Let's Bring it Back to Basics!

Aliz AJ | October 30, 2016

In the health and fitness community, it appears that there is always something coming around the barrel.

Something “New” or “Improved”. I know you can already think of a few “90 day programs” that have surfaced that seem to be the same programs.

Over and over again.

Please allot me to throw a truth bomb to blow this out of the water,

None of it is new or freshly discovered. It’s only effective because it’s new to YOU, the individual and that’s about it.

Great! Now that we got that BS out of the way, let’s talk about some legitimacy.

The basics of any great physique is based around a few simple guidelines to follow:

Physical Training
Nutrition
Cardiovascular Exercise

Regardless of what the new age trainer told you at your local health club, foundation is everything and I want to take you down the yellow brick road of truth to lay the smackdown on some of the BS that’s been going around since Arnold was on top of his game.

Let’s Get Physical!

As much as I love the 80’s, please refrain from the tights and wrist bands, we’re talking of two solid points here that don’t need any flash.

Perform some type of physical activity. Obviously I’m a huge advocate for lifting and I, still do this day, cannot understand why anyone would not want to workout given the amount of benefits it produces and the amount of ailments it can help. Regardless of your taste, get yourself into a routine. Whether you’re into lifting weights, performing yoga, working a spin class or performing aerobics, you have to do SOMETHING physical
Get out! While I applaud those who can workout in the comfort of their own house, I also know there are way too many distractions and excuses to not give it everything you have. Phone ringing, someone rings the doorbell, your significant other, your children and the list goes on. Get outside. You don’t necessarily have to go to a gym, but you gotta separate yourself from your home and eliminate those distractions.
Pains equals Gains. Look, working out isn’t going to feel orgasmic to everyone (*cough Arnie cough*) and the benefits you reap are going to come with a certain price of inconvenience and a little pain. Deal with it. It comes with the territory and, in comparison to taking a bunch of medication, having poor posture(especially later in life) and losing your physical independence to a walker, wheelchair or even worse (I’ve heard stories of people losing limbs due to obesity), I’d say it’s worth it.

Mother Nature’s Medicine

I hate to tell you the truth, but all those pizza meme’s on social media are all BS. You cannot out train a horrible diet and, in the pizza meme’s defence, those people who can eat a large pizza (or in my case, two large pizza’s) are also dieting all week straight, workout almost every day and train for a lengthy period of time.

So, now your idea of working out to eat what you want is destroyed. GOOD! Now to some facts

Dieting doesn't have to suck. You can still eat food that does taste great and is healthy for you. It’s about doing your research to find the foods you can eat consistently that are in line with your goals and find recipes to make them taste great. The information is out there. Surely you’ve heard of Google.
Know your type. One thing that isn’t discussed to often are our body types. I’m referring to the Mesomorph, Ectomorph and Endomorph. Your body type with have a lot to do with what you should be eating to get to your goals and how you should train. Research this and discover yours and build a sound training and nutrition routine based on that for some amazing results.
Food is NOT fuel. Whoever said food should be fuel is full of it. The everyday gym goer who’s looking to achieve their health and fitness goals will not (i’m going on a limb for assuming the majority of people can agree with this) stick to a super clean diet all the time. Especially when it seems everyone in the gym loves pizza as much as they do lifting (Hi PF). Be realistic with your nutrition. Find a balance and find a way to make it enjoyable for that is the only way you’ll stick to it.

Do You Even Cardio?

I would love to give a special shoutout and congratulations to all of you who live for the cardiovascular side of fitness, I don’t know how you do it.

For the rest of the normal walks of life, we must accept cardio as our fate. It has to happen and there’s no way to get around it.

However, there are ways to make it not feel like you’ve sinned and are now spending eternity (all 20-30 mins of it) in the eighth circle of hell.

Pick your poison. So there must be some sort of cardio machine that you can use that isn’t so It could be worse. You could be running! I know a lot of the meat heads and gym bunnies love the stairmaster because guys (and girls) who like big butts cannot lie and the stairmaster is good for baking a nice cake while getting your heart rate up.
Timing is everything. Knowing the amount of time you’re going to spend and what time of the day you plan on doing it makes a difference. People have seen the best results for cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Some see it right after your weight training.

Some go for an hour straight, others only go for 30 minutes max. The goal here is to experiment with what works best for you ,your training and your schedule and find a happy medium. At the end of the day, any cardio is better than no cardio.
That doesn’t count. The most annoying thing in the world is when someone tells me, with a serious look in their eyes, that they walked all over the place today, took a single flight of stairs in a building, cleaned the house and had sex and that should count as cardio.

News flash: IT DOESN’T! Cardio is cardio and that’s what it is. Walking around the house doesn’t count. Climbing a few flights of stairs doesn’t count. Stop making excuses for not doing it because it’s really

What’s Up Grasshopper?

Now you have the knowledge but the path ahead is long, treacherous and requires a consistent effort. Without a consistent effort, you’ll be drowning in home workout videos, thigh masters, meal replacement shakes and “Diet Tea” before you can do five pushups.

Invest this into yourself because you deserve it. You know this is the best thing for you, your health and your family. This is one of the most difficult things you will ever do but if you can do this (and I know you can), then you’re capable of anything. It just takes consistent effort and it’s yours.

Show us what you can do.

Article written by Sean Burton