Like Financial Independence There’s More Than One Way To Get In Shape

Did you make a new year’s resolution to get in shape in 2019?  Maybe get a new gym membership and really start taking your health seriously?  Well, we’re two weeks into the new year, how’s it going so far?

The Mad Fientist put out a podcast about working out in December last year which I thought was really great. His episodes are always great and you should check him out if he’s not on your podcast list.

However, like all advice, it’s not going to hit the sweet spot for everyone, and that’s okay.  Nothing does. 

So I want to give my take on working out and getting fit, since what worked for me and what resonates with me is a bit different than the advice given in that podcast.  As a reminder, I’m a guy who grew up as a fat kid and lost 60 pounds as an adult.  So I feel I have some credibility in the fact that at least I totally transformed my own body.  That in turn transformed my entire life. 

The focus of the advice in the MF podcast was solely about lifting weights, in a gym.  To be clear upfront – everything the guest said in the podcast is true!  Lifting weights is an incredibly efficient way to get in shape, lose weight, and get stronger and healthier. 

But it’s not for everyone.  Why?

• What if you don’t like lifting weights?
• What if you don’t like exercising inside and would rather be outdoors? 
• What if you don’t want to pay money every month to exercise? 
• What if you’re very overweight and are conscious and intimidated of being looked at or judged by fit people in a gym?

Again, I’m not saying it wasn’t a good podcast.  I love his stuff and I think the message in the podcast could work for a large segment of the population very well.  I do lift weights, sometimes.

But here’s the thing, you don’t have to pay a monthly membership fee to a gym to work out or to get in shape.  The very reason that a lot of people say they want to go to the gym – to be motivated by others – is the same reason tons of other people stay away. 

Because they feel like they’re going to be ashamed to be around healthy people, or will be ridiculed.  Because they’re overweight, or feel unattractive.  To these people gyms are intimidating and create anxiety. 

Plus, gyms are expensive.  The average gym membership costs between $40 and $50 a month.  That doesn’t include the annual fee.  Most people pay about $800 a year total.  That’s crazy.

On top of all of that, you probably have to drive or take time to get to a gym, creating yet another hurdle to prevent you from working out.  

For me personally, gyms are indoors and thus confining.  They play horrendously bad music, loudly.  They have machines with other people’s sweat on them, and they smell.

I just don’t like any of that.  I like working out outside, which means running, cycling, climbing, and even doing my plyometrics and weightlifting out on my patio.

Bottom line – you don’t have to go to a gym and pay all that money to get in shape. 

 

Make It Your Lifestyle, Not A Task To Do

The key thing is to do something that you will continue doing.  Which means do something that you like.  My best advice in one sentence is:  

Find a way to make a strenuous fitness activity part of your lifestyle and your social circle.

If you don’t like any type of exercise, do the stuff that you hate the least.  Pretending that you’re going to continue going to a gym if you loathe gyms is setting your self up for another failed resolution. 

Likewise, pretending that your going to continue riding a bike if you’re not jazzed on bikes is also probably a bad idea.  Health and fitness need to be part of your life, so your main job is to figure out what activities and environment can fit in your life – and stay in your life. 

That latter part is the key.  If your fitness activity doesn’t stay a core part of your life you’ll just drift back to your old, unhealthy self.

It’s the same reason diets don’t work.  Inherent in the word “diet” is the assumption that it’s a temporary change to lose weight. 

Nada, won’t work.  You need to permanently change the way you eat. 

And remember that all movement helps and counts.  So make walking or biking your lifestyle when feasible, instead of using a car.  Make stairs your lifestyle, not elevators.  Make a rake, not a leaf-blower, your lifestyle. 

Unless you have 10 acres of course.

 

We’re Not All Made Of The Same Stuff

Probably the main reason I don’t like lifting weights and gravitated towards endurance activities is because I have mostly slow twitch muscles.  This means I can lift and lift and I don’t really bulk up much.  Lifting, however, still helps boost my metabolism and has tremendous benefits for me.  So I still do it once a week.  

But I found out in my 30’s that my muscles are really good at going the distance, aka slow twitch.  I’m talking very long outings at a strenuous level.  A perfect fit for running, cycling, and mountaineering.  Being strong does not necessarily mean you are “fit”, and vice-versa.  

I’ve been on quite a few mountain climbing trips where the bulky weight lifting guys didn’t last past the first 2 hours up the mountain, with 6 hours left to go.  They were wiped and had to turn around, while I wasn’t even breathing hard.  I’m not trying to be boastful in saying that, they were far more muscular than me.  But they were fast twitch muscle guys. 

I was jealous of their biceps, and they were jealous of my resting heart rate.   

If you only lift weights you’re not training your heart to work out for longer periods of time. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t get healthy lifting weights though!!  If you don’t seek to do hobbies or things that require extended periods of effort like hiking or climbing and do them at a relatively high level, then that’s okay.  Lifting weights to stay healthy is probably all you need. 

I like to climb big mountains.  Lifting weights is not enough to get me (more accurately my heart) to the fitness needed to do that.

 

How It Became My Lifestyle

How did outdoor endurance activities become my lifestyle, and what can you take away from my experience?

I chose endurance sports as my lifestyle fitness activity because: 

• My body is mostly slow twitch muscles so I’m better suited for them.
• I’m pretty good at them. 
• Once I noticed that I was pretty good at them, I started liking them. 

And remember – you have to like the activities you use to stay healthy, or you won’t stick with them. 

Next thing you know I was going on group runs and bike rides with 30 or 40 people and I started gaining a big social circle around these activities.  Now a large portion of my closest friends also pursue these activities.  And they kick my ass and motivate me on a daily basis. 

I won’t dare miss the big 50 mile ride on Sunday when I know some of my best friends are going to be there.  Part of it is accountability, but also, who doesn’t want to see their friends?  It gives me a much easier reason to show up.

Poof, just like that these healthy activities became a core part of my life.  They’re not things I do, they’re who I am and a big part of of my social life. 

Big difference.  Going back to the comment about dieting, I can say that endurance activities are not my diet, they’re the way I eat.

The Mad Fientist podcast was very gym-centric and “bulk-up” centric.  And it’s a proven way to get healthy and supercharge your metabolism.  It’s just not the way that I could make my lifestyle.

All of those things I just wrote about my journey could hold true for you and for lifting weights in a gym.  Different strokes for different folks. 

You might find that you’re a really good power-lifter and take to it more.  Maybe you’ll set new dead lift PR’s every few months.  Next thing you know you establish a great group of lifting friends who become part of your social circle.  That’s where the magic happens and the “lifestyle” part kicks in! 

If that’s you then my best advice is run with it – pay the gym membership.  If there’s anything worth spending $800 a year on it’s your health.  It’ll be totally worth it!! 

We in the financial independence community like to say personal finance is called that for a reason – because it is personal.  What works for others might not work for you.  My goal with this post was to show that you don’t have to follow one prescribed method to get healthier and in better shape.

Find a way to make a strenuous fitness activity part of your lifestyle and your social circle.  Do this and you will win the game.