Not the lessons you are expecting.
Three sessions a week (on average), for over thirteen years or over Two-Thousand Twenty-Eight workouts.
Being an avid fitness enthusiast, I started training regularly at 16.
Now I am 29 – time sure flies by.
As a beginner, I made my fair share of stupid mistakes and still do sometimes. But, I have learned quite a few lessons and still do to this day.
Lesson 1 — Beginning is always the hardest
In the beginning, we all start by feeling pumped and motivated, like the start of a new year.
The same happened to me. I was super motivated and started working out 4 days a week at home. I started watching a few YouTubers and researching online for exercises I could do.
This 4-days streak lasted for a few months. Before it started turning into 3 days, then 2, then 1.
When I realised this, I had to go back to the reason I started working out in the first place.
Long story short, I fractured my ankle bone at 15. Rendering me incapable of doing physical activities. After I recovered, I started working out because I never wanted to take my physical state for granted.
So I stuck to my 4 days routine for a few years, until it became a habit.
Lesson 2 — Set realistic goals along the way
Deciding to work out 4 days a week when motivation is high is easy. But sticking to it was made easier by setting smaller goals along the way.
When I started, I could not even do 1 pull-up. So, I made a small goal to learn my first pull-up in three months.
Eventually, I hit my goal. I felt like I achieved something worthwhile which made working out more rewarding and easier to stick to.
So, I built on this by making smaller goals such as being able to jump rope non-stop for 10,000 reps within 3 months, adding 3 kgs of muscle mass within 9 months (as a beginner), and doing 10 consecutive pull-ups within 1 year.
As I achieved these milestones I felt better about myself and learned to make fitness a part of my lifestyle.
Lesson 3 — Trying to Overreach
As I started achieving these smaller but realistic goals, I became overconfident in my ability to do things physically.
By this time I was working out consistently and joined my local gym.
I was confident in basic bodyweight workouts and could do far more than the average person. So, I started thinking I was the cream of the crop and better than your average Joe.
As a result, when I started training with weights I set unrealistic goals such as squatting 100 kgs within 3 months. I started piling up weights quickly on the bar.
Then one day BOOM, my lower back snapped. I could feel the pain shoot up my spine.
After that day I was in constant pain day and night for 6 months straight, especially when I had to sit on a chair or lay down to sleep. I tried going to the gym even with the pain, but I could not bear it, so I had to stop.
I felt like I was back to square one.
Trying to overreach led me to my downfall and halted my progress.
Lesson 4 — Doing too much
Time passed, I recovered and started getting back to working out.
This time I was more determined than ever to get back and become better than before.
Instead of 4 or 5 days a week, I started training 6 days a week.
I thought I had to get back all the lost time and make up for it. So, every workout was over 2 hours long and it was always about doing more.
Even though I saw results, for the amount of time and effort I put in, it was not worth it.
I was working harder, not smarter.
Fitness was taking over my life and I stopped enjoying it as much as before. I wanted to do other things as well, not just workout. So, I had to re-evaluate my plans and find a way to achieve more by doing less.
Lesson 5 — Work smarter, not harder
By this time, I had some ideas about working out and exercising. I had finished university and was working full-time.
Fitness was still a part of my life, but I wanted to spend less time working out and more time doing things like building a business or long-term career prospects.
So, I decided to educate myself better.
I hired an online coach for 1 year, got qualified as a personal trainer and started researching what I could do to see the same results by doing less.
After much trial and error, research and learning to optimise my workout routines. I devised a 3-day workout routine with the same if not better results than a 5–6 day workout.
I learned to stay in shape and be healthy without fitness taking over my life.
Lesson 6 — Learn from better people
Remember I hired an online coach for 1 year?
Learning from people better than you is a quicker way to achieve what you want.
I was by no means a beginner when I hired my coach—paying and hiring a trustworthy online coach who knew what he was doing removed all the guesswork.
I learned from his framework and experience. I found better and more effective ways of doing things. I gained more insight and knowledge that would have taken me longer to see on my own.
This does not apply to just fitness but everything else you want to improve in life.
Invest in yourself, and pay for your idols or role models to teach you. By doing this, you’re helping yourself and them in the process.
Lesson 7 — Be consistent
This may be the most cliched advice ever, but hear me out.
When I say consistent, this does not mean just showing up day after day.
For me, being consistent means consistently trying to improve on the aspect of life that I am focusing on right now.
Being consistent with my fitness progress has led me to a level where I am happy with it. I have built habits that let me keep up with my fitness on autopilot without taking up too much of my mental space.
Currently, I am trying to improve my writing skills and become a better writer and storyteller while sharing my experience and knowledge.
I have been writing consistently and enrolled in a few courses to improve my writing while putting in the practice necessary to build up my skills.
Until it is at a level where I am satisfied, I will keep showing up consistently and try to improve on it. Then, I can build habits to put it on auto-pilot and focus my energy on other areas of my life.
So what are the takeaways?
- Remember, the beginning is always the hardest. Whatever you start, get through the first hurdle, stick to it long enough, and it will eventually turn into an automated habit.
- Set realistic and achievable goals when you start something new. You will feel rewarded and be more inclined to stick to it in the long run.
- Don’t try to overreach or overestimate yourself. It will only halt your progress because we can always keep learning no matter how good we think we are
- Doing too much is never the answer, as it might take over your life and leave you feeling burnt out. You might even end up hating what you love during the process.
- Don’t work harder; work smarter. Most successful people don’t become successful just by grinding day and night. They are successful because they keep learning and acquire the knowledge required to achieve what they want by spending less time on it.
- Learn from others who are better than you (people you admire or your idols). They are where they are because they know what you don’t. If they offer a course, pay for it and enrol in it. You’re not only helping yourself but helping them in the process.
- Consistently learn and try to improve whatever you focus on until you become good enough or have habits that make it automated or take less of your mental energy.
Remember, no matter what we do in life, we can always learn and grow from it.
Always be curious and look out for lessons you can learn from your mistakes or actions. Apply it to other parts of your life when applicable and adopt the attitude of lifelong learning.
