15 Lessons In 15 Years Part III

It is hard to believe that SDPT has been around for the past 15 years.  As far as I know we are the longest running training facility in North County San Diego.  When I first started I really wasn’t sure what I was doing, but luckily I learned quickly.

Over the past 15 years we have build much more than a training facility.  We have built a community that is working together to be healthier so we can live the best version of our lives.

It is safe to say that I have seen fitness and nutrition fads come and go.  We have been able to stay and thrive for so long because of our mission and staying true to it.

I have learned many things over the years to help our clients get stronger, eat better, and reach their goals.  To celebrate this big event I wanted to share some of my biggest insights I have had over this time.

It is broken down into 3 parts to make it easier to consume and digest.  I don’t just want you to read this.  I want you to read it and apply whichever ones you can.  We have seen these lessons help over and over again, but they have to be applied.  Check out Part I here & Part II here.

In no particular order, here we go:

11.  Do 1 Thing First.

If you remember from an earlier lesson, I mentioned you need to do it all to optimize your health and fitness.  It’s true there is no one thing that can do it all.  But that is not how I would recommend you get started.  I have seen it all too often that a person comes in and wants an exercise plan, cardio plan, nutrition, etc.  They want it all.

I love the motivation they have, but typically what happens is they get overwhelmed with so much change in their life, they can’t keep up and give up.  The best plan when you are first getting started or maybe after some time off, is to pick one thing to start doing that will help everything else you will eventually add in after.

The key is consistency first.  So start something that you know you can stick with.  What should you start with first?  That will probably depends, but I like to think of it as a hierarchy to follow to increase success and adherence.

Usually when someone wants to get healthier they say they have to start doing cardio and eat less.  While this might be a part of the plan, I usually don’t recommend starting with either of these.

If you drop your calories without exercise you will lose weight, but some of that weight will be from bone, muscle, and other non fat sources.  Nutrition is important and will be necessary at some point, but it is usually the hardest to implement.  If you start doing cardio as your first thing, your body might not be able to handle that high stress activity and you start getting joint pain.  This usually leads to inactivity.

While nutrition is a huge piece and often will say the most important, my hierarchy for starting to implement exercise and nutrition would be:

1.  Moving better through strength training.  This will help build strength, muscle, and make your body more resilient when you add more activity.
2. Nutrition.  Find a nutrition plan that will keep your caloric intake at an appropriate level and get enough nutrients to support your exercise.
3. Cardio.  Once you have prepared your body enough and developed better eating habits, you can increase your activity with your cardio of choice.

This is just an example.  Start with the one thing you can stick with and that will make everything else you add easier to do.  It doesn’t have to be the most important thing first.

12.  Identify as the person you want to become.

It is no secret, the mind is a powerful tool.  This tool can either dramatically improve your success or crush it.  When you set a goal for yourself, you are imagining a different version of you.  The important thing you have to remember is, that person is still you.  

Sounds obvious I know, but many struggle with this concept.  What ever vision you have that you are trying to reach, you have to become that person.  It won’t magically happen.  If you want to be a healthier person, you must identify as a healthy person. 

You have probably heard of things like self fulfilling prophecies or self identification theory.  You have to ask yourself are you the type of person that exercises regularly, eats foods that nourish the body, and wants to see improvements?  Or do you just go through the motion, hoping that one day it will all just work out?  

Luck doesn’t happen the way most think it does.  The ones that work hard and put themselves in a position for things to happen are the ones that get lucky.  They simply have more opportunity.  You can’t just sit back and wait for change to happen.  You have to believe in that change and see yourself becoming the person you want to become.  

13.  Stop chasing pain.

We do everything we can to exercise and stay injury free.  But sometimes things  happen.  You might have a minor injury or something more serious that sets you back for a bit.  Either way they aren’t fun.  

The topic of injury and joint pain is a very complicated one.  Especially if we are talking about nontraumatic injuries.  If you fall down and hit your knee, we know exactly what caused it.  But when pain creeps up on you over time, it is a little tougher to understand. 

While there are many types of joint injuries that can happen and many reasons they can happen, an important concept to remember is cause versus symptom.  Your back might hurt, but it is most likely not a back problem.  Or at least not solely a back problem.  When we chase pain sites we often are blinded to the real problems. 

Pain is a symptom of a larger issue going on.  That issue, or cause, might come no where near the pain site.  So if you are experiencing back pain, it is easy to search for back stretches or core exercises to help fix it.   But what if your back pain is from on unstable spine that was caused by tightness in your hips?  This is a very common issue.  Stretching your back in this situation, makes it more unstable and while might feel good short term, leads to great problems down the road.  

But if we worked on increasing your spine stability and increased hip mobility, there is a great chance that you start to feel better and stay healthy.  

Bottom line is pain is complicated.  Try not to get caught up in the site of pain.  Look at movement issues at other joints that aren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing.  This will help you figure out what types of exercises will be the best fit for you.  

14.  Everything in moderation

I know there are some people that really don’t like this saying.  But in terms of diet and exercise, I really think this is an important concept.  Fitness and nutrition is really good and developing extremes.  Many problems come up when we live in these extremes.  Too much of anything is a bad thing.  That includes exercise.  

On one hand you have some people that don’t do anything.  They don’t watch anything they eat and they are sedentary all day.  I think most are aware this isn’t the best lifestyle to lead.  But on the other hand there are those that think if they aren’t pushing it as hard as they can everyday, they aren’t doing enough.  

I can tell you where both of these paths lead and neither are pretty.  Not doing anything clearly leads to a long list of health problems.  But so does doing too much.  The key is to stress the body appropriately so it can recover better and stronger.  Then you repeat this process.  Many skip the recovery part.  

Workouts cause damage to the body.  Without recovery, you continue to damage until there is a serious problem.  Don’t forget that exercise is stress on the body.  While there are some form of stress that is beneficial, it is still stress and too much leads to injuries and other concerns.  

Same can go for nutrition and dieting.  Following cleanses and other super strict nutrition fads, is not the ideal way to eat.  You can’t maintain it and it may lead to certain deficiencies.  

Remember there is a cost to everything you do.  Keep that cost to a minimum.  

15.  Don’t put all your stock in the scale

Let’s end this post with a huge one. I know this can be a hard thing to do, but keep in mind the scale is not the best way to measure what you are doing. I know you have heard this before, but you are going to hear it again.

If you are trying to lose weight, remember you are really trying to lose body fat. You want to maintain or grow your muscle, and build bone density. These two things can potentially increase your weight on the scale some. But if you are not following a body building type program, you will not see that much of a gain. It is incredibly hard to build several pounds of muscle, but when you first get started with strength training, it will happen.

Of course eventually you will see the scale move, if you are doing the right things. Hopefully you are also tracking body fat percentage and circumference measurements, so you can get a better idea of how weight is changing.

Here is the real point I want to make though. Just because you are thin or have less body fat, doesn’t mean you are healthy. I have heard people talk about someone who had a heart attack for example, and say how healthy they were. But they were only using their body size to determine their health. This is a very poor indication of how healthy you are. Being overweight increases your risk factors for many diseases, but it is not the only thing you should consider.

In fact some people who are overweight are actually healthy than other who might be a more ideal weight. There is more and more research showing this concept. Obesity is a concern because of the increase risk in metabolic disease. But the real concern is developing metabolic disease over just obesity.

This is why you might see classification of metabolic healthy obesity and metabolically unhealthy normal weight. If these were your only two options I would pick the metabolically healthy obesity. This person is doing a lot of the right things and taking care of their body. They are just overweight. Version the other person who happens to be normal weight, but is not taking care of their body.

Exercising is a great way to improve metabolic health. You are less likely to develop diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and just about any other disease you can think of. So if you are exercising and not seeing the scale more, remember all of the good you are doing for your body.

I know this might be frustrating to put in the hard work on not see results, but just because you can’t physically see them, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

Keep going and do everything you can to take care of yourself. If you aren’t see body fat improvements, then it might be time to make some changes, but don’t completely abandon everything.

Well, I hope this helps you in your health and fitness journey. We are always learning more about the human body and I do my best to keep up with the latest information to keep you up to date on the best practices you can follow.

If you need any help never hesitate to reach out to us at San Diego Premier Training. We are here to help you find the best path to find the healthiest version on yourself.

You Stay Healthy San Diego!

Mike Deibler
San Diego Premier Training