Have you ever stopped and wondered where all of us gym junkies, iron addicts and fitness enthusiasts will end up in 10, 15 or 20 years from now? And I’m not talking about the workout imposters who spend more time focused on their phones while they’re in the gym, then on their own actual workouts. I’m referring to those of us that actually give a damn about exercising and give each and every single workout we do, 110% of our utmost focus and intensity.
Where will we be?
From Fit to Flabby
There are many people out there who predict that the day will come where us gym goers will lose all of our hard earned muscle and will just become fat, flabby and frail. And in my opinion, this will probably become a reality for some of us. And the reason I believe this to be true is because many of us are not thinking about our future and therefore we don’t preserve our health and consider where we want to be in years down the line.
I like to think of myself as someone who was able to develop a fairly decent physique in my younger years, and still have been able to maintain that very same physique without any serious injuries or health issues into my 30s. In fact, I actually feel better now then I did when I was younger and I’m not going to allow that to change. Feeling strong, energized and healthy is extremely important to me. It’s also a crucial message that I want to share with you in this week’s blog. And that’s to start thinking long-term!
As a Personal Trainer/Online Coach, my job is not to just help people achieve results in the short-term. My number one goal has and always will be to teach my clients how to build and maintain a timeless physique. And this is why I always preach about the importance of developing lasting results.
Avoiding Failure
When I tell new clients not to train to failure, they mistake this as going easy. The workouts that we do in our gym are ridiculously intense and any long term clients of ours will attest to that!
The idea of not going to failure simply means going until your muscles can’t do another rep without having to compromise your form or utilized forced reps. The set will cause you to fatigue to the point where you have to stop, but you don’t force it beyond that. This is where a lot of connective tissue trauma is caused when you begin to force things from happening. And once you begin to get issues in your ligaments and tendons, it becomes increasingly difficult to ever fully recover from.
Chase Volume NOT Weight
Again, don’t misinterpret what I am saying here. You will build strength with high volume training and you should lift relatively heavy if you want to achieve results with your physique. However in my opinion you should focus on volume accumulation with “heavy” weight rather then doing one set of super heavy weight with forced reps.
By training correctly your central nervous system will become much more primed for building muscle and your joints won’t be stressed so severely, which ofcourse lowers your risk of an injury from occurring in the long term. Another great advantage to following a high volume-type training program is that your cardiovascular system will get a great workout and your body fat levels will remain lower, which are both excellent advantages to have for longer-term health.
Analyze Your Diet
Obviously your diet makes a huge difference to your shape and progress, but in terms of longevity you need to start watching for the following things:
– Which foods cause your gut to become inflamed
– Which foods make you feel lethargic
Once you know of the foods that are causing the above issues make sure to eliminate them from your diet because not only will this limit your short-term progress, but it can also impact your immune system, gut health, and general health in the long run as well.
Prioritize Your Recovery
Recovery entails managing your cortisol levels, allowing your central nervous system to recover, giving connective tissue time to recover, and supporting your immune system. This is reliant on multiply factors such as getting enough sleep, eating a lot of micronutrient foods (vegetables & fruit), smart program design with training and remaining hydrated. All of these factors are extremely important when it comes to longevity.
Some of you reading this week’s blog might not yet be of an age where you appreciate this advice, but if you’re not, one day you will. The smartest people who read this week’s blog will get what I’m saying right away. At the end of the day, we all want a timeless physique with great health and hopefully the tips from above will help. Thinking long-term needs to start today. Make sure to consider everything that you’re currently doing and the impact that it will have in your future.
And remember to always keep your long term health and results in mind!
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance