Looking for the best exercise routine or diet? Try this instead.
If I had to pick ONE common mistake among brand-new trainees, it would be this:
Thinking you need to find the one magic diet or exercise routine that will solve all your problems for the rest of time the end.
I.e. “I’ll just go keto for every meal ever until I die,” or “CrossFit is the only training I’ll ever need.”
This black-and-white mentality absolutely works—until it doesn’t.
Since life is basically a rollercoaster that’s also sometimes on fire, eventually you’ll run into a situation that doesn’t jive with your so-called silver bullet.
And then you say something wildly irrational like WELL I GUESS I NEED A DIFFERENT SILVER BULLET and confidently march off in search of something new.
And so continues the vicious cycle of start-stops and lurching forward and backsliding.
The problem is this: Viewing a simple TOOL as the thing that fixes everything.
Diet strategies and exercises programs are tools, and you need to understand how and when to use them.
We instinctively understand this with physical tools—a woodworker isn’t going to buy a lathe and be like, “Great, this is all I need to build furniture!”
Of course not. She has different tools for different tasks and goals, and she knows how to fluidly move between them as needed.
👉 While I of course provide my trainees with structure and programming and all that jazz, the GOAL is to be able to recognize when to adapt, pivot, and be flexible through life’s seasons.
In warm and sunny months, I’m outside being more active and playing sports, so my training takes a back seat so it doesn’t compete for my body’s resources. In winter, training can be ticked up a notch because frankly it’s my only form of exercise.
In times of stress, illness, and life chaos, I know how to show up for the bare minimum in my movement and nutrition. When life is going smoothly, I can be more precise and regimented.
If god forbid I get injured, I have different exercises to focus on while I heal, instead of just sitting on my butt.
For a stint of more purposeful fat loss or muscle gain, I know how to count macros.
These are all just different tools used at different times, and I know when to shift over.
Adaptation allows for consistency. And consistency allows for those beautiful, long-term results that you see all over the internet.
So it’s great to have tools in your tool chest to cycle through! But understand that the TRUE master key / silver bullet / magic fix is learning how and when to use all the tools you’ve accumulated.
If you want help building and using an awesome tool chest for your health and fitness, it’s what I do 😎 Consider applying to the Adventure Ready Academy if you’re ready to make some real progress.
Love & muscles,
Coach Mac
Muscle Sherpa
