Fit for Life: Re: Your Mistakes

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Matt Espeut, Health & Lifestyle Contributor

 

View Larger +

PHOTO: File

This past Tuesday, I noticed a large number of people walking my neighborhood as I drove to the field at Providence College for a scheduled outdoor workout (Tuesdays / Fridays & Sundays are my mandatory outside days, regardless of the weather).

 

When I arrived at the field, the place was packed with people. There were tons of PC kids walking & running the track, socializing and enjoying the 60-degree sunny weather. There were also a bunch of neighborhood kids playing pickup football and all having a good time.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

 

I looked over at my training partner, aka Coach Mo and asked laughingly, “Where were all these people when we were doing sprints & burpees in the snow?” He laughed, as he remembered some of the torturous workouts we had done in the freezing, raining, and snowy weather, then said “They were all indoors where it was warm, unlike us.”

 

On the way home, while watching all my neighbors walking around like they were on a mission, I started thinking to myself, “What do they think they are accomplishing by just walking around the neighborhood?” Do they think that hibernating all winter, gaining weight, then going out for a walk on sunny days will solve their problems? Do they not know the mistakes they made and how to truly solve them? Or are they unaware they made a mistake altogether?

 

Well, hopefully, some of my neighbors will read this, because I am about to explain the seasonal fitness mistakes people make and how to solve them, so when it comes time to get “back into shape,” there is less of a struggle.

 

Mistake #1. You get complacent and lazy in the winter, and you do nothing. You fall into a slump due to the weather and darkness that falls upon us at 4:30, and you opt to go home and sit in front of the tv after work.

 

You lose motivation and stop all activities that will net you any positive result. You use cold weather, low energy, light deprivation and seasonal depression as an excuse, and refuse to exert any energy into improving your fitness levels during this time. (Fun fact: Exercise will actually help this situation on many levels)

 

Solution for this mistake is to find something indoors that will help you build muscle and burn calories. I get it. Not everyone opts to make themselves suffer like I do and brave the elements to workout outdoors in inclement weather, however you don’t need to do that to maintain an adequate fitness level.

 

That’s hardwired in my DNA, and I don’t expect everyone to have the same mindset, however it is your duty, obligation, and responsibility to take care of your own health and fitness, and not let yourself gain unnecessary weight in the winter months, regardless of the external conditions.

 

You don’t need expensive exercise equipment or a lot of space to pull this off, either. Some dumbbells, bands, or other inexpensive equipment will do the trick, and with 30 minutes per day, you could maintain your ideal weight and not need to “get back into shape” or ride this rollercoaster every year, as you will already be feeling good about yourself.

 

A better option is to join a gym or a coaching program like Providence Fit Body Boot Camp and get in even better shape, and start the season off way ahead of the game. This is better because you will surround yourself with like-minded people striving for the same result, which increases your motivation and commitment.

 

Mistake #2. If you belong to a gym already, you quit the gym when it starts getting nice outside, and rely only on outdoor activities to maintain your physical conditioning. I write about this every year, because it’s important to understand that doing this is also a huge mistake, and will not net you the results you are after.

 

I 100% encourage EVERYONE to go outdoors as much as possible and enjoy every fun activity you can fit into your schedule, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF DOING RESISTANCE TRAINING OR HITTING THE GYM. You need to do the foundational strength training year-round in order to maintain muscle mass and keep your metabolism elevated.

 

This is something I see and experience every year.

 

There are always a handful of members that either try to put their membership on hold, or cancel altogether. When I ask why, they say, “I am going to start walking, golfing, riding my bike, etc.”

 

I always say, unless you are riding competitively, hiking with a rucksack or weighted vest, or swimming laps for time, you are going to regress and lose what you gained in the “off-season.”

 

Building muscle and losing fat is what defines total fitness, and you will never achieve this without some necessary components to your regimen.

 

Yes, walking does burn calories and fat, however, without resistance training mixed into the equation, you run the risk of depleting or losing muscle mass. When you lose muscle mass, your body composition changes, and not for the better.

 

What tends to happen is your muscle mass decreases, and your body fat % will increase, even when the scale tells you lost weight.

 

When you lose muscle mass, your metabolism slows down, and when your metabolism slows down, you gain weight back even quicker than you did the previous year, hence the reason it gets more and more difficult to lose unwanted body fat every year.

 

Bottom line. In order to become fit, and stay fit, you need to incorporate the 4 pillars or 4 foundational principles of fitness, and do these things consistently, or you will find yourself on a rollercoaster ride for the rest of your life.

 

They are simple, yet not easy.

1. Drink water and stay hydrated.

2. Get to bed and sleep 8 hours nightly.

3. Hit the gym and do resistance and cardiovascular exercise.

4. Eat clean non processed food.

 

That’s it!! Just incorporate these into your life, and success will follow.

 

Fitness and health aren’t seasonal; they are a lifestyle, and until you adopt these things as part of your life, you are setting yourself for a lifetime of struggle, and as a coach, it pains me to see this.

 

If you need any guidance in this area, feel free to email me back, and my team and I will set you on the path to success.

 

Coach Matt

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook