Imagine driving 500kms. (310 miles for you crazy Americans)
It’s a fairly legit distance right? Like you’re not just gonna get up one day and say “I think I’m gonna drive 500kms today”. It has to be for a reason and it’s likely part of a plan. It’s likely to go somewhere specific.
Let’s say it’s because you want to go to another city that’s 500kms away. If that’s the case then you can’t only take into account the distance and start driving. You also need to make sure you are going in the right direction. Because if you just start driving with the only focus of going a distance of 500kms, you could end up going 500kms in any direction. You could end up going East when you should have gone West. That unfocused driving would make you worse off than when you started.
Makes sense I hope? I hope by now you’re saying to yourself: “Well no shit chad, but why the fuck are talking about driving 500kms? What does this have to do with fitness and health?”
Well my friends, it has EVERYTHING to do with health, if we flip the variables.
Let’s turn the “city” into a fitness goal and let’s turn the “kms” into repetitions of exercises.
There are so many people who start their fitness journey by just joining a gym and doing some exercise. They just start doing whatever to start building up some strength and conditioning. After all, doing something is better than nothing right??
Well, yes and no. Normally I agree with that statement, however, it could end up being just like the driving example. Just doing something could be exactly like just driving without a direction. You can put in the reps and you can go the same “distance”, but are those reps better than nothing if you’ve been going in the wrong direction?
No. No they are not. It’s actually worse.
It’s important that you are doing things that are moving you in the right direction. Going to the gym and just jumping around from machine to machine isn’t going to do much to build your muscles. Going to the gym and putting in an hour on the elliptical isn’t always going to give you the exact “calorie burning” affect you’re after. Joining the high-energy, non-stop, sweat your ass off group program isn’t always the best option for losing weight. And worst of all, doing hundreds if not thousands of reps of exercises with bad technique is not going to do anything for helping your body and joints long-term.
So my friends (aka readers of this newsletter), I highly encourage you to consult with someone for assessment, guidance, and instruction when it comes to your fitness goals. Just like you were taught to drive a car and consulted Google for the directions, it’s a good idea to get some directions towards your fitness goals as well.