Life Lessons

The Simple Choice Is Usually The Best One: Part Two

In the first part of this life lesson, I talked about intimate relationships and how the simplest solution to problems that arise is often the best decision to make, however difficult it may be.  In this second part of the life lesson,  I will talk about another area of life where simplicity is often passed over in favor of needless complexity, the desire to change how your body looks through diet and exercise.

Lose the Weight, Not Your Mind

The frequency with which bizarre diets and extreme exercise programs are chosen over simple, rational diet and exercise principles is unfortunately quite high.  People are sucked in by the hype and start these programs, absolutely convinced that THIS time it will work.  Predictably, they soon give up either from a lack of results or because it was too difficult to stick with it.  While there are a few exceptions where a detailed diet and training program is required (such as bodybuilders dieting down to very low body fat levels for a contest), for the large majority of people a simple diet and exercise regimen will provide them with the results they are seeking.

Work Smarter, AND Harder

Another group of people notorious for over-complicating things is novice weightlifters looking to build muscle.  They usually pick their workout program out of a muscle magazine from a professional bodybuilder and then try to train like a veteran lifter when they have little to no time spent in the gym.

Some even go a step further by designing their own program and doing four exercises for every body part, spending three or more hours in the gym.  If somehow they don’t get hurt doing this marathon lifting session, the next day they are so sore that many will get discouraged and quit right then.

Beginning weightlifters that want to build muscle should use a simple program consisting of the basic compound multi-joint lifts (bench press, chin-ups, squats, deadlifts, etc).  It isn’t a “sexy” program and its hard work, but you will definitely see a lot better results than you would from a program with lots of isolation lifts.

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