Lessons from Today’s LA Marathon

Today’s LA Marathon has inspired me to explain something that confuses many people I’ve spoken to.

Today’s winner spent over 2 hours laboring to cross the finish line…running 26 miles at a pace of under 5 minutes per mile. It’s an amazing feat.

Also, many not-close-to-world-class-athlete people made it a personal life challenge to complete the marathon. I love stories of people striving to achieve difficult goals…and achieving them. So you’d think I’d find this inspiring. And a part of me does.

But that said, I also feel depressed when I think about these people…because I know many of them are left with a deep sense of hopelessness…

For well over a decade I’ve worked with hundreds of people who wanted to lose weight, improve their strength and fitness, look better, and improve the quality of their lives. I can’t tell you how many times people have volunteered stories of having entered marathons to help get them into shape. And you know what? With only one exception I can remember–of the countless stories I’ve been told, these people report having GAINED weight by the end of their marathon experience. In addition, many of the people had sustained long-lasting injuries from the physical trauma they’d put themselves through.

Now, those side-effects might be worth it to someone who ONLY cared about completing a 26 mile run to prove to themselves that they could. But people who aim to complete marathon often believe that achieving this will also produce a health and fitness goal that is even more important to them. And I don’t blame them–this is what we’ve all been raised to believe.

So, here’s the depressing part…after these people complete a MARATHON–the MOST physically demanding activity most people can imagine…after they train for weeks and months, it’s easy for them to conclude that when they GAINED weight, it means that the entire pursuit of better fitness is hopeless for them. Many just give up because they think they’ve done everything they possibly could do.

But here’s the good news…the conventional wisdom is WRONG. Marathon-type activity isn’t even close to what works best for losing weight and getting lean and strong. It doesn’t work well for most people–only a select few fare well running marathons.

If you’ve failed to make progress in the past by making your workouts longer and longer–perhaps even attempting marathons, I want you to know that there is a different approach I’ve found to work much faster and much better; and it takes a lot less time

This approach involves forgetting about burning calories and focusing on creating an optimal hormonal environment in your body to burn fat, build strength, and have the most energy possible.

One consequence of creating this fat-burning environment will be that you start feeling less hungry and require less food. Another consequence is that you’ll probably start craving more physical activities because you have more energy.

But the fat-burning state and the increase in energy come FIRST. Any reduction in food intake or increase in activity come LATER…only after your body is easily burning body fat.

In other words, this approach is to start by creating a fat-burning machine out of your body.

By contrast, the “marathon fitness” approach has us start by doing lots of activity to burn a whole bunch of calories…and HOPE that your body suddenly decides to become a fat burning machine.

…Because if your body doesn’t suddenly start burning fat more easily than it has in the past, all that extra physical activity might only accomplish making you more hungry and more lethargic…until you give in and eat enough to gain even more weight than where you started.

This is not idle speculation…I’ve heard from people over and over again who got exactly this result. And I’ve experienced this outcome, personally, and I didn’t like it one bit.

So, how do you turn your body into a fat-burning machine?

There’s a lot of science I’ve learned about what makes this happen. And there’s a lot of art I’ve learned over the years about how to apply that science to any given person.

Probably the two most critical elements are 1. focus your exercise efforts on strength training, and 2. to focus your diet efforts on reducing sugar and carbohydrates.

If most people did those two actions–really did them–most would start experiencing better results than they’d seen in years.

So, that’s the simple alternative to running a marathon that actually works to achieve the fitness goals most people want.

If you want more details, I cover a lot more in my report “Why Workouts Don’t Work”: here.

I know this was a long post, but it’s an issue that I’ve seen bother many people, and I hope this has helped.

To health and life,

Chad

P.S. If you’re looking to hire a personal trainer right now, you can start the process of determining whether you’re a good fit to work with us right here.

Last time I discussed the obstacle of a too short time horizon. If you missed it, go here.

Today I want to examine a second life issue that often thwarts our fitness desires:

Obstacle #2: You are crazy busy.

Do you work too much, over-commit, and not get enough sleep?

If so, you probably feel exhausted, stressed, and hungry for comfort food. And you probably feel the need to take better care of your health, but not today…because you’re just too busy.

How many days, weeks, and years have you been telling yourself that? It’s time to re-prioritize. Today.

I want you to seriously answer two questions…

Is taking care of your health a luxury or a necessity?

Is taking care of your health more important or less important than taking care of your car, your house, or even your career (hint: is it easier for you to get a new body or a new one of these)?

Now that you’ve thought it through, never forget it.

What Can You Do Today?

Remove a few commitments from your schedule so that you are able to get healthy meals, exercise, and get a good night’s sleep.

Don’t do everything: just take a few high-leverage steps that will have massive impact.

With sleep, commit to a firm time that you will be in bed every night.

With diet, refuse to eat sugars and processed carbohydrates. Even if you’re rushed, take the extra few minutes to get yourself better food. Stop permitting any exceptions for yourself.

With exercise, do the 5% that gets 95% of the benefits: intense strength training. Schedule a 20 minute block just one day a week, and do it. If you don’t know what to do, buy a copy of Body by Science or schedule an introductory workout with us.

Now, are you going to take these steps today or put them off until “soon”?

You know what is at stake. Make the right decision.

To health and life,
Chad Morris

You want the body in the mirror to be fit. You know your ideal pant size. And you can imagine how great you’d look in a bathing suit.

So why don’t you have that body?

If this is you, I’m guessing that you even know things you could be doing…but you just aren’t doing them.

We need to fix bigger problems than fitness knowledge; we need to look at some life issues that get in the way of your success.

Over the next few newsletters, I’m going to share four common obstacles–along with solutions to help you achieve your best body ever.

Today, we’re going to examine the first obstacle: Is Your Time Horizon too Short?

Pleasure and Pain

It’s in our nature to avoid pain and seek pleasure. Watch any small child touch a hot stove or taste something pleasurable and you’ll see this in action. Every animal acts to avoid pain and seek pleasure, and we humans are no exception.

Are you thinking, “Yes, of course! Seeking pleasure is keeping me from my goals”?

Now, wait…hold on! Before you believe that conclusion, I want you to consider something…

The “Obvious” Explanation vs. Reality

The evidence that seeking pleasure thwarts you is compelling. When you abandon what you know you “should” be doing in favor of doing something more pleasurable, this keeps you from your goals.

The “obvious” problem is that you’re just not doing a good enough job of denying your desire for pleasure.

But think about this…

By seeking pleasure, you end up with more pain and less pleasure than if you’d not pursued the pleasure. Isn’t that strange?

Once this has happened a few times, you know very well that what you’re doing is going to lead to more pain then pleasure.

So why are you doing it?

I’m going to suggest that the reason is less an issue of seeking pleasure, and more that you’ve decided to focus only on the very next moment.

Another way to say this is that your time horizon is too short.

Since the reality is that a short time horizon is the problem, not seeking pleasure, we finally know what to focus on in order to fix this problem: Time Horizon.

Understanding Your Time Horizon

If you focus on just the pain and pleasure you’re experiencing at this moment, eating a sugary snack looks to result in more pleasure than something like fixing a healthy meal or doing an intense workout.

However, if you extend your mental time horizon just 2 hours, something interesting happens…

While still considering the immediate pleasures and pains, you now also consider what you’ll be experiencing a couple of hours after you’ve eaten or completed a great workout.

With this slightly longer time horizon, eating the sugary snack starts to look more painful, on the whole; and the other options begin to look like they’ll net you a lot more pleasure.

Interesting.

Why A Longer Time Horizon Is So Critical

The above happens because of this very important fact: many actions we take have both specific immediate results AND other specific results that happen later.

The fact is that a sugary snack can not only give you a brief “high,” but may also cause you a sugar crash and unpleasant cravings for more in just a little while.

Another fact is that a healthy meal can have you feeling much more satisfied in two or three hours than you would have otherwise felt.

An intense workout can have you feeling invigorated, stress-reduced, and very satisfied with yourself long after the effort of the workout ends.

And a sustained pattern of healthy eating and exercise can produce compounded healthy and pleasurable outcomes far into the future.

All these outcomes follow as direct and real consequences of the actions you take. They are just as real as the immediate effects–the only difference is that they are experienced at some point in the future.

If you don’t think about them, they will still happen…so we need to start thinking about them.

Step-By-Step Guide to Making Your Time Horizon Work For You, Not Against You

1. Notice what your time horizon is currently.
2. Ask if your time horizon is realistic: is it long enough to consider the full set of real implications that you actions will create for you? If not, don’t worry; you have a lot of company. But it also means you have a great opportunity here.
3. Begin slowly working to make your time horizon more realistic for your life. Try extending your time horizon by just a little bit at a time. Just add a few minutes or hours. Over time, keep working to extend this further and further.

Always Remember…

The goal is not to “trick” yourself into doing what’s good for you…the goal is to realistically assess what longer-term effects are certain to result from your actions–just as surely as the immediate effects that you are used to considering.

You never need to deny the reality of the momentary pleasures…rather, just consider and feel the full extent of the real effects that you will be creating.

Your pleasure and pain are not enemies to your diet and workout routine–your time horizon is. Just give yourself a time horizon that makes sense–one that includes the fact that you will be living longer than the very next moment, and your pleasure and pain can guide you right where you want to go.

It works: we have an ongoing process we use with clients that helps them clarify and maintain an extended time horizon, and we’ve seen this result in fantastic improvements in both motivation and results.

Imagine the Future

The “difficult choices” become a lot easier–effortless, even.

It actually feels painful to do things you used to feel helpless to avoid because you were “a slave to pleasure.” Ha!

Imagine if you can extend your time horizon beyond 2 hours, beyond 2 weeks–to include the next 3 months, 1 year, even 20 years from now.

Now get started.

To health and life,
Chad Morris

I’m often asked what single exercise will deliver the most benefit the fastest.

Today, I’m going to answer that question.

What makes an exercise better?

Simply put, bigger is better. Let me explain…

The most productive exercise is the most intense exercise.

Two major criteria of what makes an exercise intense are:

1. It involves the greatest amount of muscle tissue possible (it’s the BIGGEST), and…

2. That big exercise is performed to the point of muscle failure–where you’ve “emptied the tank” of the energy in that big group of muscles.

If you use the two above criteria, you’ll have a single exercise that is more powerful than many people’s entire exercise routines.

Then, if you combine just a handful of exercises like this, you’ll have a routine to beat all routines.

Let’s take a quick look at how to actually use these two points in your workout:

1. What Exercises to Do

The traditional dead lift exercise is a single exercise that involves almost the entire body at once.

However, that exercise carries too high a risk of chronic injury for me to consider it healthy, so my pick for the single most productive exercise is: the leg press.

A leg press can work over half of the muscle mass of your entire body…all at once.

Now do a simple thought experiment: imagine how tired you’d get if you took your legs to complete exhaustion…how much work and focus that takes, and how winded and exhausted you’d feel. If you’ve never done this on a leg press machine, just imagine sprinting, and going as fast as you could until you literally couldn’t stand up any more.

Now, compare that with this:

Imagine if you attached a thick rubber band to the tip of your index finger, anchored it to your desk, and then did index finger curls until you couldn’t do any more.

Can you see, just from that thought experiment how different the metabolic effect would be on your whole body of those two exercises that involve different amounts of muscle tissue?

That’s the principle: select exercises that involve a LOT of muscle tissue.

I’d always make some version of a leg press the cornerstone of my workout routine. A couple of other great exercises to bring in are a chest press and a pull down.

2. How to Take Your Muscles to Exhaustion

Now that you’ve picked exercises that involve lots of muscle, if you only do a “comfortable” amount of work, then, once again, you’re not going to have a major metabolic effect, and you won’t see great results.

The trick here is what you think about and focus on. Stop worrying about whether you’re moving the weight–that’s a prescription for dissatisfaction and bad technique/injury. Only be satisfied when you’ve completely “emptied the tank” with your muscles…when you are trying with 100% effort, and there’s nothing left.

Get a friend, a trainer, a goal, whatever you need to do to challenge your comfort zone in this way on every exercise, every workout.

I’ve just given you the foundation of what it takes to get amazing results. Many of my clients have seen the best results of their lives using just 3-5 exercises, and training just once per week–because they got this foundation right.

If these principles aren’t already the foundation of your routine, what one step can you take today to move yourself closer? Think about it, write it down, and do it!

Building on the Foundation…

If you want someone to personally work with you to optimize all of the fitness variables, taking you from wherever you are right now to where you want to be, then contact me or my team today to find out how we can help you do just that. See the Introductory Workout link at the upper right to contact us.

What I learned isn’t some special “Mr. Miyagi” move. It’s a lot deeper, and a lot more important.

I learned a secret about HABITS, and I’ll explain my car story in just a second…

First, let me ask: what are YOUR habits?

Do you eat the same thing for lunch, go through the same exercise routine, and fall into bed at the same time each night?

OR maybe you’ve made a habit out of eating whatever looks good, avoiding the gym, and staying up as late as possible.

John Dryden famously said, “We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”

And Aristotle noticed that, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

So, one habit I have today is the habit of emptying my car of EVERY item that doesn’t belong every single time I get out of my car (every wrapper, piece of paper, etc.).

But it wasn’t always this way…my car used to perpetually have a mess of stuff that I’d “deal with later.” And it would get UGLY.

Then one day it occurred to me that if I always left my car with the same stuff I brought in, a mess of stuff could NEVER accumulate.

At first this idea felt TOO good to be true. You see, it really felt to me like a law of the universe that my car would accumulate stuff in it everywhere…in the visible areas and the hidden areas.

But as I thought it over, I saw that the ONLY relevant law of the universe was that the stuff that piled up in my car was a result of my actions.

The logic of the idea was airtight; NOTHING could ever appear spontaneously appear in my car that I didn’t bring in with me. Therefore, if I exited with everything I brought in, nothing would EVER accumulate.

At that moment, I decided to always get out of my car with everything that I’d brought in. What I had effectively done was to decide to make a HABIT.

And you know what? Almost like a miracle, it WORKED.

I have had a completely clean car for YEARS since that day. I have NEVER again had to clean out a bunch of junk from my car that didn’t belong.

That simple habit has kept the interiors of my cars nice, clean environments–environments that that I enjoy getting into every day.

Now, I want you to think about what new habits might have a major effect on YOUR physical health, fitness, and appearance.

What is ONE key exercise or diet habit that would make a huge difference if you made that habit a part of who you are?

Even if such new habit seem impossible or “not you” right now, just focus on where the logic is SOUND…where if you did that action habitually, you WOULD see the outcome you really want.

Now I promised you better abs in the title of this newsletter. What fundamentally controls how good your abs look is how well you treat your WHOLE body.

There’s NO single exercise that can make your abs alone look better if you’re in bad shape.

You can forget anything you might have heard on late-night TV. It doesn’t work.

BUT if you do what is necessary to get your whole body in great shape, your abs will SUDDENLY look amazing right along with everything else.

It DOES work, and It happens without doing anything extra.

If you aren’t happy with ANY particular part of your body or level of fitness, then your greatest leverage is to work on your general HABITS in diet and exercise.

You CAN form new habits; and you have in the past. If you think about your life today, you probably have several habits that you didn’t have 10 or 15 or 20 years ago.

What is one habit you would like to have 10 or 15 years from now?

Maybe it’s the habit of never buying junk food at the grocery store
Maybe it’s the habit of never storing any junk food in fridge or freezer or pantry.
Maybe it’s the habit of avoiding all sugars and refined carbs at every meal out.
Maybe it’s the habit of exercising to real exhaustion once or twice per week.
Maybe it’s the habit of bringing your own healthy lunch to work.
Maybe it’s the sleep habit of being in bed with the lights out at the same time every night.

Those are just ideas…decide what YOU need. And feel free to write to me and tell me what you came up with. Maybe you have something good I could share with my clients and readers.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I think it’s not normal for a new habit to get established instantly. It DID work that way with my car emptying habit, but that’s the exception. That example shows how simple and effective habits are, but we’re usually going to have to make at least 10 or 20 attempts before a new habit really sticks. ACCEPT this fact, and be ready for what it takes.

Because of the above point, I recommend WRITING your habit down. Figure out how you’ll be reminded of the habit you want…reminded consistently until it’s really “stuck” and has become a part of you.

You might need some tricks or motivation to stick with the habit. You’ll figure out what you need to do once you set your mind to it.

It might take a while to establish, and it might be fast. Either way, the sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll arrive.

Start today.

Good luck, and I’ll talk to you again soon.

Oh, and if you need help locking in your habit of working out regularly, click on the “Introductory Workout” link above, to learn more about how we might be able to help.

To health and life,

Chad Morris