Is it just me or is anyone else becoming increasingly annoyed with these self-righteousness, overzealous, thirsty-for-fame, fitness enthusiasts, who constantly blow up our online newsfeeds with their “results” from all the “hard work” that they put into transforming their physiques? What many of these gym junkies fail to realize is that they’re not fooling any of us with their bathroom selfies and filtered to the nines photos. Just because you copy and past an inspirational quote from Gandhi next to a photo of you squatting in the squat rack, does not make you a modern day Nostradamus. Posting photos of your ass or your abs does not inspire me to go to the gym and lift heavier and diet harder. And I feel that by “liking” these photos, all I’m doing is feeding in to this narcissistic behaviour and adding fuel to this eternal fire of a need for self validation from others.

Now I know what you’re thinking – Am I, Nick Cosgrove, REALLY passing judgement on others that posts videos and photos of themselves online working out and prepping their meals? Talk about a true testament to the pot calling the kettle black! But you’re damn right I’m passing judgement and calling these fitness fools out! Why? Because filtered photos are deceiving. Terms such as “Booty Gainz” are demeaning. And Bathroom selfies are….well….just disgusting! Oh and FYI, none of the above photos, videos or hashtags, you will ever find on any of my own social media platforms!

21 Days……

Most of us have heard the saying that “It Takes 21 Days to Develop a Habit”. Now in my opinion this saying is right up there with all the other generically garbage sayings such as “There’s No Such Thing As a Bad Workout” or “Sweat is Fat Crying”. I understand that these are all just sayings used to help motivate and inspire people to become more active and fit, however they make absolutely no sense and therefore are utterly moronic.

Ofcourse there is such a thing as a bad workout! Trust me, I’ve had plenty! There are many times that I’ve exercised when I wasn’t feeling well or was already in a state of exhaustion from life, and realized only after the workout, that it most likely would have benefited both my body and my mind more by skipping the gym on that particular day. And as for sweat being fat crying? Please! Go sit in a sauna for 20 minutes and you’ll sweat twice as much then you will in just those 20 minutes then you would lifting weights intensely for 60 minutes! So are we really to believe that we’re burning more fat by sitting in a sauna then we are while training in the gym because we’re sweating more?

As for taking 21 days to develop a habit? Well this saying does have some merit to it, but by no means should it be considered accurate or even realistic. Yes, it does take time to develop a healthy habit, but I don’t think there is a specific number of days and hours that we can put on the amount of time that it takes for each person to develop that habit. I’ve worked with some people who are super motivated when they first start working out, and do everything I suggest in the gym and with their diet for the first few weeks. But then life gets in the way. Work becomes stressful, family obligations arise, personal time starts to feel nonexistent, and essentially, shit just hits the fan. So they miss a workout or two. They have 8 cheat meals a week instead of just 1 or 2. They get discouraged with their lack of results and become unmotivated to follow through on their initial goal to become more healthy and fit. These people were so close to developing a healthy habit, but they gave in too early. Does this make them weak? Does this make them pathetic? Does this make them a loser?

No. It’s just simply makes them human.

Training the Strongest Muscle In Your Body – Your Mind

I always tell my clients that this entire fitness game is 90% mental and only 10% physical. The truth is that all of us can go to the gym and workout and then go on with the rest of our day making healthy and smart meal choices. The reality is that the majority of us (including myself) will not actually do this day in and day out for the rest of our lives though. Sure, we might do it for a few weeks, possibly even a few months, but at the end of the day, most of us will eventually cave and indulge in that slice of pizza or take a week or two off from the gym.

AND THAT”S OKAY!!!!

In fact, it’s more then okay. It’s something that I believe we should all do whenever we start to feel emotionally drained or physically burnt out. As most of my clients know, I don’t take vacations and I don’t take days off from work. And I rarely take more then two days off in a row from exercising and working out. I do however take mental breaks from each of these activities every so often. For example, no I don’t take vacations or days off from work, but one of the benefits of owning my own business is that if I decide to work just 1 or 2 hours on a Monday, then that’s all I’ll work. As for training myself, yes I do take days off from the gym, but they’re not scheduled days off. I take days off from the gym when my body tells me to take days off from the gym. I always listen to what my body tells me to do. If I feel it needs a rest then I give it the rest it needs. If I feel it needs a break from the diet, then I’ll order a pizza or have a couple dozen cookies. I don’t punish myself with endless hours of cardio to burn off my so-called “cheat meals” nor do I reward myself with sugary treats and fried foods for when I’ve been consistently clean with my diet and regiment with my training for weeks on end.

Always Learning

It took me some time (okay a LONG TIME) to learn that this fitness lifestyle is a marathon and not a sprint. I’ve always believed that if something is not sustainable such as a certain diet or training program, then it’s not worth my time putting in the energy needed to complete these tasks. I would much rather spend my time and energy building something that is not only profitable, but also maintainable instead of something that produces dramatic results quickly that are only short-lived. Therefore when it comes to any component in my own life, whether it be business, family or health related, I approach it from a long term vision of achieving and sustaining success, rather then a vision that fizzles out quickly because my original plan was designed poorly.

I believe that in order to develop a healthy habit, it takes time, effort and determination. I think it’s important to accept that there may be relapses along the way and therefore we need to prepare ourselves for how we are going to deal with these relapses when they occur. If there is one piece of advice that I could offer based on my many years of trying, failing and then trying again to develop healthy, consistent habits both in the gym and in the kitchen, it would be this: Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Don’t live off  your achievements. And Don’t pay attention to those that doubt you or don’t believe you will succeed in what you are trying to accomplish. Focus more on the positives and less on the negatives. If you’re doing better today on your diet, or your training, or just in life in general, then you were a year, a month or even a day ago, then your slowly developing healthier habits. And in time, if you can remain consistent with these habits, then you will eventually have developed them for life.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance