting fit. Body sculpting is a natural follow on and the fitter you are, the faster the results.
Work with a personal trainer. When there’s someone on your case, you’ll get your butt in gear and a good personal trainer will show you exciting ways to work out and keep you motivated. Join fitness classes or sports clubs. Don’t be afraid of not being fit enough. Novices are the future of the club. There will be people there to support and encourage you. In no time you’ll make new friends and your social life will revolve around the club.
So next time you see an ad showing someone sporting their beach ready body, remember, that did not happen in four weeks. What you see there, is life-long commitment to fitness goals, and what a great life!!
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