If losing weight was easy, pleasant and comfortable – people wouldn’t be fat. I struggle to imagine a couch potato saying NO to anything that’s easy, pleasant and comfortable. There are certainly easier ways of doing it, or should I say more time-efficient ways. You could either go out for snail-paced stroll for a few hours or you could exercise some high intensity (relative to you, of course) work for 20 minutes. Option one is easier, but option two takes less time. More often than not it’s a combination of the two; a 20-minute snail-paced stroll. No wonder you get frustrated a few weeks in when your results are insignificant (at best).
We are intense, passionate creatures and our bodies crave for our workouts to be the same. We are not whales crossing the Atlantic; we are cheetahs exploding over 10 seconds. But it’s not all about what our bodies respond best to, it’s about breaking barriers and getting out of that convenience mentality that you have adopted. That mentality is what got you into trouble in the first place and you need to learn to do the opposite.
If you are going down heart attack and low libido lane, it takes a u-turn to get back on track. You need to turn that steering wheel as hard as you can, speed up to make up for the distance you made in the wrong direction and only then can you get onto cruise control again. When losing weight is what we need to achieve, we need to make it a central part of our life, inconvenient as it may be, to later be able to integrate it as a part of our lifestyle that “just works”. Something we don’t even have to think about. But if you put on cruise control too early, you’ll cover little distance over a long time and thus, you’ll get bored and turn back. It happens all the time. “Well I’m working as hard as I can”. No you are not, you are working as hard as you comfortable can.
Whatever workout you are on, whatever distance you are covering – cut the time spent by 25-50% without sacrificing repetitions, sets or distance – and watch your body’s response. That’s intensity. That’s results.
If weight loss isn’t painful or uncomfortable for you now, your lack of results will be.
Anders N W Lindgreen is a Swedish/Australian Fitness Specialist. Visit his website for free articles and e-books featuring the unbiased truth on Personal Fitness Training and Corporate Health and Fitness.