Probably nowhere is there more dubious information than in
the fitness industry. Not coincidentally, it's doubtful
there's an area of life mired in more confusion with
conflicting information than the simple context of 'getting
in shape'. One person tells you to eradicate all
carbohydrates and spend your free time doing "cardio" (once
called aerobics). Another tells you to put on mounds of
muscle so you can someday burn hundreds of calories while
sitting in front of the boob-tube clicking the remote.
Still others get more esoteric by convincing you to "eat
for your blood type", or "exercise your core". It seems
that most experts in this field are more concerned with
coming up with new gimmicks for outdoing each other than
helping YOU get in shape.
But really, getting the body into better shape is
fundamentally simple. We are considered to "be in good
shape" when our body fat is low and our lean body tissue is
relatively high. In other words - when our muscle to fat
ratio is favorable, we are typically stronger, healthier,
and of better appearance. Pretty simple - huh?
So where does the confusion set in? It starts in that
typically ambiguous area where we need to reconcile fantasy
with reality.
Yes… you do need to build muscle in order to maintain youth
and burn calories more efficiently. But tossing some
weights around a few days a week on some generic,
regimented schedule will more likely waste your time than
produce muscle.
Yes… you do need to improve eating habits. But neglecting
to shift better eating practices into intuitive and
subconscious desires through self-image enhancement will
likely lead to unnecessary struggle and backsliding.
Yes… you should add some aerobic activity to your schedule
so you burn more unwanted fat. But doing this haphazardly
or overdoing it can cause inefficient wastes of time and
counterproductive wastes of solid body mass.
And yes… you should start an effective workout regimen as
soon as possible. However, you should probably
procrastinate just long enough to make sure you're mentally
prepared to begin. False starts, followed by recidivism,
can contribute to long-term self-doubt. That won't help.
So let's go over four crucial keys that I think you need to
have covered in order to improve the shape of your body and
get fit as quickly and efficiently as possible:
1. Make Sure You're Mentally Ready.
What do I mean by being "mentally ready"? I mean that you
know deeply in your mind that you've hit the point of
resolve. Let me clarify this by illustrating the opposite
of resolve.
A former coworker of mine spent most of his time being out
of shape with a 40-inch waistline (I've been there too).
When he finally told himself he'd had enough, he decided he
wanted to add the occasional meal replacement shakes he'd
seen me drinking to his daily menu. He handed me forty
bucks and asked me to pick up a box for him the next time I
was getting some for myself. Well, I did that. But when he
asked me again several weeks later (after I'd gone through
three boxes in the interim), it was clear to me that he
hadn't resolved to get in shape. He was just sticking his
toe in and testing the water.
Unsurprisingly, he appeared to be getting in worse shape
during the time he'd professed to be getting in shape. I'm
not claiming this was due to an unwillingness to drink meal
replacement shakes. Rather, the reluctance to pick up his
own products was symptomatic of a lack of resolve - the
results of which probably rearing their ugly head by way of
other steps he wasn't taking.
Without resolve, we don't achieve anything significant.
2. Build Muscle with an Easily Measurable Feedback System.
That former coworker I mentioned (I know - I'm picking on
him) was allowing himself to become deficient of muscle
tissue while only in his mid-forties. This was undoubtedly
making his fat loss a bigger uphill battle with each
intermittent attempt he made at getting in shape. He'd been
a non-muscular youth and now the unencumbered process of
age-related muscle degradation was creating an
ever-worsening ratio between his adipose tissue and muscle.
To turn this around, he needed an efficient and highly
effective muscle building routine. Basically, he needed a
routine that would be simple to use and that would provide
easily measurable feedback to see whether progress is being
made. That's what's needed for ongoing motivation.
If you want to really improve your body, don't get in the
habit of thinking any activity you do in the gym is
conducive to reaching your goals. Like success at anything,
you must have a simple method of planning and measuring
your progress. Otherwise, you might as well spend that time
you used at the gym to do something else.
3. Burn Body Fat with Low Intensity, Short Duration Cardio
Exercise.
When I went through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
Training in the Navy, we did high intensity aerobic
exercise and calisthenics all day. Guess what… we didn't
really look all that great.
My former coworker used umpteen mile walks each day to try
to lose fat. When he handed me the greenbacks for his
second box of meal replacements, it was apparent that all
the time spent walking wasn't doing much except burning off
what little muscle he had along with miniscule amounts of
fat. Sure, walking is low intensity. But he was doing too
much while slowing his metabolism with infrequent meals
consisting of assumed-to-be-healthy foods - such as salad.
To really improve your body, you need to burn fat while
building some muscle. Then you need to retain the muscle
you've gained - not lose it. This creates efficient fitness
gains. Keep your cardio work at low intensity for thirty to
forty minute sessions.
4. Condition Better Eating Habits in to Your Self-Image.
Those who go on diets will go on and off diets
indefinitely. Those who take on the eating habits of a high
performance person and then adopt that self-image will not
struggle to stay lean.
I used to crave junk food. Now I crave foods that make my
body feel good, energetic and high performance. This is a
matter of subconscious changes. That's beyond the scope of
this article, but I think you get the idea.
There you have it; four basic principles (or keys) you need
to get in shape. Sure, you can fall for the latest fitness
fads if you choose. But when you want lasting results, it
always comes back to simplicity and diligent execution. You
CAN have a better body.
----------------------------------------------------
Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28
Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind
for Incredible Success. He is a certified fitness trainer
and a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. To see his
personal transformation, visit http://
http://www.hardbodysuccess.com
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