Sustainable Fitness

Milton Holdiem -

In fitness, results come later, never immediately.

Looking to build strength?
Building endurance?
Lose body fat?
Increasing mobility?

All of these goals take time. Some take a couple of weeks, while some could take months to years. How can you redefine your lifestyle to create lasting change?

The 3-step process to lasting results:

This is the entire foundation the training program is built upon.

  1. Consistency: Start consistently to get results.
  2. Sustainability: Make it sustainable to keep it going when it’s tough.
  3. Intensity: Add intensity to drive adaptation

Let's take a deeper dive into each step to understand why this foundation leads to growth.

Step 1: Consistency

  • Train as often as your goals require.
  • Maintain those sessions weekly.

Just starting your training journey? Maintain a consistent 3 sessions per week.

Consistency is the art of showing up regularly. It’s the entry-fee to change. Without it, we can’t get stronger, fitter, or work on any goal.

The beauty of consistency is that it has nothing to do with how amazing a session is. It’s subjective. Did you show up today? Yes or no? Going from 0 sessions per week to 3 is a massive win.

A beginner who shows up and does “ok” sessions will make tremendous progress, while an intermediate lifter who misses a session every other week will be stuck in the rat race of “getting back into it.”

Even the “perfect” training program won’t matter if you don’t show up.

Step 2: Sustainability

  • It needs to work with your lifestyle and interests, not against it.
  • It needs to be at the sweet spot between doable and challenging.

While consistency is the routine, sustainability is about keeping your training maintainable.

Sustainable training could look mean:

  • Making sure your training plan aligns with your goals.
  • Keeping exercises appropriate to your mobility & fitness level.
  • Doing workouts you enjoy
  • Staying well-recovered so training doesn’t burn you out.
  • Having a plan during vacation times.

Step 3: Intensity

Intensity is all about adding MORE to training.

  • More weight
  • More reps
  • More complexity
  • More work in less time (less rest)

Intensity = Adaptation This is all about demanding more from our body to create adaptation, which leads to improved strength, mobility, endurance, etc. 👌🏾

Intensity works best when served with a platter of consistency & sustainability.

In fitness, you’ll often see promises of quick results:

”Lose 5lbs in 2 weeks.” ”30 Day 6-pack Abs Challenge” ”7-Day Juice Cleanses” “Go HARD for 75 Days; no bread, no alcohol, or “cheat meals”

The problem with this approach, is that it pushes you towards intensity without having a foundation of consistency & sustainability.

having to “get back into it.”

What’s common here is making huge lifestyle changes that don’t take your current lifestyle into account.

In a world of quick fixes and 30-day workout challenges, our goal is to create lasting results.

Key Takeaways

The ways to get lasting results from training:

  1. Consistency is key
  2. Keep it sustainable
  3. Add intensity after you get consistent with it

In a world full of quick fixes and 30-day challenges, I hope this helps you find your footing in creating lasting change.