First off I’d like to point out this is not bullshit and I genuinely mean the title of this blog.
I started reading a new book this week, it’s called the 4 hour work week.
It’s all about working less for more (more meaning more time, freedom and results).
Enjoying your life as you live it and not slaving away night and day for 40 years to only enjoy it when you retire.
So many people go through life not enjoying what they do, but just continue to do the same thing day in and day out until they can retire then hope to enjoy life.
But by the time that comes around its kind of too late, your older and not as youthful to do the things you wanted to do.
The book teaches you how to avoid that from happening, and enjoy life every step of the way whilst being successful.
Who would you rather be someone that earns £1,000,000 per year working 14 hours a day 7 days per week who’s moody, tired, and drained.
Or someone who works 2 hours per day 5 days per week and earns £50,000 per year.
You may not be richer in the sense of money but you are richer in the sense of freedom.
It got me thinking how relatable this is to people seeking fat loss.
Theres two type of people in the gym (well two I’m going to focus on).
Theres the Hard workers and the Smart workers.
The Hard Workers: these are the people you always see in the gym, starting their session with 45 minutes of cardio before they jump from weights machine to weights machine with minimal rest in-between.
The hard workers spend many hours per week performing cardio and flittering from machine to machine not following a structured plan and kill themselves 5-7 days per week training.
They’ll either slash their calories to bare minimal resulting in un-sustainability, then they’ll give up, put on weight and then start the same routine again expecting different results.
Or they don’t address their diet at all and try to do more cardio when they notice the scales aren’t shifting.
They’re always tired as they overtrain and hardly eat anything, they moan that training and eating healthy is hard and not enjoyable.
Because of overtraining and under eating they’re a coach potato the rest of the day resulting in minimal calories being burned.
They spend most of their “dieting” lives miserable because they’re punishing themselves for a hopeful end goal of being lean and looking good.
Because of this approach they’re physique doesn’t really change, their strength decreases, they look softer (more fat to muscle ratio) and tired.
The Smart Workers: These are people you’ll see in the gym 3-4 times per week, performing a light warm up routine before following a structured and challenging weights routine. They push themselves each set but will rest fully in-between each one. They sometimes perform cardio but not very often.
The smart workers are looking to get in and out of the gym as quick as possible but with an effective workout.
They slowly reduce their calories to promote fat loss, whilst keeping them high enough to enjoy food and sustain high energy levels.
They’re always full of energy as they do not overtrain, they give themselves plenty of recovery time and their diet fuels their body as apposed to starves it.
Because of this they are active everyday, constantly moving and active on their feet burning lots of calories.
They spend their lives happy because they’re constantly seeing progress in the gym but also enjoy their favourite foods.
With this approach their physique is constantly improving along with their strength and they look more defined (more muscle to fat ratio) and energised.
As you can see one breeds results, the other hinders them.
Which category do you fall into?
If its the Hard worker you need to rethink and structure your plan to become a Smart worker instead.
Here are some tips to help.
Focus on weights not cardio, resistance training is the only way to reshape your body and build a better physique. Resistance training will build muscle whilst cardio may reduce it.
Don’t starve your body for fat loss, you need to start fuelling your body for fat loss as apposed to starving it. Starving yourself leads to frequent binging, muscle loss, unhappiness and fatigue. fuelling it has the opposite effect.
Follow a structured plan, if your stepping into the gym without a plan you may as well step back out again. A poor plan can produce no results, whilst a great plan can give you phenomenal ones.
Get in and out of the gym, Stop wasting your time on long gym sessions they’re unnecessary, you have a life and family outside of it. Get in train smart and hard, then get out again.
Pick a routine and diet you’re going to enjoy, results don’t happen overnight its going to take time (less if you work smart) so choose something you enjoy and can stick with.
I’m setting you guys a challenge this week to help you train smarter.
Sit down and go over your gym routine and ask yourself “what can I do to make it more productive as well as effective?” Then amend it.
If you don’t have a gym plan written out there’s your first problem.
You need to write one out.
Don’t think that working smart doesn’t mean you don’t have to put the effort in and train hard in the gym you do, but theres a difference between just training hard with no plan as apposed to hard with one.
If you don’t know how to write a programme then I am currently offering a free weeks trial for you guys at my private training facility.
Come see how I help my clients achieve great results without punishing them to achieve it.
If 1-1 training isn’t for you I also offer a free initial assessment for online coaching.
Either option will lead to having a programme professionally created for you.
All you need to do is email me at louis@lemonfrogfitness.org
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A huge thank you for reading :)