Everybody see’s all the gimmicks when it comes to fitness and the fads the industry goes through. It’s actually quite funny to me, I love seeing the infomercials on TV. But I also know that many people out there seriously give into these things and it is upsetting to me because that’s one less person not receiving the right type of help they deserve.
One person I have to throw out there, not to talk shit because I am not a hater, is Shaun T from “Insanity” and “Hip hop abs“. I will say that I have respect for the guy from a business standpoint, I mean the guy has sold tons of DVD’s between his two fitness programs. But I will also say… C’mon people you don’t seriously think this stuff is good do you?!
Insanity can get you ripped IF you are already in good enough shape to move properly or have some kind of an athletic background to help you out. You see you cannot just jump a million times and expect not to get hurt when training, especially if your pretty overweight. I have known many people who have done this and not one has got through the full DVD without hurting an ankle or knee at least once, because if you look at the workouts your pretty much jumping and sprinting in place for an hour and every once in a while a push up or crunch is thrown into the mix. Now like I said if you’re not too overweight and you can move functionally you may be able to get through it without hurting yourself and yes, you’ll probably burn some fat from doing it.
But even worse than Insanity is Hip-Hop Abs, it literally cracks me up in laughter when watching the commercials. According to this DVD you can dance and “Pop it” for an hour until your completely ripped… He pretty much just does a standing crunch on stage while listening to some awful music and it “Targets” every single part of your core. I don’t think I even need to explain why this will not work. Like I said before, I respect his hustle and he’s probably racking in some good money but he’s not really helping people like trainers are meant too. That’s really why we do what we do, its to help people and once you get great and help tons of people the money will follow.
The point of this article is not to bash on Shaun T or any other horrible fitness DVD but to break down the different fads and gimmicks in fitness and show you how to create real habits that lead to life changing results.
Terrible Tools
- First thing I would like to cover is all the terrible fitness tools out there that people buy expecting to “Get Shredded”. I could list tons of tools right now starting with the “Shake Weight” (completely ridiculous in many ways), but instead I will just tell you how to spot out a terrible tool. First thing you need to realize is anything that is considered a tool that will do it all for you, is not truly going to do it all for you. You cannot workout the entire body in a functional matter with a single tool, hence why gyms are full of many tools. But the point is that you must implement all kinds of training and daily habits together to get great results, exactly why you cannot just train but you need to have a healthy diet in line with it. With all the tools you see at stores or on infomercials you need to identify a few things, 1.) Does it help me create better habits? 2.) Does it improve my nutrition? 3.) Will it confuse/challenge my muscles over a long period of time?. Most likely all the answers to these questions are no, which means you shouldn’t buy it. Instead, you should hire a good trainer and start training multiple times a week. You also need to be on a strict diet if you expect to get in great shape, no questions asked. There is no “AB Belt” or “AB roller” that is going to allow you to lose all the weight you want to, it takes discipline, dedication, and smart training.
Dumb Diet
- Diet is one that is everywhere, especially on TV. It is also one of the ones that has the most people falling for the gimmicks. They have everything from “Sensa” which is a powder you pour on your food which magically makes you…. not get fat from the food?? I don’t really know to be honest, still slightly confused on that one. They have all types of juice cleanses and smoothie diets that somehow are better for you. Don’t get me wrong you can use a juicer and make smoothies that are healthy and a good addition to your diet, but there just an addition not an entire diet. There’s the “Alkaline Diet”, all sorts of low carb diets, the “Hollywood Diet”, and of course the “HCG” diet. All these are either bogus diets that don’t truly work at all, or it’s just a quick fix that doesn’t stick around. All the low carb diets can be great to slim down for a short period of time but it’s also been proven that your muscles need carbs to replenish glycogen stores or they wont survive long. So in other words you may lose some fat, but you’ll also lose a lot of muscle which doesn’t look good. So you need carbs, but the right types at the right times (check out my Carbohydrates article for more). The “Hollywood Diet” is literally a bottled drink that you drink to magically lose weight, which obviously from the sound of it can’t be good for you or truly work. This diet helps you lose some water weight temporarily, in other words as soon as you eat or drink any liquid you will gain the weight back. The “HCG” diet is a liquid tablet that you drop underneath your tongue multiple times a day which allows you to lose weight. The science behind this is that the formula forces your body to use the stored fat you have as energy, rather than needing to eat for fuel. The problem with this is that depending on the person and body type you may not react the same way they expected. The diet calls for 500 calories a day, this leads to people getting light-headed, fainting, or becoming feeble. It also can lead to a serious case of muscle atrophy, in other words it can use your muscles for energy rather than fat and you will end up losing the muscle and strength you previously had. All these diet fads do the same thing in the end, they give us temporary satisfaction but no long-term results which is what we are truly looking for. None of these diets can create habits and lifestyle changes that lead to real results.
Now I am going to talk about creating good habits and making a lifestyle change, which is the most important subject in this article. I explained all the fitness fad diets and all the terrible “Get you shredded” tools, but these are all obvious things to most of us. Even though I’m sure we’ve all fallen into the bullshit gimmicks of some fitness company, yes even I have been a victim, we all truly know it will not solve our issue. But what will solve our issues of getting in the shape we want to be in, is creating a better lifestyle that is full of daily habits that can lead to results.
The first thing you must do is make a lifestyle change, sounds pretty serious I know but it is what is needed. It takes a complete attitude change and mentality shift to truly become the person who will get great results. You need to be able to say no to the potluck at work or to your friends asking you to go out for drinks. You need to get to the point where you will do whatever it takes to get the results you want, because that’s what will make you happy. Once you reach that level of fitness and happiness, then you can go out for drinks with your friends on occasion without having to worry about it because you’ve earned it.
When making a lifestyle change you need to call yourself out on all the things that are holding you back from getting where you want to be. This can be an extremely hard step, nobody wants to realize all the things their doing wrong but if you take the time to realize what you’re doing wrong, then you can make the changes that are needed. This can be done by sitting down with a close friend or a good coach, or you can simply write out a list of things that are holding you back. Once these things are out in the open, its time to figure out how you can improve them or change them to help you work towards your goal. Most of the time its taking things completely out of the equation, such as going out or eating junk food. But the solutions are what carry you to your goal, if you go out too much then create a cheat day every other week. This way you literally took out multiple nights of drinking but still allow yourself once every other week which will give you something to look forward to and it will not be to detrimental upon your results. If junk food is the problem then find a way to get on a more structured diet, it will give you meal plans that are outlined and I guarantee that there will be no junk food within these meal plans.
When it comes to creating habits it’s really all about consistency. If you decide that you are going to start drinking a gallon of water a day to get closer to your results but you stop doing so at a couple of days in, it’s literally pointless. Nothing great comes without consistency, which is a really just a good habit. So figure out what habits you need to quit and what habits you need to create to get better. Once you figure out these habits I suggest writing them out so you have a list of daily tasks that you can refer too constantly. Now that you have your habits figured out and written out you need to practice them daily and continue to practice them daily for a long period of time. Like I said before, nothing great comes without consistency. Habits are things that are repeated, so keep them going and once you do so for a good amount of time you won’t even need to think about it because it’ll just happen.
This is how anyone who is in great shape actually got their results and these are the kind of things great coaches help you achieve to receive such great results. Guidance can be a key factor when it comes to discipline and consistency, so don’t be afraid to get that guidance. Many people are begging to get these results and create this lifestyle but they are simply afraid of taking that first step because change is uncomfortable. But being comfortable does not allow you to grow, and this goes for every aspect in life. When you step out of that comfort zone it allows you to change and adapt, this will make you become stronger and more diligent in what you are striving for. You see, stepping out of the comfort zone is difficult but once you make that difficult step everything else becomes so much easier.
Changing your lifestyle and creating habits are by far the most important things when it comes to achieving the results you desire and keeping them around for a long period of time. They are also the hardest two things to do, but remember; nothing great comes without hard work. So its time to get determined and make the change so you can get what you truly want. If you need the guidance to help you get there I seriously suggest getting a good coach to help you along the way. Having a good coach will help you make the change, but will also give you the accountability and support you need a long the way. Not to mention they will help you train and get your diet on point. I cannot stress enough how helpful a caring coach really is, if this sounds appealing then try one of our coaches at Vigor Ground Fitness & Performance. Trying this trial is cheap and gives you every aspect of training we offer and also the nutritional counseling along with it. On top of that we all truly care about giving you whats best, if your lucky you can even get to train with me on Team Boom-Boom 😉
