Do you like tongue twisters? Like Oh Say What You Say by Dr. Suess? Great book, if you haven’t read it, I recommend it.
If so, say this 5 times fast: “You gotta don’t the don’ts before you do the dos.”
If not, say this once: “You gotta don’t the don’ts before you do the dos.”
See what I did there lol? This is so important that everyone should say it no matter their feelings about tongue twisters.
Over the last 10 years, Steel has changed the lives of thousands of everyday men and women. Through that time, I have learned many tips and tricks that could be helpful to you when you are trying to reach your fitness goals.
That is why I am bringing you the “Dos and Don’ts of Reaching Your Fitness Goals”. The don’ts will be first because you know, you have to “don’t the don’ts before you do the dos.”
Today’s Topics
- Don’ts
- Don’t Do Nothing
- Don’t Do Extreme Plans
- Don’t Start and Stop Constantly
- Don’t Pursue an All or None Approach
- Don’t Be Impatient
- Do’s
- Strength Training
- Walking
- Hitting Calorie and Protein Goal
- Drinking Enough Water
- Sleep Enough
- Find Your Sweet Spots
- Trust the Process
- Be Patient
Don’t Do Nothing
If you do nothing, you won’t get good results. Sitting on the couch all day or just going through the motions will only lead you down the negative results path.
Something is way better than nothing.
Don’t Do Extreme Plans
Do not go to extremes. Remember some is good but more is not better. Extreme workout plans where you are exhausted and cannot give close to maximum effort are not the way to hit your goals in the best manner. They often lead to burnout and possible injury.
You want to push yourself, but going overboard can be harmful.
Don’t Start and Stop Constantly
Your health and fitness are constantly fluctuating. The journey doesn’t stop if you decide to quit working today and start back next week.
Whether you are following an extreme plan, moderate plan, light plan, or no plan, you are still on a health and fitness journey.
Think of this concept in your marriage, children, or job. You may have a crappy day, week, month, year, but you are not going to stop showing up. I’m not going to quit showing up to Shelby as her husband because I have a bad day as a husband. I am not going to quit showing up as Grey, Huddy, Glory, or Banner’s father because I was a bad dad one day.
You are still going to fill that role regardless, so treat your health and fitness journey the same way.
The same is with your body–it’s not going anywhere. So, you need to quit starting and stopping constantly because your fitness journey doesn’t end with you quitting a diet or a plan.
Don’t Pursue an All or None Approach
Once again, you don’t treat your marriage, children, or job in this manner. You don’t throw in the towel as soon as something bad happens or you have a rough day. No, you get back up and you try to be better the next opportunity you get.
We need to clear ourselves from this start and stop, all or none mentality that surrounds the fitness world.
Do the best you can with what you have, and you will feel so much freer on your health and fitness journey. If you fall off your plan, just get back on track!
Don’t Be Impatient
You could be doing EVERYTHING right, I am talking ALL the dos and some, but if you aren’t patient, you could miss all the benefits of your efforts.
I have seen people doing the right things, and if they would just stick it out for 6-12 months, they would be a RADICALLY different person, but they lack patience and quit their journey too early.
The Bible tells us we reap what we sow so why not stick around to reap what you have sowed into your health and fitness journey?
You Should Strength Train
Strength Training elevates any results you are striving for. Training will build muscle and cause fat loss when paired with these other do’s.
You Should Walk
Walk as much as you can without feeling like you are overextending yourself. Whatever your goal is–6,000, 8,000, 12,000–choose one that makes you put effort in but is attainable.
Consistency is key so you want to make sure your goals are attainable, so you continue to reach them and press beyond them!
You Should Hit Calorie and Protein Goal
Whether you track or not, you want to find a plan that works best for you. You want to find that sweet spot.
A huge calorie deficit will make you lose X number of pounds and doubling it will make you have double the fat loss, but it might quadruple your level of misery. This is why choosing calorie and protein goals that work for you and your schedule are crucial!
You Should Drink Enough Water
Don’t overhydrate, but if your body is telling you to drink water, drink it.
You can tell if you need water if your urine is a dark yellow/brown color, or if you feel thirsty.
You Should Sleep Enough
Do the best you can with what you have. If you can only get 6 hours of sleep, get 6 hours of sleep. Find the amount of sleep that leaves you feeling rested and energized throughout the day and stay there.
The amount of sleep people need varies–some people need 6, some 7, some 8, some 9. So again, find your sweet spot.
You Should Find Your Sweet Spots
This means finding the perfect balance of days you should strength train a week. Maybe 2 days a week or 4 days a week.
This balance helps shift your focus from all or none to what works best for you and your body.
For most people, the sweet spot is 2-3 days per week Strength Training for 45 minutes with movements that allow them to train pain free with full range of motion, good form, and progressive overload.
Trust the Process
If you are seeing some progress, stay the course and trust that you will see your results.
If you are working with expert personal trainers-you know, the ones at Steel Strength Training ;)-that have you on a plan and tell you to trust the process, trust the process.
Be Patient
If you trust the process and be patient, you will see your results. However, being patient isn’t doing nothing. Being patient is WORKING while WAITING.
The goal is not to optimize any of these things for maximum results. The goal is to optimize these aspects to get the best results while fitting into your current life and situation.
You don’t exist to serve your fitness plan; your fitness plan exists to serve you.
If you will stop doing the don’ts and start doing the dos, you will see results in weeks and you will see a brand-new version of yourself in months or years.
Like I said earlier, having expert personal trainers and nutrition coaches really elevates your results and fitness journey as a whole. If you want to have someone that knows what they are doing, cares about you, and will hold you accountable, Steel Strength Training is the right choice.
Our trainers and nutrition coach want to help you quit doing the don’ts and start doing the dos so you can achieve results that you can maintain for life!
