"The Routine"

Rou-tine

[roo-teen]

-noun

a customary or regular course of procedure.

Now that I have used dictionary.com to define this word, lets dive into the concept and how you can apply it towards a healthy lifestyle. 

Whether you workout religiously, sporadically or are inactive and don't know where to start, hear is a simple way to motivate and hold yourself accountable. 

Now programming can be simple or complex. It's what you make of it. Because my audience varies, let me set a general fitness guideline I would love people to adhere by based on your activity level: 

Don't work out - Shoot for 2x a week at 30 minutes

Sporadically workout - 2-3x a week for 30 minutes

Good and honest commitment levels - 3x a week for 60 minutes

Athletes/Goal Oriented/Gym Freaks - Email me and we can talk about what you are trying to accomplish and program accordingly.

Regardless of your age, height, weight, etc., the world would be a happier, healthier, and more productive place if everyone committed to 3 hours of training a week. That is 3 out of the 168 hours. I think everyone can manage that. 

The problem is that in today's busy, fast-paced world, people don't make the effort to find the time, nor do they monitor their health. Here is a SIMPLE way to manage yours. 

Print a free calendar of the internet and tape it somewhere where you will see it every day. Bathroom mirror, bedroom door, office desk, your dog's back, I don't care. 

2 things will go on this calendar: Number of times you workout and if you ate well that day or not. 

Here is an example: 

For everyday you get at least a 30 minute workout, mark an X with a fat, black permanent marker.  The same one you would use to draw all over your friends who passed out drunk in college.

In the corner of each day simply put a + or a - on whether you felt you ate well or ate like that drunk friend in college (chips, cookies, McDonalds, etc).

This is simple and a 4-year old could to it. More importantly, it gives you a visual glimpse as to what you are doing with your life as it relates to wellness.

Say this calendar above belongs to me. In week one, I got 3 workouts in and at well 5/7 days. Pretty good week. However, the following week I only got one workout in and ate well 3/7 days. No bueno. With that visual reminder, this was enough to motivate me to get in 4 workouts and eat well everyday in this week.

No trainers, coaches or dr. needed. Just a big fat X or lack of to remind me, "hey, I need to do something."

Now even if your calendar only has a few X's (like my bowling scorecard), at least commit to those +'s. What gets you a +? Here is a general nutritional rule: 80/20

80/20 simply means eat well 80% of the day. What's well? Common sense people. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, dairy, good fats (olive oil etc). All, which exist in the same egyptian structure the USDA published in 1941 compliments of President Roosevelt. AKA the food pyramid.

If the average American (even with no nutritional knowledge) used the current food guide pyramid %80 of the time and worked out 2-3x a week, we would be relatively healthy, happy and productive. Plain and simple.

Hey, I love the simple pleasures in life like pie, ice cream sundaes and beer. However, I can limit these to %20 and so can you. Plus, if you cook it right, healthy food taste awesome and is nutrient dense and calorically slim.

I am almost guaranteeing that you will see changes if you can give this a shot. Just keep in mind, you can have more X's on that calendar than the Montreal red light district, but if you don't have any +'s you will likely not have many results. Nutrition 1st.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.

ps- I picked the name of my company with purpose. Be Elite Performance Training. Everyone can "Be Elite." That has nothing to do with being an athlete, rather it means everyday you can feel accomplished and everyday you can have the passion, drive and physical abilities to live life to the fullest.


With that said...


Be Elite my friends