Consuming fitness content could be stopping you from seeing the results you’re after.
Look – I’m not against fitness content.
I’ve lost 50 pounds twice in my life.
Built a decent amount of muscle and strength on a previously skinny frame, and a big chunk of what I’ve learned has been self-directed through fitness content.
I’ve even created fitness content that’s been viewed by millions of people this year alone.
But the majority of fitness content floating around on the internet is not going to be helpful for you.
Here are four things you should keep in mind when you’re consuming fitness content to help you actually get better results instead of just wasting your time.
The internet is only a waste of time if you use it that way.
Here’s one example of someone who’s learned a lot this year:
Principles vs Tactics
The first thing to keep in mind when you’re watching or reading fitness content is to understand whether you’re learning principles or you are learning tactics.
Most of what’s shared online is fast paced little tactics and strategies designed to give you a quick hit of dopamine and make you feel like you’re learning something because we only have your attention for a very short period of time.
But what you really want to have first is a deep understanding of the fundamental principles that drive your results in the first place.
Otherwise, you just have a disconnected map of fragmented, bits of information.
Five hacks to get more out of your back workouts.
Four tips to eat more protein each day.
Learn the fundamentals first.
We covered the fundamentals of both fat loss and muscle growth a couple weeks ago in What I’d Do If I Was Starting Over at 30% Body Fat
When you come across a tactic or a strategy in a book or in a YouTube video, you can categorize it properly.
Understanding is the engine and the chassis of the car.
There’s no use having a spoiler without those.
One Mile Wide, One Inch Deep
Most fitness content focuses on surface level education surrounding working out, nutrition, and lifestyle.
But is that really what’s holding you back?
Do you actually need another list of the seven best exercises for your chest?
Your lack of progress does not come from a lack of knowledge.
You probably know at least one thing you can do in order to start building muscle and losing fat, you just haven’t been able to do it consistently.
But there’s more to fitness than just sets, reps, calories, and protein.
Getting in shape, losing weight, and getting healthy isn’t just a difficult physical task.
It requires you to make a big decision that has a deep emotional and psychological root.
That’s why I share my story where I talk about how I was out of shape. I was overworked and stressed out. I felt like a loser and none of my clothes fit.
I was unhappy with myself until I got in shape.
I lost fifty pounds and it changed my life forever.
You can’t get the body you want without becoming the type of person who has that body.
I haven’t talked about this much, but I run a coaching program for guys with big weight loss goals.
It’ll help you lose your lower back fat, man boobs, and belly fat.
Workout plan, nutrition guide, accountability and support is all included.
You can start your 7-day free trial by clicking here
I’ll be closing the doors in September.
It’s inexpensive at the moment, but I’ll be increasing it in the future.
In any case…
You might feel like you’ve tried everything.
Nothing has seemed to work.
You don’t want to waste your time, feel frustrated, judged, or embarrassed trying again.
Maybe you don’t need another workout video or another meal prep video, but you need to make a decision that you’re going to commit to getting in shape no matter what it takes.
Ignite that blowtorch of inspiration and motivation.
Decide that you’re going to succeed, even if it’s going to take some time.
Know there’s going to be difficulties and there’s going to be setbacks, but you’re just going to return to the process and keep moving forward.
So maybe you just need to sit down and get real with yourself.
Make the decision.
Decide that you’re going to come back with your shield or on it.
Wrong Person, Wrong Message, Wrong Time
It doesn’t matter if I tell you exactly what you need to hear, when you need to hear it, if you don’t trust me.
Even if you did trust me and I was telling you exactly what you needed to hear, if you aren’t ready to absorb that lesson, then it’s lost on you.
You might also be consuming content that doesn’t apply to your life.
Odds are good that you are not a bodybuilder and you don’t need to live like a bodybuilder in order to get some of the results that you want.
So watching people do extreme workouts and diets will always seem unrealistic to you because it just doesn’t line up with what you want out of your life.
Similarly, you could be watching all kinds of “health” content and biohacking gurus.
Blue light glasses, alkaline water, seed oils, and all this other bullshit.
When in reality, you just need to get your total calorie intake in control and you’ll start losing the fat and feel 100x better.
A good antidote to this is to get specific on the exact problem you’re trying to solve.
Is it that you don’t know how to train to build more muscle?
Or is it that you don’t know what you should be doing to lose body fat?
Just define the problem and then you can start solving it.
And if you’re really not sure what you should be doing to transform your body, then grab my free guide to losing fat while building muscle
I even included a free audio book portion of it so you can listen while you go for a walk.
You’re Not Applying
Sometimes the advice you need to hear is just stop being a little bitch.
You know deep down when you’re being soft on yourself.
You don’t need another hack to help you manage your hunger.
You just need to accept it to realize that it wasn’t all that bad in the first place.
Doing hard things, expands your potential for doing hard things.
There are a thousand effective ways to set up your training, but until you get in the gym and actually start training, none of them are going to make sense.
And definitely none of them are going to work for you.
Sometimes this is the message you need to hear.
It’s not your wife’s fault
it’s not your kid’s fault
it’s not your job
it’s not your metabolism
it’s not your bad shoulder
It’s. fucking. you.
You are the thing holding yourself back from being successful.
Instilling a habit of “doing the thing” is the best way around this.
Do the thing even when you’re not 100 percent ready for it.
Do the thing even when you’re tired or frustrated.
Do the thing even when you don’t want to do the thing.
And don’t do anything until you do the thing.
Watching videos is not doing the thing.
And feeling bad about not doing the thing is not doing the thing.
You just have to do the fucking thing and do the thing for at least 30 days before you stop doing the thing.
Otherwise, you’re not really doing the thing, are you?
This is a big part of how you succeed if you plan on coaching yourself.
I built a whole module in Four Point Fat Loss on self-coaching.
It’s what I do for my nutrition and I love it.
Information overload is a bitch
It’s easy to see various programs and always think the grass is greener on the other side.
You keep ping-ponging from decision to decision.
Never fully sticking with something and giving it an honest go.
Then you learn something new and get pulled in another direction.
That crushes your odds of success.
It’s not that the plan sucks.
You sucked at working the plan.
Most things will work if you do.
Hope you all have an excellent weekend.
I’m off to the lake for our annual family vacation this week.
Talk soon,
Matteo
