The training is only 10%

I could have said that the ‘workout’ is only 10 percent, but I like how Mark Rippetoe puts it. The legendary barbell coach describes the difference between ‘training’ and ‘working out’ is that training is something you do to achieve an end goal over a period of time, whilst a workout is something you do to ‘feel good in that moment in time’. Whilst I could argue the semantics and words used, I’m totally behind the idea at play.

Many people go to the gym with an idea in their head of what they want to look like, or be like. They don’t really understand the process required to get there and so do what they’ve always done, or been led to believe is the ‘best way to workout’.

Here we either see people who want to look like Jessica Ennis or Rich Fronning either plodding away wasting time on a treadmill or smashing their face into the wall doing as many badly performed burpees as they can before they rupture something (my bet is on a a back or knee injury).

This isn’t training. There is no progression over a period of time, there is no plan, there is no understanding of the fact that the training needs to be supported. I can give you the best training programme on the planet, but if it isn’t supported by these variables than you can kiss any success goodbye.

Sleep – Training equals trauma, sleep is when you repair. Poor sleep means little improvement.

Nutrition – If you ain’t got the bricks and mortar, you ain’t building the body you want to live in.

Stress free lifestyle – Stress induces hormones which work against looking like a movie star, fact!

And do you notice how these three things could be influenced by your partner, your children or your work?

The best way to achieve success here is to get buy-in, or at least some form of support, from those around you. Have you ever tried to go low carb when you’re also cooking for you family? Have you tried to get 8hrs of unbroken sleep with an eight month old in the house? I have, and it’s hard as hell. There are bags of twentysomethingyearolds out there who’ll tell you to ‘man up’ or ‘you clearly don’t want it badly enough’. Screw you guys, you’ve barely lived.

Some of these this can be mitigated, and for others (like having young children) may make us want to re-evalute if we will get that Jason Statham bod in the next three months, or if perhaps losing 4 kilos in 6 weeks is a bit more achievable.

In a training programme, you set a realistic goal over a realistic time-scale. Now, controversially, I’d consider it a better idea for ‘body composition clients’, aka fat loss clients, aka people who won’t admit that what they really want is to look better naked, to focus on sleep, diet and strength.

Bear with me here. Rather than wish the waist away and curse yourself every time you ‘fail’, how about you spend your energies and motivation creating a supportive environment. How about you take control over what you put in your mouth. I guarantee that once you’re the master of your own stomach, that if you’ve gradually progressed to being able to perform the following (thanks to fat loss Guru Josh Hillis), then you should be looking pretty good.

 

Women:

3 Pull ups (band assisted are a waste of time)

Deadlift your bodyweight for three reps

 

Men:

10 Pull ups

Deadlift one and a half times your bodyweight for three reps

 

If you can do this and you don’t ‘look good’… then you’re lying to yourself about what you put in your mouth.

To achieve these strength goals is fairly simple (simple, not easy), and requires a little bit of planning. You can just keep smashing your face into the wall every session, you need to back off and take it easy from time to time.

Make your plan.

Develop your support network.

Get strong.

Feel awesome.