Start Your Fitness Journey in 3 Steps

Learn about the Power of Three, The Ultimate Fitness Trifecta

Good morning Ladies & Gents! I hope everyone had a great weekend. In conjunction with our Black Sheep of the month article last week (click here to check it out) and the Olympia event. I wanted to write an article for those who got inspired or motivated with all the fitness activity going on. Today, I will be giving you the Top 3 Steps you need to start your fitness journey. Now I know the holidays are coming up, but in my opinion this time of the year is the best time to get in shape.

Now, you may be saying, “E, summer is over, the holidays are coming up, whats the point.”

Well let me tell you. This is the perfect time to get back in shape and not wait until the New Year. Why? Well, for one it is the busiest time of the year. For those who have attempted to get back in shape know from experience that time is your worst enemy. Again, why? Time can work against us in two ways. One, we have too much time on our hands which can lead to eating. Two, too much free time can lead to laziness. I don’t know about you but being busy helps keep my mind off food. Also, it helps keep me on track at the gym once I have a set schedule. Plus, this time of year is perfect because you have scheduled refeed days.

Refeed days are a day where you increase your caloric/ macro intake to counter act any negative hormonal/metabolic adaptation that occurred dieting.

So long story short it’s a much-needed break from dieting. No matter what holiday you celebrate, the days are set in stone. This means that some of the guess work is done for you thus minimizing any deviating actions to occur. Furthermore, tracking your progress as you go from one holiday to the next can be very rewarding. Not only will you be seeing progress, but as you go from one holiday party to the next so will your close friends or family.

As stated above, one of the dilemmas is that summer is over and the hard work will remain hidden. In my opinion, what better holidays to show off your hard work than these end of year or new year holidays.

To name a few, there is Halloween, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Lucia, Kwanzaa, New Year and Mardi Gras. If you like to organize yourself like me, then you know that you have an opportunity once a month from now till February (ie Mardi Gras), not only for refeed days, but for an opportunity to show off your progress to family, friends, or to the public. Not to mention, major concerts, weddings, and festivals coming up.

There are many more reasons I have for getting in shape this part of the year, but for now let’s get back to the topic at hand: how to start your fitness journey in 3 steps.

I will be honest with you starting is not the most difficult part, it is starting and continuing the journey that requires much more effort. We all know January is the month for New Year’s resolutions, which is great, I commend anyone who has the courage to start, but we also know that February and March are months well known for said resolutions to make a covert exit. Hopefully with these 3 steps, you can begin now and continue well into next year.

Now for the first step.

1. Step One: Do not worry about the details! Everyone that I have ever worked with wants a master plan for their nutrition and exercise routine, but never get started. Unfortunately, I have seen that clients will either get overwhelmed, overconfident or impatient. I can really appreciate and enjoy a person’s excitement to start their journey thus resulting in the necessity for all the variables at hand whether its nutrition, sleep, supplements, or exercises.

Unfortunately, I have found that a majority will not start or simply will not continue past a month.

These individuals get overwhelmed by the sheer number of variables THEY asked for. When, in reality, a trainer should be only dealing with one variable at first, adherence. As for the second individual, they get overconfident which can lead to an “I’ll do it later” attitude or simply overestimating the work they put in. Lastly, we all know the impatient person who wants to be losing 3+ pounds a week and any kind of fluctuation that tips the scale to a numerical gain will result in a “its not working” attitude. As I said, adherence is the name of the game so start with small changes and enjoy the process.

Normally, when a client tells me they would like to start going to the gym 4 times a week, I tell them I’ll hold them to that, but realistically having them going 3 times a week is a gain in my book. As for their other habits, I substitute small actions like switching to diet soda, low calorie alternatives, or small similar actions that can easily be interchanged.

As I said before, adherence is key so going all in for most people does not work.

• Step Two: Start your journey with two friends. One friend is good, but two friends will hold one another accountable. Now, to make this trifecta better. One of those friends must be somewhat knowledgeable in what it is you are trying to achieve. I call this the Power of Three. It is the Ultimate Fitness Trifecta. In my experience, having three friend’s diet and train together makes the process, physically and psychologically better on one another. One of my tricks, would be running a special on group training. I would speak to each of them, get the least motivated one involved the most, while the most motivated client is merely enjoying the ride.

Obviously, the least motivated one would be the main contract holder, while the other two came in as guests. Having the most motivated and likely to adhere to the program as a guest usually held the other two responsible. IF the responsible one ever slacked off, well it was a perfect time for payback for the other two clients haha.

And the last step is…

• Step Three: Start simple. The last step coincides with the first to some extent. One of the common pitfalls I see is clients derailing themselves due to excessive intake of information. Start on a basic program that lasts anywhere from 45 to 75 minutes. Do not allow yourself to see what everyone else is doing at the gym, online, social media…etc. and attempt to replicate. You don’t have to spend loads of money on a trainer when you can get a simple program online for free. FOCUS ON THE BASICS! I have worked at public gyms and will attest to most trainers at these places lack in education and experience. Having worked at a LA Fitness, where a district manager and trainer, was teaching a client to squat and he deemed the squat worthy even though the client had knees falling inward and most of the weight was distributed on the inner most part of the foot. I was appalled to say the least, but this was normal throughout most of Arizona.

Please, if you want a trainer or nutrition sources, email me or comment and I will point you in the right direction, so you won’t get hurt. To wrap things up, don’t wait until the New Year to get started.

If set up correctly, you can be starting 2020 on a good note while still having fun at every holiday along the way. Remember, don’t focus too much on the detail. Like the saying goes, “paralysis by over analysis” is very common and not optimal. Next, take this journey with friends with the same goals. Having a support structure makes all the difference when trying to succeed and sometimes failing. Last, keep it simple. Do not try to do what you see at the gym or online. Enjoy the process along the way. If you want to start your fitness journey successfully follow these 3 steps and I can assure you will be in a much better place than most.