The New Year is upon us, and by now odds are youve shaken off the hangover, the last lingering remnants of 2014, and have told yourself (possibly again) that this year is gonna be different. This is the year youre gonna get healthy, get fit, and turn into a machine whom no one will recognize if they havent seen you in a few months. Youve got a lofty goal and youre gonna jump start it with a 30 day program or the promise of making the gym your sweaty, iron-clad home away from home. My advice to you is to quit now. I know what youre thinking: what a jerk. But hear me out. I think programs like that are great, and nothing makes me happier than to see someone with an honest, sincere dedication to fitness, particularly when its rising from the eternal plateau brought on by a sedentary lifestyle. But youre not likely to go from sedentary to extraordinary in 30 days, and the reason is simple: 30 day programs are meant to be intense, short-term transformations, and once theyre done they dont leave you with one of the single most important fitness attribute of all: habit. Im not knocking 30 day programs, but if youre gonna try one without making movement a daily habit, be prepared for results that flee from you as fast as they arrived on your doorstep. If youre serious about getting fit and staying that way from here on out, take out all the emotion, all of the unbridled ambition, and all the motivational pictures and pump-up quotes on Facebook and start with this: Every morning, do the following: 1 minute: breathe deeply through your nose into your stomach 1 minute: roll on the floor, alternating paralyzing your legs and then paralyzing your arms. 1 minute: on your hands and knees with your butt resting on your heels, nod your head up and down, side to side, and over your shoulder 1 minute: rock back and forth 1 minute: Crawl, making sure youre moving opposite limbs together 1 minute: March, making sure youre moving opposite limbs together Do 5 sets of 10 swings with a moderate-sized kettlebell (after youve learned how from an SFG-certified instructor). Strive to be able to do it in five minutes if you can. Most daily bare-minimum programs only go to 10 minutes, but this one goes to 11. Extreme. BONUS: Walk tall and relaxed for at least one mile a day. And thats it. So simple you wont think it can work. But if youre going from irregular training at best or an almost totally sedentary life at worst, not only will this lay the right foundation for your future ambitions (which youve now learned to control and channel) but it will do it the right way: without calling upon your emotions to motivate you every step of the way, without psyching yourself up, and without any unearned fanfare. Make it a part of your daily life and save that energy for the other things that are important to you, like your family, your spouse, and your career. If you can do this five days a week for three months, you will be light years ahead of the people who work hard for 30 days and then take the rest of the year off because they decided to build a house of fitness on a foundation of empty air. And for the record, 5 days a week of the above for three months = * 360 combined minutes (or 6 hours) of deep breathing, rolling, head nodding, rocking, crawling, and marching combined * 3,000 swings * 60 miles walked Think youll be in better shape? I sure do. If you can do this for three months youll learn the value of fitness as a habit and devalue it as a slick, well-marketed gimmick. Any goal you set before yourself will become infinitely more achievable because youll know how to approach it the only way that works: with consistency. Fitness is a life-long marathon, not a one-month sprint. Treat it as such and it will stick with you long after the sprinters hung up their shoes and called it a day. If you wanna get a head start on crawling, check out this video. It will be the most powerful thing you do for yourself this year and forevermore ===> youtu.be/FRHAAHabGgw AleksSalkin - strength training made faster, easier, and simpler. *Like it? Like it. Love it? Share it!* -And be sure to subscribe-
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 15:25:01 +0000