Fast Fitness Foundations

Jonathan Woods
Apr 8, 2021
3 min read

The title to this post is inspired by something fun that happened this week that made my day.

One of my group personal training clients said she wants to name Wednesdays, “Tiny Waist Wednesday”. Brilliant! She brought the effort to look at today’s workout with a light-hearted view, and having a laugh over the name made it all the more enjoyable for myself and the group.

Having small positive experiences like this, as consistently as possible, leads to long term results.

But maybe today you’re not feeling so positive, and thats OK.

Maybe you looked in the mirror this morning and wondered, “how did i get here?”. Well, this ones for you. However far in the less-desirable direction we go, and whatever happened lately that made us feel like we’ve had enough, then its time to let the past be the past.

Here’s a powerful action process one can take to get back on track immediately.

Finding Motivation: Why makes you want to get back into shape, or into shape for the first time? There’s no correct or incorrect answer. This is about you and what drives you.

Whatever it is, if its written down, it can be kept where it can be seen as a powerful reminder. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it can be changed and updated any time.

Bonus tip: there’s something called extrinsic motivation (such as wanting to lose 5 lbs to get back in the dating game) and intrinsic motivation (such as enjoying a good song during a workout). According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, intrinsic motivation is king when it comes to sticking with a fit lifestyle long-term, so here are some ways to keep intrinsic motivation going:

Writing down on a sticky note one thing that motivates you to exercise
Setting an alarm early in the morning that prompts you to schedule a time to workout that day BEFORE any potential obstacles might slow you down.
Finding and checking in with a workout buddy that keeps you on track

Get an Education: As I’m sure you already know, we need to exercise AND eat right to achieve the body of our dreams, not do just one or the other. Do you know how to do this on a consistent and long term basis? If not, you need to start somewhere.

Here are two options to solve this:

Hire someone to guide you, such as a certified personal trainer, registered dietician, or other qualified fitness professional (cost: money)
Learn it yourself, from reputable sources such as dietaryguidelines.gov, health.gov, many books, collegiate courses, etc. (Cost: time)

In my experience, a combination of both worked the best for both myself and my clients. Where do your resources and time go?

Seek Support: Change of any kind, let alone getting a six pack or doing a pull-up for the first time, takes time and effort. Without support, its challenging to maintain consistent time and effort towards change.

After over a decade and hundreds of hours training clients at gyms and online, I’ve concluded that fitness success comes from three main components: Education, Planning, and Support.

Today I’ve shown you where to get the education. From there, you can create your plan based on that education, but how will you stick to the plan?

That’s where support comes in. Its very possible that the people around you currently are not supporting you to be better, and maybe they’re even holding you back. However they relate to you, you might tell them your goals and who you want to be. Are they there for you?

At any time you can make the bold decision to seek out new connections with people that raise you up to that higher level.

If you need me, I will gladly be there to support your fitness journey. Feel free to call or email me to get started on your new fit you.

Yours in Wellness, Jonathan Woods, MS, CPT CEO and Founder, Partner Wellness, LLC PartnerWellness.com 305-396-1139