Find What Works For You

We are not fans of cookie-cutter approaches to fitness because such are designed to work on average.

But here is the thing:

You are an individual, and even if something works for a hundred or a thousand people, it doesn’t mean it will work for you.

In today’s post, we’d like to propose a unique idea to approaching your fitness––that of finding what works for you.

Let’s explore.

The Problem With Traditional Approaches to Fitness Today
When most people decide to get fit, they go on the web and start looking for solutions in diets, training plans, supplements, and more. For example, someone interested in muscle gain would, logically, look for a training program to build muscle.

The problem with the approach is that such training programs and diets don’t work equally well for everyone. In fact, there might even be circumstances where using such a solution would do more harm than good. Let’s take a look at a quick example:

John is a 21-year-old full-time college student who has lots of free time and little stress. Because of that, he can get away with a lot of training, recover in time, and make fantastic progress.

In contrast, Chris is 46, has a full-time job, three kids to take care of, and deals with much more stress. Because of his circumstances and age, Chris has to be more careful with his workouts to avoid overtraining.

John and Chris might come across the same muscle-building training program, but it will not deliver the same or similar results for them.

The Importance of Experimenting
We are huge advocates of experimenting because doing so allows you to see how your body responds to different variables. More importantly, experimenting allows you to streamline your process to achieve better results more quickly and without necessarily putting in more effort. 

For example, instead of doing five weekly workouts, start with three and see how it goes. Prevailing wisdom suggests that doing more work leads to better progress, but that might not always be the case. As you saw from the example above, context matters.

Experimenting is also beneficial for your nutrition. For example, everyone recommends ketogenic dieting, but cutting carbs isn’t for everyone. Sure, you can try the diet and see how it treats you. But nothing is to say that you must make that diet work. You can try countless nutritional approaches to see what allows you to feel and perform at your best.

An underrated reason for experimenting has to do with enjoyability and sustainability. Fitness should be fun, and you should be able to sustain it for years, even decades. Too many people look for solutions but never ask themselves, “Is this diet or training plan something I can follow for the next few years?” Changing this up is undoubtedly beneficial, but the process should fit your schedule, preferences, and goals.

Finding something that works for your circumstances is the best way to ensure consistency, enjoyability, and long-term results.