Progressively Overloading Your Habits

“ Just write me a workout program” is akin to “just tell me what to eat and I’ll follow your meal plan”.

Both aren’t going to truly help the client, and are a matter of ‘instant gratification’ the client craves.

The role of trainers/ coaches is to understand what the clients *want*, but give them what they *need*.

Here’s why:

1. There are literally thousands of free programs on the internet for free. Why would you want a trainer to write you a program when you’re not proficient with the form and exercise execution?

When you first learn how to strength train and perform the basic movement patterns( assuming you hired a competent coach), you realize there are lots of nuances to every exercise, and learning to create tension in the muscles and connecting with your body take time.

2. Being *told* what to eat takes the responsibility off from you.

You’re not making the decisions, You’re not being autonomous to choose what you want to eat and when. You’re not in control of the process.

What happens after you lose the weight? What positive habits and eating behaviors did you gain in the process? You cannot eat off a meal plan for the rest of your life, as we don’t live in a vacuum ..

Unfortunately, this is the time when most people tend to pack on the weight plus more.

Here’s the deal—>

Lifestyle changes/ behavior change take time.

Just like you’re not going to start going to the gym and lift the 70lbs dumbbell right off the bat, why are you expecting you’d go from eating ‘meh’ to eating ‘great’ in a matter of days?

There’s a term called ‘progressive overload’ in training, which means ‘a gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training’.

Just like you progressively overload your muscles to get stronger at the gym, similarly you progressively overload your eating habits from not-so-great to great.

You gradually increase the difficulty of your eating habits, once you feel confident you can do so. It’s about building habits upon habits, and it can take months to years, depending on the individual.

If you keep at progressively overloading your eating behavior and your body, you’re going to get *better* and reach your goals. However, it’s going to take longer than you’ve expected.