Here’s something most people don’t know about gym owners and personal trainers:
Most of us struggle with our workouts.
This is shocking to most people, because owners and trainers have unlimited access (many of us practically live at our gyms) and all the knowledge we need. Plus–we have passion for working out, right?
We struggle not in spite of that stuff, but because of it. There are simply too many things we COULD do. We’re overwhelmed with options.
For example, I’ve ruined hundreds of my own workouts over the years. Here’s how they went off track:
1 – I’d write a beautiful program to get myself results.
2 – I’d warm up, excited to start.
3 – Between sets, I’d write my reps…and then wonder if I could make them better.
4 – Between the first and second exercise, I’d have an idea to add something else.
5 – I’d change the day’s plan, removing one thing and adding another. Then I’d second-guess that decison.
6 – I’d beat myself up for not seeing my plan through, and quit in frustration before completing one workout.
Or maybe the phone would ring, or I’d remember a business task left undone, or find some other excuse to bail.
As Derek Sivers said, “If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”
Many longtime trainers hire a coach or follow someone else’s program for this reason.
So what programs do the trainers and gym owners follow?
The most successful exercise programs in recent years–the ones with fast adoption AND staying power–they have three things in common:
1 – They focus on action instead of info (Do)
2 – They tell you exactly what to do (This)
3 – They give you one step at a time (Now).
Two examples: CrossFit and 75Hard.
If Greg Glassman had written a book, CrossFit would never have caught on. Every ‘expert’ in the industry would have said “Don’t buy that book. It won’t work!”
Instead, he published one workout per day on his blog, starting in 2001. Every day was Do. This. Now.
(And report your results.)
One workout for everyone, with weights included. Here’s a picture from 2004:
75Hard – This IS a book–one followed by (and praised) by gym owners and trainers who are themselves overwhelmled by optionality. Everything is chunked down to small, doable steps–and repeated. Every day, for 75 days, followers must:
- Follow a diet.
- Complete two 45-minute workouts (one outdoors)
- Drink 1 gallon of water
- Take a progress picture
- Read 10 pages of of a book.
That’s it: nothing fancy. Just “Do. This. Now.”
(And the same again tomorrow.)
Simple prescription improves outcome by removing distracting optionality.
This is why the Simple Six works–and sometimes works even better when broken down into daily directives.
I have a cycling coach, and I attend group CrossFit classes at my gym. I don’t create my own workouts, even though I could. Because I don’t want to spend the time creating the workouts, or the energy second-guessing them.
My gym has a business mentor (through my own mentorship practice, Two-Brain Business) because I don’t want my manager to try and figure this out on her own, or reinvent the wheel. Her mentor tells her exactly what to do, and when – and I don’t have to micromanage her.
As business coaches and mentors, we could all spend less time teaching ideas and more time being prescriptive. “Do. This. Now.” produces the fastest outcomes.
What are some other examples?
