The workout and diet roller coaster

I read a friend’s post on Facebook today about the workout/diet roller coaster she’s been on over the years.

Today she commented that she did six workouts last week.  I think she is doing a mix of Pilates and some cardio.

A friend congratulated her on her workouts, to which she made the reply about the roller coaster of working out a lot and losing weight, only to gain it back when she stopped exercising.

Been there, done that.

I’ve done different workout programs over the years from P90X to Insanity to Body 4 Life.

All of them are sold with showing major results after 60 or 90 days.  And, there is no doubt they can be effective, especially if you pay attention to your diet.

The problem is this… they are unsustainable over the long run.

And, the fact is, you don’t gain much strength either.

All of those programs train high reps, with bodyweight, dumbbells or some barbells.

The workouts are hard and will leave you sore.  And, all of those programs have you training pretty hard for 5 or 6 days per week.

Legitimate strength training is quite different.

In the beginning, we do full body workouts, three days per week.  The workouts typically involve just three exercises, until you get to the intermediate level and you start doing assistance work.

At that point, you can train 2, 3 or 4 days per week.  If you train 4 days per week, you will focus on upper body one day, and lower body the next.

On your off days, you rest “actively.”  Walk, hike, a short jog, a short cardio workout, do some yard work, walk 9 or 18 holes.

And, on your rest days, you won’t have much soreness.  Just enough to remind you that you did some hard work the day before.

When it is time for the next workout, you will have recovered.

The focus of our diet is on consuming enough protein.  It is critical that you do so to build muscle and get stronger.

If you need to lose some weight, you focus on eating a sustainable diet consisting of protein, vegetables and carbs in the form of a little bit of fruit, rice, potatoes, etc.

Just eat smart.

This type of training is far more sustainable than any of those popular programs.

This is why you see that regular, serious lifters clearly make progress in their appearance over time, while other gym goers look the same from year to year.

And this is why I’ve been preaching this type of training to anyone with an open mind for the last couple of years.

It truly is life changing.