Why People Succeed and Why They Fail…

What separates the happy and successful trainee from the frustrated and disappointed trainee?

CONSISTENCY.

The biggest pet peeve in the game I have outside of the Phit Vixens is a lack of consistency.

People who are successful in life are very consistent with what they do.  People who are unsuccessful in life are very inconsistent with what they do.  In this life where do you really expect to go when you are consistently inconsistent?

Let’s look at this scenario.

Iris Inconsistent wants to develop her body.  She is currently out of shape but she has admirable dreams of building a curvy athletic frame that would be a lite version of a professional sprinter or fitness model.

Iris has the genetics to do this.  She currently has curves but they are hidden under ample body fat.

She recently signed up at a fitness studio with the area’s most knowledgeable and recommended trainer, Tom Trainer.  All of her bases are covered as all she needs to do is show up to her sessions and eat correctly.

Iris starts off like Smarty Jones coming out of the gates at the Kentucky Derby.  For the first 3 months, she never misses a training session.  Everything is going well and it is looking like she will be able to reach her goals by the end of the year.

However, Iris has a bad habit of being inconsistent hence her last name.  After the first 3 months, Iris begins to regularly call out of training sessions more often.

She was consistently training 2-3 days per week for a total of 8-12 times per month the first 3 months.  That frequency has dipped to 4-6 inconsistent sessions throughout the month.

The frequent call outs go on over a period of 3 months.  Tom questions her on it and she has a million excuses as for why she cannot make it each time.

Tom constantly tells her that a lack of consistency will lead to no results.  She assures Tom that she will do better in future and Tom gives her the benefit of the doubt for now.

But you should know that talk is cheap.  The the same pattern continues.

One week she may train once.  The next week she may try to make it up and train 3 times.  The following week she calls out of every session and she doesn’t train at all.  And in the final

The following week she calls out of every session and she doesn’t train at all.  And in the final week, she is scheduled to go on a vacation so she will not train with Tom.

And on top of this when she gets home after work she goes on a one-way flight directly to Carb City.

For her vacation, Tom has sent her a training program that requires 20-30 minutes a day for 2 to 3 days while she is away.  However, Ms. Inconsistent does not perform the program.  Not even once.

What is worse is that she actually read the email Tom sent her!

When Iris returns from vacation she looks at some of the pictures that she took while there.  In those pictures, she notices that her physique has regressed since Tom took her progress pictures at the beginning of month 4.  Her gut is starting to develop again, she has lost muscle tone, and she feels weak.

Iris is very displeased with these pictures and drives to the studio for her session.  She storms in and confronts Tom about how she is making no progress.  She wants answers and she has squarely put the blame on Tom.

But Tom is very smart.  Tom has recorded every session date that they were supposed to train.  He has a calendar and he shows Iris every single day that she called out.  What is even crazier is that Tom wrote down every reason she gave him next to the call out dates.

Not only has he presented Iris with proof with her inconsistent habits, he also has presented her with the exact reasons that she gave him for not showing up!

At this point, Iris is speechless and cannot believe that she has been so inconsistent.  She asks Tom why he did not force her to come in.  Tom tells Iris that he a coach, a motivator, and friend.  He tells Iris that he is not a tyrant.

He even presents her with emails, voicemails, and text messages of him telling her the importance of not missing days and how she should come in to train.  After that, he shows her the negative responses she gave when he asked her to train.  She is dumbfounded and humbled.

As she realizes that inconsistent habits have cost her time, money, and her physique, Iris wants to know what she can do to regain her form and get back into shape.  Tom only says 2 words to her…”BE CONSISTENT.”

If you are consistently inconsistent in your life whether it is with your career, your family, or in this case your health and fitness, then you should not expect any long lasting or positive changes.  By being inconsistent your are showing a lack of respect for the people involved and even worse a lack of respect for yourself.

People who succeed stay consistent through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.  Yes, you may get knocked off your high horse at times but guess what?  You must get up and get back on the horse to continue the race.

There is no one who is successful who got to where they wanted to be by being inconsistent.

Muhammad Ali had to consistently perfect his craft to become great.  Michael Jordan did too.  Bill Gates had to consistently work on Windows to make it a success as did Steve Jobs with Apple.

When I first began my career as a personal trainer in 2008 I was inconsistent.  I was unable to attain clients.  Why?

I was not consistently at the gym.

Some weeks I would be there 4 days.  Some weeks I would be there 1 day.

How in the blue hell could I expect to build a business when I was not consistently engaging with potential clients?

It wasn’t until I failed for 6 straight months did I realize I would need to be around the gym more in order to build my clientele.

I started to consistently be at the gym for 5 or 6 days a week every week.  There were days when I was there and the place was a ghost town.  But I endured it and eventually guess what started to happen?  I got more clients!

This is not rocket science folks!  It is just common sense.

Think about this for one minute.  If you were more consistent with your training and eating habits can you imagine how your body would look and perform right now?

Would you still be complaining about your gut?

Would you still be complaining about how you cannot get off the bench in your chosen sport?

Would you still be complaining about how you are not where you want to be?

Why shoot yourself in the foot by being like Iris?

At the minimum, you should be training 2 days per week.  That equates to 8 consistent sessions a month.

1 session every 10 days or 6 inconsistent monthly sessions will get you on the first train going to Nowhere, USA.

While you are training focus on getting stronger in the basic moves and focus on performing some tough conditioning like sprints at the end of that session.  At home make sure you are eating correctly and doing it consistently.

Over a year you will see great changes.  My main man Joe Keys, who walked in the gym with big time back issues, trained 2 days per week with me using the Fit Coast Offense for 1 year.

He made amazing progress for a man who could barely bend over on day 1.  You can check out what he achieved by clicking the links HERE and HERE.

At the end of the day the 3 most important things that you can do to stay consistent with your training are:

1)  Train on the same days every week

When you get in a pattern of training on the same days each week, you will develop a positive habit of consistency.
Your training days will be embedded in you and you will be much less likely to skip them.  You go to work on certain days at certain times right?  Prioritize your training and apply the same principle to exercise.

2)  Train at the same times

To continue on step 1, you should get into a habit of training at the same times on the chosen days too.  Again by developing a pattern of training at the same time you will be more likely to stay with it.

I’ve been training at the same times on certain days for years.  Yes, life can throw an unexpected event at you which may force you to reschedule at times but the vast majority of the time you should train at the same times.  Block that time off on your calendar for YOU.

3)  Train with a plan of action

Walking into the gym and not knowing what to do is like going out to sea with no map.  You are going to be all over the place and you will get lost on your journey to oblivion.  Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for the majority of trainees and even some of those who consider themselves advanced.

Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for the majority of trainees and even some of those who consider themselves advanced.

A very basic training program of one-day lower body, one-day pushing muscles (chest/shoulders/triceps), and one-day pulling muscles (back/biceps) is enough to get you going in the right direction.  Add 1-2 days of post-lifting conditioning and you are golden.

Remember the name of the game is longevity.  No one wants to be known as a one-hit wonder.

Stay consistent and reap the benefits.

I’ll holla at you next time,

The People’s Trainer

Fitman