I was walking outside this afternoon on my way to a training session, espresso in hand. On the way, I passed by one of these new gyms claiming that without breaking a sweat, you can get the results of a 90-minute workout done in 4 minutes (do you feel another rant coming?). 4-MINUTES!?! NO SWEAT!?! Inside you’ll find these huge expensive machines that look like a cross between a rowing machine, an elliptical and one of those huge industrial fans (like the ones they use on movie sets to “create” wind). This “revolutionary” machine, as told to me by one of the “trainers” at the new gym, will give me the same workout results as a 50-minute strength session, 30-minute run and 10-minute stretch session.
GIVE ME A FREAKIN’ BREAK ALREADY! First it was that vibrating thing that you stood on that would shake the fat away. Then came the thigh master and the ab curler. Now there’s a place that promises results in 4-minutes? Buyer beware.
I’ll give it to you plain and simple…There is no magic bullet. After 4-minutes of hardly sweating the Workout Fairy isn’t going to suddenly appear and give you a 6-pack. As far as I’m concerned, there are only 2 THINGS THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU GET THE RESULTS YOU DESIRE (and DESERVE)…
1. Consistency – Enough with this “I’ll start on Monday” BS. Get started and keep on going. If you mess-up with your diet by eating a cheeseburger and fries, don’t go home with the “well, I screwed up, so I might as well have a pizza for dinner” attitude. If your car had a flat tire, would you slash the other 3? Get back up on the wagon and keep going.
2. Hard Work – Bring it. Every workout, every obstacle, every challenge. Give it your all and only good things will come. You’ll get out of it what you put into it.
Sorry guys, it’s not glamourous or sexy. In fact, there’s nothing glamourous or sexy about the process of getting there. The glamourous and sexy of it all is when you strip down on the beach and start cleaning between the striations on your abs with a Q-tip. Very few ever really got anywhere without the 2 rules above.
Train, Live and Work Hard (and with Purpose).
-CL
The Busiest Dad in the World
P.S. Want a REAL workout in 4-minutes? It’s called a TABATA…Check back next week and I’ll show you what that is.
