I have a running question that I like to ask people early on in their fitness journey:
“How long do you have to train to look like you’ve been training for 10 years?”
This can be formed into other similar questions as well:
“How long does it take to develop 20 years of training knowledge?”
“How many hours of coaching is needed to acquire 10,000 hours of coaching experience?
These are rhetorical questions but they are meant to emphasize the necessity of consistency over longer periods of time. This is, of course, a stark contrast to the typical health and fitness messaging where everything is a “hack” or a shortcut designed to bypass the need for persistence. Constantly focusing on doing things the fastest or easiest way will always be a distraction from doing things the right way or the best way.
A fellow gym owner had a great quote that summarized this way of doing things quite well:
“We never have the time or money to do it the right way, but always have the time and money to do it the wrong way over and over again.” – Jeff Jucha
Building fitness takes time and consistency. This can be a frustrating reality when we want results quickly and it can be devastating realization if the need for fitness is necessary in an instant but isn’t there. Most people don’t find themselves in life or death situations where their fitness is the determining factor, but some people do. Some people are facing that situation right now with regards to Covid-19. Even if that situation never occurs for you, you will be faced with situations where your fitness will affect your mood, your stress, your work ethic, your mindset, and many other non-life-threatening but incredibly important aspects of your life. And, if you need it, and don’t have it, you can’t gain it in that instance. So, better to start focusing on doing it the right way now than to face the consequences of doing it the wrong way over and over again.