Four Mistakes You’re Making on your Fitness Quest
And how you can fix them today
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was a fat kid.
Every day I went to school or walked in my neighborhood, I heard it all.
“Fat fuck.”
“Pete’s a fatty.”
“Stupid fat bitch.”
“Fat ass.”
“Fat bitch.”
In fact, one time during our head lice inspection in sixth grade, a young girl in my class got head lice.
But instead of owning up to her responsibility, she looked at me and exclaimed “I should knock half the fucking fat off you.”
Needless to say, I was shocked.
It’s amazing how much one person’s own issues seem to affect so many other people.
Later, I decided I should be a theater major in college.
Of course, it’s a look dependent profession.
Coupled with the fact that I literally hated my reflection, I decided it was time for a change.
I went to the local gym, fucked around and lifted some weights, did my cardio, and started to lose weight.
And what I did worked, for sure.
But it wasn’t the best course of action.
What the hell was I doing wrong?
It came down to five simple errors I was making.
- I was doing too much cardio—This isn’t to say that cardio is bad. It definitely isn’t. But, when you’re trying to lose fat, get stronger, and feel better, it can actually hinder you. For one thing, it makes it hard to recover from the workouts. And since I started when I was in college, the extra hour was time I could have spent doing anything else. Partying, sleeping, being productive. You know, important college student stuff.
- I was eating too little—Yes, eating less and moving more is the key to weight loss. But with all things, it’s always simple, but not easy. Getting enough food is important so it can help you get through your workouts AND the rest of your life. Eat too little? You feel like a wrecked bag of crushed dog shit. And that’s never good.
- I wasn’t lifting heavy enough—Now, I don’t mean this to say that you have to be as strong as an elite level powerlifter. But it also means that you shouldn’t be lifting too light, either. The goal is to challenge you, incrementally, over time. All I was doing—and what a lot of trainees do—is lift too light, to the point of burnout, without any appreciable body composition results. Combine this with too much cardio, and it makes perfect sense. I wasn’t building any real muscle.
- I didn’t train smart—I did go to the gym four or five times a week. But, like most of us, I had no clue what I was doing. So naturally, it consisted of lots of bench presses. In fact, that might have been all I did. I neglected a lot of things. I skipped leg day. Please, don’t hide your gasps. I would make fun of me, too. I neglected my shoulders, my butt, my biceps, all because I didn’t know what I was doing.
But against all odds, I managed to fix that.
The first thing I did when I wanted to take it to the next level was hire a coach, obviously.
No matter what, we call can use coaching to help us meet our goals.
In addition to that, I started doing more than bench presses.
Squats, pull-ups, lunges, all the fun stuff that makes for a better body.
As a result, my results sky rocketed.
So every time I need a kick in the ass, I hire a coach.
And with the right one, the results speak for themselves.
