Why You’ll Quit

“You’re in.”
“You’re doing this.”
“You’re on the wagon”
“This time it’s going to happen”

Familiar catchphrases I’m sure. Then it’s often followed by:
“I fell off the wagon”

Common People

Why is this such a common situation? It’s because we tend to think on/off, yes/no. This type of mindset is what’s holding you back and if you don’t change it, you’ll continue to quit, repeatedly. There is no wagon.

Why You’ll Quit

Fun Gym Time!
I’ve had more than a few conversations with clients who say something like “my sister loves the gym, when am I going to start enjoying the gym?”. Baked into that is the assumption that the goal is to be like people who love going to the gym. We all have different interests and what ticks the boxes for one person, won’t for another. They’re also waiting for something to change when they come into the gym one day and say “ooh, I can’t wait to lift this heavy weight 30 times above my head whilst swearing because it’s so hard in the vicinity of other gym members”. It can happen, but it often doesn’t. We don’t go to the gym to enjoy ourselves, we go because we want something that time in the gym can give us – running to catch the bus, wrestling with your kids, carrying suitcases up the stairs, bending down to put the pots into the low cupboard and regretting not buying the stackable set. 

It’s hard and hard things are, um, hard – not fun. Take stock of the great things you’ve achieved in your life, and realise they came from hard work.

You’ve Taken on Too Much
If you were exercising zero times a week before, be honest and ask yourself: is five times a week realistic? Many people think that training once a week isn’t enough, but they’re very wrong. Starting at once a week will have a huge impact and it will get you stronger and healthier if you’re consistent.

You Don’t Believe You Can Change
If you’ve been in the gym before, you quit last year and the year before and of course past evidence shows you that you’re going to quit again. That self-fulfilling prophecy will come true if you don’t recognise that’s the story you’re telling yourself. Instead, think about what didn’t work last time and look for a different way. And no, that doesn’t mean a different diet, that’s still a diet and it didn’t work last time, or the time before that. It’s not you that’s the issue, it’s the method you’re choosing e.g. you failed at a highly restrictive diet not because you lack discipline, but because it’s highly restrictive and not the way we want to eat.

I hate my life

You’re Bored
I was once unwell with a sniffle but I wanted to keep my consistency up, so I went into a commercial gym and just wanted to sit down, which their machines allow you to do. I went from one machine to the next machine, selecting a weight, doing the reps, which were purely based on how I was feeling at the time so I had no real intention with each set. Then it hit me, “wow, this is why people quit, this is so boring!”. Had they sought out a coach or learned through other means, learning new skills like squats and deadlifts would have kept them in the gym because skill acquisition is fun (and frustrating!). There’s intention, skill, mindfulness all behind learning to lift free weights.

You’re Doing it Alone
Invest in a supportive coach who can teach and guide you, or blackmail your friend into coming to the gym with you. Doing this alone can be hard, so ask for help.

Come on mate, please go to the gym with me

You’re Focused on the Scales
Your weight on the scales fluctuates so much that I teach my clients to focus on their performance in the gym instead of the scales. For many, the scales have the ability to negatively or positively affect their day, and on a “bad day”, this can send you down a “I’ve been bad and this is what bad people do” mentality and sign up to the daily Greggs doughnut subscription platinum tier. 

You Beat Yourself up For Making Mistakes
You will get things wrong, you will fail. This journey is paved with challenges but the people who are successful in the long-term are the ones who shrug it off and try again, but try a different approach because they’ve learned what they previously did, didn’t work.

If you take all of this on board, it’ll be much harder for you to quit.

Get in touch for a video consultation if you’ve quit before and need help to press UNDO, so that you’re ready for your 60’s, 70’s and 80’s

PT Shaun

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How to Spot YouTube Toxic Fitness Sludge

I had a client send me a thumbnail of a video he had found on YouTube and wanted me to explain it to him. I honestly wish he’d sent me his actual thumbnail instead. I was very hesitant to watch the video, but these are the sorts of sacrifices I make for my clients in order to help them grow (as well as telling them to do 2 more reps). I realised that a lot of people might benefit from a breakdown of the video to show you what kinds of tricks are being used. I could spend pages and pages breaking these things down (and reading those is fun to me) but I’ll try to keep it short. 

How to Make Money on YouTube:
First of all, you want a video which gets lots of views of course – because more views equals more money – not exactly the best incentive to create factual, scientific videos. As a creator, you have access to which words are commonly searched for, and you then create a video based on those search terms. So there is a high search rate for “how to lose belly fat” “how to lose chest fat” and “love handles”, making a video with those words in will mean your video has a higher chance of being seen. Cha-Ching!

The Video – The Fastest Way to Shrink Visceral Fat:
Let’s look at the specific video my client sent me, to which I won’t be sharing the link because 1.6 million people have already watched the video and now he’s rich enough to buy a block of Cathedral City without his Clubcard.

Call to Authority – this guy is a Doctor, I’m not. Because of that, his words carry weight and can suppress the actual argument being made. Essentially, it’s “oh he must be right because he’s a Doctor and an expert”. Please don’t get me wrong, expertise is everything, but just be aware it can be used to sell you things.

He opens the video with a montage of the successful clients he’s worked with, so I know this is trying to sell me something. There is nothing wrong with people trying to make money, but how they do it, matters.

Let’s talk about the before and after photo below. The guy in the before photo has a significant amount of muscle from being in the gym for decades, he clearly trains – you can still see his six pack! From that, we can surmise that he has chosen to do a “bulk” and the after photo is him doing a “cut”, which just means he reduced his calories to drop body fat. Most people watching this aren’t starting off like this.

Studies:
The client who sent me the video said it cited studies, and I asked if he read the study. I knew the answer would be no, and so did the creator of the video – people do not click on studies (59% of links shared on social media are never clicked). I’ve seen such egregious examples where a claim has been made in the video with “study linked in the description box below” which says the exact OPPOSITE of what they stated as true. A middle finger to the real scientists because the creator knows it doesn’t matter, once they have their tribe, they can exploit them. Even if my client did read the study, the required expertise required to understand the full context is a totally separate field of education.

 

My favourite screenshot for its hilarity, being that he’s a Doctor himself:

They don’t? Why not? Did they get into the profession to cause me harm? I do know what Doctors don’t want me to know, and that’s what time the phone lines open on a Monday morning. Is it 08:00 or 08:30? 

My favourite Quotes:
“Toxic sludge” – meaningless without specifics

“Double results with 0 extra time commitment” – If only. It takes time to make change

“Look at my client and their proof” – We don’t know anything about them from looking at their photos

“Studies show” – They show a lot of things, but do we have the required expertise to draw conclusions from them?

“Destroying joints from running” – This is fear mongering, running is a fantastic activity which comes with some caveats to reduce injury

“Japanese style” – Anything from another country sounds like it must work. Although admittedly, “English style” is a much harder sell

Nebulous, scaremongering, sciency sounding terminology, all carefully designed to trick you.

Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of amazing educational videos out there, but unfortunately it’s the bad ones which float to the top. Keep your wits about you and if you’re unsure you’re going down the right path, send me a message to book in a complimentary video consultation to discuss it.

PT Shaun

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Training for Chocolate Cake – Does it Work?

“Ooh that Cookie Pie with Oreo Crumble looks enticing. Maybe I shouldn’t? Oh go on, I did burn 500 calories in my workout this morning. I’ve earned it” is something that a lot of people may think and is definitely not an insight into the inner misworkings of my mind.

Did I really burn 500 cake calories in the gym? Probably not. Treadmills that measure your calorie burn, smart watches or the sweat collected between your clammy cheeks are highly inaccurate.

Is that gigantic, ridiculous cream stuffed brownie thing really 500 calories? Who’s checking? There’s not a man with a clipboard, a set of scales and a Texas Instruments (the one with the graph capabilities that the rich kids had at school) calculator checking. 

With fat loss, I think it’s safer to assume that the calories burned in the gym are less than we think, and the Fruity Flapjack is higher than we think. Unfortunately, we think the opposite way, which is why many people get confused about why they’re still overweight, lack mobility and have low energy. 

Desert

I was very bad at spelling tests at school.

Why Training to Eat is a Problem:
It sets up an unhealthy relationship with exercise and food.

What’s a healthy relationship with exercise? We train to be better at life.

What’s a healthy relationship with food? We eat to nourish our bodies (which includes pleasure).

Training for food is basically another form of the “you can have dessert if you eat your broccoli” reward system from childhood. So you’re not eating broccoli because it benefits you, you’re eating it so you can experience pure pleasure, afterwards. If you quit the gym, you quit because you joined for Muffin time – and it  turns out you can still eat Muffins without the gym so there’s less keeping you in there. If instead, you’re in the gym because you want to be able to have a higher quality of life, be strong, capable, resilient, those are the things that are keeping you in the gym. It’s much harder to quit because you feel and see the benefits day to day.

The remake of Golden Girls is unremarkable.

So, where do Custard Filled Doughnuts fit in? We choose when we want it and we know why we want it. For example, I want an Apple Crumble for pleasure and so I need to make a plan for that. If it’s a Bakewell Tart and I’m sitting down in front of a mediocre box set (you’ve seen all the good series already), you’re going to wolf it down and not get all of the pleasure but you’ll receive all of the calories. Why not extract all the pleasure from your pleasure food? No distractions. That’s a tough thing to do in the meerkat economy, but it can be done with practice.

How Much is Too Much?
Of course this must be all caveated with the fact that, even if you are now sitting down to focus on your Rocky Road Tiffin, doing this often is likely going to mean your health goals are going to be harder to achieve. Setting yourself limits will allow you to enjoy a Cherry Blondie, and fit into your favourite dress.

Doughnut Cake

Hmmm I should probably share this with the family.

If you want to know how to integrate desserts into your healthy life, book a complimentary video call with me here. Now, go get some cake.

PT Shaun

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Is Exercise Bad For You?

I overheard someone telling a story that they hurt themselves on the treadmill at the gym. They announced to everyone that the gym is a “dangerous place”. This individual is in a position of authority, so people listen. It doesn’t matter if they’re an authority on the specific subject they’re talking about or not, it has the same impact. The truth is, the audience to which those heinous words were said would greatly benefit from exercise. And, if they already have apprehension when it comes to going to the gym or doing exercise, hearing that soothes them and provides the reason (excuse) not to.

Skewed Information:
We’re really not great at understanding statistics. We tend to focus on the outliers rather than the rule, because it stands out. If someone has dedicated their life to health and fitness, and then dies, people will say something to the effect of “why bother being healthy, look at that guy who ate acai berries for breakfast and still died”. If you get hurt in the gym, it’s your fault for going to the gym. If you get hurt sitting on the sofa, there’s empathy and a shaking of the fist at DFS.

Sofa

Quick! There’s a sale on!

The Sedentary Life:
We know many people who don’t exercise who suffer from some of the same issues that people who exercise do. Why? Because we’re people. You’re a complex, biological creature who has to navigate the world for an increasingly long time, though not long enough for evolutionary adaptations, but enough time to get a bad neck from being startled by a spider in the corner of the room (which turned out to be a sticky toy your kid lobbed at the coving).

The Physical Life:
I still get pains, niggles, and injuries but there’s more pride attached to saying that you’ve hurt your back from deadlifting a heavy weight VS picking up a paperweight. We also:

  • Recover faster from injuries and surgeries
  • Have more energy to play with the kids
  • Lift heavy stuff up the stairs
  • Become more steady on our feet (just stay off the trampolines)

It feels great to be strong! But it doesn’t always feel great becoming strong. It’s hard, but honestly, not as hard as you think.

Look guys, I lifted it! Oops, I’d forgotten my carpal tunnel

Invest in the Learning Process:
Did you train to do your job or did you get it on day one? Of course you trained – it’s a process. Why is exercise any different? It isn’t. Do you think you should know it straight away? You shouldn’t. That’s like saying to a 3 year old:

“You don’t know your 3x tables? What a let down!”.

“Neither do you, Dad. What’s 6×3 then?“

…

“Go to your room!”

You have to learn in your own way and in your own time. I’ve worked with clients who understand how to move well in their first session, but that’s very rare. Most people don’t know their calves from their elbow. But, with the right support and guidance, bit by bit, you’ll build those skills at your own pace, and then a year later? You will know your body and what it’s capable of – which is a whole lot more than it was before.

If you’d like to discuss how to build these skills safely, book a complimentary video consultation with me.

PT Shaun

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I Have a Six-Pack

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a six-pack! And nobody cares.

Seriously, not even my wife comments on it (maybe she will after reading this article which I’ll print out and hand to her).

For many, having a chiseled abdomen is a lifelong goal because that’s what the magazine covers have been showing us is the ideal. Let’s be honest, we’re not going to pick up the magazine that shows a guy with an unimpressive flat stomach which says “How to Get Rid of your Big Belly in Just 1 Year by Being Consistent”. Country Living is more exciting.

Put your shirt on, mate. It’s winter.

Should I Aim For a Six-Pack?
In reality, how often is someone going to see your abs? How often would you be walking around shirtless showing everyone your abs in England? You’ve seen Michael Fish’s forecast right? Does a stranger in Turkey notice on your yearly summer holiday? Guess what, he couldn’t give a shish. Does having a six-pack add to your quality of life and improve the things you actually care about, like being able to tie your shoelaces without having to ask one of the kids for assistance – they’ll eventually ban you from Clarks.

Is Having a Six-Pack Healthy?
I’d argue, no. Unless you’re on the genetically lucky side, most of us will have to work super hard to get a six-pack, and it will come at a cost.

  • You have to eat a lot less, which means it’s really hard to recover from workouts and you’ll feel fatigued, meaning you’ll have less energy to do the things you care about
  • Your training is going to have to be very consistent and intentional, no skipping workouts and no going easy
  • Your stomach rumbles a lot and you find yourself mishearing people
    “Did you say doughnut?”
    “What? No, I said take the bins out, what’s the matter with you?”
  • You are more likely to have nutrient deficiencies when you’re in a large caloric deficit, meaning we’re going to lose muscle, which is not something we want as we get older
  • If you do achieve a six-pack, you may turn into the six-pack guy who you can’t stand because his whole identity is wrapped up in his physical attributes and how awesome he thinks he is

Aiming to have a goal of reducing your “abdominal adiposity” is a good one, as having a flatter stomach means you’ll be able to feel good in your clothes, perform better at your hobbies like golf (not Warhammer), keep up with the kids and grandkids and reduce your chances of obesity-linked diseases.

warhammer

The stock photos website doesn’t know what Warhammer is

 

What Should I Aim For?
A flatter stomach, which doesn’t mean a snowboard stomach (I don’t know what a washboard is so I went with something more contemporary). Not everyone’s abdomens will look the same, because some people have larger organs, a propensity to store more body fat in that area, or they may have an excessive curve in their lower spine which means they push their bellies out which gives the illusion of a belly being bigger than it actually is.

How Do We Get Flatter?
Not by sit-ups. Sure, nothing wrong with working on your abs with deadbugs and planks, but that’s not going to shift any belly fat. We need to incorporate things like:

  • Full body workouts – bicep curls won’t cut it
  • Eating smaller portions – if you’re feeling uncomfortable after a meal, you’ve eaten too much
  • Keeping our protein intake high – let’s support our training, muscle mass and strength
  • Walking – yes, even when it’s grey and wet (I’ll let you off if there’s a hurricane)
  • Drinking less alcohol – saving it for a nice meal on the weekend instead of with your morning eggs and toast

Yes, we all feel this way during a plank

Boring, but as I said, this is the magazine you’re not going to buy. Still, it works. I’ll take the 12 month subscription please.

Best of luck in getting there, and if you need any help, drop me a message.

PT Shaun

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