We all understand that there are different ways to achieve a set outcome. However, the paths become more complex in the context of a fitness goal. Thanks to various dogmas available to us through people and social media.
So how does one draw the line between what works and what doesn’t?
The answer lies in creating a program that leans more towards SMART WORK than HARD WORK.
Hard work entails putting in “strenuous hours” to complete a task. On the other hand, an innovative job entails creating “efficient hours” to complete a task.
Logic dictates going the intelligent way than the hard way, especially in today’s time, when time and energy are limited. So here are my two cents to help you build a result-oriented plan:
– BUILDING A SET OF HABITS THAT HELP LAY A FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE PRACTISES
If you’ve watched the Kingsman movie series, you’ve heard the expression MANNERS MAKETH MAN. Expanding this thought in relevance to health & fitness goals, I would like to say that HABITS MAKETH MAN.
Let me have you dwell on this underrated concept and give it the much-needed importance it deserves!
Habits are essentially a blueprint of your day-to-day behaviour. From the moment you get up until you go to bed, you have countless choices to make.
The starting point of any habit arises from a learning response to an experience. Repeatedly, this response builds a neurological pathway towards automated behavioural actions. For example, tasks such as brushing our teeth or driving a car require us to learn the workings of the job through significant concentration and time. We are then able to perform them with barely any thought.
The above pointers have helped us understand that humans rely on habits to perform many actions in our daily life. It is why they define a crucial starting point from a health & fitness perspective that helps identify the inadequacies in our current lifestyle.
Our bad eating habits, poor sleep cycle, and negligible physical activity levels all have formed due to consistent behavioural responses to our environment. So the so-called “addiction” to junk food, lazing around on the couch, watching movies and TV series till late at night, is just us reinforcing a behaviour repeatedly, thereby forming a bad habit, which is what addiction is all about.
Did I touch a nerve? If yes, then good! Because when it comes to health, we can easily classify bad and good habits and create a new pathway that builds a better you!
Now that you know more about habits and their importance, let’s consider these steps to improve yours:
Identify at least three behaviours that you feel need much effort to bring about a change
Choose one habit and work on improving it consistently, till the time it’s easily manageable without much time and effort
Move on to the subsequent behaviour and repeat the process
Get a coach on board if you cannot identify and make the necessary changes. They will help ease the change process and, most importantly, bring in accountability! And thus establish the power of good habits. For HABITS, MAKETH MAN!
BUILDING A SET OF HABITS THAT HELP LAY A FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE PRACTISES
Why habits, you ask? Cause habits form the foundation for consistent actions necessary to improve our health & fitness goals.
This foundation forms the epicenter towards building a better you.
– A TRAINING PROGRAM CONSISTING OF THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF EXERCISES, SETS, REPETITIONS AND DAYS.
*All the above help create a pathway for progress and adherence.
*Building a training plan around these parameters is crucial, or you will reach a plateau.
– A NUTRITION PROGRAM DESIGNED TOWARD LONG-TERM ADHERENCE
Food will always play a pivotal role in how we shape our health & fitness levels.
Crash diets are short-term diet pans
Crash diets are meant to crash and cause a sense of incognizance when you bounce back to your regular eating routine.
– FOLLOWING A PROGRAM THAT WORKED FOR SOMEONE
When you adjust/compromise your program according to someone else’s program, you sacrifice a lot.
Which, in practicality, is not possible or sustainable for many of us.
FOLLOWING A PROGRAM THAT DOESN’T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT YOUR LIFESTYLE NECESSITIES
To each, his own is the golden rule here.
Lifestyle is a deal breaker, which is why following a plan that doesn’t fit your needs sets you up for failure when it comes to consistency.
GOING ALL OUT BLINDLY, WITHOUT TRULY IDENTIFYING WHETHER THE PROGRAM IS SUSTAINABLE, CUSTOMISED TO YOUR NEEDS
If you are blindly putting in all that time, effort, and money, then be ready to get an unpredictable result.
When it comes to health & fitness, I always propagate an approach that helps one build more of a connection with oneself than alienate oneself.
Know that the ball will always be in your court. Using the above tools will set the pathway towards your end goal.
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