January is International Shortcut Month!
Yesterday, you set some new year’s resolutions. Today, you were thrilled to discover that you could achieve them all EASILY AND FAST in the next 30 days! Woohoo—what will you do with the rest of your year??!
Yes, we’re talking about the get-lean-quick and crash diets, and the zero-money-down gym sign-up programs that prey on people like us.
There ARE shortcuts to fitness. But these are definitely not part of it.
WHEN DOES A FITNESS SHORTCUT HURT US?
To help us identify what can help us and what can hurt us in the midst of the fitness offers, we are going to use a four-question test that we took from Seth Godin’s blog:
- Is it repeatable? Can I keep doing this for a long time?
- Is it non-harmful? What are the downstream effects on my health?
- Is it additive? Will it improve over time?
- Can it survive the crowd? Does it have to be a secret?
Here are a few examples of some fitness trends (which you might have probably being pitched on your Facebook feed today). Let’s hold them up to the four-question test to find out their shortcut validity.
THE 30 DAY GET-LEAN-QUICK / XYZ DIET
- Is it repeatable? Can I keep doing this for a long time, or is it a crash diet?
People use different types of diets to shave weight off all the time , like ketosis, high-fat diets, paleo….. And if you’re trying to beat a sugar addiction, a short intermitting fasting diet might actually help.
But can I sustain this for the rest of my life? Unfortunately ALL quick “diets” are a quick fix which your body can not sustain for all your life.
If you stop eating certain nutrients, your body will lose the ability to process them, thus creating digestion issues when you try to reintroduce these nutrients into your daily routine.
If you stop eating carbs, you’ll become less resistant to insulin in the short-term and start burning more fat instead of glucose… but your body will also start slowing down during exercise as fat is a slower source of energy than carbs.
- Is it non-harmful? What are the downstream effects on my health?
Rapid weight loss, crash dieting, or any unsustainable practice will always have a rebound effect. While cutting sugars can have amazing benefits on your health in the long term, you have a relationship with food and one-night stands with diets will always come back to haunt you.
- Is it additive? Will it improve over time?
Diets give you a clear “good and bad” line and it’s great to feel so much in control of your nutrition. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last and is not sustainable in life. Everyone knows the term “yo-yo dieting” by now.
- Can it survive the crowd? Does it have to be a secret?
Dieting together with a group of friends or colleagues or gym buddies is easier as you’ll be more likely to stick to the plan. SHOULD you stick to it? See above.
JOINING A GYM
- Is it repeatable? Can I keep doing this for a long time?
Yes. You can join a gym and keep going for years and years. What’s best and what we promote is coached fitness, but even a $7 access-only gym will benefit you long term (if you show up).
2. Is it non-harmful? What are the downstream effects on my health?
There probably are no negative effects. Very few people get injured in the gym. When they occur, injuries are usually overuse problems (you keep repeating the same workout or movements like bench press every single Monday and leg extensions every Friday).
3. Is it additive? Will it improve over time?
Yes. Training with weights has a compounding effect. You get stronger, your muscles improve your metabolism, and you get better and leaner… UNLESS you keep sticking to the same program every month, like the same old 3-sets-of-8-reps. Your body need constant variety to improve in all aspects.
But in general, running becomes more fun the longer you run, weightlifting becomes more fun the longer you lift, and CrossFit-style workouts get even more exciting over time.
4. Can it survive the crowd? Does it have to be a secret?
Regular gyms will see a huge influx of new members until mid March (the average date most new members quit, except in coaching gyms like Andfit where people stick around for years).
Regular gyms also will never really “fill” as many members almost never show up after the initial frenzy. Here at Andfit we’re the opposite, as we have a membership cap of 14 people per class.
JOINING A COACHING GYM OR A PERSONAL TRAINER
- Is it repeatable? Can I keep doing this for a long time?
Yes. Many of our members have been doing CrossFit for over 6 years, and still love it. And yes, you can keep doing it for a long time.
Many people are concerned about injuries before starting however, these rarely happen unless you workout alone, unsupervised when technique hasn’t settled yet or you skip the warm up in a class, which is meant to warm all the muscles you need in the workout, thus drastically reducing the likelihood of injury.
In same cases, CrossFit-style training has even fixed chronic problems such as back pain after accidents. Try to believe.
- Is it non-harmful? What are the downstream effects on my health?
Yes. Here at Andfit we offer personalised training in a group environment. This means we work 1:1 with our members to measure progress and set goals, so you can really track and improve your fitness.
- Is it additive? Will it improve over time?
Yes. When an objective source measures your results (CrossFit-style training is very easily measurable and coaches are working with you at all time to set goals and measures), they can point to what’s working and help you focus more.
- Can it survive the crowd? Does it have to be a secret?
No. Coaching businesses are anti-crowd. Because of the 1:1 relationships involved, coaching businesses can’t take 1,000 clients. And this is probably the SECRET recipe for a life-long healthy relationship with your fitness.
LOOK FOR THE RIGHT FORMULA
You’re going to get pitched this week. Be wary of the fitness shortcuts around the Internet. Use the four-question test and if you think what you’ve been pitched is unsustainable, don’t buy. Look elsewhere for the right formula.
Get in touch below if you’d like to know more about what we do at Andfit.
Happy fitness!