Why Compounding Fitness Is So Important

Over the last few weeks, I've talked a lot about the need of developing good healthy habits and sticking to them in order to achieve your goals.

I used a financial illustration to demonstrate that if you wanted to save $1,000 per month to earn $1 million, it would be more wiser and more practical to start saving $500 per month over 30 years rather than $5000 per month over 10 years. Though both would necessitate a significant amount of time and effort, the former is significantly more feasible for most people.

The same is true in terms of health and fitness. Rather than attempting to crash diet your way to success, which never works, it is far preferable to start early, stay consistent, and compound your fitness over time.

This is where the Compounding Fitness action comes into play. It's not just about the ultimate result, which is always amazing (don't get me wrong, attaining your objective is always fantastic), but also about what happens in between.

Let's look at two scenarios that are frequent in the weight reduction world: one that most people follow and one that everyone SHOULD follow.

In the first case, we have a client who follows a trendy diet. They're given a broad set of directions to follow, including how much to eat, what to eat, and what not to consume – does this sound familiar? Things go fine for a while, maybe even great, but eventually the person can't keep it up for one or more of the following reasons: they didn't get the results they wanted quickly enough, they find it too difficult to follow the "rules," they can't keep up with the lower calories, they had some success and feel like they can go back to "normal," or it may be too expensive to keep buying the foods or supplements. Does this ring a bell? Aside from not educating the client how to eat, one of the biggest problems is that the customer's sole attention is on the ultimate goal.

The second scenario, which has a considerably higher likelihood of success and sustainability, involves the clients consuming foods they enjoy while learning to regulate both the quality and amount of their food choices in order to lose weight gradually over time and improve their health. Also, as individuals progress through the process, they must grasp what are manageable levels of intake for gaining, maintaining, and losing weight. The benefit of this scenario is that the individual not only eats more in line with their lifestyle, but also understands how to control their consumption for long-term success.

When it comes to going to the gym, we might use the same scenarios. Individuals start and stop going to the gym numerous times in a single year (see Jan vs Feb), and then there are those who go to the gym every week for the entire year.

In both of these cases, consistency is by far the most critical factor, and it is here that the Compounding Fitness secret is revealed.

Whether you're in the gym or the kitchen, you'll begin to develop patterns, skills, and behaviors that will eventually become habits. But, in reality, you're accessing your next level of performance. You've established a new baseline, a new identity.

Assume you want to drop 20 pounds in the next six months. You begin by making a few tiny consistent modifications to your food plan, going to the gym on a regular basis, and working on increasing your sleep and stress levels at the same time. You drop 3 pounds after the first month. Excellent. But it's what happened in between that's truly remarkable.

You've taken on a new identity!

You are a person who is 3 pounds lighter, who is comparably stronger and can move their body with 3 pounds less mass, and whose internal workings are improving as a result of increased metabolic activity and more effective food usage. A person who is able to recuperate more quickly due to superior sleep quality (and possibly quantity). A person who has improved their stress management, resulting in better mental clarity, decision-making, motivation, and mood.

Now take this new individual and make them better! The wonderful aspect is that your success grows exponentially as you improve. All of the patterns, abilities, behaviors, and habits you've developed thus far make it easier for you to continue to progress. You may now move more readily and effectively after gaining a 1% improvement in relative strength. You've reached a new level of performance.

Even a 1% improvement in your current situation has a cascading impact that affects people's lives. Compound that 1% over and over to see where you wind up in a variety of aspects of your life!

It's not the end objective that counts; it's the person we become as we get closer to it!