Fit For Life: Time is (Not) on Your Side
Saturday, September 10, 2016
It is something that is infinite, but nobody has enough if it.
It is something that can't be made.
It is something that can't be bought.
It has value, but it is priceless.
It can be spent, but you will never get a refund.
Although it is infinite, we as humans only have a limited amount of it, and nobody will ever know how much they will have. The word of the week is - time. My favorite cliché about time is: You only have a limited amount, so spend it wisely, because there are no refunds. Or, life is not a dress rehearsal. There are no retakes. So my question to you is: why do you keep wasting it in the gym?
Yes, I am a big advocate of working out and exercising, but if you are not getting the results you are trying to achieve, then you are wasting your time exercising. I would much rather be hanging out with my nephew, sitting in a coffee shop, reading a book, or lying in the sun somewhere, than being in a gym, accomplishing nothing. Yea, you optimists feel that as long as you get there, that's better than not going, but I am telling you that's the wrong attitude and approach, because if you are not exercising properly you are not only wasting your time, but setting yourself up for injury, which is worse.
Efficient – and Safe
That's why Fit Body pioneered the 30 minute after burn workout system. Because we want our clients to get the best results as efficiently and safely as possible. I used to see it every single day. 90% of the people in the gym wasting their time and getting nowhere or looking worse. How can this be true you ask? Well this is what I see: People lumbering into the gym (usually with bad posture) grabbing a book or magazine and jumping on an elliptical machine or recumbent bicycle. Then they continue to practice poor form and posture by reading this book or magazine at a pace that would put you to sleep if you watch long enough. You cannot read if you are training intensely, and you cannot train intensely if you are reading. Why bother doing "cardio", if your heart rate isn't going to elevate and you aren't working up a sweat? Sure you may burn a few calories, but if you eliminate a piece of bread or a cookie from your food intake, you have accomplished the same deficit as lollygagging around for 45 minutes. Not only a waste of time, but by exercising with bad form/posture you are feeding dysfunction at an accelerated rate, which will pay you back with lots of visits to the orthopedic.
My suggestion: Attend 3-5 of my Bootcamp sessions a week, grab a partner and go for a fast power walk, or play a game of basketball. Anything to up the intensity, elevate your heart rate or work up a sweat. On the flip side, you see people killing themselves in the gym, sweating profusely, slinging heavy weights only to ruin their efforts with a poor nutrition program.
There are two different ways you can sabotage making gains with poor eating:
1) you eat all the wrong foods. You finish beating your body down, shredding muscle fibers, and burning up all your muscle glycogen, only to refuel your body with some processed garbage from a drive thru, or some packaged form of protein bar disguised as nutritious and healthy. Remember your gains are determined by how much rest, and how well you nourish yourself AFTER the workout, not how hard you work during. So if this is your routine, remember you will get fit faster and waste less time if you pay attention to what you eat. Remember you can't out exercise a bad diet.
2) the other problem is some people do not eat enough. I'm not sure which is worse. In order to perform at your peak levels in day to day life you need fuel, so when you work out you need even more. When you exercise and lack fuel you end up burning muscle mass which changes your body composition or muscle to fat ratio in an unfavorable way.
I always recommend keeping yourself fueled up and ready to perform at your highest level. If you just want to waste some time, go lay in the grass, and don't waste it in the gym! So if any of this article resonates with you, give me a call and we can get you on the straight line to success.
All my clients reading this: just keep showing up and following your meal plans. We got this.
Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!
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