The Best Program You're Not Doing

The grass is always greener on the other side...

What's that guy over there doing? He looks like he's doing better than me...

Maybe I need to try that new program I just read about.

Or join that bootcamp to get rid of my beer belly..

There are always going to be get-rich-quick schemes. And fitness programs that promise super fast results.

And while some quick results are good, and can be encouraging and motivating, it's more about long-term progress.

Whenever you try something new it's fun. It works. For a little while.

As strength coach Dan John says "everything works for 6 weeks".. or was it 4 weeks? Either way.. Your body is not used to the stimulus. It must adapt. You get results. Often very quickly.

But this wears off. Now what?

Jump on another program every time the old one loses its novelty effect?

I find it exciting to program my own workouts. Tracking them on paper, changing things as I see fit. Finding new weakness and attacking them. Adjusting as I go along but sticking to a general plan. But I realize not everyone cares to do this or is as interested in fitness this way as I am.

So what should you do?

You can get a coach/trainer. Join a group fitness class. Find a training partner who can teach you something and you can bounce ideas off each other. Or get on legitimate program that you can tweak and use as a guide to follow.

Yes, the best program is the one you are not doing. But depending on what your goals are, and what kind of results you're after, maybe you shouldn't jump from one program to the next every few weeks.

When a program stops 'working'. Maybe you just need to make one or two small tweaks. Then go from there. Just don't change too many variables at once because then you won't know what worked and what didn't. 

Work hard and stay consistent. And find something you will enjoy!

Mondays are for Strength Training... or the Blues..

Are you ready for some Monday motivation?!! 

Yeah, me either.

Those posts are total bs as far as I'm concerned. No one reads them and goes out and dominates the day like they were suddenly shook from a daydream and now totally inspired to go get 'em.

I'm not a fan of the opposite either. The 'case of the Mondays' crew...   the ones who say "same shit, different day.. or "here we go again, another week..."

If that's you, find something to get fired up about.

I'm not talking just going to the gym either. Although for many of us, that is exactly what we need. What we look forward to. We crave it.

The challenge. The struggle. The sweat and the pain.

Get excited about something. 

In the gym or anywhere.

If you aren't excited about the day, or anything about it, pick one thing you can go dominate. Maybe it's some squats. Or sprints. Or taking a hike and going for a swim.

Do something physical that will get you going today. And every Monday.

It's not about being all "Monday morning motivation" rah rah.. but don't be the opposite either and say it''s just another lame Monday. Go set a new personal record. Hit one more rep than last time.

Get it. Today.

And tomorrow.

Regardless of the day, month, moon cycle..etc..

Quick Workouts

There will come a time when you just need to get in a 15-30 minute workout. You have no more time that day.

I used to think it was better to just take the whole day off to recover. And sometimes you need to do this. But honestly I think more people need to move more so an "off day" should still include some kind of "workout".  No, walking doesn't count here. It's good to walk. Do it daily. No kidding right? But as I go along in my life and my fitness journey I feel it's imperative to do something physical- with some kind of structure for AT LEAST 15 minutes a day.

Today I had about 23 minutes. Between clients that's all I had. The rest of the day just doesn't allow for it today. This is rare for my not to have at least an hour dedicated to my physical fitness but today was one of those days.

So what did I do?  What should you do?

Here's what I did and some ideas for you. I will keep it brief because I know our attention spans are what, 5 seconds or so?

So I did a mostly upper body- focused session.

Started with a warmup of bodyweight exercises- jumping jacks, reverse lunges, squats, pushups, trx facepulls.

Then I got into some circuits. I did pushups with feet elevated, chest supported rows, db cleans, lateral raises and db presses. High reps. No rest between exercises. I did this for a good 5-6 rounds then I mixed in some reverse lunges, trx face pulls and more pushups. Another 2-3 rounds and then I was done.

Not much equipment needed. And not much time.

You can find 15 minutes. It will make a difference.

Not only in your physique but in your mind. Your will. Keeping the habit of working to improve yourself daily is important. It's not just about burning fat but that's an element of it, for sure.

If you have no equipment you can do 15 minutes of bodyweight exercises. Start with squats and pushups. Do 5 reps and increase by 1 each set going back and forth until you reach failure. Then go to planks and reverse crunches, doing as many as possible then reducing the reps and/or time each set until you are done with 4-5 rounds.

There are many ways to get it done.

You could do it outside with no equipment. Mix in some sprints with bird dogs. Go for 5 minutes back and forth with limited to no rest. Then rest 1-2 minutes and repeat 2-3 more times.

15 minutes is enough.

In my opinion it's better than taking the whole day off to "rest" just laying on the couch eating and watching tv. Sure you can do that, I'm not against relaxing and taking some time off when you need it but overall we need to do more work. Be more active.

So do it daily.

You won't regret the days you do it.

Go Hard or Go Home?

Hey I'm all for going hard in the gym. You get what you give, right? The harder you work the better your results will be... for the most part.

But you have a life. You don't spend all your time and energy on working out and your nutrition and getting enough sleep, massage, stretching, yoga etc..

So this is where I say let's get realistic.

How much work can you do in a week to make progress? Should you always strive to do more? Or should you do just enough?

As with anything fitness-related, there are a ton of opinions on this and many studies, of course.

Here's my opinion, take it for what it is. My experience and my opinion. Works for a lot of people, but not for everyone.

Keep in mind that this is for a general fitness-enthusiast. It's a funny term, fitness-enthusiast, but when reading articles and books about fitness, remember that the writer has a specific person in mind. For me it's not an athlete. It's not a competitive bodybuilder or powerlifter. I am writing for the person who wants to get in better shape, get stronger and look better on the beach but who doesn't want to spend a ton of time in the gym (if at all) and who has a busy work life, family life and fitness is not the number 1 priority.

With that said...I'm not going to give you a number of days per week to workout or anything like that. What I want to do is give you an idea of how I like to structure going hard in the gym and having more "park bench" days.

One way that is very effective is to have a very hard day followed by an easier day. You could go heavier weight one day and the next you could do just bodyweight exercises and some machines (if at a gym)

Another great way to structure high intensity days is to just get after it when you get into the gym and feel like you are pumped, full of energy etc..

Not every day needs to be one of those all-out crazy marathon workouts where you leave every single drop of yourself in the gym and you have nothing left. Those memes that say you have to go hard or go home and that try to be hardcore and make everyone feel like if they don't basically pass out by the end of the workout that it's useless.

Pay no attention to memes on the internet! Seriously, they are the worst.

Mix in some very hard days with days that you go in work hard and do what you need to do. Put together enough of those and you will get where you want to go. Consistency is the key.  Not going as hard as possible for every single rep, exercise and workout.

The Right Fitness Plan for You

With so much information out there, how do you know what fitness plan you should follow?

Before I answer the question let me just make it clear what I want to do with this blog. Since this is my first blog post on this new blog (I had hundreds on my old blog) I want to start out by letting you know that I like to keep things simple. I'm all about results. For myself, for my clients and for you, the reader.

With that being said, back to the question.

The best fitness plan and the best diet plan is the one you will follow. The one you will do. Where you will be consistent, make progress and it's something you can stick to long-term.

Now I could go many directions with this point but like I said, I want to make this simple. Let's talk results.

1- Be realistic. How many days can you see yourself committing to the gym? Be honest with yourself. Same for your diet plan. Can you see yourself sticking to whatever diet you choose for 80% or more of the time?

2. Find something you enjoy. If you hate to run then don't try to run yourself into shape. Or if you can't stomach going into a commercial gym then find a way to work out in your garage or find a small studio with a trainer to help you out.

3. Experiment. Try different programs. Give a program some time to work before changing it up all the time but if you dread going to the gym and don't look forward to your workouts at all then you may need to find something else. There's no hard rule that says you have to lift a certain way or only do certain exercises.  Find your own way!

That's it for now. 

In this age of technology and social media there's enough to read and videos to watch. We have short attention spans. How much info can we even hold in our minds?  So I will keep these short and to the point with the hopes that it will help someone. If you have more questions, feel free to email me.

I usually reply within a day with my honest opinion.