This is one for the busy folks among you who have all the typical struggles of daily life :
-careers and families that compete with your time,
-wanting to look good and move well as you get older,
-tired of spinning wheels in fitness, trying everything and not sure of what works.
What is one bit of advice you wish you could go back and give yourself on your first day exercising?
And to save yourself some fitness frustration, here are some wise words that I hope will guide you.
- Stop researching and trust the process.
In this day and age, it is a problem being over-informed with fitness podcasts, Instagram feeds, and articles.
Avoid researching for more information. Just dial in the basics and follow the process.
Stop obsessing over health tracker data and follow the basics.
- Walk more. A lot more.
Steps are at the forefront of nearly every viable firness regime. This is the most underrated lever and it’s free and accessible to almost everyone. Walking and fibre are cheat codes for weight loss.
- Carbs are not the enemy. They are fuel.
Fear of carbs is so pervasive that it feels just plain wrong to boost these at first. But they’re not the enemy - overconsumption of calories is. If you want to get lean and strong, you need carbs as your lifeline for intensity in the gym and recovery afterward. And they make sticking to caloric deficits easier too. Treat food as energy and don't be afraid of carbs. They're fuel.
- Intensity over volume. Lift heavier than you think.
Everyone who's been training a while says the same thing. They were doing too much overall, not lifting heavy enough, and confusing soreness with progress.
Lift heavy. Keep nutrition simple. Get your steps in. Recover. Don't overcomplicate it.
What you think is heavy, isn't. So push yourself, increase your intensity and get after it. Consistency wins.
Less training, more intentionally is greater than more training, less intentionally.
- Simplicity and consistency win. Keep coming back to basics.
Your fitness journey only stops when you die - so look beyond the next 2-3 months and build habits that can last.
When life kicks in, just come back to the basics again and again. Long term it works.
It takes time so be consistent.
Bonus: find someone to lean on when things get tough or you feel uncertain about your next steps.
The folks in SFX are some of the best people I know. So when life inevitably hits a rough patch, lean into them. They are sure to dig you out. They are some of the best relationships you can wish for in life.