A few years ago, I read a book by Timothy Ferris titled The 4-Hour Workweek. I found that most of what I read in it was for entertainment value only, and only applicable to someone who wanted to stay single for their entire lives. That being said, there was one piece of advice in there that I really liked. Always aim for the exceptional. The reasoning?
[Aiming for the exceptional actually makes it easier to accomplish your goals because you're more motivated to achieve them.]
When you’re trying to accomplish or attain something that’s amazing, you’ll be so motivated and pumped up about accomplishing it that you’re more likely to accomplish it than if you were trying to do something mediocre. This really resonated with me, and I felt that the idea of not striving for mediocrity is some of the best advice I’ve heard. Here’s how you can apply this concept in the best way possible, starting today, to both fitness and to life:
I tracked down the best to offer their greatest fitness tips on getting into shape and reaching your fitness goals. Here’s what they had to say:
Dave Navarro from Rock Your Day said, “You’re going to make excuses to try and get out of changing behaviors you want to cling to, so it helps to have an airtight, 30-second speech you can say in your head to remind you of why you MUST change your patterns, and you must change them NOW.”
Vic Magary From Gym Junkies said, “You MUST be willing to step out of your comfort zone to hit your goals. No matter if your goal is fat loss, building muscle or eating better you have to make a conscious decision to stop doing what is easy and natural to you, and try a route that actually works.”
Nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who doesn’t know just how important exercise is. So if everyone knows how important it is, why aren’t more people dedicated to exercising? Here are the top 10 excuses people use not to workout and why the excuses don’t hold water:
[We should never say to ourselves that we can't do something. Because if we put our mind to it, we can do anything. Even if that means defying gravity.]
#10 – Exercise Makes Me Tired
You’re not working out because exercise makes you tired? My first response is that if you’re used to exercising, it gives you energy throughout the day. My second response is that it’s good it makes you tired, since who doesn’t want to get a good nights sleep?
#9 – I’m Not Trying Out For The SAS For 6 More Years Anyway…
If you haven’t read about Jason Oglesbee yet, chances are that you will. He is a construction worker who dangled from a crane to save the life of a woman drowning in the water at the base of a dam. Jason is not only a hero, but clearly someone who has been keeping in shape. When the time came to perform an act of heroism, not only was he mentally and spiritually willing to go for it, but he was physically able.
We Train For Life, Not For Vanity
There’s nothing wrong with being a little vain, especially if it pushes you to get strong and healthy, or if it helps you in a relationship. But taking vanity to the point of the extreme is wrong, and negates everything we work for when we try to get into shape. One of the reasons I look down upon bodybuilding is because it takes vanity to such an extreme that it completely forgoes functional fitness. We need to train for life, not live to train.
The other day, I got into a conversation with one of my friend’s older brothers. This guy is a machine when it comes to working out. He gets up at five in the morning, says his prayers, goes to the gym, from the gym he goes to work, then after work he goes to the gym again or goes for a 12-mile run! And to make it clear, this guy is ripped, weighing 190 pounds with almost no body fat.
Now, why am I bringing this up? Because while we were talking, he mentioned that he knows very little when it comes to working out. That’s right, this ridiculously fit guy who works out twice a day knows very little about working out!
[Once you've read this, you can check out Part II here]
For those of you who know me or have read the about section of this blog, you are aware that both my knees were badly injured while training in a special unit in the IDF as a combat medic. Interestingly, the hardest thing for me was not my temporary inability to walk, but my fear that I would never in the future be able to walk pain-free. For the first time, I knew that sheer motivation and willpower would not alone be enough to pull me through. I had hit a brick wall, and I was in a depression.
The first step to getting fit and changing your lifestyle is to get motivated, and get determined. Here’s an old video by fitness-legend Jack Lalanne about winning the battle of life.
A good way to start is by creating weekly and monthly goals. Want to lose weight? Weigh yourself now and make a goal about where you want to be in a week, and in a month, and in 6 months. (A solid way to start is to try to lose a pound a week.) Make a promise yourself to walk to the supermarket instead of driving, and make time for yourself a few times a week to do the kind of exercise that will really get your heart pumping! (We’ll get more into workout routines, sprinting versus long cardio and related topics later.)
The most important thing is to wake up every day, steel yourself to stick to your goals, and then accomplish them! That’s the real secret to getting fit, and in the words of Rocky Balboa, “That’s how WINNIN’ is done!”
