Unless you are willing to change.

As a trainer and coach, this is the hardest thing I have to grapple with when it comes to helping clients achieve their goals.

If you are not in the mood for a reality check, find something else to read because I am going to get super blunt in the next few paragraphs.

People often come to me with with big changes in mind. They want to be a size 6 again or have six-pack abs. They want to compete in powerlifting. They want to get better at everything. And for some reason, they think we can accomplish this in the 3-5 hours a week they spend in the gym without changing any other aspect of their life.

Its just not possible.

The sad part is that the changes they usually need to make in order to make big progress are small. For example:

1. Go for a 30 minute walk every day.
2. Cut down on your alcohol intake.
3. Log your daily food intake, cut back on sweets and fatty foods.
4. Stop staying up so late and get more sleep.
5. Drink enough water.
6. Practice the skills you need to get better at your sport.

But these things are boring. They aren’t sexy. And no one believes they will work. The harsh truth is that if people ONLY made these changes in their lives, they would be in way better shape. And health.

The crazy thing is that these people are willing to come into my gym and lift heavy and push themselves to their limits on their conditioning. They will even do their rehab and stretching work while I’m standing there watching them. But they go home and eat and drink all those calories back, and then some. They spend the majority of their time sitting. They say things like “I can’t . . . ” and “I don’t have time . . .”. And they wonder why they can’t make any progress.

I get it. We all have a short attention span. Shouldn’t we be able to work hard for just a short time and have it change everything? Shouldn’t we be able to take a supplement that makes us shed all our excess weight?

Unfortunately, no.

There is no magic wand. There is no magic routine. There is no magic diet. Anyone claiming otherwise is lying to you. Well, there are steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, but those come with a whole lot of problems such as early death, drug use, and mental illness (yes, I’ve seen it too many times to count and I am not being sarcastic about that) so I would advise everyone to steer clear of anything that is not prescribed and/or under the supervision of a licensed medical professional.

Exercise is not a cure for a bad lifestyle. It doesn’t matter how hard you push yourself in the gym if you don’t clean up your act for the remaining hours of your day. Change that doesn’t come from within won’t last and if you aren’t prioritizing your health as the cornerstone of your quality of life or performance, you are doing it wrong.

Living and looking better is easy. But you have to decide to make those changes.

Go for a walk. Stop eating crap. Get up out of your chair and move more regularly. Those are the gateway drugs to a better life.