Something that seems to be everywhere in fitness these days, is 'That one thing your missing'. These things can be exotic foods, supplements, training gear or training methods. Today Rugbydump Strength Coach TJ Jankowski discusses why these weird tricks might actually be holding you back from great results, and what to do about it.
The search to find a shortcut seems more prevalent these days than ever before.
The most popular fitness YouTube channel is called “Six Pack Shortcuts”, the front page of every monthly fitness magazine shows you the “one trick to gaining muscle” or the “one food you’re not eating that will get you shredded”.
This quick-fix-ation (see what I did there) isn’t limited to fitness either - nearly every time I watch a video online (ahem) I’m greeted with a pop-up promising me one trick that will either cure my baldness (which I don’t have), get me laid, or earn me millions of dollars – I currently cannot confirm if the trick is the same for all three.
I imagine that this is all a result of our lives being made exponentially faster/easier (you be the judge of which) in the last couple of decades that has made us spoilt. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to arrange a party you’d have to make dozens of phone calls to make arrangements, check schedules and organize.
Compare this to today where you can set up an event on Facebook, offend a few people who aren’t invited, have an awkward conversation with them, make the event private and change the date to have a new party all in under a minute!
20 years ago if you really wanted to get some great results from training you had to train your ass off, you’d have to structure yourself a smart training plan ACCORDING TO YOUR GOALS that didn’t neglect certain areas you’d need and you’d have to stick with it.
Not just few a weeks, not even for a few months, you’d have had to make it a habit, a lifestyle, something that you’d have just done day-in day-out.
Advance 20 years to today, where if you really want to get some great results from training you have to train your ass off, structure yourself a smart training plan… you know the rest.
Now, some people will argue nothing ventured, nothing gained, and to that I would say that the more you buy into “one weird trick” or the one supplement that you need, the more your focus is taken away from the things that ARE effective.
The most effective strategies to improve your training are always going to be the most simple, for example:
Want to lose weight? Eat less
Want to gain muscle in a certain area? Train that area more.
Want to get faster? Sprint more
All of these strategies are going to yield great results, but nobody could possibly argue that they are “weird” or “easy”.
I often see the phrase “Trainers Hate Him” when referring to a fitness guy who has found an easy method to get amazing results. Let me tell you, if there was a simple trick to get results, trainers would be jumping for joy! AND it would be common knowledge in an instant, not on some shady commercial.
Now, don’t get me wrong - technology has certainly helped athlete’s training become more effective. For example -
We have smarter ways of getting in food with supplements, but they won’t replace eating a quality diet.
We have ways of tracking your training so that you don’t burn yourself out just doing endless cardio (something I’m going to talk about next week), but this doesn’t make it any easier.
We have more and more science that confirms which strategies are the most effective for getting results, none of which show any “tricks”, “secrets” or are even remotely easy.
Now, every so often there will be a simple strategy that may come about that may actually have some benefit. The thing that you MUST be aware of is that these benefits are going to be miniscule in the grand scheme of things.
Yes, the benefit will be there but is it worth you constantly moving from gimmick to gimmick to find? Probably not.
Supplements, “superfoods”, unique exercises/protocols, special equipment all of these things combined will never replace a solid base of hard work, smart, effective strategies and consistency. Only a strong constant focus on that will get you to your goals.
What gimmicks have you fallen for before? Or do you still believe in a unique strategy that you find works for you? Let us know in the comments below!