The School of Fitness - Lesson 10: Consistently Be Consistent
Mr Delia Steele
You have to be consistent all the time. That's why they call it consistency! This is the difference between the trainees who achieve and those who stop-start forever and always feel like they are starting from square 1.
At times you may be more dedicated than other times, thats inevitable. But you need to train hard and smart consistently over a period of years if you really want fitness.
It takes time to lose fat, it takes time to build muscle and strength and it takes time to boost performance. Of course, over a 12 week spell changes can be made...but only up to a point. Real fitness takes time.
Remember there are no rewards and punishment in fitness. Simply stimulus and response. If you want to be in shape all the time, no longer searching for the next emergency fat loss solution, you need to find a way to be consistent....no more panic when summers coming, if your consistent you will know you will be in shape. If you want your body to look like you've been training hard for years, thats exactly what you need to do.
Here are a few ways to be more consistent:
Do less, but still do something - too many people do too much inefficient stuff. This is bad enough when you're highly motivated, but its a nightmare when life gets hectic and motivation to train flies out the door. If you know what you're doing, you will know how to get more from less.
Do The Big Stuff - If you want to get more from less, you need to do the stuff that really matters. As you will read plenty of time on this site, by focusing on big compound free weight exercises, you will get more from your sessions, so you will need to spend less time training.
Focus on Performance - too much time spent throwing bicep poses and weighing yourself is no good. A consistent focus on your best training accomplishments is the best marker of your progress. Muscle size is very closely correlated with your ability to dominate iron. Fat loss closely mirrors your performance in the kitchen.
Make it fit your lifestyle - (80/20 and all that). Being consistent all the time doesn't mean being perfect. For most, simply finding a way to do the right thing most of the time is the way to make it work longterm. Take the advice of someone who can't eat dairy: life's not as fun without ice cream.
Enjoy it - find a way to enjoy what you're doing - a style of training you love. If you don't, it's only a matter of time before you get fed up and start skipping sessions.
Change Slowly - sometimes you want radical change and will do everything humanly possible to get it. But, success with this style is usually reserved for those who are both extremely motivated and extremely lucky. If you really want success, plan for the long term, change slowly and build momentum.
Motivate yourself - I know what your thinking...Mr Delia Steel is a genius! - ok this is a bit obvious but it's important. Your motivation will waver over time, even if your a longterm gym rat. It happens. The more intelligent your motivation strategies are, the more consistent you will be.
Have Rules - if discipline is a problem for you, if you go off the bandwagon and then go on the rampage for a week then you may want to have a couple of rules to live by. No Ice Cream before breakfast. Never go more than 7 days without hitting the gym. Never lift a barbell without an angry face on. Never train your arms until you have done your leg training. Whatever your weakness is, find a workable strategy to stop you going too far off track and live by your own rules.
Of course there is plenty more strategies we could add to this, but that's enough for now.
Take Home Message: be consistent! Adaptations take time. If you want success you need to find a way to eat and train consistently year in, year out. Otherwise you will always have an inferior physique and you will always be a beginner.
