Issue #54

1) 7 ways to stay consistent when you’re busy.
2) The most time efficient type of exercise.
3) 7 reasons to train when you don’t feel like it.
4) Exercise of the week: Negative Dips.

Read time: 3.9 minutes

Good day Disciples of Steel,

“It’s hard to keep the weight on when you train this hard.”

I never thought I’d be quoting Jake Paul but here I am.

Exercise burns calories, and exercise could be the only thing you need to change to lose weight.

Sure, it works as long as you burn more calories than you consume, and you will always need to get this equation right.

But there are people who’ve been trying to tell you that working out makes no difference, that it’s all in the diet, and that all the hard work you put in at the gym is pointless…

Why? Because they sell something else. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And as they get called out on their BS more and more, they go so far as to label walking and house chores as “non-exercise” activities.

Playing with semantics to pretend they never lied.

Moving = exercising. And it burns calories.

It makes you lose weight.

You may or may not take Jake Paul seriously, but if you watch his Netflix documentary you’ll see that he did train like crazy and found it very hard to stay heavy enough to face Mike Tyson, despite eating as much as he could.

I’m not saying you need to train that hard, I’m just saying exercise works.

And that’s a fact.

If you’re not so much of a diet person, remember losing weight doesn’t have to be all about cutting calories, burning them works too.

So here’s a new edition of Discipline of Steel, where I’m going to teach you how to make sure you get all the exercise you need even if you’re a very busy professional or parent.

Let’s start!

Ask The Coach

If you need help or have a question about your training, all you have to do is send me a message, and I’ll reply to you personally! 🤜🤛

1. 7 ways to stay consistent when you’re busy.

They say lift weights and you’ll live longer.
Sounds great, but how do you actually do that when your schedule is unpredictable?

Here are 7 tips to get in shape when time is a challenge.

1) Split your workouts in 2.
You could do cardio and strength separately and only need 2 x 20 minutes a day when 40 minutes at once is not possible.

2) Work out first thing in the morning to avoid the usual last minute cancelation.
This can only work if you have a gym at home in my experience.

3) Schedule your sleep before anything else.
Block 8 hours for bedtime first, then organize the rest of your routine around it.
A short workout is still effective if you sleep enough. The opposite isn’t true.

4) Always walk and take the stairs, unless it’s really not an option.
This keeps you physically engaged even when you’re not exercising.

5) Keep dumbbells or light equipment in your desk for micro sessions of 15 minutes.

6) Do cardio meetings (works great if your cardio equipment has an iPad slot).

7) Learn the Grease the Groove method, where you spread strength sets throughout the day. (see video below)

nicosaar

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2. The most time efficient type of exercise.

Are you a busy professional working out at home?
Learn to design effective and time efficient workouts with compound exercises.

These exercises train multiple joints or muscles at the same time and are usually more functional.

But don’t let these fancy words scare you.
Even if you’re a beginner, doing compound exercises at low intensity is probably the most suitable training method for you.

Not only does training several muscle groups at once save you time, it will also fix a number of issues that come with your office lifestyle.

Plus, this type of training is usually done with free weights and small equipment you can keep at home.

They will help you:
·      Save time
·      Save space
·      Get strong
·      Fix your posture
·      Build an athletic physique

Examples of compound exercises include:
·      Squats
·      Deadlifts
·      Shoulder Press
·      Push-ups
·      Pull-ups

PS: 99% of the exercises I teach in the Enso Bodyweight Training System are compound exercises.

*Poll*

3. 7 reasons why you should train when you don’t feel like it.

Or why tough day workouts are often the most important.
(Number 4 is what scares me the most.)

1) You feel much better after finishing a workout on a bad day than you do on a good day.

2) Consistency is more important than intensity, it’s better to show up even if you take it easy.

3) Maintaining the habit is key. A habit gets stronger on difficult days.

4) You don’t want to lose the progress you made previously.

5) Discipline is a muscle and it’s trained on bad days.

6) Working out on bad days builds resilience.

7) Finishing something you didn’t want to do increases your self-confidence.

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4. Exercise of the week: Negative Dips.

It’s been a while since I introduced a “negative” exercise.

For those of you who don’t know it yet, “negatives” consist in performing only the eccentric phase of a movement.

Did I just try to explain a word by using a more complicated one? Oops.
I guess you’ll learn 2 words today then.

Most movements can be split in 2 phases: contracting (concentric) and relaxing (eccentric), or loading (eccentric) and exerting (concentric).

To perform these negative dips for example, you’ll only do the “relaxing” phase of the movement, where you start with straight arms and let yourself lower down.

Your job is to work against gravity and make that movement as slow as you can.

This will help you train all the muscles necessary to perform a dip, even if you don’t have the strength to push yourself up (concentric phase) yet.

It is particularly effective when you’ve hit a plateau to kickstart your progress again.

Click this link for the full YouTube video and instructions.

Fitness News

1. Cardiorespiratory Fitness vs. BMI – This article discusses the significance of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) as a more reliable indicator of health risks, such as heart disease and mortality, compared to Body Mass Index (BMI). Research emphasizes focusing on improving CRF for better long-term health outcomes.
   Read the full article

2. Holiday Fitness Gift Guide – A curated list of top fitness equipment and athletic gear perfect for holiday gifting, including innovative workout gadgets, apparel, and home gym essentials for fitness enthusiasts.
   Read the full article

3. Investigation on Fitness Event Funding – An investigation into taxpayer money spent on a weekly fitness event in Corpus Christi, highlighting financial transparency concerns and the initiative's health-focused objectives.
   Read the full article

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I hope you found some useful tips and motivation in today's edition.

Please share your feedback and help me improve my content for everyone!

A great way to do this is by sending me a message with a personal question you have about training.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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