Music artist Lizzo recently shared a powerful snapshot of the adversity she overcame on her path to success.

I cannot stress this enough…

… do not make the mistake of looking at someone’s finished product (body, money, business, and etc) and think they didn’t fight through hell to achieve their goals.

Stop wallowing around, dig in prepare yourself for war.

War against weakness.

War against lack of discipline.

War against instant gratification.

War against temptation.

You can have whatever you want if you HOLD THE LINE.

Holding the line, means digging in when sh*t gets difficult.  ‘

And it’s going to be difficult.

It seems like the things worth pursuing the most are often the most difficult.  

If it was easy, sights were set too low?

Improving fitness takes time and consistent effort, and there are a lot of times when you’ll want to cut corners and give up.  

Hold the line. 

A lot of fitness programs and books promise X results in Y amount of time.  

If X ever equates to 30 days or less to get Y results, you run away from that gym, personal trainer or online training program as fast as possible.  

There are a lot of fitness programs worth your money, time and effort, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Beginners… enjoy the massive gains early on. Seriously, the early days are pure magic.

A beginner can exert, exercise or lift using just about any method or program they want, and see signficant changes.  A little shift in calories in vs. calories out, swapping out junk food and drink for more nutritious options, and you won’t recognize yourself.

Remember, everything works, for a little while.  

Eventually, the stress must increase to continue seeing improvements.  And while adding more stress might seem insane right now where you’re at physically, trust me, once you start making progress, you’ll be like a shark with blood will be in the water. 

You’ll crave more progress, and more, and more.  

The real discipline of fitness, is both mental and physical.  Establishing a mental state capable of handling adversity and temptation and being able to clearly identify right from wrong.

Physically, you’ve got to be able to “suffer”.  Not pain or injury inducing suffering, but the discomfort that comes with physical stress. 

Blend the mental and physical together and repeat that daily for a lifetime.

Piece of cake. 😦

Once you’re over the initial beginner’s hump you’d better start sharpening your sword and get ready for the warpath because staying fit is harder then getting fit.

What?  No way!?

Way.

Waking up at 4:30am to workout because leaving a training session for later in the day means it might not happen.  

Choosing salad over pizza at a restaurant with friends.

Drinking ice water instead of soda.

Passing on desert.  

Maintaining what the fitness you’ve built requires ongoing flexibility, adapting, planning and thinking about it EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I cringe when TV health experts refer to it as a “lifestyle”… but it’s a goddamn lifestyle.  

A style of living, different than the old style of living which likely put you smack dab where you are right now.  

And once you’ve adopted the lifestyle, or think you have, any slack, laziness or complacency can compound over time, and it all goes away.

The fitness that took 3 months of breaking old habits, grinding in the gym, making changes to sleep and nutrition regimens all in an effort to make noticeable gains, can vanish in about 2 weeks.  

2 weeks to piss all of it away.  

2 weeks of behavior relapsing can become 3 weeks, then 4, then 5, then… 

So, I’m in awe of people who flip the switch when they’ve had enough, and attack fitness goals.  It’s incredible to see someone draw a line in the sand and say “No more”.  

I’m more intrigued by people who maintain or improve on fitness goals year after year.

Like many other endeavors, fitness has a way separating out people who cannot hold the line versus those who can. The disciplined from undisciplined.  The ones who want it from those who don’t.

And while saying that “some people want it and others do not” sounds a bit harsh, can we find common ground to agree that this is a reality?  

Whatever you want in this life, can be had.  

The path to what you want will be brutal, drive you want consider quitting, folding, packing up in favor of taking the easy road.

But, if you stay the course long enough, adjust your technique, keep working, grinding, shape your mind to digest and handle the crazy thoughts you’re going to have, taking repeated action… 

… you can have it.  And probably will someday.  

You don’t have to be an elite athlete, Mr. Olympia or Matt Fraser to reap the benefits of sensible exercise and nutrition.  

Start with the basics, build up as you go.  

Keep doing it, over and over and over.  

Next Steps…

For more info on basic, intermediate and advanced exercises, fitness and techniques, please subscribe to this blog and YouTube follow me on social media.  

Contact me, I love talking shop with people.  We can figure it out together and get you going in the right direction. 

 

Cheers to getting it done, 

 

Kyle