Do you know where you’re headed when it comes to your fitness goals?
Sometimes you can end up in an amazing place purely by accident. I’ve done this a few times on road trips. Just on a random impulse I’ve taken some side roads, and found some really cool sights. It’s sweet when serendipity lines everything up for you and you stumble into good fortune. Enjoy it while you can!
But know that it is the exception and not the rule. Serendipity is nice but it is not reliable.
The vast majority of the time, life does not work this way! You get where you want to be through purposeful, directed effort. And rarely is the road smooth. Assuming you have a burning desire to accomplish something meaningful, the next step is constructing a plan that takes you where you want to be in an efficient manner.
All of the above has perfect application to achieving fitness goals.
Early on in my training career, I noticed that clients expending a ton of energy did not always see a good return on that investment. It became clear to me that the activities I programmed for clients needed to actually move them closer towards their stated goals. These days, if I can’t articulate why something should be included in a client’s training plan, then it’s gonna get tossed. There’s little or no room for fluff. People are busy and they need efficiency when it comes to training.
All too often these days we see well-meaning people and trainers employing a wide variety of movements and workout styles, and often it’s debatable whether these are appropriate for the individual, given their fitness level or their goals. Including movements for clients purely for novelty or because they’re trending is not a great strategy!
An observation I have made many times over the years is people tend to chase fleeting sensations, at the expense of long-term results. It’s a common mistake to work out just for today, without much thought of how today’s training fits in with, or might affect tomorrow’s. Today’s workout delivers a feel-good sensation, a rush of endorphins, the client ticks the box and moves on, but never assesses whether it’s moving the needle.
This begs the question:
Why are you working out? Is it just for today? Are you just chasing the sensation of the day and then ticking the box on your to-do list?
I’m assuming most people would like some legitimate results beyond this superficial approach.
No discussion of this topic would be complete without understanding the following well-known rule:
Virtually any training program with any variables and inputs, will make a beginner or a de-conditioned person improve their fitness.
Yep, if you’re doing nothing, then SOMETHING represents an improvement! But that is a far cry from ideal. The idea that anything is better than nothing has always struck me as a very low bar of achievement to shoot for! It’s my humble opinion that this is how much of the fitness industry operates. At any given time, most people training are relative newcomers. Which is fine! We all start somewhere! These folks who are brand new to training and have never lifted are gonna get stronger no matter how poorly constructed, random, or incoherent a program they follow.
A big problem arises when they assume it’s because of the program they followed, when in reality it could be in spite of it! This is a classic case of mistaking correlation for causation.
What is the takeaway? Beginners can get away with a haphazard approach for awhile, but eventually they will have to employ a more systematic careful plan to see the best results.
Look, I’m not here to tell you that you can’t have fun while training! You can and you certainly should. Enjoying what you’re doing will keep you at it for a long time. But it’s been my experience that nothing motivates like results! Fun workouts are cool, but have you tried actual gains? The fleeting temporary nature of fun is short-lived, while the deeper more satisfying sense of accomplishment that comes from hard-earned consistent work over a long period is unbeatable.
Consider hiring a competent, experienced trainer for the best results with your fitness goals! It could end up saving you a ton of time and energy!
