Ugh, it’s Monday! For most people Monday means the start of a new work week. For myself personally Monday just means it’s another work day. Truth be told I rarely take days off therefore I don’t really have weekends or take vacations. In fact, the last time I had an entire day off from working with clients in the gym was last month when I competed at my most recent fitness competition. However as my training partner recently reminded me that dehydrating oneself for over 24 hours while standing and flexing on stage under hot heat lamps should not be consider as taking a “day off”. Nevertheless I technically wasn’t working so therefore we’ve agreed to disagree on that subject.

I’ve always prided myself in being a hard worker, both inside and outside the gym. I believe I developed my strong work ethic from an early age as I watched both my parents work very demanding jobs and take very little rest, if at all. However neither of my parents really ever exercised. Sure they went for the occasional walk but neither one of them has ever stepped foot in a gym. My dad couldn’t tell you the difference between a rep and a set if his life depended on it and my mom has no clue as to what a macronutrient is or why a fried breaded chicken breast is considered to be fattening and unhealthy, after all aren’t chicken breasts considered to be a “clean food”.

When I first began my career as a Personal Trainer I went on a health and fitness crusade to educate and inform my clients on how to eat properly and train efficiently so that they could achieve the absolute best results in the gym. I preached about the importance of consistent training, I lectured about the significance of a clean and healthy diet and I stressed how crucial it was to practice and implement a proper supplementation plan into their new fitness lifestyle. I assumed if my clients had all this information on hand then there would be no excuse or reason for them not to achieve the results that they desired with both their physique and their health. Boy, was I ever wrong……

As much as I was and still am dedicated to living a healthy and active lifestyle I’ve had to come to accept that not everyone may be as enthusiastic as I am about this disciplined, exhausting and monotonous lifestyle that I live everyday. And that’s okay. In fact, I think that’s actually quite healthy. Perhaps even more healthy as it creates more balance in a person’s life. Ofcourse we know that we should exercise for our health but the reality is you’re not going to have stroke or suffer from a heart attack if you take a few days off from the gym. You’re also not going add ten pounds of fat onto your frame from a bad day of eating or cheating on your diet for a couple of days. So is it absolutely essential to eat clean 24/7 and train 7 days a week if our goal is to build a healthy and aesthetically pleasing physique? In my experience it most definitely is not.

When I first started competing in physique competitions I was obsessed with my diet and my training. I would skip social functions and family events just so I could stay on track with my fitness goals. I counted all my calories, I calculated every macronutrient, I recorded every workout and I wrote down every set and rep I did. However the longer I continued to do all of this the more I began to resent the gym and even worst I started to develop an unhealthy relationship with food itself. I became so dedicated to the fitness lifestyle that I didn’t even realize that I had become a prisoner within my own body. My physique looked great on the outside but I felt miserable on the inside. Working out was no longer fun, as it began to feel more like a job. Eating was no longer enjoyable as it began to feel more like a choir. I was irritable, I was quick-tempered and I felt both physically and emotionally drained. Striving to be overly fit and healthy had burned me out.

Call it overtraining, diagnose it as adrenal fatigue and/or classify it as an extreme case of body dysmorphia. Whatever it was wasn’t what was important to me, I was done, finished and wanted to quit. To make matters worse my actual job requires me to work in gyms for the majority of each day so you can imagine how difficult it was me to step away from the fit and active lifestyle. However that’s exactly what I did. I took some time away from my own workouts. I changed up the diet that I had been following for over 5 years. I obviously still worked with my clients however my body and mind needed a break from all the physical and psychological effects that can occur when dealing with any addiction. And in my case my addiction was over-exercising. So for a brief period I broke up with fitness. During this time I found other activities to help keep me preoccupied. Even though I wasn’t following my exact diet plan I didn’t stray to far off the grid and start pigging out on burgers and ice cream. My body was starving for change and for once in my life I decided to listen to it. And after just a few short weeks the end result amazed even me.

After a week off from the gym I found that I actually started to miss the weights. I even started to miss my regular everyday meals that I had been consuming for over five years on my previous nutrition plan. I missed being challenged and without my daily workout routine my days started to feel incomplete. However I knew my body wasn’t quite ready to get back into the physical and mental demands that training and strict dieting can present. Therefore I decided to take one more week off. After two full weeks off from no training and intense dieting I was craving to get back to my old routine. I thought I would have felt fat and gross after taking 14 days off straight from dieting and exercise however I actually felt fresh and recharged. I assumed I would have gained at least 5 to 10 pounds over my break from the gym and my diet however when I got back on the scale, my weight had not changed one bit. And I knew I was going to feel weak and lose strength yet during my very first workout back I was actually hit new personal bests in both weights and reps.

So even though my break-up with fitness was short-lived and I eventually came back I realized how important it was for me to take that little break. I soon became fully aware that my body was in fact not a machine and it did require rest and recuperation.

Now, a few years later my perspective on diet and exercise has completely changed. I no longer scold my clients when they miss a workout nor do I lecture them when they eat something that’s not on their customized meal plan. I’m no longer on a crusade to change my clients’ lives. Now my only objective is to just help make their lives better. If that means that they can get away with eating all the foods they want when they want it without gaining weight or increasing their blood pressure and cholesterol levels then I’m doing my job. If that means that they can walk up a flight of stairs or keep up with their kids then I’m doing my job. As long as my clients have a healthy relationship with food and understand the importance of training and actually look forward to their workouts in the gym with me, then I’ve done my job.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove