As a trainer and a fitness addict I am not a big fan of diets because people who start a drastic diet never really end up staying with it. I’m guilty of that. So I always suggest portion control and always start off the day with a healthy nice breakfast. On top of that I know that everyone is different and will react different to different workout regimes and plans. So I have compiled a list of TO DO’s and NOT TO DO’s that have worked for many of my clients and have been backed by research. So here it is:
1: DON’T EAT UNTIL YOU ARE FULL. Only eat until you are 70-75 percent full. If you stuff yourself it’s always bad because your body uses all the energy to digest your food and does not reserve enough energy for you to get you throughout the day. That’s why you get food coma. Once you start working out your energy level will spike and get higher as you continue to get more fit.
2: EAT 5 MEALS A DAY. Instead of eating 2 or 3 really big meals eat 3 medium meals and snack between those. It keeps your body going throughout the day because the food you eat only provides you about 3-4 hours of energy max throughout the day.
3: DRINK LOTS OF WATER. I suggest drinking a 3 liter voss bottle every morning to start off your day. I say voss because those are glass bottles and you look like a boss carrying one of those around. Drink one whole one every morning to start off and once you get use to it fill it up throughout the day. That’s what I do.
4: BREAKFAST is really important. Because after you wake up from sleep your body is craving energy so you need to eat or else your whole day goes to crap. I suggest cereal, oatmeal, boiled eggs. Get a blender to blend some ice, blueberries, bananas, orange juice, and a small dash of vanilla ice cream for flavor. Some protein bars, or peanut butter sandwiches are always good!
5: Get PROTEIN SHAKES. I don’t suggest you drink it all the time because I don’t like to put too much artificial flavoring in my body but I believe in everything in moderation so every once in a while after a workout because it will help you recover faster from a workout and will provide you with the amino acids your body needs to build and repair your muscles after a workout.
6: REST.. Resting is vital to your muscle growth process. You have to get the Z’s if you want to get the G’s (by G’s I mean guns (and by guns I mean muscles for those of you living under a rock) You tear your muscles up in the gym but the repair process begins when you sleep. If you don’t sleep your muscles don’t repair itself after a hard workout.
7: STRETCH.. Before every workout you have to be sure to limber up. Start off with dynamic stretching to begin the workout and end off with static stretching to avoid any injury. You don’t want to workout with tight muscles because you can easily pull to tear something due to tight muscles. Always hold a stretch position for at least 30 seconds to get the full elastic effects of the stretch. It should make the workout a lot more easier to go through.
8: BE PATIENT. Fitness is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. Listen to your body and DON’T QUIT if you don’t see results right away. It takes about 3-4 weeks of consistent training to start seeing results. You need both consistence and persistence to do this. Persistence gets you what you want and consistence makes sure you keep what you want. So in simple terms: push yourself to do the workouts even though you don’t feel like it for every workout. Just like a muscle your will power to push yourself grows every time you use it. So use it.
9: So here is tip number 9. Don’t worry you’re almost done!! MORNING WORKOUTS are better if you want to push yourself. Not only is it quiet and you don’t get the meat heads hogging your equipment but you are more likely to push in a morning workout than a night one because you have replenished your willpower to push with sleep and it will be easier to get through a hard workout. I want to make note Willpower is not on call. Willpower is like a battery that will deplete throughout the day so that is why people will give in to more surgery and unhealthy foods as the day passes because temptations are easier to give into. So why not get your workout when your willpower is at its highest.
10: HAVE FUN. Do whatever you enjoy. Working out should not feel like a chore but should be fun and something you want to do. You can make anything a workout as long as it involves physical activity. Walking, boxing, dancing, gymnastics, running, sports, swimming they are all good. So pick something you love and do it. But don’t stay in a box, branch out to other forms of fitness and explore a little. You’ll never know if you never try so be adventurous.
EXTRA: Thought is was over huh? PSYCH!!!!! Just to be nice here is an extra rule that will probably save you tons of time and frustration. A lot of my clients have told me,
“Brandon, I do like 1 million crunches and I can not manage to get a 6 pack, a 4 pack or any pack on me, what am I doing wrong?”
The issue here is not how many crunches or ab workouts you are doing but the lack of cardio and HIIT training you are doing. You see you can have the strongest core in the world by doing endless amounts of crunches and sit ups but that does not get rid of the belly fat that is sitting on top of that core you have. To get rid of the belly fat you have to and I mean HAVE TO do some sort of HIIT or cardio training on top of your ab workouts. If you don’t and your hope is to get a 6 pack, a 4 pack or any pack then I am afraid you will be heartbroken. So to sum it up, utilize high intensity interval training to get the abs you’ve always wanted. Your welcome.
Those are my ten tips of fitness. Keep this in a list to do or even put it up on your wall and do it by yourself or do it with someone to keep you accountable. Start with one step at a time and when you get the first tip go on to the next one. This is a journey to form healthier habits in your life and even if you perfect these ten steps the journey never ends because you are always constantly growing learning and getting stronger when you live a fit life. You may encounter road blocks or even injuries along the way but don’t worry that is part of this journey of fitness. So always learn and grow and always stay positive and never give up and you’ll be gold. Keep on keepin on!
Thanks so much for the blog. Thanks Again. Keep writing. Kacy Clevey Russ