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The Wild Movement > Articles > fat loss

The Unsexy truth about losing weight long term

February 25, 2020 fitness, health, strength Comments Off on The Unsexy truth about losing weight long term

Although we don’t market ourselves as a gym that’s about aesthetics – the large proportion of clientele that come to us (and any gym) still would like to lose body fat and possibly gain some muscle.  A big problem in today’s society, that is being played out by the fitness industry so well is that people have been told that they need to exercise more and eat less to lose weight.   It is true and there is indisputable evidence to show that energy in versus energy out needs to be swinging the right way to lose weight (or gain weight).    However this truth has also led us astray in how we go about it which is affecting our ability to be lean the way we would like long term.

The problem stems from the fact that we already live in a society that most of us feel is pushing us to do more and be more.   More time at work.  More deadlines.  More pushing through the day with back to back meetings and having no time to eat, let alone take a deep breath or get outside.   More pressure to meet the big mortgage repayments to live in the big house that we need.  To drive the nice car that we need.    So what happens when we believe that we need to start pushing ourselves more by ‘smashing ourselves’ at the gym?

What happens is that we join a gym and have this association that the more we sweat, the higher our heart rate, the more we are sore, the better our weight loss will be.   This may get us some short term wins (great!) but in the long term all we are really doing at this point is:

  • Adding more stress and more feeling of pressure to our already long list of pressures
  • We are putting band aids on the root problem
  • We are trying to make up for lost time (not possible)

The main problem with the above approach is simply we don’t have the foundation to support this type of training where the goal is to ‘flog’ yourself.   The foundation of consistent quality sleep (7-9 hours), of stress management and of sound nutrition.  When we don’t have the above foundation solid and we add in regular intense training to lose weight the result is normally one that doesn’t stay for long.

So what is the solution?  Moving and training is obviously a good thing.   Living in extremes is not (long term).  The approach we encourage our new clients to take:

  • Start with 2-3 Strength sessions per week.  We do a thorough initial consultation and then ensure they start conservative on their strength numbers so we can progress over time.
  • Know that most of our adaptations happen from the strength training and not from how much you were out of breath the whole session.
  • Focus on 1-2 habits with nutrition or sleep or stress management to start building the foundation whilst introducing training without the training overtaking your life.
  • Once the above habits are who you are then the next steps can be looked at.
  • Setting some clear expectations of where they would like to be in 2 months and one year from now.
  • Knowing that small consistent steps daily are much more powerful than big jumps away from who you are weekly or monthly.

By turning around the focus from having to do more and ‘smash one self’ to actually only encouraging a couple of sessions per week to start and then putting in extra effort into building the foundation allows the client to change their environment and make sustainable changes.

We have used this method from when we opened our doors almost three years ago and is why many of our clients who “weren’t gym people” are still with us three years later and have completely changed their beliefs and feelings around who they are and what they are capable of doing.

If you would like to know more or start changing your life and health you can book in for an initial consultation and 2 trial sessions on us.   You can do this by clicking HERE. 

 

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Are you getting in your own way?

May 22, 2018 fitness, health, strength, training No comments yet

So you really want to lose body fat. You know how to eat and live for this to happen, but for some reason you just can’t make yourself live this way consistently. You do it for a day, or even a week but can’t seem to string good weeks onto good weeks, let alone months. You know it is your big priority yet you keep getting in your own way. If this sounds like you then read on.

 

The above is a classic example of self sabotage. You want something wholeheartedly but you get in your own way before the goal is accomplished. In this instance, all the knowledge around nutrition, training and lifestyle isn’t going to necessarily help you get out of this cycle.

 

Before we look at what is actually going on it is important to get a basic grasp of some theory – In psychotherapy (I am currently studying a branch of this) according to Eric Berne people operate out of one of three ego states. Adult, Parent or Child.   These ego states are modelled from what we saw as a child. For example adult ego state means the person is being open, honest and straight up without any hidden agenda or games. Parent ego state is where the person is either nurturing someone or being critical.   Child ego state is where the person is essentially acting like a ‘child’. They may be in a state of spontaneity, fun or conforming.

 

So if we look at the above situation again we actually have an internal dialogue fight between 2 ego states of our selves. Our parent ego state is sending out messages that you can’t eat this or you can’t drink that. In other words, it’s being very restrictive and critical.   The internal dialogue is hitting our child ego state which just wants to have fun and be free.   For people that have a perfectionist streak within them this critical ego state is very powerful and dominant. The problem with this is that the ‘child’ is even more constrained and wants to come out even more.   This is where the battle is lost. The internal dialogue of “you can’t eat that, it’s bad” will eventually lose to the child ego state that says “stuff you mate, I want to be free”.   How long this battle goes on for with the parent winning depends on how strong that restrictive voice is and how many other stressors in your life you have.

 

So now we know what is going on at a basic level, what should we do about it?   We know with anything health and training the biggest, most important principle to ensure is carried out is consistency over a long period of time. You don’t get strong doing one four week program and you don’t go from fat to fit overnight.   With that awareness the best thing you can do for yourself is to give yourself permission to not be perfect all of the time. When you relax this perfect ‘driver’ you are relaxing the critical parent ego state and therefore not encouraging that inner dialogue battle where the child is going to win. It means you may not eat or live as ‘perfect’ as you would like but it means you will be much more consistent without the big extremes of on and off. We know that this is the recipe for success with your health and your body composition over a long period of time.

 

Imagine being able to eat some ice cream or have a wine without feeling guilty? This is possible when we relax that perfect driver because you won’t actually want it so often.   I hope this has helped you or someone you know. Please share and tag anyone you think this may help!

 

Thanks for reading! If you would like to know more about our training options at The Wild Movement then please go here.

 

 

 

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Results with a Strong Decision

September 26, 2017 fitness, health, strength, training No comments yet

This week I wanted to change the tune and simply tell you about one of our members. The purpose of this is to simply show you what is possible. When we hear more positive stories we are more likely to take action.

Steve completed his initial consult the week prior to my gym The Wild Movement opening. I remember it being a little hard to tie him down for the initial consult and wondering how serious he was.

His initial consult after doing the screening that was necessary we got some bench mark numbers of his strength.

Initial Results

• Rounded Shoulders
• Right hip sitting higher than left
• Lumbar Flexion poor
• Hamstring Length 30 degrees short of ideal
• Trapbar Deadlift 1 RM 80kg
• Chin Up x 5 reps
• Bench Press 1 RM 60kg
• Back Squat 1 RM 67.5kg
• 79kg Body weight with a body fat of 23.9% (InBody Scan tested)

Steve hadn’t trained in 3-6 months due to a number of different personal factors. When we spoke initially he said he was ready to start looking after himself and feel good again.

Steve committed to an initial 4 week block of training that involved training 4 x per week. This is a big commitment for someone that hasn’t been doing any training but it was a strong decision. If we fast-forward 18 weeks we will see some amazing progress.

Current Results

• Posture neutral including hips not hiked. This is strength training correctly and also working with the amazing Athletica Physical Health.
• Fingers to floor Standing Pike (previously 20cm short)
• Trapbar Deadlift 1 RM 127.5kg
• Chin Up x 13 reps and 1 rep max of 29kg added to bodyweight
• Bench Press 1 RM 81kg
• Back Squat 85kg last testing Estimated 90kg Currently
• 79kg Body weight with a body fat of 15 %. That’s 4.5kg of muscle on And 5kg of fat down.
• Juggling 60 seconds (Couldn’t juggle previously)
• Kicking up to handstands in the open. Progress from never being upside down.

Steve’s commitment I believe has increased each time he has set goals and ticked them off. It is very powerful to see yourself improving. It builds mental resilience. Steve’s openness to really work on himself in all areas not just physical has really meant he has grown so much more than his physical results show. He borrows books from our library and is always looking to learn more about himself and what we are doing.

I am really excited to see where Steve can take his training and his life through the continued growth he has been experiencing.

What started out as a 4 week commitment of 16 days training has turned into 4 days every single week (sometimes 5) for the past 18 weeks. There has never been a session missed. This doesn’t mean he has not struggled on some days and weeks with feeling flat, having niggles or fighting colds but we have always worked around it to ensure there is long term progress.

As I always say consistency is king. Do the basics well over a long period of time and you will go far.

In Steve’s own words – ‘Train hard, train often, eat good food and sleep well!”

PS If you would like to transform your health, physical capacities and life then reach out to us with an email to luke@thewildmovement.com.au we would love to hear from you.

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