How to Keep Fit like a Pro
Billionaire Warren Buffet, also known as the Oracle of Omaha for his uncanny understanding of international stock markets, has an interesting theory regarding his success; he says it has more to do with him being fortunate enough to have a head start in life than with being a brilliant economist. He calls it winning the ovarian lottery. It’s a controversial theory, and you might be wondering what it has to do with your health and fitness.
Well, plenty! You see, at the heart of it, fitness is not much different from economics. Millions of people invest in the stock markets every day, but just a handful get to make the millions, just like millions of people work out religiously but few have the body to show for it. The difference lies in inside knowledge or in layman’s language the trick of the trade.
Inside knowledge of any subject is what makes the difference between simply working hard and better and working smart. For instance, what gives your fitness instructor the edge over you in gym? Why does he have a six-pack, and you a family pack, as one friend of mine would like to refer to his belly? What does he do to his arms to give him that killer muscle tone, when you can barely wave to a friend without your triceps jiggling? You’re right, he’s got inside knowledge.
You too, can access that knowledge by training like a fitness professional in order to look like one. So here are some tips to help you get ahead, even if you were not lucky enough to win the ovarian lottery at birth.
Group fitness sessions /classes
Let me give you a glimpse into the life of one trainer I know. On Mondays and Tuesdays, he teaches yoga. On Wednesdays, he teaches spinning on bicycles. On Fridays and Saturdays, he teaches both the Swiss ball and yoga. What’s the moral of the story? Practically every day of the week he is in one type of group fitness class or another. This is his personal secret to maintaining a flat abdomen and toned body. When you participate in a great group fitness session, you feed off the collective energy, and often that energy is infectious enough to push you away beyond your own mental limitations into a new realm.
The other thing about classes is that they offer great variety, both in terms of cardiovascular exercise and strength training. Endless variety means that you never get bored and your body never adapts to the same routine.
The result can be summaries in one word: progress. You are not a machine and you will most likely get bored like everybody else. There will be morning you will not want to see the inside of a gym. If you are going to make any meaningful progress in this fitness game, you have to find something to motivate you. Attend classes; implore your best friend to join you in your training sessions. Try your hand at a new activity. Buy an iPod and load it with some great tracks. Do whatever it takes to get in the right frame of mind to keep your body moving from January to December. Like in a marathon race, your body only takes you two-thirds of the way; the rest of it is up to your mind.
Transforming your physique is like running a marathon. When those bad days come round and your body tells you to curl up under your blanket and sleep another hour, it takes a strong mind to break the cycle and say, I am going out jogging this morning, by all means.” That, dear friends, is where the transformation starts. Keep fit.
