The Essential Components of Getting Results

When it comes to getting results most of us focus on two things: exercise and nutrition. And while we’re on the right track, we’re missing a few key factors that play a big role in getting results.

#1: Exercise

It’s no surprise that your training and exercise routine plays a big role in getting results. A single workout can boost your mood, your energy level and your brain function. Regular exercise and great training programs can absolutely change your body composition and improve health markers. Studies have even shown that the right amount of exercise can add years to your life!

There are multiple avenues to every fitness goal. HIIT works. Strength training works. Running works. The key? Find what you like and stick to it.

#2: Nutrition

What and how much you eat plays a big role in your health and fitness. At the very least, choosing minimally processed, nutrient rich foods most of the time can significantly improve your results…whether your goal is to lose fat, put on muscle or simply improve overall health.

A couple of key focuses when it comes to fitness and results:

• Water. Stay hydrated babe. Your body is made up primarily (by the numbers), of H2O. A small percentage dip in body water levels can cause fatigue, dizziness, and loss of focus. Not cool if you’re trying to bang out a killah workout. Plus, what we often mistake as hunger pangs is actually dehydration.
  
• Protein. A key nutrient when it comes to building muscle…and most of us don’t eat enough. Try to include 3-4 ounces of protein at 3-4 meals a day.
  
• Carbs. Your body runs on carbs – but it prefers the kind that come with vitamins, minerals and fiber.
  
• Veggies! Buy em. Eat em. Add em to everything you eat.

#3: Recovery and Sleep

Did you know that you don’t actually build muscle when you workout?

Strength training actually causes micro-tears in your muscles. It’s only after your workout, with the right nutrition and proper recovery strategy, that your body puts in work to re-build, grow and get stronger.

Recovery techniques come in all shapes and sizes but starting here will get you going in the right direction:

• Always cool down post workout. Spend 5-10 minutes doing very light cardio and stretching/foam rolling after you workout. This gives your body time to return to your resting normal body temperature and heart rate back to normal. Furthermore, it keeps your breathing rate elevated just enough so that you are moving oxygen to your depleted muscles at a faster rate than normal which helps to boost recovery.
  
• Follow up a strenuous workout with a combination of protein and simple carbohydrates. Why simple carbs? Because you’ve just depleted your body’s stores of glycogen and simple carbs are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream to replenish those stores…which leaves the protein available to get to work building muscle. Shakes are popular post-workout meals because they are portable and easily digested.
  
• SLEEP. So often put on the back burner, sleep plays a critical role in how well you recover. “Sleep is the greatest legal performance enhancing drug that most people are probably neglecting” -Dr. Matthew Walker
  (Joe Rogan did a podcast interview with Neuroscientist and sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker and it’s ABSOLUTELY worth the listen).

#4: Mindset

It doesn’t matter what your goal is, there are hundreds of paths that can get you there. There is one thing that matters independent of which path you choose: adherence.

What you can commit to doing consistently is far more important than whether you are training with kettlebells, or HIIT, or a heart rate monitor.

If you walk into a new workout program with the mindset “I CAN DO THIS”…you’ve struck a nerve and in all likelihood, YOU CAN.

#5: Stress

We all face stress from time to time. Quite frankly that’s not a bad thing. But if infrequent stress pops up in life more frequently or becomes chronic stress, it can affect your health and make getting results harder.

Stress triggers your body to produce the “fight or flight” hormone, adrenaline. Waaaaay back in the day when your ancestors faced stressors like running from wild animals, that was a life-saving body mechanism. Today, when your stressors are more likely to be from your job, school, finances or relationship, you don’t need quite the same reaction (your body doesn’t know that).

Adrenaline in turn triggers the production of cortisol…the huger hormone. Which, my friends, is why you often crave comfort food when stressed.

Stress can often feels like overwhelm. Consider the last time you felt overwhelmed. Did you feel like cooking a healthy meal? Did you feel like sticking to a workout program? Those things were probably the last things on your mind.

#6: Knowledge

Were you ever asked to debate something or present a topic that you really weren’t to familiar with? Sucked, right?

But what about when you get into a heated conversation with someone about something you love and know a lot about? You could go on and on forever, right? Defending your take, extrapolating on every little detail and getting all excited about it.

When it comes to getting results in the fitness and health world, knowledge is power. Knowledge is motivation. Learning WHY building muscle is one of the best ways to lose unwanted pounds and see results is EXCITING. I can see my clients’ eyes light up when we talk about it. That kind of knowledge can keep you on track even as your will-power slips.