Five Underrated Fitness Tips From Sage Curtis

February 25th, 2019

It’s a new year, and around the end of February. That means most committed to their new year’s resolutions are back to their old routines. But how do you turn a resolution into a lifestyle? Many people make subtle mistakes along the way that cause them to fall back into the same lifestyle they were living before they gorged during the holidays. It’s the small, consistent changes that can help you build on a larger set of success.

Be Consistent With Your Health Goals

It might take a little extra time out of your day to fit in what you want to get done. After all, when have our jobs, family and social lives all fallen perfectly in life day after day? Consistency is key in achieving sustainable results. It’s better to run one mile every day than seven miles once per week. Part of the reason is, though you might be getting the same results from a numbers perspective, you aren’t building habits that lead to sustained success.

According to an article on developing good habits by fitness coach Benjamin Elias:

“The advice ‘just do it’ or ‘suck it up and work out’ is flawed because, for beginners, it leaves too many questions. How should I do it? When should I do it? Where should I do it? How often should I do it? What is ‘it?’”

“Without simple answers to those questions, exercise can seem like an unpleasant, overwhelming chore.

Even worse, ‘just do it’ implies that people not doing it are somehow flawed. If working out is as easy as just doing it, then the only explanation for not working out is laziness.”

Sure, looking at motivational social media posts every day can’t hurt. But the point made here is, motivation is fleeting. Consistent habits are the true catalyst in long-term fitness and health success.

Aim Low And Hit Your Marks

Maybe the motivational posts you’re looking at tell you to “shoot for the stars”…sure, that’s true in a metaphorical sense, but how can you take flight if you don’t even know how to build the rocket ship? Aim low, and start slow.

Many people fail with their health and fitness goals because they expect to make major dietary and fitness changes overnight. Overwhelmed by too much on their plate, they leave half their dish on the table. The goal of “aiming low” is to make incremental changes. If you want to cut five things out of your diet, and ice cream on Sunday nights is only one of them, shoot for doing it in the next six months.

Set a goal plan and achieve those goals in small increments. If you do this with consistency, the small wins turn into big changes.

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Find The Torture You’re Comfortable With

Some people love running and some people love jiu-jitsu. Some people want to make life changes thinking they are going to do it all — cardio, weightlifting, marathons, swimming.

According to a WebMD article on “How To Start A Fitness Plan”, cardiologist James Beckerman, M.D. says:

“Take baby steps. Being active will become as routine for you as brushing your teeth. You may even surprise yourself and look forward to your new hobby. If not, keep trying new activities until you find something that clicks.”

The reality of it is, most people don’t love everything fitness-related, let alone one thing. Try out weightlifting, boxing, running. See which one you can wake up every day and, at the very least, make the effort to go out and perform. Find the torture you’re comfortable with. Some things to consider:

Goals: (burn fat, build muscle…)
Environment (indoors/outdoors)
High or low impact
Home or gym
Quick or lengthy
Competition
Solitary or group

Work On Emotional Health

If you are not healthy from an emotional standpoint, it will be hard to progress physically with any degree of consistency. Make sure you are in the proper place from a mental standpoint before you decide to make major changes. Some things you an do to help yourself in your mental journey:

Give yourself time to de-stress if you have life events that are out of your control
Consider meditation or cognitive therapy
Write your daily experiences in a journal
Find hobbies other than exercising to keep yourself occupied

Portion Your Meals Correctly

According to an article in USA Today, certified fitness trainer Austin Dotson says:

“Eighty percent of our fitness journeys will come from nutrition,” said the fitness trainer. “The other 20 percent is the effort you put into the gym. Cutting out process foods, sugar, sodium and fried fatty foods.”

Talking about nutrition and fitness is like discussing peas and carrots (no pun intended). But many people find themselves with the right idea in relation to their dietary habits, but do not portion their meals correctly. Always be mindful of your portions, and parse them out correctly. Do meal prep for breakfast and lunch — the containers can often help provide a measuring bar for this.