Fitness

When I was in college I was a personal trainer, throughout the time that I was able to train people 1-on-1 I learned a lot about the industry. The fitness or better referred to Health and Wellness Industry is massive. It accounts for about $4.12 Trillion of the US economy. With a projected growth rate. It really encompasses a lot of careers and markets. Personal Training and Group training is a huge area of opportunity for a lot passionate and hard working individuals. The reason is that the hardest thing about being fit is also the only way to truly be healthy. Many people genuinely struggle with working out because there is a lot of information out there. What I want to do here is give practical tips on how to exercise, and have a healthy balance. It really starts with winning big and not being to self-critical about your losses.

1. Nutrition

If you are wanting to lose or gain weight it really comes down to a simple concept. Calories in versus calories out. You’d like to be in a surplus for the former and a deficit for the latter. You don’t need to count every single calorie that enters your body. Not unless you are wanting to compete in Body building. A good practice for 4 days would be to track everything you eat. Two weekdays and two weekends. You want to do this because then you can have an estimate about how many calories are in the foods you eat. If I am eating an apple, that’s 100 calories. Eventually, you start being aware of the foods you consume on average and you can estimate the calories without having to carry a scale with you. The point we want to get to is when you can estimate you daily consumption. MyFitnessPal is a great tool to use.

Advanced Method: Talk to a professional about a diet plan tailored to you. What are some of the nutrients you should have in your diet. They can give you a plan to follow, and you can experiment with different foods you enjoy. By professional I mean Registered Dietitian or valid credentials. Not the guy/gal on your Instagram ads selling diet plans.

2. Be active

The truth of the matter is that you do not need to train like a Navy Seal or the intense workouts on motivational youtube videos to have a healthy body. The best approach is find something that you can do daily that keeps you moving and brakes a sweat. What ever it is you want it to be fun, it can be lifting weights, jogging, walking, or dancing. It can be anything that makes you move. The reason for this is because the human body is designed to move. Obviously for different goals your training will differ. However, for the majority of the population you will want to be alternating between training your muscles (Anaerobic) and heart (Aerobic).

Advanced tip: Define your fitness goal. Then search for workout routines on youtube. This is different to the guy selling nutrition plans. Most workouts will be effective in the sense that they will get you moving and braking a sweat. You can pay for a plan, but there is a lot of good content on Youtube. Find what works for you desired goals, and implement it in your routine.

If the hardest thing for you is actually doing it, then join a group or hire a trainer. The best investment is in yourself.

3. Sleep

The best thing you can do your body is have excellent sleep. The reason is that it is when your body recovers. It starts with having a set wake up time, to make sure you circadian rhythm is in synch. Followed, by adequate sleep time. The textbook answer is between 6-8 hours. It varies between people find what works for you. Don’t under do it or over do it. You should strive to find a healthy sleep schedule and stick to it. It can be a huge keystone habit. It is recommended you sleep in a colder room but all this is based on preference. The quality of sleep is in your comfort. Like sage sex advice if it feels good keep doing it, if doesn’t stop. If you see your productivity dropping, yawning every hour of the day, or waking up tired you have obviously gone wrong somewhere.

Lastly, all of these three are not negotiable. Nutrition fuels the body – therefore it is the most important. What you put into your body matters. Put shit in and you will perform and age like shit. Physical Activity – What you do does not matter, the important principle here is to move it daily. Switch it up. How you recover from the daily stress or physical stress (for you athletes) will have a positive or negative correlation in your performance. My favorite metaphor for taking care of the body is by Warren Buffet (Yes, the billionaire investor) He says, “Imagine you can buy any car, now you buy the car. I now tell you that it is the only car you can have for the rest of your life. You would take care of that car, you would wash that car every day. That’s how you should think about you body.” Now I may have paraphrased and missed some stuff but the idea is the same. The big wins are in those 3 simple areas. You do not have to worry about cold showers, fasted cardio, if cross fit is good or bad, if you should go vegan, and other trivial topics in the fitness world.

Recurring Theme: It is important to note in all 3 categories I emphasized the importance of taking responsibility. When you can understand that powerful idea, you will find yourself improving your overall health. No trainer is going to get your physical ability where you want it to be. If you were to train with a personal trainer for 1 hour a day, you still have 161 hours of no professional guidance. A good personal trainer will guide you. He will show you the principles of training and most importantly educate you. Because at the end of the day you will have to take ownership.