This isn’t easy. Sorry, allow me to rephrase. This is fucking difficult. It is a fucking burden waking up before dawn around 4:30 AM, when it’s so dark you step over your cat and bump into every piece of furniture on the way to the bathroom. It’s bloody awful is what it is. But it’s a choice I choose to make 5 to 6 days a week, every week, all year round.
I make this choice because four years ago I decided that my body is a priority. Not just that I’d eat more greens, call 19991 less often and make more movements than bed rolls. It was a decision to take my body to the furthest it could go, and then some more. I strive for physical perfection, not a magazine cover perfection mind you, but my version of perfection. A shady and somewhat dodgy and constantly fluctuating image deeply engraved in the back of my head.
You probably think I’m talking aesthetics here. You’re only 33% mistaken. Aesthetics are definitely a measure for progress for me, but I recently crossed the mental block that had positioned it on the #1 spot and enabled me to realize that it ought to be a #2 or #3 indicator. For me, performance gains have taken the driver’s seat. Aesthetics will happen and more importantly - will constantly fluctuate.
You see, there’s a reason all those bodybuilders and fitness models talk about their on and off season diets and workouts, it’s because you can’t - and shouldn’t - maintain a 4% body fat all year round. You simply won’t progress with body fat that low. Whether you like it or not, your body needs fat in order to grow.
Why am I saying all this shit? Good question. It’s about that first paragraph. It’s about how difficult it can be to commit to this sort of lifestyle when you don’t have the drive or motivation. Many people make it their New Year’s resolution to hit the gym and drop the pounds and enter the next Summer with their Diva look on the beach. Yet less than 10% of people actually follow through with that. Most people hit the gym for a couple of weeks or one month max, and seeing no dramatic changes they are dissuaded and just abandon this whole fitness thing altogether. It’s an all too common scenario that’s become a ridiculous cliche at this point.
What’s the biggest issue there though? It’s simple. You think in short bursts. You have no long term vision. Of course relying solely on long term visions can be equally vicious as it can leave some people disheartened by the fact they’re not achieving their vision soon enough. It’s about setting realistic deadlines, milestones and evaluating your progress throughout by combining short term and long term goals in everything you do. You need a long term goal to be working for, whether it’s to be a certain weight class, or to lift a certain number of KGS in your one-rep max or how fast you can clock out a one kilometer run. It’s just as important to have many short time attainable goals over the course of the year which can help keep you motivated and enable you to reach this long term goal of yours. Short term goals also help you in reevaluating your overall plan and tweaking it accordingly if something isn’t working like you thought it would.
I’m writing all of this shit because it is all too common in my life to come across those who say that it’s difficult to commit to this lifestyle and they’re not necessarily mistaken. It is however an issue of prioritization. Is this important to you? More important than the convenience of lazying about? It’s a choice you have to make, no one else will make it for you. You must decide to respect your own body and be committed to its well being in nutrition and exercise alike.
What’s it gonna be hot stuff?
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