5 General Things You Should Know About Fitness

Be Patient

Regardless of what your goals are, like any worthy pursuit, it takes time. Just because your progress is gradual doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong; it might just mean you need to hold the course. Your body makes progress through the General Adaptation Syndrome: it learns the stimulus, or what you are trying to teach it, then adapts by getting more muscular, having less body fat, being stronger, faster, more flexible, etc. These adaptations take time, and that’s okay. Be grateful for the progress you’ve made, and keep moving forward.

Don't Get Discouraged

Everyone has a bad day. No matter what the level, or how precise your programming is, you will not be at your best 100% of the time. On bad days, it is best to make sure the exercises are still performed properly, even if you have to use lighter loads. If you planned on a strength day and don’t have the “pop”, sometimes rep work can be beneficial, or even working a muscle group through a new angle. Slowing it down a little, or going with a lesser volume, can also help. Whatever your solution, focus on quality reps; in all life’s endeavors, sometimes the answer is just doing the best you can.

Don't Compare Yourself to Others

Bodybuilders or fitness models don't look the way they do in the pictures 24/7, so there’s no point in holding yourself to that standard. Yes my friends, the fact of the matter is that fitness models cut for their pictures using extreme calorie restricted diets, water restriction, sodium restriction, and diuretics. They also use effects like spray on tanning or regular tanning, other makeup, lighting effects, full body hair removal, and even Photoshopping to appear more “fit”. Not to mention that anabolic agents are used more often than not. Impressive results can be achieved, but without gratitude and perspective they won’t be appreciated.

Be Skeptical

Just because someone says you should do something doesn’t mean you should. Regardless of someone’s title, that fact of the matter is people can be misguided or make mistakes. Any advice should be filtered through the questions:
-Does this make sense and what is the purpose? Listen to your gut instinct.
-How does my body feel/how am I responding to the advice (or, rather, am I experiencing the type of pain you don’t want to feel during exercise)?
-What is the person’s motivation for giving you the advice? Are they just trying to prove how “alpha” they are, or do they have some vested interest in you?
There are many factors that go into why something may or may not work for you (such as diet, lifestyle, recovery abilities, flexibility, musculo-skeletal structure, muscle imbalances, how much experience you have training, current or previous injuries, etc.). There is a lot of good information out there, but the possibility exists of suffering from information overload as we try to digest and apply it all at once. Take a gradual approach to learning, and make sure anything you apply passes the million dollar test: “Does this work for me?”

Nutrition is Key

Your nutrition will affect your results and performance. Regardless of your goals, proper nutrition will enhance and speed up the process of getting there. When I was in high school, every Friday I used to eat a very large and greasy fast food meal before I trained. Much to my chagrin, every Friday I was significantly weaker, with less endurance, and often threw up. Eventually I learned that input affects output, and made much greater progress by eliminating this bad habit. A ’67 Corvette deserves high end fuel. So does your body.

~PAUL