Stressed and out of shape!

 How to solve the two biggest health and fitness problems most guys face. 

Work stressing you out? Life in general? Having trouble staying consistent with your exercise and nutrition plan? If so, this article is for you.Why do most guys tend to get weaker, fatter, and less healthy when they get into their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s? Chalk it up to increased stress, increased responsibilities and decreased time and energy.

We know we need to eat better. We know we need to take better care of ourselves. But most guys simply have a hard time staying consistent with their nutrition and exercise plans.

After working with hundreds of guys I’ve seen it all—and i know there’s a solution. 

You can take control of your own health and fitness. You can reverse the downward spiral of stress, and start building a healthy body you can be proud of.

And you can do it all in less than 3 hours a week. 

Seriously. 

In this article, you’ll learn:

•the two biggest fitness-related problems that hold men back from getting and staying in shape, and

•how to overcome these obstacles to get the body — and life — you want. 

The results? 

You’ll lose the weight (and body fat) you haven’t been able to shed for years. You’ll build physical strength and gain confidence. And you’ll end up feeling like the healthiest, strongest, fittest version of yourself.

Want to start making progress today? Here’s how to overcome two of the biggest obstacles standing in your way.

Problem #1: Your life is busier than it’s ever been

Some interesting things start to happen as we exit our 20’s and enter our 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s:

•We tend to get less sleep and wake up tired and sore.

•Our sex hormones peak… and then start their slow decline.

•Our crackling ankles, knees, and wrists remind us that we’re getting older.

•We tend to snack and overeat more often, especially in the evenings.

•We do less binge drinking, but more consistent drinking. Polishing off a bottle of wine or drinking a few beers each night becomes an ordinary routine. 

Of course it’s not all negative. Lots of positive things start happening too:

•If we’re lucky, we get a good career that’s challenging and rewarding.

•We make more money than when we were younger.

•We develop long-lasting relationships with people we love.

•We start building and nurturing a family.

•We become (presumably) smarter and more experienced. 

While every guy’s life experience is different, there are a few things that remain consistent no matter who you are. For most guys, getting older usually means:

•increased responsibilities at home

•increased stress from work

•less time to take care of themselves 

This is how we end up with a gym membership we rarely use, a healthy cookbook we rarely open, and a body we’re not particularly proud of. 

Sure, we want to drop some fat and look more muscular and fit… but we just don’t have the time or energy. Someday, we tell ourselves, we’re finally going to get our ass in gear. 

The only problem? “Someday” keeps getting postponed. 

It's been my experience, lots of guys are so stressed out with work and family obligations, that they don’t feel like they have the time or energy to “really commit” to a nutrition or exercise plan. 

But what if you didn’t have to dedicate a huge portion of your life to getting in shape? 

What most guys do when they feel busy and stressed:

•Let their busy schedule overtake their health.

•Set huge fitness goals they don’t have a miracle of hitting.

•Continue to add body fat and beat themselves up for not making a change. 

What you can do to be successful:

•Embrace exercise minimalism.

•Identify the biggest gap in your nutrition and work on fixing it (while ignoring everything else). 

Embrace exercise minimalism

You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get in better shape. All you need is between two and three hours a week. Before you say “ I only wish I had that much extra time”, stop and think about it. That’s less time than it takes to watch one football match or one rugby game.  

I give my clients the ability to modify their workouts, with more difficult or less difficult exercises, depending on how they’re feeling that day or time constraints That way they’re always doing something rather than nothing. (Because let’s face it: the gym is the first thing to go when we get busy and stressed at work.) 

So how do you embrace exercise minimalism on your own? It’s not how much you do ,but the intensity at which you do it. You can have a killer chest workout in 30 minutes if done correctly.

It doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as you do one thing more than the last time. 

Identify the biggest gap in your nutrition and work on fixing it (while ignoring everything else) 

My experience has taught me most guys I know, know how important nutrition is for looking and feeling better. And they know they need to follow some sort of nutrition plan. However, they don’t know where to start. (Or they start a new diet and try to change everything at once, which usually fails).

Instead of trying to change everything about the way you eat right now—which will just add to your stress levels—I encourage you to follow the advice I give to my clients:

Pick one thing about the way you eat—the thing you think will make the biggest improvement to your nutrition—and focus on it exclusively for a couple of weeks.

Once you’ve been consistent for 14-21 days, then you can pick another thing to try. The goal is to practice simple, strategic actions that build over time.

So how do you know what thing to pick? Easy. Just ask yourself this question:

“What’s the one thing I could do right now to feel better about my nutrition?” 

Chances are you have a good idea on what you need to do. Here’s a short list of what some of our clients have focused on: If starting the day off with a health breakfast is a problem, start with that. Make a commitment to having a healthy complete breakfast every morning.No exceptions .  

The idea here is to pick the one nutrition practice that will make the biggest impact on your body and health right now. After 14-21 mornings of consistently eating a healthy breakfast now move on to your next nutritional goal. Implement one good habit at a time. Stay focused on that one before you move on to the next .

 

Problem #2: You know what to do… but you’re just not consistent.

This is the motherlode of all problems. This is a very common complaint that I hear all of time.

And it’s not like they’re complete exercise beginners. Here’s what most guys have tried before getting results with me:

•P90X, Insanity, and other workout DVDs

•CrossFit and other group workouts

•Fitbit, Apple Watch and other wearable fitness technology

•Popular diets like intermittent fasting, paleo, and low-carb

•Workout books and magazine articles

Of course, these aren’t “bad” options. They end up working for some people. But eventually most of these methods and tools begin to break down and fail over time.

Why is that? 

It’s because they’re surface solutions. They help solve a surface-level problem.

•Don’t have a gym to train at? Now you do.

•Want to track how many calories you eat? Here’s an app.

•Want to know how many steps you’re taking? Wear this bracelet thing. 

The only problem with surface-level solutions? They only work for a little while.

They don’t account for the ups and downs of everyday life. They don’t adapt to your life. And because of that, they don’t help you stay consistent.

 

What most guys do when they fail to be consistent.

•Pick another surface solution to follow. 

What you can do to be successful:

•Make yourself accountable to a program.

•Make yourself accountable to a person. 

Make yourself accountable to a program.

Ideally, you want a program that covers a few bases:

•It’s been tested with lots of people (so you know it actually works).

•It’s customizable to your lifestyle (so you can stay consistent and do it even when you’re busy).

•It’s something you actually enjoy doing (who’s going to exercise if it’s not fun?).

•There’s something big and positive to shoot for (a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow). 

The first three are incredibly important; they’re the cornerstone of a solid exercise and nutrition program. But the fourth one—having something big and positive to shoot for—is often overlooked.

In fact, most programs do the opposite: They make you feel guilty and bad for “slacking” or for not being a paragon of health and fitness. But we don’t need any more negativity in our lives, and we’re sure you don’t either..

 

So how do you know if a certain program will help keep you accountable? 

After 30+ years in the fitness industry, I’ve determined that the following four things are of the utmost importance:

•You need a way to measure your progress and track it on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

•You need to follow a structured plan, but still have room to move at your own speed when needed.

•You need a daily reminder to practice whichever nutrition, exercise, or lifestyle habit you’re currently working on.

•You need it to be customizable to your skill levels, goals, and how much time you have available.

That’s what helped my clients achieve the  results they’ve been after.  

Make yourself accountable to a person.

This tip isn’t for everyone but it can often make the difference between consistently getting great results or falling off the wagon.

Personal accountability is more important than personal motivation for one simple reason: no one always feels motivated to go to the gym or make healthy eating choices.

But if we have someone who’s checking up on us to see how things are going, we’ll likely do better because a) we don’t want to disappoint the person who’s helping us and b) we don’t want to look or feel lazy.

If we’re accountable to another person, we’ll actually do the workouts and eat the food we need to look and feel great. And we’ll do it over and over again, even when the going gets tough.

That’s why the most successful guys become accountable to another person. It could be a friend or workout partner. It could be your spouse. It could be a local personal trainer or fitness expert. 

Or if you want professional help,i can help you too. 

The important thing is that you make yourself accountable to somebody.

Most guys know that regular movement, eating well, sleep, and stress management are important for looking and feeling better. Yet they need help applying that knowledge in the context of their busy, sometimes stressful lives.

That’s where I come in. As a Professional Personal Trainer part of my job is to hold you accountable. Make sure to keep your feet planted . Stay in the here and now. If you have any questions feel free to get in touch.