Check out any magazine rack in the store and you are bound to see “so and so’s” famous workout that got them to the Olympics, or landed them a new role in a movie, or got them super shredded for a photo-shoot.
Here’s the thing that I’m here to break to you: I doubt you can do it. Yup, Mr. Positivity over here just told you that you cannot do something.
Maybe thats a little harsh, I’m 100% sure you can TRY to do it. But will you look like them? Will you remotely come close to looking like them, or performing like them? Unlikely.
Honestly, the workouts that they put in magazines are often just a quick snapshot of one half of one workout they did one time.
Let’s take a deeper look…
1) You do not have their life
These people get paid to perform, or look damn good. They are able to commit 24/7 to that goal. You might have kids to take around, a job that takes up 9 hours of your day, a loved one you are caring for, etc.
Often times they train for 5-7 days per week, for 2 hours a day, multiple times per day. And thats just the training.
What you can do: Find time in your schedule and make working out a priority 3-4 days per week. Hit your body with full body workouts, throw in some cardio/conditioning work that doesn’t make your joints feel like they are gonna explode, and stick to it. Consistency with a schedule will ALWAYS provide better results then on/off working out/missing a week here and there.
2) Do you eat like them? Are you willing to?
For many athletes, they eat huge amounts of calories to maintain performance and their physique, and to fuel their intense workouts.
For many cover models, bodybuilders, etc. they eat epic amounts of food, then cut it all out to get photoshoot ready – along with taking some choice drugs to really help with the results.
We have all heard that Michael Phelps eats 10-12,000 calories per day, AND stays ripped! He also is arguably the best swimmer of all time, and trains his butt off.
For cover models (photoshop aside), they often do less than healthy things to cut out every ounce of fat on their body, including – starvation, water pills, carb cutting, water loading then unloading, sweat suits in saunas, eating chicken and rice 24/7…and many other not so fun techniques.
Lastly, a lot of these people have professionals planning their meals out for them, AND cooking for them. Wouldn’t that be nice, and make everything a lot easier?
What you can do: Figure out your goals, and figure out your caloric intake needed to reach your goals. Use professional resources (ME) to work with you on creating nutrition plans that will get you to your goals, without taking up your entire day, budget, or life. Start by looking WHERE you are currently at for your intake. Want to lose weight? Then eat less than you are now. Want to gain weight? Eat more.
3) You don’t take time to do the “unsexy” things of health.
Do you sleep 8-9 hours per night? Do you avoid alcohol? Do you stretch, get regular massage, work with sports med doctors, take advantage off all the great recovery modalities out there?
Probably not.
The truth is, these people have teams around them that take care of every single aspect of their well being. Need a massage now? Done. Need to get in for some dry needling? Easy. Need 9 hours of sleep every night? Doable.
Back to point 1, they have a much different life than you.
What you can do: Don’t forget to give appropriate time for a warmup before you workout. The point of a warmup is to WARM UP you body – not just do a few arm circles and call it good. Your body temp should be elevated, and maybe even a little sweat in showing up on your brow.
Post workout, give yourself time to stretch, or foam roll if needed. If you take the time to warmup, cool down, stretch, and roll, you will be ahead of 99% of the people who workout, and much further from injury.
I’m not saying that you can’t look like a cover model, I’m just saying it’s much harder than those magazines will tell you – and can be much more expensive, time consuming, and even unhealthy.
Figure out what you can do with your time (you might have to reprioritize things, but you have time) and do it well and consistently.
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Stay healthy my friends,