You Are Not An Idiot For Trying Crazy Fitness Fads.

At the end of your rope? Probably. Discouraged? Most likely. But an idiot? Nope.

It doesn't take much energy to find wild fitness claims on any given day. Whether scrolling on social media or channel surfing on tv or the web, we quickly and often come across ads and products that, for a nominal fee, promise to banish fat and/or build muscle with very little effort.

With all the constant promotion of how "easy" it is to get and stay in shape, is it any wonder why the unhealthy lifestyle recidivism rates are so high? In our insta-society we're sold remedy after remedy that is not only guaranteed to work but, as we are led to believe, has worked for so many people before us that when they don't work for us it is us, and not the simple and easy method, which is flawed.

Wrong.

The truth is that change is possible. The truth is that change is also simple but it is NOT easy. To have the energy, the confidence & the joy that we all yearn for and to build the body and lifestyle we desire and deserve takes a commitment to a system of changes implemented one by one which then team up to form a healthy network of habits in our lives that we live with day in and day out. That's it.

Yes I am aware that the simple formula just took a turn for complicated but it really isn't. And thanks for staying with me as I explain. Think about learning to walk. Walking takes balance and other motor skills, hand eye co-ordination and generating power, navigation skills and processing skills to all be working all at once. But we don't learn all those things at once as babies - we learn them step by step. We get up and fall down and get up and fall down and get up until we no longer fall down.

We keep adding what we learn to what we have already learned - we keep adding new habits to serve us towards our goal as we learn new habits that will make our goal achievable - in this case, walking. We keep adding until we are walking then running all over the place - much to our parents dissatisfaction if your childhood was anything like my own.

Point? The simple formula that seemed to become complicated - the one that marketers aims to complicate for you so that you don't succeed and you stay in the pain and purchase cycle that being overweight and unhealthy pin so many people in - really is a simple one. What makes it seems hard is that, in an instant world, this simple formula of lasting health and fitness takes time to execute as we build healthy habit atop healthy habit.

So the next time you feel dumb - or are ready to call someone an idiot for taking on the next crazy fitness fad - remember that pain is a scary yet effective motivator. And that getting into shape really is a simple journey, achieved one step and one rep at a time.
Mark Sparks
Conditioning Specialist & Personal Trainer


For program and training information, please visit www.SPARKSConditioning.com
and join me on Instagram at @sparksconditioning.com
Thanks!