LET'S TALK ABOUT CONSISTENCY

When I was in college, I’ll never forget my professor reviewing a longitudinal study about weight loss that followed thousands of people over a decade to see if they lost weight, whether or not they kept it off, and what trends emerged from their collective outcomes. The results showed that 95% of people who lost weight, and kept it off, worked out 4 or more days a week! The inverse statistic would then be that only 5% of people lost weight and kept it off by working out 3 days or less and/or with dietary changes alone.  I find two aspects of that, really compelling:

1. Working out most days of the week is critical to achieving your goals &
2. The role consistency played.

Whether that’s helping or hurting your goals - if you are consistent you will become whatever that is.  It’s a story we hear often in successful people but rarely take the time to apply.  It’s really easy to say “be consistent,” but it is a very different thing to create strategies to allow yourself to be consistent.  No one just falls into a consistent, positive-outcome-affecting behavior. You create it!

For the month of April, I’ll be sharing simple ways to build consistency into your workout routine, as well as nutrition, so you can maximize your effort towards achieving your long-term fitness goals.  We all are working hard to get back to normal, get back to where we were, refocus, and start working towards our goals; a little consistency will go a long way in making that happen. 

Here’s an easy way to kick it off:

Research shows consuming protein can help increase muscle recovery, increase muscle mass, increase our feeling of being full, and has a thermogenic effect on our body.  However, most people still don’t consume enough protein to properly fuel their body for recovery and body composition changes.  Many of the professional athletes I work with use protein powder first thing in the morning, post-workout, and before bed to optimize recovery. 

This is protein use 101 but there’s so much more you can use protein powder for. Did you know a really good strategy is to have a protein shake BEFORE you go eat some junk food? Doing that ensures you get enough protein and can help curb how hungry you are so you maybe only eat half of the pizza instead of the whole pizza.  Because, if we all consistently only ate half of the pizza, we’d probably be halfway closer to where we want to be!

Barbell Brigade has formulated an awesome protein powder with a simple ingredient list, effective protein blend, and amazing taste even if you only mix it in water.  I personally prefer to blend it with almond milk for a low-calorie delicious taste. There are endless combinations and uses but like any supplement, it is simply a tool; a powerful, convenient tool that you should utilize to help you be more consistent with your health and fitness goals.

Dominate Humbly,

Jacob Ross

Elite Sports Performance Coach