Extremes Don’t Last

When I was a bartender in NYC, there was a group of hard-charging coworkers raving about a trendy workout. They were seeing great results really fast. For 3 months, they were incredibly fit.

And then…they never worked out again. Only a few weeks after ending these workouts, the progress they had made was gone. It’s not because it wasn’t effective, it’s because it was too extreme to sustain. They burned out and went back to their less healthy ways.

I had two members whom I trained only twice a week for 30 minutes each. Both worked demanding jobs, and getting there at all was a win. I knew it, they knew it, and we worked with what we had. They frequently showed up 10-15 minutes late. On average, they were working out twice per week for 15 minutes each. Yet, they still got stronger. Were the results amazing? No, but progress is progress.

Extreme approaches do not work. Not in fitness and not in any area of life I’ve seen. Consistent effort at any intensity can lead to progress. In other words, consistency beats intensity.

Extremes can appear like a shortcut, glamorous, exciting, ego-boosting, and very effective for rapid results. Maybe so, but extreme results do not last. They are simply not sustainable physically, mentally, or emotionally.

If you train with me, you’ve likely heard me say something you didn’t expect from a Performance Coach: “Go easy. It’s ok to be lazy.” It’s because I’ve gone to extremes and witnessed the results of many others doing extreme things. The results were never good for long.

I want you to be in it for the long term because the truly hard part of fitness is doing the work every week for the rest of your life. This means:

  • Exercise
  • Eating healthy
  • Treating injuries
  • Getting good sleep
  • Managing stress
  • Avoiding burnout

That can seem like a lot to manage. Pick one area at a time if needed, and with consistent practice, it all becomes routine. 

You don’t have to dominate in everything. You only have to be consistent. That’s the difference between grinding and building something that lasts.