The Simple Base Plan
There are so many perspectives out there when it comes to what to do when you are ready to make a fitness change. At 50-100Fitness.com we believe there is one simple base plan to long term optimal health. This one way is also the same for EVERYONE. It absolutely is a “one size fits all” method. With that being stated clearly, please do not attempt to follow any of 50-100Fitness.com advice without first consulting your doctor. Also, while working towards the understanding of this concept, the word “fitness” describes improvement in the triad of Mind, Body, and Spirit. Understanding that life balance is of the three (mind, body, and spirit) is the prerequisite of your success in this method.
Research the Matrix
There is an endless supply of research on the internet. You can watch hundreds of videos, read tons of books, and listen to endless podcasts on the subject of physical fitness, then watch more videos, read more books, and listen to even more podcasts on self-improvement, which eventually translates to mind-improvement. You can also research deeply into spiritual awakening. We have found that success in understanding each of these aspects of our lives can be made in a very similar method of improvement. Each of them takes consistency and repetition. Tapping into each of them can be achieved with simple focus and the key to this focus is just beneath the surface of a thin layer of social programming. It is accurate to say that it is a thin layer that can be overcome with work, but unfortunately for most people it is so transparent that just seeing, or admitting, that you’ve been dupped by societal programming will keep you from even reading the rest of this method. If any of this resonates with you, please continue.
Jumping back into the Matrix so we don’t lose you here, just know that there is a natural battle for the spirit that is controlled by the mind, and our physical fitness is the gateway to the path of contentment, happiness, and longevity.
You may be saying, “Okay, Okay, I just want great abs!”… and that’s okay too, because this is an eventual pathway to great abs too!
So, you are now at the starting point. You have made the decision to do something and you want to know what to do. As already revealed, the secret is your minimum and the work is in your purpose.
Your Purpose
Your purpose is probably the hardest part of the entire method. What do you want? Is great abs REALLY what you are after? Is getting into a smaller size pants really a bid deal? We all feel better for a few seconds when we turn with the right angle in the mirror, but that is doesn’t last too long. For me, when I take all things into consideration, I wanted to FEEL BETTER. To feel better means that your body works in
a more optimal way. For your body to work in a more optimal way, you must get stronger. To be stronger takes consistency and repetition.
Even more than feeling better now… I want to feel better in the future. I want to be able to function and live life when I am 100 years old. I want to be able to sit up, stand up, and push someone away from me in self-defense as well as move well enough to run into or out of danger if I want. I need these things to be self-sufficient and live the life I am now used to. So, that is where I started.
I’ve struggled over the years to stay consistent. In my 30’s, I would workout miserably with not enough sleep and go so hard that I was so sore and just miserable in the gym. Because I was trying to look good and not feel good, I would only stay active for short periods of time.
Just before I turned 50 years old, a friend of mine recommended I read the James Clear book “Atomic Habits”. I changed my life. Okay, I listened to the audio book, but it still changed my life!
According to the author, the most significant difference between any normal person and an elite athlete is not the intensity of their training or even their skill, but more the attitude towards developing the skill. Again, not the training, but the attitude towards the training. I’ve always been an athlete, but was WAY out of shape. It was so clear to me that I don’t have to be an elite athlete, but what will it hurt to act like one? The attitude I was missing was deciding consistency under any circumstance.
WHY?
And WHY? My why is most likely your why as well. I wanted to be prepared to live longer. I told myself that the only way I can be consistent is to do something EVERYDAY. If I am going to do something EVERYDAY, it has be something reasonable that I can do when I am 100 years old. So, here is the decision you now get to make. What do you think you will be able to do as a minimum routine everyday even when you are 100 years old. I know in my heart that at 100 I will be be able to do 10 sit-ups, 10 bodyweight squats, and 10 push-ups. Functionally it makes perfect sense. Sit up, stand up, and push things away if needed. Also, I want to be mobile so I said that I would travel by my own strength at least a mile every day. It can be running or walking (when I get older). I literally told myself, given my current health state that if I couldn’t run just a mile.. I am pathetic. I decided my minimum at that point.
It was that moment that my Minimum Activity Plan started taking shape.
I did 10-10-10 and timed it. I finished this in literally less than 2 minutes. I rounded that up to 5 minutes. Then I went out and ran a mile. It took me 9 minutes and so I rounded up to 10 minutes.
15 minutes is more than enough time to do 10 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, and 10 squats and then to run a 9 minute mile which is pretty slow even for a 50 year old… but it really doesn’t matter… most people can walk a mile in 15 minutes.
Make your time important. I was always doing for other people and not realizing that I was not taking time for ME. If you can’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of others?
Invest in 20 minutes of exercise EVERYDAY and just cover your MINIMUM and you will be on your way to ANY fitness goal you want to set. This is your warmup not your work out. Make your warmup like brushing your teeth. Make it so common that you have to think about it to make sure you’ve done it. Get past the feeling of not wanting to do it.
Don’t listen to your monkey brain. You’ll try to talk yourself out of it… don’t.
There is absolutely no reason you can’t create your own minimum physical goals and perform them every day. People who try to prove me wrong, just need to understand that they don’t want the same outcome. If you do, this is a clear path to it.
Give it a shot. Give it 50-100 days… or do like me and give it over 1500 now.