“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”
Guess what, there is no magic pill that will transform you. There is also no magic workout, routine, class… whatever it is you are looking for that will tone your butt, lose weight off your thighs, increase your vertical jump or insert whatever else you are thinking of here. It is called a life style. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Really if everyone got this, I would be right out of a job. Here is where this post stems from. I met a kid today, that told me his trainer wanted him to gain ten pounds for some type of high school talent show case, I think soccer. So what does this trainer tell a 17-year-old high school kid to do… take Creatine. No guidance, just take it. Unbelievable. There is a protocol for taking Creatine. But besides that, taking Creatine DOES NOT result in muscle hypertrophy. It is for the re-synthesis of ATP. You will gain water weight and the muscles will look fuller, but that is it. If someone was to bottle fitness, or talent good on them but here is the pill. The magic pill that everyone is after… the fountain of youth is…
GOOD OLD FASHIONED HARD WORK AND A HEALTHY LIFE STYLE.
Holy shit, I just gave away the secret that all the trainers’ at “Globo Gym” don’t want their clients to figure out because that would decrease sales of the minimum 60 sessions per client quota they are required to sell.
Hard work is easy. Ready.
Day 1 –Move your body fast (get your heart rate up)
Day 2 – Lift heavy things
Day 3 – Lift heavy things fast
Day 4 – Play or move slowly
Day 5 – Lift Heavy things
Day 6 – Play or move slowly
Day 7 – Play or move slowly
Note: I do recommend reading Primal Fitness Blue Print, where the above schedule was adapted from. It is a good start to doing things a little differently.
I have had a great laugh over the last day. The concept of a gym to “workout” is actually becoming humorous to me. Why you ask? Take a look around. There are people running on a treadmill watching TV. Guys crushing out bicep curls like the Apocalypse is upon us. Just watch people in a gym and ask your self if this is natural, any of it. The treadmills. Okay, I will correct myself. It is the routines that people endure that are not natural. Go to a place, and run on a treadmill, go nowhere and watch TV! My grandfather came to Canada on a boat, and I would love to have seen the look on his face or heard his reaction to the concept of a gym. Think about that and you will see my point. And to top it off today, I stop at Super Store and there is a gym right in the store. A Goodlife Fitness. Really, we need life to be that routine, and convenient.
And go ahead and say it, “but you go o a gym.” Yes, I do. But I go there to lift weights, move my body fast, and do restorative work on my tissues; to fix the inside and get a better looking outside in the process. Not look great but be totally broken on the inside. I even do yoga. It is not a typical gym “routine”. The healthy lifestyle is a little more of a vague response. Look, I will be honest, as I write this after finishing off a cheat meal (Five Guys Burger and Fries this time) which I allow my self maybe once a week; the cheat meal that is, not FGBF. Look, cheat meals are fine, just don’t do it every day. It is about eating real food. Not something that comes in a package or a box. It is not about taking supplements. REAL FOOD. The longer it takes to go bad, the worse it is for you. If you are eating real food, supplements are a waste of money. Start with real food. When you are doing that right, and then look to supplements. And yes I take supplements. And here they are… fish oil, vitamin D and a multi (only when I know I am going to have a day of poor eating). That is it. Not rocket science. I am an no cover model with six-pack abs and duck face. But I am going to say, I do not look or feel the age that I am (33 yrs.). I am fitter and stronger than I was when I was in undergrad and should have been at the prime of my life. But I try to maintain an simple lifestyle. I do not kill myself in the gym; I do not run because I “have to”. I do things because they are fun; challenging and I genuinely enjoy them. That is as simple as it gets.
So here is my conclusion. Go to the gym, not because you have to but want to. If you don’t feel like it get outside. Move your body. Enjoy what you do. Get out of routine. Eat real food and enjoy it, don’t obsess over it. If it is real food there is no bad foods. Cheat… on your diet once in a while and do not beat your self up over it. That is just silly. Love what you do and do it with purpose. Life is not a chore and it is not forever. Enjoy every moment.
Yours in Health and Performance.
Jeff Osadec, MKin, CEP, CSCS