The Weekender, Fitness Blog: A Health, Fitness, and Sports Blog

Watch out ahead!

2/3/2019

We all set goals and whenever we set goals we tend to get really eager about finding the fastest way to reach the finish line. While reaching the finish line is the goal, it is usually wise to take a moment to assess the situation, do some homework, prepare with some forethought, and take a more methodical approach than most people do. In fact, most people do the exact opposite, they just want to get started and buy/do/add whatever they can get their hands on that might speed up the results.
I'm not saying that getting started is bad, it's better than being too paralyzed to start or continually procrastinating, however, starting without a little more in-depth thought and planning does come at a price down the road. Moreover, while it is true that for someone who hasn't been active, just about any activity will work...how long will it work, and what are the consequences, are things that should be considered. Think: plateaus, injuries, loss of motivation, time wasted, etc.
Without action, nothing happens, but without planning, bad things usually happen. So what do you do...take planned action. Before trying to speed towards your next goal, before looking to add more things in, to do, to take, to use, or to worry about, look at what obstacles are preventing you from reaching your goals and work on removing those first. By removing obstacles, the results of your newest efforts will improve exponentially. Only then, after some time, should you consider gradually adding in more. Subtract before you Add. The game of "adding-in" is really a game of margins and subject to the law of diminishing returns.

STEP 1
Remove the crap that gets in the way of sleeping properly every night.
Remove the crap that you put in your mouth every day.
Remove the crappy excuses for not being active daily.
Remove the crap.
STEP 2
Take some time learning the basics and start from there.
Slowly adding things in will benefit you much more than trying to do it all at once.
STEP 3
Trust the process and enjoy the journey.

See you at the gym,
Team Etc

Working out is...

1/20/2019

If you guessed that working out is part of an active lifestyle, you're right. Living an active lifestyle is amazing for your health and your overall well-being. Working out as a modality for leading an active lifestyle is a great choice. You can workout outdoors by going for a run, a bike ride, a swim, etc, or you can workout indoors by going to the gym, lifting some weights, running on a treadmill, or maybe taking a fitness class. Working out enables you to improve on your cardio, your strength, your balance, and a long list of other benefits. For many people, this is enough. But if you're someone that thrives on reaching for new forms of success, someone that lives for a continuous and renewable sense of achievement, someone that wants to squeeze out every ounce of juice from this life...

...well then you have to start training.

While it's true that working out is part of an active lifestyle, training is part of a focused lifestyle. When you're training, you have a very specific goal that you're focused on and you have a very specific method or plan to follow in order to achieve that goal. Working out is a lot more loose, a lot more flexible, doesn't have to be overly structured or focused, and doesn't need to have a very specific goal. For example, if I go to the gym a few times per week to workout, and I have the general goal of getting stronger and losing some fat around my stomach...I'm working- out. And this is great, by all means, this is more than most people do. But if I have scheduled training sessions, focused on the development of some very specific parameters, over a pre-determined period of time, with a very thought out and methodical approach...I'm training.

If this short blog about training vs working-out just resonated with that little person inside of you, you have to let'em out. What have you thought about doing, or maybe heard of someone else doing and thought was cool? Do you want to complete a triathlon, win a boxing match, or maybe climb Mount Kilimanjaro!

DO IT!!!

Start now:
1. do some reading about training protocols for your chosen goal
2. find a coach/personal trainer/mentor/etc to guide you
3. choose a date and start your training journey
4. let us know how it went and share your story

Good Luck :)

Team Fitness Etc

A keto diet...

1/6/2019

There's many diets to choose from, that is for sure. You have the Dubrow Diet, Paelo Diet, Keto Diet, and the list goes on.

So what do all of these diets have in common...

Each of these diets benefits from adding in exercise/activity.
Each of these diets cuts out crap carbs.
Each of these diets benefits from fasting.
And each diet only works if you actually stick to it.

So what do you do from here...

Pick any of these diets, or none of them, it doesn't matter, as long as you stick to the change, stop eating/snacking 24/7, cut out the crap, and throw in a little activity.

It really is that simple.

See you at the gym,
Team Fitness Etc

Your success will depend on...

1/5/2019

Whatever your goals may be, achieving success may feel complicated.

But it doesn't have to feel that way!

Even though the road to achieving success for any particular goal may be long and winding, the underlying, and only single real factor that determines your ability to follow that long and winding path all the way to the end and to success is: MOTIVATION.

What is your motivation?

Motivation feeds initiative, drive, resourcefulness, endurance, toughness, and the list goes on. It underpins every other quality that is necessary to succeed. So is your motivation, a new year's resolution gym membership, or maybe that $300 you spent on a fitness tracker, or maybe all those articles you've read that tell you that exercise is part of a long and healthy lifestyle?

No.

Those might be extrinsic motivating factors, but they aren't true deep seeded intrinsic motivation, the kind that will continue to fuel you, day-in and day-out, month-in and month-out. True intrinsic motivation is something that burns inside of you, something that you always carry with you. You can't just decide you're going to skip your workout to watch a tv show airing tonight, intrinsic motivation won't let you sabotage success like that. You can't forget your intrinsic motivation on the bedside table in the morning and then use that as an excuse not to work towards your goals that day, intrinsic motivation is right there with you all the time. You can't forget about your intrinsic motivation when there isn't an article that prompts you to think about it on your news feed that day, it's always burning in your mind and in your soul.

Before you set another goal, look deep and be honest with yourself (always harder than it sounds), find your intrinsic motivations and focus on the one that is most compatible with your goal and therefore able to drive your daily actions towards success. Some forms of intrinsic motivation are fundamentally positive at their core, like a life long passion or interest. Maybe you love to read daily and consume books and articles at a feverish pace, and maybe your goal is to lose weight. You would do well to combine the two by actively and consistently looking for books, articles, subjects, videos, etc, that you can read on the many areas relating to weight loss. In turn, this new approach on a life long passion would would motivate and affect your daily decisions on food, exercise, and life choices that support weight-loss. While other forms of intrinsic motivation are fundamentally more negative, such as disease, emotional distress, physical disability, etc. Regardless of the form of intrinsic motivation, the approach remains the same and your success will depend on your motivation.

Look deep, make the connection, work towards success.

See you at the gym,
Team Fitness Etc

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