Hey Everyone,
Welcome to another Sunday blog. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve sat down to write – Easter 100% corrupted me last weekend – and before I got too stuck in today I just wanted to thank everyone who has been getting into the gym and training with us. I know I’m loving getting to move around in boxing every-day (“circuit style”, “old school”, “moving day”, call it what you will!!) and I really hope you guys are feeling the same…as for the strength gym, it’s been going from strength to strength as we wind up our 1-rep-max program in Functional Fitness with countless PB’s being achieved. It’s also been great watching the evolution of the ‘Fully Loaded’ body-building style sessions and to see how hard everyone has been pushing through…it’s been a great time to be at the gym to be honest.
We’ve been running a bit of a new-member special the past few weeks which has had me having (what seems like!!) countless conversations with new members…it’s been pretty cool to be truthful and I do enjoy getting a bit of time to chat with people just kicking off their journey (or in most cases, trying AGAIN to kick off their journey). That said, it is very interesting though how similar so many people’s stories are regardless of their backgrounds and personal circumstances…eat ‘pretty well’ during the week but without any real understanding of how many calories and protein they SHOULD be consuming (let alone how many they ARE consuming!!), plagued by late-night (after dinner) snacking during the week, they don’t drink to excess often but 100% drink on too many days each week and regular food blow-outs on the weekend sabotage any chance they have at making “real” progress.
Listening to the stories I really believe that in most cases the training program they have been following is so rarely the issue. But they get stuck in a continuous cycle of trying a new training regime without making any diet changes then giving up somewhere between 9 weeks and 6-months later because they are not seeing the physical changes they were hoping for (which, to be fair, they never really spoke to anyone about)…and now another 12-months has passed and it’s “time” to try again.
And when they try again they are going to try something “NEW” (from a training perspective) because that last thing that they tried “didn’t work”. And whatever the problem is, it 100% isn’t the M&M’s eaten after the kids go to bed or the Sunday avo cheese and wine. ‘Cos, well…it couldn’t be that stuff!! 🙂And, I mean, don’t talk about that stuff either ‘cos “Life’s too Short” but I really want to lose 5kgs before I go to Bali…
All of that cynicism aside, there are a lot of reasons why people look to ‘something new’ when they are looking to ‘start anew’. On a purely social level, the desire to be part of “the next trend” is so often a big part of the reasoning. “I tried this – it didn’t work. My friend does ‘that’. I’m gonna try that as well!” For example, “intermittent fasting” has been a popular choice for people chasing weight-loss over the past couple of years…which is fine. Personally, I don’t really have much to say about it either positive or negative EXCEPT that it seems a great way for some people to “manage” (aka reduce) their daily caloric intake which puts them into a deficit and leads to some short-term weight loss. BUT – if you adapt that as your strategy without at least an understanding of how many calories you SHOULD be eating and how many you ARE eating, then…what are you really doing?? Following the advice of a friend who ‘gave it a go’ or an article someone at work read in a magazine?? I have some more words here to be honest but this is not ‘that’ blog!
Setting that (“intermittent fasting”) aside (it was only an example) regardless of what exercise routine you have chosen or what food plan you are following, it is CONSISTENT movement and CONSISTENTLY healthy eating that keeps the doctors (and obesity) away. That’s the truth of the real world. In the artificial world of social media however, it isn’t about consistency…it instead seems to be about doing something new, cool, and different – and keeping that scourge of life in 2024 – FOMO – at bay. From where I sit and the conversations I have been having with people, it does seem that ‘life’ in 2024 has almost become a battle between FOMO (the ‘exciting’) vs. consistent and repeated daily behaviors (aka, the ‘boring’) that is being fought out via SnapTok, InstaChat and whatever other platform is popular right now.
In reality, it should be the battle of frustration (look, a new trend!) vs. confidence and results (I know what to do!) I mean, the choice should be easy. But, “What If” is a powerful ideal and plays tricks on your mind. I mean, “What if” the new trend you spied is better/more effective/healthier”…it could make all your dreams come true in an INSTANT. It’s like buying a lotto ticket and thinking about how to spend the winnings BEFORE the draw – your mind ignores reality that true progress is about consistently doing things right, not clicking your fingers or waiting for the RIGHT group of numbered balls to drop.
Establishing a set of CONSISTENT habits that you can RELY upon make it much easier for you to thrive…because your behaviours are consistent, you wont be feeling stressed. What do I mean? Well, you KNOW what you are having for lunch on Monday because you did your meal-prep Sunday just like always. Or you KNOW what you are having for lunch on Monday because the healthy meal you picked up from the shop on the weekend is packed into your bag before you leave for work…you aren’t standing in a coffee shop staring at what remains in the bain marie at 1:45pm KNOWING you have to eat and also knowing you are about to make a decision that doesn’t align with what you have said you want to achieve. It is this mis-alignment between words and behaviour that so often cause each of us stress.
Why do I love training at Round 1? I mean, I’ve said it so many times but ultimately it’s because there is ZERO brain-power required, zero guessing needed. I turn up for my session, watch the demos, read the white board…and do the exercises. There are no distractions about hunting around for the ‘perfect’ workout or worrying or not whether you are doing “it” right. There are no distractions – come in, train, stretch, go home. The coaches are their throughout and have one task – helping YOU. When you think doing something “new” is the missing part of the equation you’re overlooking the obvious – what works is doing the SAME few healthy behaviours repeatedly and making STEADY progress over time. That’s what results come from.
Oh – and if you want to catch-up and make a bit of a plan for your own food and training moving forward, well…that’s what we’re actually here for. So if you need help, ask for it…we want YOU to be successful.
See you in the gym,
Michael.
