You fail before you start...here's why.
Morning everybody, let's get into today's voice note and it's an important one because I think it's important to understand what I'm about to say so we don't start from failure. We start them from failure a lot of the times. And the reason I say this one post yesterday, Charlotte, Kate hopefully listening. It's a good example of how do people find work, how to find time to work out when life is pretty much back to normal working nine to five kids all our stuff, tiredness. These are all very valid concerns.
Speaker 1:The first thing to notice here is that if you read more of the comments, Charlotte's trying to work out every single day. That's where Charlotte, if you're listening, you're setting yourself up to fail before you even start. Because why is it that you think you need to work out every day? Now this might be based on a false assumptions. Leading down to the wrong route.
Speaker 1:So if we look at what's needed for success in health and fitness, it's very, very clear. David has shown it in the seminar. If you only did cardio that reduces your risk of mortality. If you only did strength workouts that reduces even more than just cardio but if you do both, it reduces by more than the other two. So what we need to do is okay, so how much cardio and how much weight training do we need to do a week to get the benefits and how much walking do we need and the studies are clear, okay.
Speaker 1:The research is very clear on this. If you can just do two to three strength workouts a week, you will get majority of the benefits. There is no need to do more than that. If we want to do more than that, but our life is telling us hold on a second, you're getting really tired, you're trying to fit everything in, the mental stress is even more tiring, right? Because that's true, You can actually tire yourself up by thinking things.
Speaker 1:You're in conflict in your mind all the time. So Charlotte, you're waking up every day in conflict. When can I work out today? I can't. But when can I do it?
Speaker 1:Can I fit in now? Can I do this? This conflict in the mind is causing all sorts of stress. And this stress is the same. The stress we think about psychologically is the same stress as if it was a physical stressor like someone coming out to attack you that stress response from a physical thing is the same stress response we can make up in our own mind.
Speaker 1:And it's where we're putting our bodies into overdrive all the time stress, stress, stress, and the more stress we have, it wears down on us. It causes things to go wrong. So we need to understand the importance of not putting ourselves in that daily position of waking up and going, when am gonna work out stressing out? So that's the first thing. And the way we can reduce our stress is to actually plan the week ahead and go, I need to find three time slots this week to work out.
Speaker 1:And the studies have shown if you write down the time and day you're going to do a workout, you increase your chances of doing it by 3x. So for Charlotte for example, instead of thinking I have to work out three of my workouts in Monday to Friday, I'm trying to fit it in through work and all that stuff. Why don't I do two of the workouts on the weekend, I can wake up earlier and have two workouts in the morning of each week of Saturday and Sunday. And then I can try and fit that workout in on Tuesday or Wednesday, whatever work, which days you work from home, which day is less stress, is there a day in work where there's no meetings, like what is it, which day can you pick. And this way we're not set to know ourselves up to fail from the start with these crazy expectations of working out every single day, being perfect with our macros every single day, know, me prepping all the time.
Speaker 1:All this stuff is not possible. So it's important to understand where we're starting from that we're not tripping ourselves up as the race gets started. So Charlotte I hope that's helpful and we're all different okay, we're all different. If we look at the data like I said about the training three times a week and doing a bit of cardio, really get a lot of the benefits from walking. You don't exactly have to do running or cardiovascular like we think about it.
Speaker 1:We think cardio is the running, is the rowing, is the stair master. But cardio can be brisk walking. That walking at a brisk pace. Burns decent amount of calories, you're pushing off the floor, you're walking up and down different gradients. And the research shows once we hit between 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day the benefits start leveling off.
Speaker 1:So if we can start with 6,000 build up to seven and then eight every day, most of you hitting 10 which is perfect and it's not 10 because like David said a company came up with a pedometer to do it, the 10,000 is kind of what it really does level off but the six to eight is kind of what it starts leveling off. So if we know this information, hit six to 8,000 steps a day, three strength workouts a week, make sure averages of all macros try and come as close as possible which means some days can be higher and lower. This puts the pressure off every single day being perfect. We can use the macro planner. Stressful day, need more food, up it goes.
Speaker 1:Going out the weekend, up, back goes, down the other day it goes. You're being flexible with your lifestyle. If we hit those three things, the steps, the strength and the macros, that's where our results come from. Nearly every part of results come from that. Why is it that we need more?
Speaker 1:Why is it that we think we need to do more than that? We don't need to do more than The data is clear. Us trying to do more is that a form of us trying to procrastinate even starting at an easier, more realistic timeframe? You know what I mean? Like what are we wanting more for?
Speaker 1:You need to question this like, know, it really is a false assumption it's gonna trip you up. And I think that like when we look at people being different, it's actually a really interesting Twitter thread I was involved in yesterday. So a guy from Wales, he owns a big wine company in Wales tweeted out saying, how can there possibly be 1,400,000 people claiming unemployment benefits in The UK when we have a major shortage of people in just about every sector of business. I don't get it, I really don't. I was like, Buddy, let me tell you why.
Speaker 1:These jobs, there's all the jobs you need skills, need training, you can't just walk into them, motor drivers, nurses, tech, teachers, just walk into that job, you need to be trained up. And he goes, surely 1,400,000 people and nobody can pick up crops. That's what he said, nobody can pick up crops. I said, Daniel, you're cherry picking now because if the other jobs were fulfilled with people who got those skills, so by enabling people to go to university without costing three times as much as when I went, so you know you're alienating a lot of people, making it easier for people to go up and go to uni and get trained, you know, and if we didn't scare everyone away from Brexit, there wouldn't be the shortage. It's not because the people don't want to do the work, it's because the system has happened.
Speaker 1:The system is that these people who were trained have left and we haven't helped the people that did wanna go through training from areas that are really under, underfunded and, you know, communities that need help. We haven't helped them rise as well. And he keeps saying and like, well, I was a when this is what he says. And this is a debate a lot of people have in fitness. They say, I am indeed a business owner, and I started with nothing, which is why maybe I don't get it.
Speaker 1:I was told at a young age I would achieve nothing, which is why I do what I do, but profoundly believe that is a job for everyone, then maybe I am naive. Yes. You are naive, Danielle. Very naive. This is the argument people have in health and fitness.
Speaker 1:Because I can fit in five workouts a week because I've done it, that means you should be able to do it. Because I've done this, that means you should be able to do it. That's fucking bullshit. Also, just because he's been able to be one of those lucky few that managed to rise from the class he was at, the working class up to maybe he's not middle class now, started a successful business and he succeeded, most entrepreneurs fail. So they started against him.
Speaker 1:He's trying to tell people like, was a business owner, I told nothing, but I'm now successful. Well, actually, Daniel, if you told everybody to go start a business, ninety nine percent of people fail and they're even more shit. So is the advice just because someone has succeeded in something doesn't mean it's the advice for you. And I keep going on and saying look it doesn't matter to me, people have different backgrounds, people have got different socio economic issues, some areas don't have any good transport links to jobs. Sometimes people have to give up living in their community, leave their family, leave the security there to work an hour away for a job that's only given them zero contracts or a job that gives them no security whatsoever.
Speaker 1:So we're asking people to sacrifice a lot just because one person's managed to do it. This is the problem and this is where we get suckered in in the fitness industry. Is that even a word in the industry? Basically, there's people on social media shredded with abs, yeah? Successful business owners on Instagram.
Speaker 1:I got a cigar, I'm working from laptop from Dubai, la la la, successful and you think, wow, amazing. And they're telling you how they've achieved it, which isn't the true story guys. So don't take everything at service level. And then you're then expected to replicate what they've done. And then when you don't you feel like you're a failure.
Speaker 1:And this is where memetic theory comes in as well. Your desires become their desires and it's not how we should work. So for all of you who are looking at other people in the group, the training, the nutrition, the people's lifestyle, take into consideration all the different backgrounds of people that have started a fitness journey. There is no one size fit all when it comes to how we should structure sustainable life. There are core values we need to follow of course.
Speaker 1:There are the strength workers if possible. The macros, if we were to rank them, macros number one. You have to eat anyway so it's the easiest way to get in. Track your macros a few extra minutes a day. Then we've the steps.
Speaker 1:We have to do a bit of movement guys. We have to for the world mental health, let's get that done. If you can fit in strength work is done. Cool. Those are the three criteria criterias we gotta hit.
Speaker 1:You don't have to eat chicken and broccoli, You don't have to eat six meals a day. You don't have to do HIIT high intensity interval training every day, you don't have to do this, you don't have to be running a business and training to be this and now and do everything at the same time and feeling like you're always behind. Right, just look, we need to stop looking elsewhere and really look at ourselves and our own lives and think, how can I do the best with the position I'm in? It doesn't matter what other people have done with their lives, I'm gonna stick to the core principles. If I can stick to the core principles, the three guiding stars of the strength and walking and the macros, I try and fit as many of that into my lifestyle.
Speaker 1:That's enough for me. I'll try my best to do that. My attitude towards that is what matters. Not so much, oh well other people have been able to do this with ease and they're way more successful. How am I not there?
Speaker 1:That's what's gonna cause you to just waste your time comparing. It's gonna cause you to have the desires they've got which you don't even want because that's what memetic desire is. You go to a bar, like I said, I don't want to drink, I'll have them heat up please, I'll have one as well. We start thinking, we start taking desires of other people and they end up, they take us to ruin. They do take us to ruin, really do.
Speaker 1:So we really need to drink, the book we're reading now on book club, the turtle is Untamed Glendoyle. One of the main concepts of the book is the author's able to finally stop letting society drag her where she thinks she needs to go and for her to fall into herself for decision making. So she calls it God or your instinct or your gut feeling. What she's trying to say is sometimes we just need to take a step back and go inside and think about what our life is and our desires and what we want to get out of life. And is this my desire or is this someone else's desire?
Speaker 1:What's made me happy in the past? What do I need to do? Health is wealth. We need to focus on health anyway and think. Al Swashnager's got a beautiful quote in this.
Speaker 1:He says, Trust yourself. Don't even listen to your mother, your father, your cousins, the person who runs the business you work for. Trust yourself. Really think about what you want to get out of this process and not what other people think you should be doing. I hope I've driven the point home in this voice note.
Speaker 1:I think don't trip yourself up before you start by doing unrealistic games. That's one of the most important things you can do. Don't follow other people's desires. Don't think because someone else has done that you have to be able to achieve it. So much goes into our lives and how we all end up.
Speaker 1:Different things happen all the time. We can't just look at someone and replicate. We can try and replicate and get them, it can ruin us. But don't fall into the trap of people on Instagram thinking I've been able to do where you can because that's gonna make you feel pressured and then you're gonna be under the cosh and it's not good. And remember, controlling stress is one of the most important things you can do as a really brief overview of stress.
Speaker 1:Acute stress which is short term stress happens because someone's come out to attack and you run away and you get away, that stress is a great response. The energy goes to your muscles, your adrenaline goes up, you can run faster, your muscles are activated, your digestion kind of stops because you don't need to eat obviously in a stressed response you need to survive. You get ready for war basically. It's a good response for danger. But when we turn on that response throughout the day 10 or 15 times a day what happens is the reverse.
Speaker 1:We actually get hungrier than we should be. Hunger goes up, our cravings for food, sugary food stuff goes up. Complications happen because the stress hormone in the bloodstream elevates, your immune system actually starts going down. So your immune system goes up on acute stress but after chronic stress or all the time your immune system goes down. You're gonna get weak, you're gonna get ill faster or you're gonna get ill easier, sorry.
Speaker 1:So we must control the stress response because it's like burning through tires too fast. I think that comes from how we perceive what we should be doing and perceive the world essentially. If we can perceive things in a different way maybe slightly like what I've explained in this voice note, maybe we don't have to be so stressed about the things we all think we should be doing and we can just focus on ourselves, do our best every day, have good attitude towards our actions and we're gonna be chuffed a bit, are we? Many happy people. Guys, enough of me chatting in New Year.
Speaker 1:I wish you the best of days and I'll see you for a leg workout later if you're keen. If not, do it when it fits your timeframe guys, it's on demand, what can I say?
