I hear it all the time…
“ I wish I could have a body like ‘Insert Name Here’. “
Now, I am talking here about comparisons to ‘normal’ people, people in the gym that others look at and say the above comment. They say it though with no real understanding or appreciation for what that person has done to look that way. Let’s forget genetics and age etc for a second. Here I want to share with you the characteristics and the things that these people do to look the way they do, to have people say things like the comment above about them.
Wanna know how they do it?
As mentioned above I want to talk to you about both characteristics and the actions these people take. In most cases results do not happen by accident, lean physiques are not created or maintained by accident. It takes a lot of dedication, sacrifice, planning, time, effort – you get the idea. Unfortunately you cannot just drink a ‘Laxative Coffee’ or ‘Fat Burner Pill’ that the latest idiot of a z-list celebrity is promoting because they have run out of money (they don’t actually use the products by the way – they pray on young vulnerable people/their followers to allow themselves to offer a ‘discount code’ to make money – they don’t care about you or the lack of long-term results you will get from the product!). Think about it, you don’t see the people in the gym that are successful with their results taking these supplements do you? So with that information, you now know that these are to be avoided – hopefully.
The first thing that you think these people have in abundance is motivation… WRONG. Motivation is a short-term emotion we experience when our senses are temporarily heightened to the very thing we want, but it goes away doesn’t it? From the very second you have the motivation, it only diminishes and you don’t know why…
So if that is the case how do they turn up every day?
Discipline
Secret number one required for someone to achieve results, not just in the gym, but in any scenario in life. Discipline (not motivation) is what ensures that people turn up every day, we don’t turn up to work because we are motivated (we might be, but not always), we turn up to work because we have discipline in that area of our life. If we relied upon motivation, there would be a lot more sick days… Discipline is doing things when you don’t want to, or when you don’t quite feel like it and sometimes it means doing things that you don’t want to do. Guess what… Successful people create discipline in their life in order to have stability but more importantly growth – you have to do this with your weight loss goals. You have to turn up when you don’t feel like it because if you don’t then, well you know what happens to your results. This isn’t a secret, it isn’t anything new but it’s absolute golden advice and the only thing that will allow you to get started and build a routine of positive exercise and nutrition habits. The people that get results use discipline to ensure they turn up, follow their plan and eat accordingly.
Which brings me nicely on to my next point, you must have discipline specifically with your workouts, in order to progress you must be able to apply the basic principle of progressive overload which is basically making your training harder over time. There are so many ‘influencers’ now providing conflicting information it is no wonder you are confused. Here is the secret, you need a programme to follow, that incorporates compound movements, 3-5 times per week. You then need to ensure that the weights you are lifting for the rep range that you choose are heavy! You must be putting your muscles under challenge, under stress to encourage change/growth. You must then turn up again and again, and over time you must increase your weight. You could also increase sets or vary tempo to further apply progressive overload. REPEAT, AND REPEAT SOME MORE. I am not trying to be boring here but this is how it is.
The same applies with nutrition, you will want to eat the stuff you shouldn’t, it is natural – here is another secret, the people who get results want that too… If you think for one second that they don’t love pizza or ice cream as much as you do, think again. The difference is that they create discipline so that they say no, they remember that the need to change and achieve their goal is more important than the short-term pleasure they will get from those very things. Until YOU decide that the need to change outweighs the need to continue to over-eat these things – NOTHING WILL CHANGE. The ones with results have already realised this…
They are also disciplined with their overall movement, they monitor they step count, but they don’t just talk about achieving 10,000, 12 or 15,000 steps per day – THEY DO IT. And yes… Some of them have sedentary jobs too, some of them have kids too. You are not different, your job is not different, your environment is not different to that person who remains disciplined… Just saying.
If you are still reading then brilliant, because it means you haven’t been offended. I am purposely trying to call you out, I am purposely trying to get you to question your own behaviours and then your desires to change, so thanks for staying with me. There will be some whom I have offended and haven’t got this far, that’s ok but they will not achieve what you will do… So read on.
Consistency
The next secret or characteristic of successful people lies in the fact they can deliver time and time again, over a period of time they deliver, they maintain discipline over a long period of time – they are consistent.
Most people move in and out of dieting, in and out of exercise, name something else in the world that you can dip your feet in and out of and actually achieve something of value… I’ll be waiting…
We’ve all heard it, nothing worth having comes easy right? But it’s so damn true.
Whether you want to achieve your goals aggressively in the short-term or steadily in the long-term you must display consistency throughout. In order for you to firstly achieve but also to be able to understand where you need to improve or manipulate. Consistency provides you with data, with information for you to use to monitor progress, you can then adjust variables to see what keeps you moving.
Buy a gym membership, hire a trainer, do cardio, do resistance – do any of this…
BUT
Without these two un-sexy components of DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENCY you will not succeed.
That’s what that person in the gym how you compare has on you, nothing else fancy, trust me, it’s these two things.
Now then, it’s over to you…
But if you would like help, I can do that too, I can help map the plan out for you, I will educate, coach and push you through it – if you are truly ready to execute (and only then), then it is time to apply to my online coaching programme…
Not convinced yet? That’s ok you want to know more, I get that.
Here’s some testimonials and photos from people who applied those two secrets alongside my guidance…
Well, what can I say about Dale……First impressions are how professional he is, then when you’ve been in his company for a while you realise how knowledgeable he is, he is so dedicated to his mission, which is to make people understand how and why they lose weight/muscle or gain weight/muscle. I’ve used a few different personal trainers but Dale is different, he’s not interested in taking photos and uploading them to social media, he really wants you to succeed in your journey, he’s not all about money, he’s always doing free group tasks and seminars, you can really see how happy peoples success make him. He’s not a soft touch though, if you don’t do what you know you’re supposed to be doing, he will tell you!! But what’s the point in paying a PT if they’re not going to keep you in check?? Sale is more than just exercise, he is about nutrition, exercise, science behind weigh gain, best PT I’ve used and yes he will whip your ass if that’s what you need to keep you on track.
Kathryn Baldwin
We are 3 weeks in and 7 ½ lbs lost. I have never used SMART objectives for fitness which in my line of work I am now wondering why not. I fell into the trap that I attended the gym but did not accurately track food and steps were below average. A few motivational emails have made me move more and plan ahead. I might need to change my goal for the next 4 weeks as I set my target as 8lbs in 8 weeks and I am nearly there after 4!
Lisa Haywood