The real reason you aren't getting fit

I have a diet background. As in im a self proclaimed nutrition geek. But also have qualifications in it. It was my route into the health and fitness industry and I know quite a bit about it.

For years I've said to clients, friends, training partners, or anyone that cares to listen to me,: 'You can't out train a bad diet'

Yeah that old cliched phrase. In most cases I still think that rings true. But to be really honest you can. I certainly don’t recommend it but trust me you can. But if you’re hoping I’m going to explain that right now I’m sorry I’m not. I might someday.

It’s actually something else that really pisses me off when it comes to people moaning about a lack of results.

It's the flip side to that coin.

Enter my new favourite phrase.

'You can't out eat a shitty work ethic'.

Let me explain. Because I also have a background in hard work and balls out effort in the gym.

In my opinion there seems to be a growing trend in the number of people who focus so hard on their diets as a substitute for actually genuine hard work on the gym floor.

I need to state clearly at this point that I am aiming this at the people who train regularly and complain they aren't seeing the results they expect.

The ones who spend hours toiling away, exercising, NOT training. Moaning they haven’t changed shape, put on some muscle, and haven’t lost 10lbs off their backsides in the past 6 days.

People who have trained for years and not seen the expected improvements in their bodies or their Wod times.

Everyone is looking for the magic pill when it comes down to nutrition and performance. I get that. I’m still looking too. But we ain’t going to find it.

There is always a new ‘superfood’ or ‘revolutionary new diet approach’ being banded around in the press that people are talking about and trying to take advantage of. ‘Fat loss tea’.. ‘Diet protein shake’.. ‘6 day cleanse lose 20kg’.. Fuck off man!.

To think that we can all eat the same diets and take all the same pills because a magazine or instagram ‘influencer’ tells us to is just plain crazy.

Our diets need to be as individualised as our lifestyles. We all have different body types, food preferences, tolerances, and goals. What works for one person will not work as well for the next.

Again let’s leave diets for now.

Im telling you the real problems come down to 'doing the work' in the gym.

Quite honestly too many people are afraid to push themselves further than they think possible of themselves.

They are afraid to step out of their comfort zone and go to the sometimes dark place where real change occurs. Where the stimulus you put on your body triggers the adaption required to promote significant change. I.E. Hard fucking work.

I’m going to burst a few bubbles here and tell you that there are no magic pills, supplements, training drills, or exercise secrets!

If there was we would all walk around looking like Rich, Mat, Tia or whatever action hero or model we all dream of being.

The truth is there is no substitute for good old hard work, logical thinking, and getting the basics right consistently over a prolonged timeframe. Like turning up consistently to class. 3-4 times per week. Applying yourself and making it a really strenuous hour of hard work.

Those 3 I just mentioned might be the fittest in the world. But they all got there by putting in the work. They started somewhere. As did the person you look at in the class or on instagram and want to look like.

The problem is we love to make things complicated for ourselves. We don’t want to believe that the basics work. We don’t want to accept that everything in moderation really can be the answer. We don’t want to admit that we lack the will power to make a few habit based changes and stick to them long enough to modify our behaviours. We don’t want the grind. We don’t like the pain. We want excuses.

Success isn’t made in the kitchen. Success isn’t trying hard in class a couple of times a week.

Success comes from giving 100% effort in each. Consistently. For years.

Look If all you want to be is a healthier version of your current self then yes I agree that cleaning up your diet and focusing on good nutrition will go a long way in achieving that. Turn up and go through the motions in class, have a laugh, and every now and then break a sweat. Yeah that is a massive step in the right direction for the vast majority of the population.

But for those of us that want more. Those of us who want it all! Then we need to give a lot more.

And that means giving as much effort in the gym as we are putting into our diets.

So when the Wod reads AMRAP 20. That’s means you work for 20mins. Hard. For as many reps as possible!.. not the first 5-10mins then coast through the rest. Grabbing a drink every 2 Mins. You don’t need a fucking drink every 2 mins. That’s an excuse to have a rest isn’t it be honest!.

If a workout is ‘for time’.. well that means make it fucking quick. Not ‘sometime’ in the next half hour!.

Stop focusing so hard on hitting every gram of protein we think we need. (It's probably a lot less than you think anyway). Stop worrying that you may have consumed 10 extra calories than you should have. (Train a little harder and you can have more). And for f**ks sake stop demonising certain foods because I can assure you that carbs don't make you fat. (Too much of any food will make you fat).

Instead shift your focus for the next 4 weeks to training really friggin hard and see what happens.

Add some extra weight to your next set of squats and really push so hard that you are afraid you might just push something else out on the way up!

In your next class if you don't want to give up after 5 minutes then you aren't going hard enough. After 8 minutes you should want to die. After 10 minutes you should be finished and think you ARE going to die! (You won't by the way).

For 4 weeks be the hardest worker in the room. That’s doesn’t mean the quickest or the best. But as hard as you can possibly push. Whilst still eating well but not like a diet obsessed lunatic.

Then come back and tell me that you are doing everything you can and still not getting results.

Because whilst you (maybe) can't out train a bad diet.

You most definitely can't out eat a shitty work ethic.

Get after it!

Big love. Mark. ☠👑🖤