The fitness industry has sure changed a lot since the first time I set foot in a gym almost two decades ago. It was a simpler time back then. A time where there were no phones in the gym. A time when selfies and squats could not co-exist and a time when the phrase “Booty Gains” did not exist. A time when people helped or were courteous to one another with the odd training tip, spot or friendly wave. A time when people cleaned up after themselves and cleared their weights from machines and wiped down the equipment after use. A time when people would just train. I miss that time……..

Living the Dream

How many people are fortunate enough to get up each and every day and go to a job that they love? According to recent statistics, not very many. Fortunately for me, I’m one of the few people in the lower percentile that actually enjoys what I do for a living. There’s a reason I don’t take days off. For one, I think it’s quite obvious that I have no life. And for two, I absolutely love what I do. As a small business owner who works for himself, I guess I’m what you would call an Entrepreneur. I personally never thought I would be able to make a successful living from what first started off as a hobby for me, however with a little bit of luck and ALOT of hard work, I’ve been able to do just that. And after ten years of running my own business and struggling as a young Entrepreneur, I feel as if I’m finally at a place where I could ease off the gas and take a day or two off each week. But knowing myself, this probably won’t happen anytime soon.

Night Terrors

Now I wish I could honestly say that my life is full of butterflies and rainbows but that would simply be a lie. There are parts of the my job that I don’t like and find mind-numbing and tedious at the best of times. And like anything, with the good usually comes the bad. Therefore, like many people, I do have my fair share of shitty days. There are plenty of times where I don’t feel like going to work or dealing with the copious amounts of admin work that can pile up within a few short hours if left unattended. But this is part of my job and also a part of life. So I just shut up and deal with it as most people do. However what I’m finding difficulty dealing with now more then ever actually has nothing to do with my business. And what frustrates me mostly about this issue is that I have little to no control over the impact that it has on the health and fitness community. The issue in which I’m referring too is the one of which everyone who is anyone on social media has become a self proclaimed fitness expert these days. And as someone who has lived and breathed exercise, diet and nutrition for the better half of my life, I’m becoming more and more annoyed and aggravated by these so-called “experts” who know very little about the science behind what they proclaim works and what doesn’t work for the average person when it comes to training and diet.

Nightmare on My Own Street

When it comes to building muscle and losing weight, I don’t think I know everything. I do think I know quite a bit about this often confusing subject however by no means do I consider myself to be a “Fitness Expert”. The one thing that I do know though is that different people respond to different training programs and nutritional plans. How do I know this? Well after training people both on the floor and online for thousands upon thousands of hours and designing hundreds of nutritional plans over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about how the human body operates and responds to diet and exercise. But what worries me is that with the prevalence of social media, that anyone who exercises and lifts weights on a regular basis and has a decent looking physique can use this platform to release their bro science to the world at hand. And what keeps me up at night, is that some of our own clients actually follow and listen to this mindless dribble.

Living in a Fantasy

My dream is to be successful at doing a job that helps people better their own lives. My nightmare is having people constantly fail at achieving their health and fitness goals because of a lack of effort on my own or my team’s part. If our company can help improve someone’s quality of life and make them feel better about themselves, then I would consider that to be a success. But I cannot and will not promise ripped abs and bulging biceps to anyone who is not willing to put in the time and effort necessary to achieve the results they desire. I don’t believe in short cuts and therefore I don’t promote them. I don’t bother with fad diets and cookie cutter training philosophies because I know they don’t work. And I don’t listen to archaic advice or follow idiotic ideologies from someone just because they themselves are in good shape due to the fact that I have common sense. Yes, it would be nice if we could eat whatever we like and lose weight. And sure, if a 15 minute workout is all it took to build a substantial amount of muscle, I would be the first person to sign up. But the truth is, is that these cheesy sales gimmicks are just that – gimmicks.

Sleepless in the Squat Rack

There’s no reason to try and reinvent the wheel when the wheel itself already works great. And there’s no reason to keep switching lanes if the lane you’re already in is taking you to your final destination. And finally to my clients, there’s no reason to give me nightmares by telling me that you’re doing Intermittent Fasting to lose weight, training like a pro bodybuilder to gain muscle or following an IIFYM Diet to live a more balanced lifestyle. I already have enough stress to deal with and finding out that you’re jumping on a bandwagon full of fictitious facts and simpleminded statements instead of following logic and listening to reason, will only make me feel like a failure that has taught you nothing and did you wrong.

Remember, fad diets and generic training programs can change your weight, but training hard and eating right can change your body.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance