By Eric Martinez
Dec. 9. 2010-
1. Get pissed and commit: If you are serious about getting leaner and stronger, or just looking dead sexy, the first thing you must absolutely do is make a commitment to yourself. The key is to get to the point where you are pissed off with your body, almost to the point where you hate the way it looks and you simply can’t wait anymore to change it! You must make this commitment to yourself, I know it’s easy to get distracted by other obligations in your life; family, husband/wife, kids, work, boyfriend/girlfriend, the list goes on and on. The best way to go about this is set a realistic goal for yourself, write it on the calendar, make a note of it all over your house, write it on a big board and put it right near you so when you wake up every morning it reminds you to stay focused.
2. Get educated: After you have set your goal, get yourself educated. There are so many ways to educate yourself; there shouldn’t be any excuses for this, if there is its pure laziness. Depending on what your goal is make sure to educate yourself on that particular goal. For instance if your goal is to get stronger, read everything possible by those who have gotten themselves to a respectable level of strength. If your goal is to get leaner or shed excess body fat, you’ll not only want to cover the training aspect, but the nutrition aspect as well. In all honesty the more you educate yourself, the easier your goal will be to achieve, plain and simple.
3. Don’t get frustrated and discouraged: So you have your goals down and decide enough is enough and you are finally going to get in tip top shape, you set out to read everything possible to help achieve your goals. The only problem is there is a lot of conflicting information out there and you don’t know who or what to believe and you get frustrated. If your goal is fat loss, should you perform straight sets or super sets? Should you do interval training or is steady state work better? I haven’t even mentioned dieting yet! Should you do low carb, moderate carb, or no carb? The information is endless. In reality, if you are exercising and eating a horrible diet, just starting to exercise consistently and making a dedicated change to eating healthier will kick start the progress. Don’t let information discourage you, stay focused to what you want to achieve and most importantly be patient because results don’t happen over night.
4. Get an assessment: I firmly believe everyone should be assessed before they initiate an exercise program. You must know your limitations, some people have old nagging injuries, some people are more mobile than others, and some people flat out aren’t mobile at all. Each and every one of us is unique, so a cookie cutter style program won’t cut it for everyone. By getting an assessment you determine exactly how you are different from others and how that will affect your training.
5. Develop a training base: Don’t burn yourself out right away, your body takes time to acclimate to your workout regimen, same goes for dieting. Your connective tissues, such as joints, ligaments, and tendons need time to adapt to increased loading. Your heart and lungs need time to become more efficient at doing their job as well.
6. Hijack your kitchen: If you are serious about getting into tip top shape, go ballistic and raid your kitchen! Get rid of all that junk food. Start off in your refrigerator. The bulk of your food in here should consist of lean beef, chicken, fatty fish like salmon, omega 3 eggs, fruits and veggies. Try and avoid condiments if possible, same goes for fruit juices, most are loaded with sugars and high fructose corn syrup. Most of you naturally know the differences between good and bad foods. For grains/starches, stick to whole grains- brown rice, whole wheat pasta, bread, ect. Always try and keep some almonds or mixed nuts around, these are great for snacking purposes and great fat sources your body needs. I promise you these changes will make a profound difference, not only how you look, but how you feel. Take charge and raid that kitchen of yours!
7. Stop being perfect! When you’re starting out, you’re going to make mistakes, plain and simple. One of the biggest issues I notice is people always want to be so perfect in what they do, news flash there’s no such thing as perfect. Your technique won’t always be flawless, your program may not be perfect, and your diet will have good days and bad days. Remember were all human here, just remember it’s all about the journey and staying focused with the process. Enjoy it and have fun with it!
8. Recognize your success: Many people fail to recognize their own success due to too much focus on perfection. Take the time every now and then to reflect on where you started and how far you’ve come. Our success may not be self evident, but that doesn’t mean we’re not progressing, stay positive with your goals, no negativity!
9. Lather, rinse, repeat! This tip is very important. It’s not always easy to get fired up for the gym to train hard, some days you flat out don’t want to go to the gym, believe me I know. It seems damn near impossible at times to eat the right things when other people around you are eating junk. This is very natural so don’t feel like you’re the only one with these feelings. The key is to realize this is a life- long process, more importantly it’s a lifestyle you must accustom to. Once you take the plunge and get serious about taking care of your body, you can no longer plead the ignorance card my friends. You all know what it takes to get in great shape, so it’s up to you to get off your ass and make the right decisions. Let’s hit it hard people!