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There Are 2 Types of People

Broad generalization, I know. I mean in regards to helping people get in shape; there are 2 types of people:

1. Person A: Consistency is a unicorn the them. This person’s number one struggle is getting exercise in, holding true to their new way of eating and refraining from succumbing to old habits, and making that ‘lifestyle change’ we hear so much about. Consistency is the foundation, without it we become frustrated at our lack of results, and often tarnish our own reputation with ourselves.

2. Person B: More more more! This person is an overachiever, but it might not always be blatantly obvious. We tend to place tremendous value upon the ‘do more’ mentality, but once again context is key. This person is usually high stress, and do you know what else is a stressor on the body?…….Exercise! Albeit superior to other forms, exercise is stress. If we can’t adequately stress-manage, then we can’t recover because we’re placing our body in a state that isn’t conducive to progressing; it just doesn’t have the resources because it’s busy trying to deal with all the stress! More is not always better. In fact, with person b, less, usually much less, is much better.

General Solutions for Person A:

• Find/create accountability. You need to be held to your commitments, or you’ll continue to be frustrated with your own self. Grab a gym-buddy, hire a coach, or speak it into the universe!

• Habit-stack. Start with small habits that are conducive to what your main goals are: writing out simple tasks to get done in a day, such as “drink 8 glasses of water, go for a 15 minute walk, set out gym clothes, set chicken out, write today’s workout down,” etc. It’s been proven that checking tasks off a list releases dopamine, and dopamine is connected to not just feelings of motivation, but also learning, and pleasure.

• Focus on how you feel intrinsically when you accomplish these transient tasks. Do you feel energized? Proud and accomplished? Stronger? Happier? If you focus on the fact that it’s making you feel better and improved, than the ‘how’ of getting it done doesn’t seem so daunting. Don’t get too caught up in how to make it happen and just make it happen enough times to know that it’s for you.

General Solutions for Person B:

• Prioritize recovery like you prioritize activity. It’s a 3-pillared approach: pillar 3 is where we want to be; it stands for us being stronger, leaner, happier, healthier, and more confident. We begin our path to getting there with pillar 1, which are the stressors we induce on ourselves to achieve these goals. This includes all the exercise we implement, the change to our eating habits, our daily activity, and other lifestyle changes. These are all stressors. We bridge the gap from pillar 1 to pillar 3 with pillar 2; recovery. If you don’t recover from all the stress, you won’t adapt, and you won’t achieve what you’re so desperately trying to achieve. Prioritize sleep, active recovery days instead of more bludgeoning training days, and letting your nutrition work for you as well (not just relying on calories expended).

• Commit to a less. Commit to less days of hard training for at least 6-8 weeks, and note how you feel. Do you feel improved mood, recovery, libido, cravings/appetite, energy? Do you see better body composition despite less hard training?

• Audit yourself. Many times this person can be overexerting out of compensation. Is your diet fueling your self-proclaimed need to train so aggressively? Is the gym self-medication for you during a rough time? Too much of a great thing=not such a great thing anymore.

• Place that energy somewhere else. Think about it: you’re dedicated, and disciplined. So you have to focus on not overdoing it now, so? You’ve built transferable skills to aid you in whatever you so choose. Take this time to work on a hobby, improve your mobility/flexibility, dive into some books, work on your nutrition by learning and cooking. Recycle that energy back somewhere else that can offer you growth. There’s always something else.

Identify which person you are, and make the adjustments based on you!

Personally, I’m a prime example of ‘person b’ and I struggle mostly with the delayed gratification. I love the immediate sense of accomplishment associated with training, and then I get carried away. It becomes a coping mechanism, and then I’m just battered down, and I end up doing something healthy, unhealthily. It’s mental warfare dealing with training less and getting more from it, but it’s allowed me to have a better training:life balance, and improve the little things like boxing skills, hip mobility, and my music playlists.

I hope this helps! If I can help bring anything into perspective for you don’t hesitate to reach out 🤗

Thanks for reading,

-Coach Cody

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We’ll be able to understand which person you are, and create individualized solutions!