2510: Building Fitness Habits That Actually Stick in 2025

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth Episode 2510: Building Fitness Habits That Actually Stick in 2025 Release Date: January 13, 2025

In Episode 2510 of Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth, hosts Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews delve into the perennial challenge of maintaining fitness habits beyond the initial surge of New Year’s resolutions. Drawing from their combined decades of experience, the trio dismantles common misconceptions and offers actionable, science-backed strategies to foster lasting fitness routines.

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1. The New Year Fitness Surge and Why It Fizzles

The episode kicks off with an examination of the typical New Year’s fitness wave:

• Host Observation [05:06]: The hosts note that gyms experience a 40% increase in traffic during January, driven by the surge in New Year’s resolutions, with 80% of people setting fitness-related goals.

• Statistical Insight [05:06]:

  "1 out of 10 people said that their resolution lasted a month. Only 1% said they lasted for 11 or 12 months."

This stark data highlights the transient nature of motivation, with most individuals losing steam around the three to four-month mark.

2. The Problem with Shame-Based Marketing

Sal Di Stefano brings attention to a troubling trend in fitness marketing:

• Sal Di Stefano [03:06]:

  "There's a bit of a shaming going on... What are they shaming people for? Quitting, basically."

Equinox and other fitness companies have been promoting messages that shame individuals for abandoning their resolutions, which Sal and Justin argue is counterproductive.

• Justin Andrews [04:14]:

  "Shame is a terrible way to get anybody to stay consistent with anything."

Instead of fostering a supportive environment, shame leads to relapse and reinforces negative behaviors.

3. The Dangers of Doing Too Much Too Soon

A central theme of the episode is the pitfalls of overcommitting at the outset:

• Mind Pump Host [09:44]:

  "The number one reason why people can't stick with their new fitness habit is they do too much too soon."

Many newcomers attempt drastic changes, such as committing to multiple gym sessions per week without a sustainable plan, setting themselves up for burnout and failure.

• Sal Di Stefano [10:00]:

  "If you do that all at once, the odds of success are extremely small."

4. The Importance of Strength Training

Contrasting the prevalent focus on cardio and calorie burning, the hosts emphasize strength training as essential for long-term fitness:

• Mind Pump Host [19:25]:

  "Strength training needs to be the cornerstone of your routine if you're looking to improve your health, your fitness, and if you want fat loss."

Strength training not only builds muscle but also enhances metabolism and insulin sensitivity, making it more effective for fat loss compared to purely cardio-based approaches.

• Justin Andrews [21:12]:

  "Building muscle tissue provides more strength and promotes more movement in general."

5. The Scale Is Not Your Friend

The discussion turns to the misleading nature of scale-based measurements:

• Mind Pump Host [36:42]:

  "The scale just tells you total body mass. Unless you're using it with a body fat test, throw that thing away."

Body composition is a far more accurate indicator of fitness progress than weight alone, as one can lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously, resulting in little to no change on the scale.

6. The Necessity of a Structured Plan

Without a thoughtful workout plan, progress stagnates:

• Mind Pump Host [38:37]:

  "Workout programming makes a massive difference on whether or not your body progresses or not."

A well-designed program that outlines exercises, rep ranges, and progression ensures consistent and measurable improvement.

7. Practical Tips for Building Sustainable Fitness Habits

a. Starting Strength Training

• Adam Schaefer [40:57]:

  "Maps Starter takes into account that you either haven't worked out in a while or you've never done strength training before."

The hosts recommend beginning with manageable strength training routines, emphasizing form and gradual progression to build a solid foundation.

b. Incorporating Cardio

• Mind Pump Host [42:29]:

  "Walk every day. Do 10-minute walks after breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Instead of lengthy cardio sessions, short, consistent walks can significantly improve insulin sensitivity and overall health without overwhelming one’s schedule.

c. Supplement Recommendations

• Sal Di Stefano [44:57]:

  "Creatine has profound health and longevity benefits. It's the most studied supplement in history."

A multivitamin and creatine are highlighted as foundational supplements to support overall health and muscle development.

8. Overcoming Mental Barriers

The hosts acknowledge the psychological hurdles that impede consistency:

• Justin Andrews [32:29]:

  "I had that martyr syndrome where I just wanted to crush and bury myself... It was so ineffective."

Moving away from punishing workouts to enjoyable, manageable routines fosters better adherence and long-term success.

9. Conclusion: Embrace Gradualism for Lasting Change

The episode concludes with a reaffirmation of the importance of small, sustainable changes over drastic, short-lived efforts. By prioritizing strength training, disregarding the scale, and adhering to a structured plan, individuals can build fitness habits that endure well beyond the initial burst of New Year’s motivation.

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Notable Quotes:

• Host on Shame [04:14]:

  "Shame is a terrible way to get anybody to stay consistent with anything."

• Sal on Strength Training [19:25]:

  "Strength training needs to be the cornerstone of your routine."

• Mind Pump Host on the Scale [36:42]:

  "The scale just tells you total body mass. Throw that thing away."

• Adam on Starting Strength [40:57]:

  "Maps Starter is a great program... It's a three-month program."

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Recommended Resources:

• Maps Starter Program: Tailored for beginners, offering structured strength training with stability exercises. Available at mapstarter.com using code START2025 for a 50% discount.

• Supplement Advice: Start with a multivitamin and creatine to support overall health and muscle growth.

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By addressing the underlying reasons for common fitness failures and providing practical, evidence-based solutions, Episode 2510 serves as a valuable guide for anyone looking to establish and maintain meaningful fitness habits in 2025 and beyond.

Transcript

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[Adam Schaefer]

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump Mind Pump with your hosts Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews.

[Mind Pump Host]

You just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode we talk about how you can stay consistent for 2025. Perhaps you're just getting started on your fitness journey. It's a new year, very popular for people to get into shape or try to get into shape at the beginning of the year. But so many people fail. Today's episode we give you the ways to stay consistent. We train people for two and a half decades. We know what works now. This episode is brought to you by a sponsor, Legion. Legion makes some of the best supplements for fitness and health, fat loss and muscle building. And if you go through our link, you'll get yourself a discount. Go to BuyLegion. That's B Y L E G I O N.com mindpump Use the code mindpump. Get 20% off your first order or double rewards points. Also in today's episode, we talk about a program called Maps Starter. It's a great workout program for beginners. Because of this episode, it's 50% off. So if you're interested in that, go to mapstarter.com, use the code START2025 for the 50% off discount. All right, here comes the show. It's a new year. The problem, the challenge, is not getting started. Millions of Americans get started every single year. The real challenge is sticking with it. Why does everybody fail and what can you do about it? That's what we're talking about in today's episode.

[Sal Destefano]

Can we first start by addressing this interesting new movement this year in the fitness space where there's. There's a bit of a shaming going on. Have you seen that?

[Mind Pump Host]

No.

[Sal Destefano]

There's a lot of companies right now that are jumping on this. I saw Equinox as marketing around this, which I thought was really interesting. What are they shaming people for? Quitting, basically a lot.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah. That works.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

So a lot of the marketing. Right then. They're not the only ones. They were just the most recent one that I had seen. I had seen a few. I've seen some trainers that have been promoting this, too. And it's this idea of, like, you know, don't be like everyone else. Don't be a Twitter. I mean, Equinox came out as far as saying that they weren't going to sell any memberships until a certain. A certain date. That, you know, we're not. We're not letting anybody in. That just. That's a. That's a New Year's resolution goal and then gonna quit. So real interesting type of marketing.

[Justin Andrews]

That's a new tech.

[Mind Pump Host]

It's all. I mean, they're still just trying to capture the. Of course, the motivation that happens at the beginning of the year. They're trying to just capture onto that wave. I mean, it is a real thing. By the way, shame is a terrible way to get anybody to stay consistent with anything.

[Sal Destefano]

Right.

[Mind Pump Host]

Any habit.

[Justin Andrews]

I know.

[Mind Pump Host]

In fact, shame is a. A very important part of the formula that causes people to relapse into bad habits. That's a fact. So whether it's eating too much or drinking alcohol or drugs or not exercising, I mean, all of us have experienced this. You try to accomplish something, you fail at it, then you pile on the shame, and you reach for that thing that you always reach for when you don't feel good, which is whatever that. That bad behavior is so terrible.

[Sal Destefano]

And on the positive note, you Know this. Even though a lot of people do fail, do fall off, there is a percentage of people that this is when it happened. For them, this was the, this was the time, this was the year. This was the. You know, they had said it many times before, and then finally this is the year that they got started and stuck with it. And I do think that there are some, some common reasons why people don't. I think that's probably the most important thing.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah, let's talk about that and talk about what people can do to become a part of the statistics of the people that maintain and succeed. So the start of the year is a huge explosion of activity for gyms. Gyms will see typically, on average, a 40% increase in gym traffic. Now, we all worked in the gym industry for a long time, and it was so different, like by the second or third week of January, because the first week of January really is a. An extension of December. If you work in the gym. It's just, it's the same. It's not really. It doesn't really pick up all of a sudden. It's almost like overnight. By the second or third week, it just gets crazy. People who've had memberships, who don't use it all of a sudden start using the gym again. And then you get tons of interest in people coming in, wanting to get memberships, wanting to get in shape. There's interesting data around this. 80% of people, when surveyed, have a New Year's resolution, and the majority of those resolutions revolve around losing weight and fitness. So most people have a New Year's resolution because the calendar said new year. And the number one resolution is always, and has been for as long as we've been surveying these things revolving around fitness. Now, the data around that actually pulled up some interesting data on what that looks like. So 1 out of 10 people said that their. That the resolution lasted a month. 21% reported two months. 22% reported three months. 13% said their resolution lasted four months. Only 1% said they lasted for 11 or 12 months. So most people make it past a month, essentially, and it's really. They start to fall out, fall off about month three or four. And that's all what we notice, right? So January gets crazy. March starts to die down and gets.

[Justin Andrews]

And they're just white knuckling their way through the whole experience. I mean, that's really what's driving them, is that initial momentum. And I can, I can make it. I can make it. I can make it. And that's really what they're living off of.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah. And as trainers and gym managers, we actually played a role in a lot of these people failing because we, you get this huge influx of people, this highly motivated state of mind that people would come in with. Either they were just sick and tired of feeling whatever or they felt guilty from the holidays. This is the year I change everything. And you know, as a gym manager or as a trainer, I would try to capture this momentum. And I thought, well, if we do everything all at once, that's going to be the best bet. So we actually encouraged the behaviors that tend to lead to failure without even realizing. And I thought, well, if I, if I do everything right and I give them all the answers and we do everything all at once and then maybe I can show them results and that'll keep them coming. Yeah, never work.

[Justin Andrews]

I think that was, that was the thought. Is that urgency because you have them for this brief moment, you know that it's probably not going to last. And so you're trying your best to show them some, some glimpses of success and some, you know, some movement there in terms of like their goal. But yeah, we're us setting them up in that direction. Just, you know, it leads for such a short path.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, we're, we're definitely guilty of being a big part of the problem for sure. And I don't know how much of it I want to believe that most of it was coming from a good place. Right. I want to believe that most of it was. I wanted to show my clients results. And so at that point in my career, I thought the more we did, the faster we would see results. I'm sure a lot of that was heavily motivated too by my desire to keep my book full. If you show them results, they'd most likely resign. And so I probably wasn't thinking about the longevity of that client and you know, where will they be in two, three years? All I cared was how quick can I show these people results so they continue with me? And I've got a full book. And took me a long time to realize that even though I wouldn't show them results as fast by doing it the right way, that I'm more likely to not only show them better long term results, but also would end up keeping them. I think that was a mistake I made as a trainer, was thinking that if I didn't show them these, these quick results, they would fire me and go to somebody else or they, they would, they would quit and not show, show up and keep going. But I think that's because I didn't, I didn't have the words to communicate what was happening. I don't understand how to, to explain to them why it wasn't a good idea that we do all these things while they're heavily motivated in telling me I want to do all these things.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah. Who am I to tell them no?

[Sal Destefano]

Right?

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah. I think, I mean, you can boil this down to people do. The number one reason why people can't stick with their, their new fitness habit is they do too much too soon. They go in all at once. And, you know, there's even some incentives. Of course, these exist from people on the fitness side of, of, of capturing that revenue. Right? You get somebody who comes in who's like, yes, I want to get in shape. I want to lose 40, 40 pounds. And you're talking about personal training like, yes, I'm going to get a trainer. And you're like, well, how many days a week can you come to the gym? Five days a week, Done five days a week of sessions. And you sell this big package of training. And what you've actually done is set them up for failure. When you look at the data on big behavior changes, regardless of what they are, and here we're talking about a lifestyle change that is, involves exercising regularly, that involves changing your diet and your lifestyle to become more fit and healthy, which, by the way, just a little side note, is a big deal. Okay? That's not just a small little change. This is a potentially a big deal. This is changing quite a. Quite a few things. If you do that all at once, the odds of success are extremely small. And this is true for any behavior, any behavior that you try to adopt that is drastically different from the ones you're doing now. The odds of success, that it's gonna stick around, diminish as the motivation starts to diminish, which, which always happens. The only time the data shows that this sticks around is in the rare, rare occasion of an epiphany, which almost never happens. An epiphany is you. You'll know you had an epiphany like you had a heart attack and you almost died. And you're, you're surrounded, you know, by your kids on your deathbed, and then you come to life and you're like, I'm changing everything. Right? Those almost never happen, by the way. That often doesn't even cause an epiphany. I had many times members who, you know, gym members who came in after severe health cares who still went all, all in, all at once. And ended up stopping. So too much too soon is setting yourself up for failure. And if you got to understand that the default is you're going to stop. So if you look at the data, consider that the odds are you're not going to be able to continue this. So make that the number one consideration. Not how fast I can get results, not what is the best, most effective workout. None of that. You got to look at it and say, the number one thing I need to consider is, can I stick with this? Is this something I can do for the rest of my life? So instead of going too much too soon, you're better off going small and slow, taking one small step build off that.

[Sal Destefano]

I mean, this is the origin of the goal, is to do as little as possible to elicit the most amount of change. I know our audience is probably tired of hearing me say that, but part of why I repeated it so many times is because I feel like it. It's you. I still have to continue to drill that into people. I mean, I have family and friends of mine that have known me for a very long time. I've been saying that for a very long time, and yet I still find myself repeating that saying. Because here they are, beginning of the year, all fired up and motivated, and I hear about all the things they're doing, all the things they bought, all the things they're investing in, all the changes they're making, and it's just like, whoa, what are you doing? You weren't doing any of that stuff just two months ago. How about we just stop that one thing, you know, or just add that one thing, and then let's get some momentum, get some wins, get some change, adaptation, and then, oh, we'll add a little bit more to that and build some momentum. But for some reason, even though the statistics point, and I'm pretty sure most people are aware of that, we just think that we're. We're special.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, that's one of us. That's the one impulse that gets celebrated so much, you know, in. In society. It's like, you know, I'm. I'm so motivated, and I want to take it all on. And like, that's. It's a discipline to really kind of taper that and be realistic with that, because it's. It's a good feeling because, like, I'm gonna conquer all these things and I'm gonna take this all on. And people don't really want to stop that momentum because they see that at least it's going in towards a positive thing, but it's going to be short lived if we don't really, you know, apply the discipline.

[Sal Destefano]

It's so freeing though, once you figure this out, you know how freeing it is to know. Like, you know, and I, I've talked about this too. I fall, I fall on and off all the time where I'm consistent for a while, then I'm not so consistent and figuring this piece out and allowing yourself this. You know what? I haven't really done anything for like a month or so. Like, if I just get in and do one exercise, that's a start in the right direction.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Like, it is so much easier for me to jump start back up again when I allow, I give myself that.

[Mind Pump Host]

Permission and get better results, by the.

[Sal Destefano]

Way, and I get better results that way. And it's like, oh, it's not that hard to commit to just that. Like, I haven't really done anything. So me going for a walk every day for a half hour, cutting out the sodas or that thing that I know I shouldn't be doing is not a lot to commit to. And I can start doing that right now and I'll already start to feel better and see a little bit of a difference. Like, man, that's actually a really. Once people get that through their head and realize that's a better approach, like, oh, that's not that hard to get started there.

[Mind Pump Host]

No. So what you need to do is consider when you're making your first step is consider how you feel when you're in a not motivated or unmotivated state of mind. Because right now you might be listening to this, it's January, beginning of the year, you're probably motivated. It's probably how you found this episode. You found this episode. You're like, I'm going to do this. Oh, look, this is talking about sticking with it. I've tried this many times before. I failed. Let me see what the, what the tips are. And while you're listening, you're motivated. You're listening to a fitness and health podcast and you're getting good information. Yeah, I want to do this. I'm going to do this. Now consider yourself in an unmotivated state of mind, is what you're about to do, are the steps you're going to take, ones that you can maintain in that state of mind. So what you do essentially is you take a step and then ask yourself, can I maintain this forever? And will I be able to maintain this in an unmotivated state of mind? That's the step that you Take that one right there. And it really doesn't matter what that step is. Maybe that step is, literally, I'm going to walk for five minutes after breakfast and lunch. I'm going to start there. Or maybe that step is, I'm going to go to the gym one day a week, because I know for sure, I feel confident for sure, I can at least make it to the gym one day a week for the rest of my life. I know right now I'm motivated, and I feel like I want to go every day, but when I'm unmotivated, do I think I can make it one day a week? I think I can. That's where I'm going to start, and that's where you start. And then what you do is you stay there until it feels like it's a part of your life, until it feels like a habit. It's something you do, like brushing your teeth or whatever. It's just something you do, and then you do that again. All right, what's another step I can take that is realistic for the rest of my life? Something that I know I can maintain in an unmotivated state of mind? And the cool thing about this is each one of those steps, the space in between them gets shorter as you build upon. In other words, that first step, between the first and second step might take you a few months. You might only go once a week for three months, but then you take another step and you go two days a week, or you add something with diet each time you take a step, the distance between them gets smaller, and each step tends to get bigger as you build upon it. So it is a snowball effect. But this approach is far more likely to help you stay consistent. It's far more likely to be sustainable than capturing the motivation that you have now and saying, I'm gonna do as much as I can, and I'm motivated and excited about it. You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of when you get newlyweds. You know, when you. When you look at the data on premarital counseling, one of the things that they'll explain to them is, you're not going to feel like this for the rest of your marriage. Your whole marriage is not going to feel like you right now. Like, right now. You couldn't imagine being apart right now. You guys are looking at each other.

[Justin Andrews]

The butterflies and the.

[Mind Pump Host]

That's where the term.

[Sal Destefano]

The honeymoon phase.

[Justin Andrews]

Honeymoon phase.

[Mind Pump Host]

It's when this is over that the challenges start to happen. And so that's what they tend to Counsel them on this. The way you feel right now will go away. How do we keep you to continue going? How do we keep these fitness goals? You, it's something that you, you desire and something you were able to contribute to. And it's, you got to start with small steps, not too much. Which by the way, the way that the body adapts to fitness, the way that the body gets stronger, more fit, the way the body gets leaner, it actually works better to take small steps anyway. Too large of steps.

[Justin Andrews]

You can overdo it.

[Mind Pump Host]

You can overdo it. You often do overdo it and people do see results overdoing it. But it's not because they're doing so much short lived though. It's short lived and it's in spite of the fact that they're overdoing. In fact, a good trainer, a very good experienced coach or trainer will pull you back when you approach them with this motivation and say no, no, you're not working out at all right now. You want to come four days a week, way too much. Let's start maybe once or twice a week.

[Sal Destefano]

The second biggest reason why I think I see people fail is also neglecting strength training and pursuing the calorie burn approach. Yeah, signing up for some group X class, signing up for a marathon or a Spartan race or you know, picking up running every single day or going to some class that's centered around sweating and burnt cycling. Like they go after the burn a bunch of calorie approach. They switched the, they went from holiday eating sweets and overeating and drinking and enjoying themselves to cut all the drinking, eating bad food off, eating clean and let's go burn like crazy is run. Everything has to be the number one strategy that fails that people attempt to do at this time.

[Mind Pump Host]

Well, there's two reasons for that. One is the calorie burn that you get from exercise really isn't that much. That's just a fact. Right. So the amount of calories that you burn while you're moving, although you're sweating and it's much more than when you're sitting down, it's not that much. Okay. And our of hard workouts, regardless of what your cardio machine says, because those things lie, they actually will tell you you're burning twice as many calories. You are, you're burning maybe 4 or 500 calories. Okay, maybe 700 if you're lucky. That's very easy to, to to cover with food. And the body adapts by learning how to burn less calories with that type of activity. What you want to do is you want to incorporate strength training. Now, why? You're building lean tissue, you're building muscle. Muscle burns more calories on its own, so you get a little bit of a metabolism boost. It also improves insulin sensitivity. It sets you up for better success later on. Now, the data on this is quite clear. Strength training in combination with diet results in more fat loss than in other forms of exercise in combination with diet. Strength training needs to be the cornerstone of your routine if you're looking to improve your health, your fitness, and if you want fat loss, not just weight loss, but actual fat loss. And strength training is phenomenal because you can watch yourself get stronger and you can see that you're doing a good job. It's not just based off of how fatigued you are. So strength training needs to be the crux. The other amazing thing about strength training is you don't need to do much of it. Yes, one day a week for a beginner is enough to elicit incredible changes in strength. And I can actually stay one day a week for a long time with somebody before ever having to add an extra day. Other forms of exercise tend to require more to see the same kind of results. So, and the data again, is quite clear that strength training is probably the most valuable form of exercise if you only had to pick one.

[Justin Andrews]

And because you're building yourself up too, like, a lot of times, you know, people don't, people don't realize what that does in terms of your motivation, your consistency as well. And so to, to be able to, you know, still be fed. But I'm building my muscle tissue, you know, provides more strength. It actually, like, promotes more movement in general as a byproduct of that. And it's something too, that now you have all these new abilities that you can build upon, and it's just so much easier for you to kind of like progressively overload that versus, like, I'm going straight calorie burn phase. Like, that is like a downward spiral to, to get you to a point where you feel super depleted and super energy deprived.

[Sal Destefano]

I wish we had a good visual for someone to see, like comparing five sets of squats one time a week to somebody who goes out and goes for these runs and burns all these calories. And you, and let's say that one, you have one person, right, decides, I'm gonna go burn like crazy. They're gonna do the three to five day a week spin classing and doing that, that approach. And this other person's, I'm gonna listen to these mind pump guys. And I'm just this real slow, very slow, methodical approach. And I'm just gonna squat five times and one once a week. And every week I'm gonna try and get a little bit stronger.

[Justin Andrews]

We should run our own study.

[Sal Destefano]

It would be a, it would be, I mean, it would be a really cool experiment to show people way less.

[Mind Pump Host]

Work and better results.

[Sal Destefano]

Way, way, way less work. Right. Especially if you like when you looked at after say two months, the amount of time that one person spent at those spinning classes or running and the amount of time that person that who just did five sets of squats one day a week, the ROI that, that's what I mean by the visual. I wish you could see the visual, the ROI on those two things. If you went after and then you went forward three months, this person only did one day a week, lifted five sets of squats, slowly got stronger week over week, adding a little bit of weight to the bar. This person took spin class three times a week, every week consistently for the next three months. Let's see where those two people end up. Guarantee you that person. Let's just say all diet stuff is the same, equal. The person who did those squatting would be so much further ahead than that.

[Mind Pump Host]

And you feel better too. Strength training is, it builds the body up. It's probably youthful hormone profile because of the way that it affects insulin sensitivity, the way that increases androgen receptor density, meaning your body's anabolic hormones now have a more places to attach to so your testosterone becomes more effective both for men and women. It's important in women as well. It, it's rejuvenating. By the way, this is less and less becoming a secret. It used to be we have to really preach this, but we're seeing now women adopt strength training at incredible rates because they're, they're trying it, they're doing it and they're coming back saying, I feel better, I'm leaner, I'm doing less work, I can eat more food, I look better. Like this is, this is a much more effective, much more effective way of exercise. Strength training should be the foundation of your routine. Now there's benefits to all form of exercise. And so now if you have a preference, you love running, you love cycling, your favorite thing to do, then go, go for it. But if you're listening to this, you're getting started. You want the minimal time to produce maximal results, then do strengthening.

[Sal Destefano]

By the way, can I call something out of that, what you just said too? Because I know we say that to protect ourselves from the amount of people that I love to run. And like, I never want to discourage somebody who's listening to the show and has been running for the last decade and it's a part of their life and they love doing it. But I can't tell you how many times someone sat across the desk from me who needs to lose 30 to 50 pounds, and then they tell me that they're going to go about it running because they love running. And my response back to that person is, you wouldn't be in this situation right now if you loved running, if you actually loved it and did it consistently, but instead you haven't done it for years or decades. And you're telling me that this is the modality that you want to choose to get in shape. And I'm trying to tell you it's probably not a good strategy. And you've probably already proven to yourself you're not going to do it forever. That that's the person that I think is so important to address. Because if you already like running and doing those things, you probably.

[Mind Pump Host]

You're doing it now.

[Sal Destefano]

You're doing it. You're doing it now. You're already doing it. You're not doing it. Just start in January, but there's a lot of people that say that.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

And then. And every January they're saying that again. And it's like, no, you don't, because you haven't actually done it for an entire year. You do it for a short season. You. You lose a few pounds. You, you attach the. Losing the few pounds to getting ready for that run that you like to do as you. Your favorite way to get in shape. And it's like, no, it's not keeping you in shape.

[Mind Pump Host]

And it wasn't successful because you lost before because you gained it back.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right.

[Mind Pump Host]

It's only successful if it's something that's maintainable that you do regardless. By the way, strength training, when we talk about strength training, it's not just working out with weights, strength training there. It's. It's working out with resistance, which can be weights, it could be machines, it could be body weight, it could be bands, any way to build strength and muscle. So it's not circuit training, it's not group exercise. It's not going from one machine to another with no rest. It looks and is a lot like traditional bodybuilding. You do a set of 10 reps, it's hard. You rest for two minutes, you repeat the set. That's the Strength training that we're talking about, that's what produces the type of results that we're talking about. It's traditional strength training. It is not just working out with weights because you could use weights and do lots of different activities, but it not be strength training.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, that's F45, that's orange theory. That's what you see with all of these.

[Mind Pump Host]

It's not the tool, it's the way. Right. Because I could do, use no weight, no weights, no machines whatsoever, use body weight and make it strength training. And I can also use barbells and dumbbells and turn it into a circuit training class which has nothing to do with strength training. Next. This is a big mistake. And I think this, the reason why this one's a is so common is, is precisely because when people first get started, part of the motivation is they're, I don't know, for lack of a better term, self disgust with how far they've come where they're at now. And they're like, I want to get out of this. So what they do is they use exhaustion, soreness, intensity. Like the harder the workout is, the more of a punishment it is, the more grueling it is, the more it feels like I survived. Then that means it's a good workout. That means it was a. I'm doing a great job. And I think people, there's two reasons why people do this. Because by the way, that's a terrible gauge of whether or not you had a good workout. The people that work out, that should work out where it looks like they're surviving, are extremely fit, high level, incredible. Like typically athletes or people who've been training for so long and so consistently that this is their fitness level. Very few people should train like this. And even those people don't train like this often. They do it in season, okay, in seasons, in short spurts, competitions. The reason why this attracts people is number one, I think people think they'll get better results the more they beat themselves up. So if I just, if I could just kill myself in the gym, I'm going to get results even faster. So that's one reason. Second reason is it does feel cathartic initially because of this self loathing, the self disgust, this, oh my God, I'm fat or I don't look good or I hate the way I fit in my clothes. And so I'm going to go to the gym and beat the crap out of myself. And it's cathartic to beat this person up who has let themself go, you know, so. So far. Or let themselves get to this place and so you leave the gym. I'll never forget when. When this really dawned on me as a trainer, you know, I had a new member and they signed up and I saw them the next day and they finished a crazy workout class and they came out and they're sitting on the bench and I could look like they were going to throw up. And I said, hey, how was the workout? And the guy puts up his finger, like, I can't talk right now. And he's kind of breathing. So I'm standing there waiting for him, waiting for him. And then he finally says, man, it was awesome. It was awesome. I'm like, are you okay? And he's like, I don't. I think I'm going to have to sit here for a little while. And got a little dizzy. And he's like, but that was great. And I remember thinking, like, what? When is that ever great? Where you feel like that? Like, when is that ever great? It was great to him because he hated himself. That's why he did this workout. And of course he thought he was doing an effective job. That's not how the body works. The body adapts to stress, but if the stress is too high, it will overcome your body's ability to adapt. Your body's just going to worry about healing. And this is when people hurt themselves or they just over train. They overdo it and their body plateaus so hard. This is where you see those people in the gym that seem to sweat their butts off, work real hard, can't seem to figure out how to lose that last £15. What's going on? Your body is frozen in time because the stress is too much for your body to adapt to. So if you're not doing anything now, a little bit more than you're doing is enough to elicit change. That's it. Any more than that is more than is required and will probably set you back.

[Sal Destefano]

There's also a third, third example or third person that's addicted to that or that. And that's the cortisol junkie.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Those are also some of the hardest people to convince that this is not the best strategy either because they swear they feel better.

[Justin Andrews]

It's exhilarating for.

[Sal Destefano]

Yes. I mean, I remember having a really tough time convincing clients that were beating themselves up like that because they didn't see it as beating themselves up. They looked at, I pushed really hard and oh my God, I feel accomplished so good afterwards. They weren't Grasping or wanting to throw a fire. There's that, there's, there's that example of the self loathing, beat themselves up, punish themselves people. Then there's the people that are really just addicted to the cortisol dump and actually swear that they feel better after the workout because of that. And those people are really hard to convince. This is not ideal for you.

[Mind Pump Host]

Now, the reason why, cortisol, Cortisol does feel good, by the way. A lot of people don't realize this. Cortisol is a stress hormone. It is designed to release energy to get you out of a stressful energy.

[Justin Andrews]

In the morning too.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah. And yeah, it's supposed to be high in the morning. Right. Because that's what wakes you up. And. But if cortisol is high for too long, it burns muscle or pairs muscle down, it encourages visceral fat storage. It's inflammatory. We know this now. It's all marketed. Right. People understand this now. Too much cortisol all the time, not good for you. But if you, but if you get a little squirt of it with a, with a hard, crazy, beat myself up workout in the short term, oh, I'm alive again. And then it goes away. And then I'm alive again and it goes away. No, no. Don't use exhaustion, soreness and intensity as gauges of good workout. Here's what you should use as a gauge of a good workout. Is your fitness improving? Are you stronger? Are you more fit? Do you feel better? Do you feel more energy? You should feel better at the end of your workout than you did at the beginning. You should not feel like you survived. So I'll repeat that at the end of your workout. If you don't feel like you have more energy and vigor than you did at the beginning, you overdid it, literally. And people are so confused by this, they think, wait a minute, I should have more energy and more vigor at the end of my workout. Well, maybe I didn't work out hard enough. No, you should leave the gym feeling like, I'm gonna tackle the day or I feel so great. You should not leave the workout being like, I need to go sit on the couch. I survived or I need to. Yeah, I'm going to drive home, my legs are going to be shaken and when I get home, I'm going to get in a hot bath and I'm going to go to bed. No, too much. You should feel better at the end of the workout. If you feel better at the end of your workout and you're seeing yourself slowly Progress each time, especially with strength, you are moving in the right direction.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I mean this, this is, it's funny because I think back and I totally had that martyr syndrome where I just wanted to crush and bury myself and walk. Could barely even walk, you know, in a few days I think about how ineffective that was and just how much further I could have got performance wise and strength wise, even playing athletics. It was just astonishing to me. But you know, finally working through that psychology and being on the other side of it, it's like, it's amazing how, how easy it is once you subscribe to that and you realize like I could put this effort in, I could feel better after my workout and then I could come back and I could do the same thing. And then you're just building and building.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, bringing up your story just I think is so important because when I think of the clients that were really hard to convince, I think of the cortisol junkie and then I think of the, the ex athlete.

[Mind Pump Host]

Oh yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

And, and there's a reason why someone like yourself even fell into that trap. It's because it served you in sports. You know, especially a sport like football.

[Mind Pump Host]

When you're competing.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

You are supposed to play game day. You're supposed to push until you almost die. You want every last ounce you feel painful. There's a, there's a reason to push beyond what the body needs. There's that mental fortitude is a, in an important attribute to successful athletes. And so through your athletic career that way of training has served you even though you probably admit you could probably have done it still better. And a better approach knowing what you know now. But even then there, there's at least some benefit to training an athlete to those, those pure exhaustion like that because it, it translates into game time in the, in the pursuit of health and fitness. Longevity, building muscle, burning body fat. It has no place separate. It has no place. But convincing an athlete that training that way has served them for so long is really difficult to do. I think those are the two hardest clients I ever had. The, the cortisol junkie which was my, you know, my moms that love the group X classes like crazy because they get that dump right? And that relief. And then my ex athletes that that's how they did things their entire life. And so how dare this young 20 year old trainer convince them that this is not a good approach.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah, I mean there's a whole belief like that like people will watch Navy SEAL training be like man that, that's those guys Are getting fit. No. Navy SEALs are fit. When they get into Bud's training, all they're testing is their mental fortitude. They're not trying to get them fit. They're just seeing who can last, see who's going to break 100%. The next thing that people do that really messes them up is they focus on the scale. Oh, the pesky scale. What the weight on the scale says is telling me whether or not I'm doing a good job. All the scale tells you is mass. Total mass. Bone, muscle, skin, body fat, water, hair. Like that's what it tells you is mass. In other words, if you lose a limb, the weight on the scale goes down. Is that a good thing? No. You lost a limb, right? You can lose muscle. And people often think, oh, this is great, I'm losing weight. Even though they're fatter as a percentage of their body weight because they lost muscle. The scale lies so much to people that people will, they will judge their entire plan based on what the scale says and ignore how they feel. I've had clients, I've had people in my gyms who feel terrible but will tell me that they're successful because the scale is going down. Or people who feel amazing, they're stronger, they're leaner, their body fat percentage is lower. But then they go on the scale and the scale hasn't moved. Crushes them and they're, oh, my God, this is a total dismal failure. I think the best, I know, I don't think the best gauge of whether or not you're moving in the right direction, especially, especially when you first get started. Has nothing to do with scale. Everything to do with performance. Are you more fit? Are you stronger? In particular, if you're getting stronger, congratulations, you are moving in the right direction.

[Sal Destefano]

It's actually kind of crazy when you think about how irrelevant the scale is to body composition, that we even use it as a tool.

[Mind Pump Host]

Yeah, Body fat percentage, it's so, it's so irrelevant.

[Sal Destefano]

I mean, how many times have you either personally, yourself or taken a client and completely changed the way they look, perform, move and feel and the scale not go in any direction or go the opposite direction they thought they wanted to go?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

So it's so irrelevant. You can, you can take somebody who's completely deconditioned out of shape and they not move a pound up or down on the scale and completely change that person's body composition.

[Mind Pump Host]

You looked at a picture of a, a two, a six foot, 200 pound man at 25% body fat and put it next to a picture of that same man. 200 pounds, 10% body fat. They would look radically different.

[Sal Destefano]

Radically different.

[Mind Pump Host]

Radically. 25%. He's got a belly, he's soft, he looks flabby. 10%, he's got a six pack, he's got delts, he's got muscle. You take a 130 pound female at 35% body fat and put her next to the same picture of her same body weight, 20% body fat, radically different. So the scale, it just tells you total body mass. Unless you're going to use it with a body fat test to see where lean body mass is or whatever, throw that thing away. In fact, for the first three months of your workout, of your, of your fitness journey, you shouldn't weigh yourself at all because it's going to, it's going to actually discourage you from doing the right thing. Don't use a scale. Use performance. If you're stronger, you're moving in the right direction. If you're not getting stronger, then we need to look at what's going on here. Which takes us to the last part, which is this. This is the biggest mistake. You don't have a plan. Your plan consists of I'm going to work out. Yeah, There's a lot that can happen within a workout that can determine success or failure. You need to have a plan in terms of what I'm going to do, what works, what doesn't work. Exercises are not just the means to an end. The exercises themselves all have specific values. The order in which you do the exercises, the way you apply the exercises, the rep ranges, the tempos, the sets, all those things go into a formula known as workout programming. And workout programming makes a massive, massive difference on whether or not your body progresses or not.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, I've taken exponentially more effective.

[Mind Pump Host]

How many clients did you guys take on that worked out? They were already working out. They hired you. All you did was change a workout programming. In fact, that's the main thing we do. Yeah, Change of work and then boom, tremendous results.

[Justin Andrews]

You get the argument, like it's better than nothing. Like if I start going to the gym and I'm just kind of figuring it out or using machines and just kind of, you know, like freelancing it versus really knowing specifically. There's, here's the exercises to, you know, work my muscles. I need to work for this day and here's the rest periods and here's the amount of reps and sets and, you know, it's all dialed in. It's all done. Uh, and. And you can actually track and see how this progression occurs versus winging it. You know, you're kind of out there.

[Sal Destefano]

On a limb, especially at the beginning. Because definitely at the beginning, what can happen too? Like the scale can lie to you. Your programming can lie to you. Because if you haven't done for however many months, eat crappy, and then all of a sudden you decide the new year comes around, you'll see something. Yeah, you'll see something. And you're not. And you have a. And you can. So you could have a terrible workout program and still see some results when you come from doing nothing at all. When you make diet changes and you start creating activity in your lifestyle that already is going to elicit change. So what is plateau hits. That's right. And then that hard plateau hits and you don't know what to do. Especially when you really misgauged and you overdid, which is what most people do. So having a plan of this is how I should methodically. Scale is so important at the very beginning. Otherwise you're led to believe what you're doing in the gym is working for you when it really isn't.

[Mind Pump Host]

That's why we created. We have a program called Map. We have a lot of fitness programs. We created one called Map Starter, which is specifically for people getting started. It's literally a plan to take you from doing nothing to now, incorporating strength training and doing it in the right way so that you get the best possible results. So that program right there is the one we recommend that people get started with. Um, and because of this episode, it's half off. It's mapstarter.com with the code START 2025 and you can get it half off. Very small investments, very inexpensive. But it's a plan. You get the. You get the exercises, you know when to do them, how many reps you. It's all laid out for you. There's demos, the whole deal. So do that one with that.

[Adam Schaefer]

We do have some questions. How should I start with strength training?

[Mind Pump Host]

Start slow. Maps Starter is a great program. So just to give you a little bit more detail, Map Starter takes into account that you either haven't worked out in a while or you've never done strength training before. It incorporates exercises that teach you how to strength train. Build the techniques involved in strength training. Because strength training exercises are skills, right? So presses and rows and squats, stability. And it uses. We use a stability ball in many of the exercises in Starter to teach you how to engage your core how to have proper posture and technique. You build upon this program, by the way, this is a three month program. After this you have a nice solid foundation to move into more advanced programs.

[Sal Destefano]

And do not make the mistake that so many people do with this program is they think, oh, it's not enough if you have not been training or you have never trained and you're getting started right now at the new year, this is enough. In fact, it's what you should start with and then you'll build your way into Maps Anabolic and some of the other programs that we have later on. Map Starter is perfect for that. I mean, I remember when I had to tell Katrina this after pregnancy and she wanted to get back into things and it's been what I have, six months or whatever, they make her take off and then she was getting back or six weeks getting back to getting started and she's like, this is so basic and easy, Hun, it's enough. You haven't been doing anything for the last six weeks. Trust me, this is enough. This is enough. And you're going to see change, result, be patient and then sure, be patient. She sees the results and then she's good to go for Maps Anabolic of that. So do not make the mistake of thinking it's not enough.

[Adam Schaefer]

What about cardio?

[Mind Pump Host]

Cardio, there's nothing wrong with it. Great way to improve your health. But yes, I'll say this, if you're just getting started, here's how you incorporate movement. Walk every day. How do I walk every day? Well, you could schedule 30 minute walks every day or the best way to do this activity, do 10 minute walks after breakfast, lunch and dinner. The effect on blood sugar levels, insulin sensitivity and health are profound from that simple way of applying walking, 10 minutes, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's already attached to something you do anyway, which is eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's 10 minutes. You don't need to change any workout clothes or anything. And 10 minutes after breakfast, lunch and dinner is more effective than an hour done separately. In other words, half as much done because it's postprandial right after you eat. It has again profound effects on insulin sensitivity. So it's very, very good for health. That's the best way to start.

[Sal Destefano]

I either love habit stacking and doing the 10 minute method like that, or the other thing I like is clients that like to have a set time and routine that they always go to the gym. So you're there five, six days a week, that that's my time. You do your Your MAP starter program. On the days that don't call for the strength training, you walk on the treadmill. That's so if you like that. Because I like that also, where someone's like, hey, this is my time every day at 8am I'm at the gym or whatever it is. And yet that day doesn't call for strength training because you did it the day before.

[Mind Pump Host]

20, 30 minutes.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. Then 20, 30 minutes or even an hour of walking, you know that every single day.

[Adam Schaefer]

What supplements should I take?

[Mind Pump Host]

So multivitamin is probably a good place for most people to start. If you're lacking an essential nutrient that could have pretty, pretty big impact on your overall health and how you feel. And nutrient deficiencies are relatively common, believe it or not. Vitamin D and magnesium and zinc in particular. So multivitamin. And then from there, creatine. Creatine has profound health and longevity benefits. It builds muscle and strength and it indirectly helps burn body fat through the muscle building process. It's good for the brain, it's good for the skin. It's the most studied supplement in history. It's extremely safe unless you're told explicitly by your nephrologist not to take creatine, which is rare. That's the supplement I recommend everybody. It's a longevity health supplement. It used to be just for bodybuilding because it does make you stronger, help build muscle. But all the data now is showing, man, this is a very, very good supplement take for health.

[Sal Destefano]

So if you're just getting started, I'm gonna suggest that you get a full panel and get your blood work and see where you're potentially deficient in, because I don't. Nothing will make as big of a difference as supplementing for what you're deficient. I've never met a client, one that isn't deficient in vitamin D, magnesium, iron, something. So finding out what you're lacking is, what I think everybody should do at some point is, is to make that investment, get that, find out what that is so you learn about yourself and, and you, and you actually supplement for those things. Then the second thing I would say probably to invest in is that the second most important thing is a protein powder. And that's not because I think you, everybody should just take a protein powder. It's that I've yet to meet anybody that hits their, their protein targets consistently. And so having a supplement like that ready to go for the days that you miss your protein targets or are about to miss your protein targets, I think that's something that is extremely valuable and above all other supplements you making sure you hit your protein intake will give you will give you more ROI than any other supplement you'll find in the market.

[Mind Pump Host]

And again, the program that we have for beginners is Maps Starter. It's half off for this episode. You can find it at maps starter.com use the code START2025 for the 50% off discount. Also you can find us on Instagram. Justin is @mindpumpjustin I'm @mindpump to Stefano and Adam is @mindpump Adam, thank you.

[Adam Schaefer]

For listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body dramatically, improve your health and energy and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB super [e-mail] the RGB Super Bundle includes Maps, Anabolic Maps, Performance and Maps Aesthetic nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs with detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos. The RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30 day money back guarantee and you can get it now. Plus other valuable free [e-mail] if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until next time, this is Mind Pump.

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[Mind Pump Host]

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