Due to some recent conversations I’ve had with people just starting out on this journey as well as some new members here on the forum, I’ve been thinking about how different types of people call for different starting points.
I realized that based on my *web persona* many of you probably believe that there is One Right Way To Train.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. The best program in the world is the one that you are going to stick with for the remainder of your life. It’s the program that you are going to understand how to implement, how to adapt and modify, and know why you are doing the things you are doing with the program.
Before I move on, I’d like to mention one thing about programs.
A program in today’s society means something very different from how I define program. Program by today’s standards means a set way of doing things that will surely result in progress for the end-user. Any user at that. Most of the time, it’s of secretive nature. Give me $49.95 for a few months and BINGO, you’ve got yourself the program that’s shed 1.2 million
pounds across 47 different countries.
There’s a big problem with this line of reasoning. Programs in this sense don’t exist. It’s physiologically and psychologically impossible to create a program that will match the needs of each and every one of you. Marketers/advertisers push the Program Concept onto society daily. Most people I come across are in search of The Program. They’ve “tried everything under the sun and just can’t lose the weight.” And they want someone to show them EXACTLY what to do. They want The Program.
You see, program by my definition means this: A set of underlying principles that apply to each and every one of us that must be included in what we do in order to shape up. This set is not set and
stone and it’s not stagnant. It must be dynamic by nature, meaning, we must understand how/when to apply and/or modify each variable, personally, to meet our individual goals as they change. Individual being a very key word.
By this definition, hopefully you can see how it’s impossible that such a thing as The Program can exist.
Some of you at this point are probably thinking, “What are the principles?”
I regret to inform you, but nothing on the list of principles is new or exciting. It’s the basic stuff that each and every one of us have known all along. It’s the simple stuff that we forget while we’re searching for The Program. And the list is different for different people.
In an ideal world, and this is much of what you see me discuss here in this forum, the list would look something like this:
1. Control of
energy (calorie) balance to match your goals, have them be
weight loss or gain.
2. Determining what foods should comprise this
energy intake to match your goals.
3. The inclusion of resistance training based on the core, fundamental, compound lifts. This subject is vast and there are many underlying principles that should be adhered to here, but that’s for another article.
4. The inclusion of cardiovascular exercise. This serves a two-fold function. For one, it provides positive benefits relative to cardiovascular health. Two, for those of us attempting to lose
fat, cardiovascular exercise serves as an “energy bank
5. Skill-related training/practice for those who are involved in
sport.
6. Stretching/flexibility/soft tissue work to “complete the package” of owning a healthy
body.
7. Last but certainly not least, exercise of the mind, human development,
goal creation, neurolinguistic programming, or whatever the heck you want to call it. Healthy mind certainly comes before healthy
body IMO.
You can add more to the list, but if someone includes each of these variables, it’s a surefire way to meet their
fitness/health/physique goals.
This is NOT where someone HAS to start. Actually, I’d never expect someone living the “couch potato” lifestyle at the moment, to up and start doing each of these things tomorrow. The brain doesn’t work like that. Changing habits is a difficult and time-consuming procedure.
Just as there is no one-program for everyone, there is no one-starting place for everyone. For some, they might like the strictness of a set eating and training regimen. For those people, there are plenty of individuals that can help get them started around this forum. And they will do so gladly.
For others, small changes are better suiting. For these people, their list of variables might look something as simple as this:
1. Stop sitting on my ass after work and go for a daily walk.
2. Stop drinking soda, they are worthless
calories.
These people need simplicity if they are going to stick with this for any appreciable length of time. They can start by simply avoiding the consumption of worthless
calories. Their starting point could be the stoppage of smoking. It could be simply going for a walk around the block every night. The list of ways to start for this category of people is endless. We aren’t stupid. We know what’s healthy and what’s not. For these people, the start is either adding something healthy to the list to adopt or dropping something unhealthy from their current list.
The idea with this latter group is consistency. Once they decide to make one or two small changes, they must be consistent with it. Not only will this get easier with time, but it will also form new habits if the law of consistency is applied. It will also help you change your mindset.
More importantly, this group must be progressive in nature.
Remember, you're (speaking to this latter group) starting from the simplest starting point. You can’t expect this to translate into loads of
weight loss. I’ve certainly encountered the individual, especially in communities such as this, who definitely need to start from such a simple point. However, their expectations are usually cross-wired. They believe that since they are doing SOMETHING, that the weight should just fall off.
In reality, the
weight loss goals should be set aside at the moment. Sure, indirectly we will be working towards them. But weighing yourself every single day at this stage in the game is stupid. You aren't doing enough to make any drastic impacts. If they come indirectly, great. If they don't, so what? That's not the point.
For now, you're simply working on creating new habits that will help you DOWN THE ROAD to do the things that translate into real/significant
weight loss or
body recomposition.
With this type of mindset, where expectations are set far too high relative to the actions they are currently taking, they are setting themselves up for failure automatically.
This is where the idea of progression comes into play.
Progression = Success
Stagnation = Failure
Meaning, adopting one or two changes isn’t going to carry you to ultimate success. Each small hill you conquer you must use as fuel to move on to bigger and better things. It seems like we find three types of people at this point.
Type 1 we've just discussed. These are the individuals who expects the few small “victories” to translate into huge successes. When they don’t, this individual quits, cries, whines, or any other annoying, insensible thing you can think of.
Type 2 realizes the concept of progression and they continue to adopt new habits as passed habits are ingrained in
stone and apply to principles to their lives. Because of this, their health and physiques improve as time goes on. This is the group you want to find yourself in. They realize that they are a work in progress, ALWAYS.
Type 3s are the overanalyzers. They are actually very motivated, but they let knowledge, or the lack there of freeze their progress. These individuals start out slow, but forward momentum is short-lived. What stops them is their desire to understand every facet of every science that deals with the human
body. They want to know why they do this, how they do that, when to execute this, blah, blah, bleh, blah. These people want to start with the entire kit and kaboodle when in reality, they are far from ready for it. This is like me expecting to be the next president when I don’t know a damn thing about politics. It’s idiocy. You can’t walk without taking steps. So stop trying.
This latter group are the ones who think, “If I’m not doing things perfectly, I’m not doing things right.” There’s a big difference between perfect and right. Anything that helps you become more active or healthier is better than doing nothing at all. Any step is progress. Forward momentum is always better than standing still or worse yet, moving backwards. There are certainly better ways than others. So what? Those ways might not be for you just yet. Hell, they may not be for you ever.
This journey, no matter where you start, is a long and never-ending process. Don’t expect too much too fast. Don’t get hung up on the nitty-gritty details. Find your own, personal starting point. From it, work slow and consistently. Expect to master each step as you take it. Do not expect to become a master of
fitness and
nutrition overnight. And stay focused on your final
goal. Focusing on mistakes and/or lack of progress will only lead to more mistakes and lack of progress. If you focus on your
goal, you will continually modify and adapt your approach until you reach that
goal.
Nothing new and exciting here. Just stuff that’s been on my mind. Words of wisdom, if you will, for the “newborn” entering this journey. This isn't meant to ween people from asking questions. It's simply a wake up call that what you are searching for may not even exist.
Good luck to all.
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