COMPONENTS OF FITNESS

Today I want to address a component of fitness. Having worked in big box gyms, privately owned clubs as well as studios for the better part of 30 years, I have ...heard a lot of trainers talk about the different components of fitness. Some of the components they talk about are exercise, nutrition, supplementation, sleep, water, and personal assistance. A lot of the times they will put a percentage number on them, and many times I have heard that 80% of the battle is proper nutrition. If this is true then the remaining 20% is divided between the other 5 components. I could not disagree more, I believe they are all important and would be hard pressed to put percentages on any of them. You can have the best nutrition in the world, but if you are not exercising then you are missing out on all of those benefits that we get from weight against gravity. Yes nutrition is very important, but so are the other things, they all work together synergistically. Very few if any can be perfect in all of the components, but if we can be aware of them, and work hard at them, we can get from point A to point B is a realistic period of time. What is point A and point B? That is another discussion, but I do want to talk about one more component that I do not hear talked about enough, and that is consistency. My wife recently took 5 weeks off, life kind of got in the way, like it does and will sometimes. If it wasn’t one thing it was another that kept popping up. She did not train and she did not even eat very well. In fact she was not drinking nearly enough water, was not taking her supplements, which is probably what was affecting her sleep as well. Basically she was not doing well with any of the components. Anybody who knows my wife knows that she has been extremely consistent with her training for the last 6 years. When she is on top of her game, she does not miss meals, she preps every Sunday (fat loss starts on Sunday by the way), she weighs her foods in grams not ounces, drinks plenty of water and takes her supplements. Generally she sleeps pretty well, in other words she is following the components the best that she can. After taking 5 weeks off she made an appointment to train for her first time, after a good warm up we started with kettle bell squats and I had to do a double take. Honestly I thought she looked as fit as I have ever seen her and took a picture. I doubt I can take 5 weeks off and come back looking the best I ever have, maybe a few of us out there can. Having thought about this for quite some time, I think the reason she was able to do this was because of her 6 years of consistency. If you want to get good results you have to be aware of all the components, and I think being consistent is something we have to put a bit more focus on. People often ask how many days a week do we need to be doing the six human movements that we teach. I tell them 7 days a week! I didn’t say with high intensity 7 days a week, maybe two days a week with high intensity and four days a week with less intensity. On the 7th day should we not get down on the ground and stretch out? Do we not get out of bed, or squat to use the toilet, or carry in groceries from the car? Being consistent is 7 days a week, not being perfect 7 days a week, but trying. It is not going to the gym one or two days a week and expecting results. So, be consistent my friends, and you will start to see some of the results you are looking for.