mjt training

4 Ways You Might Be Sabotaging Your Own Fitness Goals

We’re all prone to stressful periods in life – times when progress in the gym isn’t our first priority, or even possible. You shouldn’t expect long periods of uninterrupted progress all the time.

However, when I talk to prospective clients, friends, and family, I very often see that lack of progress isn’t usually related to external circumstances. Sure, life does get in the way, but often you get in the way of yourself.

That may sound harsh, but it’s not meant to be. With only a few tweaks and a little creativity, your exercise program can be greatly improved almost overnight. If you’re reading this, then you’re one step closer to finding the best program for you.

These mistakes are by no means the only ones I see, but from my experience they’re the most common.

I’m not just going to list off some mistakes and then leave you hanging, with no idea what to do next. There are some specific and practical things you can do to improve your exercise program and minimize each of these mistakes. Each mistake has actionable steps for correction, to get you on the straightest path toward your goals.

Doing workouts straight from a magazine

On first glance, this might not seem like such a bad thing. At least you have a plan, right (more on that in a minute)? Not so fast. Having a plan doesn’t matter if it’s a bad plan for you.

Magazines are constantly pushing new workout routines and new gadgets to try. Fact is, the magazines (like any other published media) are constantly looking for new things to push in order to keep their audience. That’s not a bad thing; they’d simply cease to exist if they didn’t.

Where you run into problems is when you start thinking this month’s workout is somehow “better” than last month’s, or you start jumping from program to program every month without ever using some sort of progression. None of those programs are designed to build on anything you’ve already done, so more than likely you’re just going to end up spinning your wheels.

Unless a magazine is running a multi-month series of articles with workouts that build on each other, you’re probably best off developing your own plan or finding a coach to develop one for you.

Here’s one thing that is good about magazine workouts: they give you a starting point. You can look at different workouts and notice how they’re similar and different. You can use different techniques to make the workouts easier or harder. You can easily come up with a year’s worth of workouts from a single magazine routine with the right tools to challenge yourself.

Celebrity Workouts

An even worse kind of workout article is the “celebrity workout:” Carrie Underwood’s leg workout, the 300 workout, LL Cool J’s tour workout, Tom Brady’s workout for Batman, the Avengers’ workout, etc.

These workouts may be in the spirit of what the celebrity does, but NEVER will tell the whole story. The guys in 300 had a specific, long term plan developed for them (sound familiar?), from a gym that specializes in training celebrities to look their best during a very short timeframe, the time they’re shooting.

In addition, just because a celebrity does a certain workout and looks great doesn’t mean it’s the workout that did it. This is called confusing correlation with causation, and is one of the most common logical fallacies I’ve seen. This just wrongly states that since X and Y go together, then X must have caused Y or vice versa. Not necessarily true. Just because I have red hair and am a personal trainer doesn’t mean that my hair caused my career choice.

It sounds ridiculous when I put it that way, but that’s exactly what magazines do when they say Carrie Underwood’s leg workout gave her those legs. Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure it helped. But her legs would be amazing even if she changed the exercises from that workout (a workout, remember, that she probably doesn’t do all the time). Her nutritional strategy over YEARS, stress levels, non-exercise activity levels, and a lot of other factors are all involved. She’d look above average without that specific workout.

What to do instead: Feel free to use your favorite magazine workouts, but keep these tips in mind.

- Make sure each month builds on the last. Don’t randomly change workouts; instead, pick a workout you really like and find ways to make it harder as you get in better shape. That could mean resting less, doing more reps, adding weight, or making an exercise itself more challenging (ex. going from squats to overhead squats, or pushups to feet elevated pushups).

- Make sure the workout is appropriate for your ability level. Some magazines like to throw in the most difficult exercises right off the bat, probably so they can print the most impressive pictures with the most attractive models in strange contorted positions. Not necessary. Learn how to make exercises appropriate for your ability level. Some ways to do this include moving from one leg to two legs, supporting your body in some way, lightening the recommended weight, or doing fewer sets.

-Don’t expect that the workout will make you look like the model. That’s a whole different article, but remember that the model was hired for one day to demonstrate those exercises, and had never done that workout before those pictures were taken.

Guess what she was doing? She probably had a coach or trainer designing her a long-term plan that was developed for her goal, looking good at specific times on specific days. 

Not evaluating your progress in some way

This one can get tricky, but on the surface is pretty straightforward. To get where you want to go, you first need to know where you are. Remember how frustrating it could be for an old GPS to take 5 minutes to find your location? It was useless when it didn’t know where you were. In the same way, you have to have some sort of baseline assessments to compare future assessments with.

Now, here’s the tricky part. What assessments should you use, and how often should you assess? That’s beyond the scope of this report, but here are a few tips to pick the right ones for you:

- Your assessments should measure what you want them to measure. Sounds stupid and obvious, right? Not always. For example, the scale is an unreliable indicator of fat loss. Doing max situps in a minute is a terrible measurement of “strength endurance” (For what task? How will doing situps help a soldier diving away from enemy fire?).

- Make your assessment as specific as possible to your goal. If you want to lose fat to fit into a pair of jeans, use the jeans as the measurement! If you want to look a certain way, take pictures and try to get your “look,” not your weight or running distance. Having a “goal weight” is good, but what if that weight doesn’t “look like” what you thought?

- Make sure your assessment is repeatable with similar results. Different people test body fat percentage with calipers in slightly different ways. Make sure you have the same person do it every time. I’ve seen these assessments vary widely (even if taken on the same day) if a different person does them.

I use a few different kinds of assessments. My preferred method is to use performance indicators in the gym (which show my clients are getting in better shape), lifestyle indicators (which show that my clients are making lasting changes), and body composition measurements (which show that my clients are losing fat and gaining muscle).

Now, how often should you assess? It depends on the type of assessment and actual assessment. If you’re a beginner or intermediate trainee, performance indicators should be present nearly every workout. Body composition should only be measured every 4-8 weeks, though scale measurements can be used slightly more frequently. It all depends.

The exact assessments I use vary widely between clients. For you, just pick a few and track them consistently for several months to see how you’re doing. They’re no good if you use them once and then either forget about them or test something else the next time.

Not involving friends and family in your goals.

When you’re first starting out with a new fitness goal, one of the worst things you can do is keep it completely to yourself. Humans are interdependent creatures; what happens to one of us affects all of us in that person’s circle of influence.

Your fitness goals may be (should be) deeply personal, so inviting other people into those goals and letting them know what’s going on with you can be a bit intimidating, and in some cases inappropriate. Of course you’re not going to go around telling everyone that you’re insecure about your weight. Come on.

What you do need to do is create a good support system. Start with your family.

If you live in a house that always has unhealthy food lying around, where nobody exercises or takes care of their bodies, you’re going to run into trouble. It’s a lot easier for anyone to pull you down than for you to pull anyone up.

Make sure that everyone in your family (who is old enough to understand) knows about your goals and supports you. This may be easier said than done, and it will take time and patience, like everything else in life. Don’t expect everyone to be on board from the minute you start. Sure, they might think it’s great that you’re trying to make change, but when it actually involves accountability and maybe even a little effort from them (like asking your husband to give up a certain food so it’s not in your house), things might get rough.

That’s ok. Don’t belittle them or get angry. Remember how long it took you to get to the place where you wanted change. Be patient and do the best you can. If you aren’t a jerk about it, more than likely others will want to help you eventually.

Trying too hard

I’ve over-exercised, under-eaten, and tried radical nutrition programs.

I’ve eaten 10 meals a day and 2 meals a day. I’ve trained 10 times a week and 3 times a week. I’ve eaten high carb and low carb. I’ve carb cycled. I’ve lifted weights, run 40 miles a week, swam miles a week, done bodyweight circuits…the list goes on.

 Recently I tried an intermittent fasting program to lose some excess body fat. This plan was extremely strict, very low carb, and pretty exhausting.

I was hungry for hours every day. I counted the hours until my next cheat meal. I was lethargic and didn’t get anything done.

And you know what? That plan didn’t work any better than more moderate approaches I’ve tried.

I hesitated before putting this last reason in here. Many times, the problem isn’t that someone is trying to hard, it’s that they aren’t trying hard enough. You may think that you’re trying hard, but if you aren’t following the recommendations of an experienced trainer or coach that designs programs based on research, you aren’t gonna get far. And those programs very often require more effort than your typical go-for-a-run-and-do-abs workout.

However, sometimes it’s possible to get overzealous. You might decide that you want to work toward a very aggressive, short-term weight loss goal, or that you’re going to run your first marathon without ever doing a half. You hit it really hard for a couple weeks, and then progress halts.

You feel run down all the time. Your motivation starts to fade, and you wonder if achieving your goals is even possible. Are you really cut out to be healthy and fit? Self-doubt comes on hard, and you quit without even coming close to achieving your goals.

If I could give everyone only one piece of fitness advice, it would be this: Trust in the process, not the outcome. There are SO many factors that contribute to fitness: lifestyle habits, stress levels, psychological states, media messages, social situations and commitments, family attitudes, physiological predispositions…the list goes on and on and on, and notice I haven’t even mentioned any actual exercise or nutrition programs.

Lasting change, change that really matters and that really can make a difference, requires addressing most, if not all, of these areas.

It can’t happen overnight, and it shouldn’t. The struggle that you go through trying to get your workouts in when you’re tired busy, stressed, or discouraged builds mental strength, as well as physical. Learning to balance your work, family, social commitments, and fitness is a huge struggle, one that will NEVER go away. Everyone deals with it. I deal with it.

I have to change my program based on my work schedule, not on my goals. That’s ok. I do the best I can with what I have.

Find the best approach for where you are in life right now, not where you were 10 years ago. Be smart, be patient, and be persistent, and you can’t fail.

6 Unoriginal Random Thoughts That Need to Be Repeated

The latest and greatest isn’t always the greatest.

Innovation is awesome, and I strive to innovate in all my methods, but some things just don’t need to change because they work. Sometimes a reminder is more powerful than learning something new.

1. Training hard is good, but training optimally is better. Even if you know all the “right” exercises and the “most popular” or “best” way to train for your goal, it might not be best for you right now. If you can only train 2 days a week and most training programs for your goal call for 4, does that mean you can never reach your goal? Of course not.

2. What works now won’t work forever. After you’ve been on a program for several weeks, progress will slow down and eventually stop. That doesn’t mean overhaul everything; make one small change, measure your results, and adjust more as needed. This could be as simple as changing your rep range (from sets of 10 to sets of 8, for example), or as radical as changing the entire format of your workout.

3. Along those same lines, small changes are almost always preferable to large ones, in training and nutrition. 95% of people who diet fail to keep the weight off for even 5 years (read that again, and again). Why? Part of the reason is that fat loss is much more than a temporary nutrition plan. If you aren’t prepared to change the way you see food for the rest of your life, don’t bother dieting. 66% of that 95% I just mentioned end up fatter than they were before.

Make small tweaks to your training or nutrition and see what happens. It might take a while to see any results; that’s fine if we’re using a 5 year model. I know someone who has lost almost 20 pounds (and kept it off) over the last couple of years through doing nothing more than avoiding situations where junk food is the only option. No diet, and honestly, not as much training as you might think. Pretty painless too. This is your life, not a phase.

4. When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you have a tool, no matter what it is (squats and deadlifts, long slow cardio, suspension training, mobility exercises, hill sprints, a workout DVD), it’s very tempting that your preferred *whatevers* are best for everyone, for any goal.

That’s just plain wrong at best, and dangerous at worst.

If you’re overweight, you don’t need to be doing high rep plyometrics, even if your goal is to lose fat. If your hip mobility is terrible, you don’t need to do full squats, even if your goal is to be able to pick up your kids easily. If you’re weak and deconditioned, you don’t need to do heavy triples on the bench press, even if your goal is to have a stronger upper body.

Train for your current ability.

5. Less is more. I’ve talked about minimalism before, and I really like that idea. Do the least you can to get the maximum result you can. Small nutritional changes, small training changes, no crazy workouts.

For instance, my current training goal is to compete in a few strongman competitions this year. In the past, I’ve done crazy daily or twice daily lifting plans, with good (but not great) results. Now, I only train hard 2-3 days per week, and focus on 2-3 exercises at the most. The result? I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.

If you’re training for a marathon or other endurance event, obviously your time investment is going to be more substantial. Still, look for ways to cut done your training time. You don’t have to strength train for more than maybe an hour a week.  You can replace a day of distance running with intervals to get more bang for your buck. Your body will stay healthier and you’ll have more time for other activities.

If you have a body composition goal like fat loss or muscle gain, the same concept applies to you. For fat loss, short, intense weight training and interval workouts are the most time-effective sessions you can do. You can always add other cardio if you have time, and it does help, but focus on the weight training and intervals first. For muscle gain, you’ll have to commit a bit more time, but still focus on supersets and compound movements to minimize your time in the gym.

6. Success leaves footprints. Look to people who are where you want to be and see what they did. Then adapt it for yourself and do it.

Sounds stupidly simple, right? So why do so few people actually execute this properly?

Look to people who are where you really want to be. This might not be clear. If you know someone who lost 25 pounds on a crash diet last month, is that where you really want to be? Remember the 5 year statistic. Instead, look to people who have beaten that statistic and have made long-term change. You might find some surprising common denominators.

I’ll use 3 people I look to as examples for major physical change. All 3 have lost over 75 pounds on their journey, and kept it off for several years. What’s the common denominator? They all realized that this kind of transformation is more than a month-long (or even year-long) commitment. They all found the biggest thing that was holding them back and changed it (and only that thing, not everything). They all rejected fad diets and one-size-fits-all systems. They all educated themselves, even when they were working with a fitness professional. They all did things that “common sense” would say wouldn’t work (like increasing the amount of food they were eating). They all fully accepted themselves before trying to change anything.

That’s a pretty good list of things that will never change. “Methods are many, principles are few.” Unfortunately, sometimes we lose sight of the forest for the trees.

Life is Crazy (and what to do about it)

Time for a personal post.

January is always a busy time of year in the fitness industry, with resolutions and all that jazz. This year is no exception. I’m up at 4:15 and usually not home until after 6, sometimes with only a 30 minute lunch break. This schedule might be normal for some, but for me, this is about as far as I can be stretched, as you have noticed from my lack of newsletters and posts recently.

While working 12 hour days most days, I’m also preparing for my first strongman competition in February. I’ve never competed in any strength sport before, so this is a new challenge and I’m really excited about it. However, it’s a little stressful. My training needs to be more focused and consistent than it has ever been, but the rest of my life makes it seem “impossible.” Lack of good sleep and huge energy expenditure all day make it hard to be motivated to lift and condition.

Difficult doesn’t mean impossible though. It just means I have to plan and be flexible.

I’m still making progress toward my goals every single week. Sure, it might not be as fast as I originally hoped, but it’s still there.

You’re probably dealing with a lot of the same issues. You might not be planning to compete in anything any time soon, but you might have a full time job and kids to take care of when you get home. Or a job stressful enough to suck the life out of everything else you try to do. Getting in the best shape of your life might seem out of reach, as it does sometimes for me.

Here are some very practical things I’ve been doing to make sure I keep making progress toward my goals. These can be applied to your situation even if you don’t share my goals.

-       Prioritize One Thing every day to move you closer toy our fitness goals. It might be to prepare your meals for the week. It might be to stretch and foam roll to help you feel better after a hard workout. It might be to get an actual training session in. When you narrow your focus to One Thing, your goal will feel much less overwhelming.

-       Building off your One Thing, if you’re especially strapped for time, still do something every day. Keep your momentum going, The more you skip, the easier it is to skip again. If you know you won’t have time to train, at least stretch intentionally for 10 minutes at your desk or during lunch. You’ll help your body recover from your training sessions, but more importantly, you’ll keep your goal fresh in your mind and will rest knowing that you’re making progress.

-       Everyone can make time for 2 workouts a week. Even if that’s all you can do, hit the gym (or the living room) for 45 minutes. Warm up, strength train, then do 5-10 minutes of interval conditioning. Have 2 non-negotiable workouts. If you can do a third or fourth, great, but make 2 non-negotiable.

-       When you do train, focus. Don’t let the rest of life distract you. Take time for your own goals (and sanity).

-       Cook in bulk. This has been repeated ad nauseum by everyone in the fitness world since the dawn of time, but you have to do it. If I had to cook breakfast and lunch in the morning at 4:15, not only would I not do it, but I’d hit up McDonalds way more often than I should. My health, goals, and wallet would all suffer. Crock pots and the George Foreman are your best friends. Bake chicken 3-4 pounds at a time. Cook a giant pot of rice. Buy large quantities of easy-to-transport foods like jerky, nuts, oranges, apples, and bananas. Carry a large water bottle.

There’s no excuse for bad exercise habits or nutrition, even when you’re busy. If you find yourself making excuses, it just means you didn’t plan well enough. 20 minutes of planning every week can save you months of frustration. Take your goals seriously. It’s all on you. 

If you want help figuring out how to prioritize you fitness goals when you’re busy like I am, leave a comment! I always love to hear from you.

New article coming later today!

Also, check out www.militiabarbell.com to see my current training log. Look at how little I actually lift.

Haven’t posted any updates in a while, and I’m truly sorry. I’ve been swamped with clients the last several weeks, but I have new content in the works that will be awesome and shatter some myths about celebrities and fitness.

In the meantime, check out www.militiabarbell.com for my training log as I prepare for my first strongman competition on February 9th.

Look for a new post here soon :)

A Post-Christmas Tip to Keep You on Track

If you had some momentum going with your fitness goals but kind of fell off the bandwagon, don’t try to start back where you were. Instead, build your habits back up. If you skipped your food journal for a week, start back with a couple entries per week. If you were working out 5 days, try 3 days. Make it so you can’t fail.

My Workout For Tuesday December 25

I earned 2593 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

• Barbell Squat +1566 pts

  • 135 lb x 3 reps (+53 pts)
  • 225 lb x 3 reps (+97 pts)
  • 295 lb x 2 reps (+131 pts)
  • 295 lb x 3 reps (+155 pts)
  • 295 lb x 5 reps (+194 pts)
  • 295 lb x 10 reps (+228 pts)
  • 295 lb x 2 reps (+131 pts)
  • 295 lb x 3 reps (+155 pts)
  • 295 lb x 5 reps (+194 pts)
  • 295 lb x 10 reps (+228 pts)

• Standing Military Press +696 pts

  • 130 lb x 2 reps (+64 pts)
  • 130 lb x 3 reps (+77 pts)
  • 130 lb x 5 reps (+95 pts)
  • 130 lb x 10 reps (+112 pts)
  • 130 lb x 2 reps (+64 pts)
  • 130 lb x 3 reps (+77 pts)
  • 130 lb x 5 reps (+95 pts)
  • 130 lb x 10 reps (+112 pts)

• Farmer’s Walk +331 pts

  • 0.5 min || 90 lb (+59 pts)
  • 0.5 min || 180 lb (+136 pts)
  • 0.5 min || 180 lb (+136 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!

Do this, Not that

Do this: practice exercises until you master them.
Not that: change exercises every workout or every week.

Do this: focus on ONE fitness quality you want to improve.
Not that: try to do everything at once.

Do this: focus on what good training and nutrition programs have in common.
Not that: let yourself be overwhelmed by conflicting opinions.

Do this: look for research-backed claims.
Not that: trust just anyone published in a magazine or on tv.

Do this: focus on what you CAN do.
Not that: let a perceived lack of time, motivation, physical ability, etc. discourage you.

My Workout For Saturday December 15

I earned 3560 points for my workout on Fitocracy!

• Barbell Squat +2010 pts

  • 135 lb x 3 reps (+53 pts)
  • 225 lb x 3 reps (+97 pts)
  • 275 lb x 1 reps (+93 pts)
  • 315 lb x 1 reps (+121 pts)
  • 375 lb x 2 reps (+225 pts)
  • 375 lb x 3 reps (+266 pts)
  • 375 lb x 5 reps (+332 pts)
  • 375 lb x 2 reps (+225 pts)
  • 375 lb x 3 reps (+266 pts)
  • 375 lb x 5 reps (+332 pts)

• Standing Military Press +584 pts

  • 95 lb x 3 reps (+60 pts)
  • 145 lb x 2 reps (+71 pts)
  • 145 lb x 3 reps (+85 pts)
  • 145 lb x 5 reps (+106 pts)
  • 145 lb x 2 reps (+71 pts)
  • 145 lb x 3 reps (+85 pts)
  • 145 lb x 5 reps (+106 pts)

• Barbell Deadlift +966 pts

  • 135 lb x 3 reps (+53 pts)
  • 225 lb x 3 reps (+97 pts)
  • 315 lb x 1 reps (+121 pts)
  • 405 lb x 1 reps (+223 pts)
  • 485 lb x 2 reps (+472 pts)

Think you can beat me, or want to comment?

Fitocracy is the social fitness community that has helped hundreds of thousands level up their fitness. Start your fitness transformation today!