5 Hard Earned Lessons Of Fitness

So a friend of mine, and my training partner of the last few months got out of his work-release last week and is now a free man after spending the last 18 years of his life in the Walla Walla state penitentiary. Needless to say, the guy is pretty jacked and I've learned a lot from his throughout the course of our training. With all the debates going on about different fitness ideas and theories that we professionals like to argue about like a bunch of juiced up lawyers, there are some underlying truths and lessons to be found among all of this and my friend learned those the hard way: in prison. Not like a lot of us who learned what we knew in college or certification manuals or from talking to the big guy in the gym, the lessons I'm about to spell out were learned through blood sweat tears and years.

1. PATIENCE AND CONSISTENCY OVER ANYTHING ELSE

That's right, I said it. Diet is not the number one factor of fitness, it's getting off your ass and doing it. It took my friend 18 years of training 5 days a week to get where he is (6'1" 220 lbs, 8% body fat). Your gym doesn't have hammer strength? Your gym doesn't have enough squat racks? There's no showers? Too bad, go anyway. I seriously doubt any of us work out in a facility less accommodating that the Walla Walla yard. And it's not like prisoners have full access to the yard. Sometimes they'll call for rec. at 5:00 am after a night of sleeping through some noises that words don't even describe, but you go anyway. So first things first, go take all of your excuses, time..money...boy/girlfriend...and crumple them into a little proverbial ball and throw it out the window. Go ahead, actually make that motion right now if any of this is hitting home and really do it. Want results? You gotta take action, nobody wishes or thinks themselves into shape. You HAVE the time, money, and facilities to get what you need no matter where you are.

2. GO LIFT

Now, as much as it may be debated that food is the number one factor I'll only agree to an extent. By eating clean and getting daily activity most people can have pretty good bodies. But in the fitness world, every single person I have ever met that will get respect from other fitness enthusiasts lifts weights. Maybe not every day, maybe not hundreds of pounds, but in just about every gym I go in all the hard bodies are in the weight room and all the soft ones are prancing around on the elliptical trainers or taking a Pilates class or screwing around on the stability balls. I'm not trying to denounce any of those forms of exercising, just feeding back to the community what I observe. Want results? Go lift. Want to get big? Go lift. Want to get lean? Go lift. My buddy didn't get to where he is by lifting kitty cats and opening stubborn pickle jars. If you want above average results by all means you don't need a gym membership...if you want people to say "Holy shit!" when you walk by...you do.

3. YES, DIET IS KEY

Now this one really ticks me off when people whine/bitch/moan about having to eat right and giving up their favorite foods. How much chocolate cake do you really think gets consumed in prison? And further more, when just about every little guilty pleasure has been removed from your life, trust me when I say this, inmates take their junk food very seriously. For the most part, if they have some cash on their books you know what they're ordering from the inmate canteen? Shit...and so would you if you lived in a cell. What did my buddy order? Chicken packs, Tuna packs, rice packs that you can't even cook and he'd gulp it down raw. At the canteen it was no butter or salad dressing which is basically the only ally you have between yourself and whatever rotten festering lump of shit is steaming on your plate. I think we can all agree that none of us should be in a position to bitch about how hard it is to eat right when there are people not only in this situation, but all over the world who are starving and get basically nothing to eat. Go watch another "Starving children in Ethiopia" commercial and you'll feel like a total jackass that you whined about having to give up French fries.

4. BE INTENSE

Grunting and shouting doesn't count as intensity. Sure it's an indicator, but not necessarily the real deal. Ask yourself after every work out if you left it all in the weight room. Now, don't confuse intensity with stupidity. Stupidity is making yourself puke after every set and getting hurt. Intensity is making the most of your time in the gym. Leave your cell phone in the car and quit eying that chick/dude by the drinking fountain. If there was anything even close to being considered as "eye candy" on the Walla Walla yard, I don't want to know anything about it. Come in with a fucking plan all ready, not this "hmmmm...I think I'll do chest today, maybe some biceps," crap. Training occurs 24/7, not when you scan into the gym. Know what's up with your own body and program because if you don't care, nobody else ever will.

5. TRAIN YOUR LEGS ALL READY

Why is it that Monday is "National Chest Day" in America? Dudes don't have boobies plain and simple, is this fascination with chest like the male version of penis envy? My friend and I were training a couple months back and we were doing legs on a Monday and the gym manager came over to us and asked in a joking manner what we were doing and why we were training legs (this guy by the way, does nothing but chest and can bench about 330, but is still 25% body fat and not that big) and my buddy looked right back at the guy and said a quote I'll never forget and I advise you to write this one down;

"BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SHOOT CANNONS FROM A CANOE HOMEBOY!"

And he's right. I'm going to assume someone who spent 18 years in prison has probably shot a few "Cannons" in his time, so I'm going to consider him an authority on the subject. And I know for a lot of us training legs isn't very fun, but that's why you may want to consider starting off the week with legs for once instead of chest. Give it a shot, when you're squatting 315 comfortably for 12+ reps you may change your mind on leg training.

All right, a lot of this is obvious, which is exactly my point. As much as we like to debate the finer things about fitness and kinesiology, I think we can all agree on these basics and these basics are where results are earned. Hell, I don't care if you do work out wrong (as long as you're safe) if you follow this guide you WILL get results. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not by next beach season, but they'll come. Again, my friend has built one of the best bodies out there and is pretty much where most of us are trying to get. And he didn't do it with an ACSM text book or drugs or supplements. Sometimes we get so caught up in the irrelevant we look right past what matters. They say that experience is the best teacher but I doubt too many of us want to learn this first hand, so take this to heart because someone else all ready had the experience that we can all learn from.

For More Information Please visit the site that posted this article at: Muscular Training Development.com