Saturday, February 28, 2015

Four Things Fitness Taught Me about Life





1. You cannot reinvent the wheel

Whatever method brought the person you admire most in your field to the position that he or she is in right now, is probably going to work for you as well. When it comes to fitness, many of us are looking for shortcuts. We believe the promises of chocolate diets, of potato diets (yes, there is such a thing as a diet relying exclusively on potatoes). We hope that lemon water, green coffee, green tea, raspberry ketones and what not will sculpt our abs to perfection no matter what else we eat. But it’s all an illusion. These ways of approaching fitness and bodybuilding are neatly inferior to what real bodybuilders actually do. They count calories, they rigorously track their macronutrients, they eat every 2 or 3 hours, they prep their meals and carry them around, they exercise according to well-balanced plans, they monitor their gym progress and keep on challenging their body so that their routine does not become too easy. So, next time you are disappointed about your goals in a certain field, try looking at what the best in that field are doing. Chances are you will be able to grow by incorporating some of their activities in your routine.



2. You can adjust the wheel to your personality and needs

The fact that you can’t reinvent the wheel doesn’t mean that you cannot tweak it to your advantage. This wheel that I keep referring to is the broader perspective on how things should be done. Its details, however, are not set in stone and you can have a lot of space for maneuver in this respect. For instance, when it comes to fitness, not everybody should break down macros in the exact same way. Some will eat 1 g of protein per kilogram. Others will eat 1.4 and still others even 2. Also, you can choose your protein from animal or vegan sources. You could have chicken breast and egg whites to fit your macros, but you could equally opt for lentils and beans. In the end, it is up to you on how you decide to implement the method that will help you reach your goals. 



3. You are what you do everyday

You are not what you want to do. You are not what you do every now and then. You are what you do every single day. Consistency is the key for any human enterprise. Getting your weekly exercise from working out for 5 hours in a day will not deliver the same results as working out 1 hour per day for 5 days. Muscles need rest to recuperate and grow. After this small break they need to be stimulated again. The faster this cycle, the bigger your gains. Similarly, learning a foreign language for 5 hours in one day, as opposed to 1 hour per day for 5 days will hinder your learning process. For once, memories are consolidated during sleep. Also, you have more time to think about what you have previously acquired and can practice more, either consciously or not. 



4. Failure is your teacher, while awareness and perseverance your best friends

I once read that those whom we usually call winners are simply the people who have failed the most. In other words, winners are the biggest losers. It sounds a bit counter-intuitive and it might as well be. Not all losers need become winners. But those losers who are aware of their losses, who analyze the roots of their failures and their entire set of reactions surrounding them, those losers are on the way to becoming real winners. They just need one more ingredient: perseverance. So, if you fail at your goal, are aware of it, know why you failed, but try again and again and again until you finally get it right, then respect! You are a winner! 



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