When it comes to fitness, there are hundreds of ways to get fit. The main thing that people just need to understand is to just move. You don’t have to have the perfect plan. There is no perfect workout or gym split. You just need to move. Figure out what you like to do and do that. When it comes to the best way to improve your body composition (the way you look), I believe that resistance training is the best way to go. I will devote an entire chapter to resistance training because I believe that it will give you the most bang for your buck. It provides endless health benefits.

I also understand that some people just aren’t into lifting weights. Also, if you are extremely out of shape, I understand that it can be intimidating to go to a gym. To people who aren’t willing to lift weights, you just need to find some other way to move your body. Your life depends on it. Find something that you enjoy, whether it’s running, walking, CrossFit, group training, cycling, spin class, yoga. The list is endless. Do something every day where you move your body.

In order to change the way your body looks, you need to move more and eat better. Moving more is the simplest thing you can do to feel better and look better. Figure out something or a couple of things that you enjoy. The modern life requires us to sit almost all day long. We wake up, we go sit on the couch. We get up and sit down to eat breakfast. We get in our vehicles and sit while we drive to work. We get to work and we sit for most of the day. We get back in our vehicles and sit for the drive home. We then sit down for supper. We then sit down to watch Netflix and then lay in bed all night. Then we repeat it. This lack of movement is killing us and we need to add more movement to our day for both our physical and mental health.

Start small, but make progress

If all you can do is walk, then that’s fine. Go for a 5 minute walk. Go for a 1 minute walk. Whatever you can do. Tomorrow go a little bit longer. Keep progressing, even if it’s a small amount. Whatever it is you are doing, just keep trying to get a little bit better every day. Don’t go from a couch potato to coming up with a plan where you are going to lift weights 5 times a week and run 3 times a week. This is a recipe for failure. You’ll burn yourself out, lose motivation or even hurt yourself. Start small and build up. This is the path to greatness.

Move now before it’s too late

A lack of movement can have catastrophic health consequences, both in the short term and long term. We all know that we need to exercise and move more, if we want to live long healthy lives. Moving more and eating better are the two most important factors in disease prevention and longevity. At least they are the two most important factors that WE can control. This is what this book is all about. Don’t worry about genetics or rare diagnoses or anything out of your control. 

You can control how much you move. If you don’t move when you are in your 20’s and 30’s, it takes a toll on your body similar to the way compound interest works in our favour. Except it’s the opposite. A lack of movement for years and decades will negatively compound to a point in your 40’s, 50’s and beyond, where you’re not able to move. The more weight you put on, the more it will impact your joints. Then you get to a point where your back or knees hurt so badly that you can’t workout even if you want to. Don’t let it get to that point. Sadly, this is reality for many people in their 60’s ad 70’s. Whether you are old or young, it becomes exponentially harder to get in shape the longer you wait. Once you are in shape and you develop good habits, it is so much easier to stay that way. Move now, progress slowly, and live a long healthy life.