Top Tips and Tricks

If you talk to any personal trainer you'll hear them offer up their best tips and tricks for you to use in the gym. "Drink at least your body weight times two in liters in water", or, "only eat protein after 2pm". I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

It's now my turn to put out my top tip, and that is not a typo, tip is right. I'm so confident in what I have learned working in the fitness industry that I can narrow down all the tips and tricks info into one little sentence. Ready?

Tips and Tricks don't work

That's it. You can take all the advice from as many people as you want, and get all the new diet and training books, meet with a trainer who could write a novel with the letters behind his name, but if you don't take those tips and tricks and implement them into a lasting life style change then you are just spinning your wheels.

As far as I'm concerned the 70's and 80's brought on the whole miracle diet craze; the stage was set for weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, and countless other diet systems to sink their teeth into America's fragile ego. That model has been perfected in the fitness world and applied to training. Experienced personal trainers are scared shitless at boring their clients by giving them exercises they need to reach their goals instead of the top 5 best flab busting exercises from Men's Heath or Muscle and fitness (as a side note I actually read and respect Men's Health because they actually cite sources that are repitible and have qualified professionals give advice, not drugged out genetic freaks).

Gyms are owned by those magazines. I can't tell you how many times I've asked people about their training and they'll ask me what I think about the routine (which is a whole new nest of problems. I'll tip my hand and say routine is the anti result) they got from a magazine. In all honesty the periodization isn't half bad and the reps and sets are decent, but they are missing a key part of training. The guys using the workout have no clue how to do any of the exercises.

The tips and tricks that most people get from magazines or insecure trainers don't prepare them for the harsh reality that they just don't know how to do the exercise. Sure a trainer's job is to motivate, to give diet and exercise advice, and to act as a armchair psychiatrist, but first and foremost a trainer's job is to teach their client how to do the exercise properly. They are teachers and you my friend are the learner.

I know you were hoping for a nice list of things that you can pretend to incorporate into your life then forget about ten minutes later but still feel pretty damn good about yourself for trying, but the cold hard truth is that Yoda was right.

Eat your pride and take some lessons on how to do things correctly, isn't that what business and life is all about? I mean hell I know I don't know how to lay the foundation of a house, but it's a crap load cheaper to do it myself. Who cares if ten weeks down the line the whole project fails and I'm worse off then I was before, at least I didn't have to hire some cocky contractor to do it right.

If you do need to inundate your self with more tips here are the top results I found in google:

Abs tips (Gasp rules for a six pack I need to know??)
Etiquette tips (Actually some useful informaiton)
Top ten Rules for fat loss (We are obsessed with fat loss...)

I could post more but you can google it yourself.
In all honesty I will eventually post some fitness tips of my own, but you have got to understand that the tips anyone gives out are lifestyle changes not quick fixes.

Enjoy your Sunday

-Kian