Fitness Community Board

By all accounts these are people who are ‘broken’. They suffer from emotional issues which manifest in an unhealthy lifestyle and they then suffer from self-induced, weight-related health problems which are usually life-threatening. What is amazing in all this is not that ordinary human beings can get into such self-destructive cycles of behaviour but that people who are so far ‘gone’ in terms of health and fitness can then be turned around so dramatically and produce such surprising results.

Clearly there is an underlying element of internal logic at work here which, in the case of the show’s contestants, has gone awry and which needs to either be turned on again or fine-tuned in order to turn what on the face of it appear cases beyond redemption into exemplary products of healthy living.

It stands to reason that if we analyse this element in detail and break it down into its component parts we will end up with a formula we can apply to our own training which will help us maintain our form and focus and get even fitter.

The component parts themselves are relatively easy to discover:

1. Focus: Without being focused none of your workouts, or indeed your healthy lifestyle is going to last more than a week or two. This is why so many who have getting fitter and healthier as a New Year’s resolution give it up so easily before January’s out. Focus means that when you work out you do more than just go through the motions and the work out really delivers for you. None of the show’s contestants who fail to focus last very long.

2. Discipline: Let’s face it. Working out regularly requires dedication and dedication requires discipline. The two are connected and, combined, they deliver on the health and fitness front in spades. Discipline is what allows you to face the burn when lifting weights and get past the pain barrier when you are running. It allows you to edit the discomfort away and enjoy the moment for what it is. Without it no fitness plan has ever worked.

3. Consistency: There’s nothing worse than a short-burst resolution. We might arguably say that to do that is even worse, in terms of what it does to your body, than not starting a fitness regime at all. Consistenty is important because the benefits of training are truly cumulative. It doesn’t matter if you train like a maniac three times a day or if you simply put in some quality time a couple of times a week, as long as you do not falter, cumulatively, it will deliver for you.

4. Hard Work: Now here comes the hard part. Working within your comfort zone is ok but as we have seen time and again on America’s Biggest Loser in order to get results you need to feel the burn. This means that at least once a week you need to push yourself to the very limit. It really doesn’t matter if you collapse in a heap or look a wreck as long as you up the burn. This not only helps push you into a higher orbit as far as fitness is concerned it also helps take your performance to a brand new level.

5. Perseverance: Give up and the show is over. There will be times when the going will be tough and times when it will be easier. The thing is that you must never give up. Period, If you want health and fitness it has to be more than just a fad. Fitness really is for life.

6. Support: If you want to make being healthy and fit part of your lifestyle you’re going to need a little bit of support. In the show of ‘America’s Biggest Loser’ this is provided by personal trainers and expert dieticians. You are not going to get that. So find people who are like you. Ones who want to train hard and stay fit and healthy and make them your circle of friends. Together you have the best chance possible of motivating each other to do better and better.

And that’s it!