People can often become confused when they start trying to change how they look. There are thousands upon thousands of different diet and exercise methodologies spread all over the internet which are all touted to be the ‘best’. Some claim that all carbs are bad for you, yet, others say that it’s fat. Some say that you need to avoid anything artificial, but others say that you can eat whatever as long as it fits your macros. Reading through all of these isn’t only time consuming, but frustrating. Where do you go? What do you do? Which is actually the right option?
Well, the answer is that fitness doesn’t need to be as confusing as it comes across as. All you need to do is follow the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule simply means that 80% of the time you eat healthy food and exercise well, and then 20% of the time you save for less healthy foods and sitting around watching television. This way you get all the benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise without any of the withdrawal symptoms from the things you enjoy.
The next step is working out what actually is ‘healthy’. Different websites and magazines will try to paint different pictures of what’s good for you in order to sell you products or keep you interested, but these aren’t always correct. Most of the time, our common sense is enough of a judgment to let us know what we should and shouldn’t be doing. The healthy items will be fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meats, eggs, and whole grains whilst unhealthy items will be things like cakes, chocolate, alcohol, and pastries. It’s not that these things are inherently bad, but they shouldn’t make up the basis of your diet. However, indulging every now and again is neither going to kill us or ruin our progress.
As well as a healthy diet, you also need to keep a consistent exercise routine. Exercise helps us to build muscle, lose fat, improve the mobility of our joints, and keep our cardiovascular system in check. Not to mention, it can also be a great way to improve your mood in both the short and long term. Just like your diet, there are certain exercises which make up the staple of your training. These are called compound movements and involve more than one joint in the body. For example, a barbell curl only uses the muscles around your elbow and therefore, it’s an isolation exercise. On the other hand, a chin-up uses the muscles around the elbow and the shoulders, making it a compound exercise. Compound exercises allow for you to move more weight, burn more calories, and train more muscles than isolation movements which is why they should be the focus of your session. Place these at the start as they’ll also drain your central nervous system more, too. The latter half of your session is where you can place more emphasis on isolation movements to try and bring up any lagging areas.
Now, when it comes to picking the right exercises, the selection can be quite tricky. Not only are there an abundance to choose from, you also only have a limited time to train each day so you need to pick both the most effective and the most efficient. That’s why I’ve done all of the research for you so that you don’t have to waste time trying to pick from such an extensive range. I’ve narrowed it down to just the top 55 for your entire body which is enough to pick a focus movement and to keep up the variance when things get boring. A common reason that people end up quitting their program is because they grow tired of doing the same thing again and again, but if you know that you have other exercises to choose from that do the same job, then you can shake up your program and continue getting results.
The best way to try and change your body is to combine both exercise and diet together. If you do one without the other, then you’re not going to get the most optimal results – especially when solely exercising, no matter how good your routine is. As well as this, you also need to remain patient, dedicated, and consistent. Results don’t happen overnight, but as long as you stick with it, then you’ll eventually get to where you want to be. However, if you give up too early, then you’ll find yourself back to where you started; frustrated, angry, and annoyed. Below you’ll find all of the exercises you need to create the perfect training program, but it’s over to you from here.