Tips for Success

The "secret"

Fitness and healthy living is something that most people want but aren't necessarily willing to work for. And many of those who try find themselves struggling to keep it up after a while. If you want to succeed, you must remember that fitness should be, more or less, indefinitely sustainable. If you're willing to work hard for something, don't you want to keep what you've earned and not retrogress? As much as common sense as that may seem, the reversal of progress happens fairly often to those who find themselves in trying circumstances. I've done it myself many times but I never fail to get back on the horse and drive forward again.

The secret to success is this: never give up, and always keep going. Failure only truly happens when you give up. There are many successful people in history who first had to face failures of their own. Almost no one gets it right the first time.

Chinese Proverbs are even better in Courage Wolf form.

Many people encounter difficulty in pursuit of their own goals. When these things happen, one often blames him or herself for being too weak-minded. Usually, temporary failures are taken too gravely, which leads to prematurely giving up-- usually with hollow justifications. "I'm not cut out for this," "I'm just genetically predisposed to look this way," "The effort isn't worth it for the results I'm getting," "It's not worth it anyway," etc. Don't fall for the trap, and keep trying. It will be worth it.
Still, there are several things you can do to prevent yourself from falling off the track, so to speak. Some of these seem like no-brainers, but you'd be surprised how people rarely utilize them.

Think positive

It's easy to become discouraged when you're struggling with your own progress in the gym and you see someone who is about 5 years' worth of work ahead of you, and a little voice inside your head says "I'll never get there." Don't listen to that voice, and don't compare yourself to others. The only important competition that is going on is between you and your past self. It's amazing how far you can get if that is your primary focus.

Sometimes, children's books are incredibly profound.

As Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." If you're a relatively healthy person, there is nothing keeping you from looking like a model one day, if you so desire. It's very possible and it's not as hard as you think. It just takes a lot of time, dedication, and patience. 

Use music to your advantage

Music has the potential to make exercise a lot more enjoyable. Of course there's the fact that it helps distract your mind from thinking "man, this sucks." But it can also motivate you or give you a psychological energy boost. It can even alter your brain waves for the better.

Personally, I hate most of the music that plays on the gym intercom. First of all, it's mostly just background noise with pretty bad audio quality, and, secondly, it's usually just overplayed or just plain crappy mainstream music. Do yourself a favor and bring your own audio device with some decent earphones. Music is a lot more helpful when you choose it yourself.

Just don't wear over-the-ear headphones at the gym. They make you look like an idiot.

You can also customize playlists to better tailor them to the type of exercise you are doing. For instance, a running playlist would be very different from a weightlifting playlist. My running playlist is laughably cliche but I've found that it actually helps a lot. It even helps me keep track of my pace if I run the same route every time, and remember where I was the time before when a certain part of a song plays.

Be Smart

It is not the best idea to show up to the gym and make up your own workout unless you are confident that you know what you're doing. Too many people fail because they do the same thing every time and just end up going through the motions. Your body adapts to change; when your workouts stagnate, so will your progress. Simply getting on a cardio machine for half an hour and moving around some weights will not get you the results you seek. You must continually force your body to adapt, and it's easier than you'd think to accomplish that. Find a workout regimen that is compatible with your goals and stick to it.

The only thing this accomplishes is a waste of time.

You should try to push your limits. Leaving your comfort zone is what will get you the fastest results. Try to make a small improvement over what you did last time. Challenge yourself, but don't overdo it. You should never regret a workout once it's over with-- working through pain is not worth it. It is one thing to leave your comfort zone and test your limits; it is another if you feel nauseous, hypoglycemic, or otherwise terrible and you feel the obligation to keep going.

Don't jump headfirst into a program and try too much too soon. Gradually increase the difficulty of your workouts if you are not in the greatest shape. This way you won't burn yourself out and condition yourself to view exercise as a painful and torturous thing. You shouldn't be dead tired a full hour after finishing your workout, either.

If your goal is fat loss, exercise isn't going to do much if your diet still sucks. Track your Calories if possible. Likewise, if your primary goal is to put on muscle, you must eat a caloric surplus, and tracking your food intake is a good idea as well.

Create your own energy if it doesn't come naturally

Often, the main reason people can't keep up a fitness regimen is a simple lack of energy. It seems that a lot of people in very good shape and health have, unsurprisingly, type A go-get-'em personalities. Of course this seems like an unfair advantage to most of us normal people, as we don't have that kind of naturally hyperactive drive and energy, but don't use that as an excuse. There are plenty of people who don't have a seemingly infinite supply of energy but still achieve their goals in spite of that. Just because something won't come as easily to you as it does to others means you shouldn't pursue it, or that it's out of your reach, or even that it's particularly more difficult.

I've already discussed how important it is for you to get enough water, nutrition, and sleep in order for you to function well both mentally and physically, and how stimulants can help dramatically if you have the desire to exercise but simply don't have the energy or drive to do so. Some stimulants can even make you temporarily feel like you have that type A personality, and it really is amazing the difference that they can make. Just remember that you're not limited to caffeine-- the market for pre-workout supplements exists for a reason.

I really like this stuff, if you haven't figured that out yet.

When you actually go to the gym, it is a good idea to not do so on an empty stomach. A modest amount of carbs and protein beforehand can make a huge difference in allowing you to sustain energy throughout your workout by having amino acids and glucose readily available for use by your body.

Warming up is important too. It may seem silly to some people, but doing some moderately easy motion for a while to get oxygenated blood flowing and your brain engaged can help immensely.

Sometimes, when you simply feel apathetic or not into it, you just need to pump yourself up. If you're a naturally calm and low-energy person like I am, it's amazing what it can do. Some suggestions: Listen to loud, intense music. Jump around. Take several quick, deep breaths. Slap yourself. Splash some water on your face. Make loud noises. Shake out your hands. Remind yourself of someone you hate, and think violent thoughts. Again, this can make a world of difference. You don't have to be as intense as this guy, but you get the idea:

Likewise, when doing any kind of exercise, especially lifting weights, you must have the right mindset. Do not view it as having to reluctantly do something-- view it as a challenge that you are willing to face head-on with the intention of winning. Dominate the exercise; don't let it dominate you.

Often, exercise in itself will raise your energy levels through the next day or so, making it easier to do your next workout, resulting a sort of momentum effect. Get the ball rolling and it's not so hard to keep it going. Sometimes the energy boost is very noticeable and it can help put you in a good mood and make you an overall happier and more lively person.

Find a partner (if you can help it)

A major reason as to why personal trainers are so prevalent is that working out alone is tougher than with some company, especially when you're learning the ropes. I had a trainer when I was getting started and to be honest I had no idea what I was doing before then. It helped immensely but eventually I outgrew the need for a trainer, who turned out to be not that great at his job anyway.

Trust me, it's not funny if I need to explain the joke.

Whether it's a trainer or a friend, exercising with someone else can honestly make it a lot more enjoyable and a lot less painful. With a friend, it's even better if you are in similar shape; you can make it a competition and it's amazing what that can accomplish. Even if you're at different levels, simply encouraging and challenging one another can be very helpful.

Let your progress and goals drive you

Of course it helps to visualize what kind of results you want to achieve, but don't make the mistake of focusing on the distance and failing to pay attention what's going on in the short term. Making progress and seeing incremental results is often the key for things to click, and for internal motivation to really kick in. But sometimes it's hard to notice these changes in your daily life.

Recording your progress can be really encouraging when you look back upon what you've accomplished to date. Taking progress pictures and recording your weight every week is a very good habit to make. Week-to-week changes might not be astounding, but on larger timescales you will start to realize just how much you've accomplished, and it can inspire you to go even further.

Setting and subsequently meeting goals can have a very similar effect. If you don't set goals, it's easy to lose sight and focus of what you're doing in the short term. Since success in the short term is necessary for success in the long term, goals along the way are important. Just make sure you write them down so you can keep track. It's much more empowering to see what you aspired to in the past and then victoriously check it off than to surpass a simple notion in your head. Once all those completed goals start to add up, you can look back and say, "hey, I did that!"

These are some good guidelines to follow.

Your goals can be small, like performing a certain number of reps in an exercise, running a distance under a set time, completing a workout you planned, and meeting your caloric goals for the day, or more substantial like hitting a target weight and being able to squat a set weight. You can make as many as you want, however you want. Set goals and surpass them; you'll be amazed at how empowering and motivating that is.


While this is by no means an exhaustive list of things you can do to help make your aspirations into reality, take advantage of them-- you'll be happy you did.