The idea that what a person does outside of the workout is just as important, if not more important, than what they do inside the workout, is a common one. Personal trainers, doctors, fitness enthusiasts, and a myriad of other individuals denote that focus in the workout with a lack of focus outside the workout yields less than stellar results. Even though the subject has been approached in seminars, publications, and live discussions, among other mediums, the idea is still lost on some people; that or they just do not care.
How Can Incorporating Accountability Into Your Daily Routine Improve Your Life?
Whether or not a person “gets it” or if they even care, the idea that one must focus in the workout and out is true. For example, let us say that you go to the gym. Once you are changed and ready, you work out for an hour. You run two miles, engage in a short but intense weight training routine, and find time to work on flexibility/mobility. You leave the gym feeling awesome – but now what? If you leave the gym and head to McDonald's for a post-workout meal, you are on the wrong path. If you regularly hit the bar and drink even moderately during the week, you are on the wrong path. Am I demonizing going out to eat or drinking? Not at all. I enjoy both. Let me elaborate.
How to Maintain Accountability Beyond the Workout
Nutrition, rest, stress management, supplementation if needed, and other factors such as extracurricular activity or mind altering substance use can affect progress from workouts. For example, if you work out with weights, you encourage the body to release hormones necessary to repair current muscle and build new muscle. If you drink to any degree, it can stunt hormonal response. Indeed, studies have shown that drinking directly pushes down testosterone production in men. The more you drink, the more this happens, which ultimately hinders your results. Since testosterone is important for muscles maintenance, growth, fat loss/retention, and other functions/processes in the body, this can have serious adverse effects to not only to progress from workouts, but to health overall. Seems like a “duh” moment right? Not all people get or choose to see it.
Let us talk nutrition for a moment, specifically protein. Muscle tissue is comprised of protein and protein is comprised of amino acids. The body requires these amino acids, and by proxy protein, to perform various functions in the body. If you require 200 grams of protein daily but only ingest the government recommended intake of 50 grams per day, then you will not experience the best muscle, strength, and performance gains possible. Oh, you do not know how much protein you need? Then that is where you should start. You are eating without direction. Look more at my posts about the importance of macronutrients and micronutrients to the body.
Imagine a go-getter kind of person. He or she wakes up at 5:00 am, hits the gym for 2 hours, makes it to work by 9:00 am and works until 7:00 pm. He or she goes home, makes dinner, spends time with the family, and then spends time on work or other tasks until 12:00 am. This person gets 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night. This person is potentially doing themselves more harm than good, at least mentally and physically. The body and the mind regenerate when people are asleep. Sure, this process happens during the waking hours, but the process is inefficient during these hours. The body processes are too busy going to be able to regenerate properly. When the body is at rest and many systems are “off” or in a low energy state, that is when the body really regenerates the physical and mental. If a person needs 7 hours of sleep a night but only gets 5, he or she is not giving the body the proper time to regenerate. While forward progress can be made, the results will not be the best. Even worse, in some cases degeneration physically and mentally will occur.
Now I want to talk about quality of food. McDonald’s is low quality food. If a person is going to opt for fast food, he or she is best served by frequenting somewhere like Culver’s, as the restaurant chain uses real ground beef, cheese, and potatoes. However, I am by now means suggesting that Culver’s is an acceptable stop for lunch or dinner on a regular basis. Keeping eating out to a minimal, regardless of the quality of the food, is ideal. It is impossible to know the ingredients, seasonings, macros, micros, and other elements present in the meal eaten. Instead, opt for making fresh, home cooked meals, with quality ingredients. Fresh or canned-in-their-own-juices veggies, fresh lean meats, and no or low-processing whole grains are key. This quality idea applies not just to food, but to anything you ingest, including water, supplements, drinks, etc.
How Can You Hold Yourself Accountable Beyond the Gym?
If you are a workout enthusiast, I commend you. Even if you just hit the gym a few hours a week, I commend you. However, understand the work does not start when you begin the workout and stop when you end the workout – it is ongoing. The other 23 hours of the day matter. Own your accountability and make the progress you want. You can still have an alcoholic drink or eat out, but you need to do so in moderation. If you do not get this, do research to help you understand, as what I included here is a brief overview of a much larger idea. If you do not care about the other 23, then do not be surprised when you still walk around with that excess body fat you have been trying to lose, when you do not experience muscle or performance gains, and you find yourself looking and feeling like shit.
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