I treat and advise endurance athletes and regular folks; from newbies to veterans, beginners to Pros. My amateur clients are physicians, CEOs, Googlers, accountants, attorneys, etc. Almost all are married with children. Two women just had a child and one is six months pregnant. They live and work in diverse areas, from Moscow to New Zealand, the UK, Florida, Cali, NY and Seattle and in between. They all have something in common other than the desire to raise fitness; they are time constrained.
When a client or patient comes to me and says “I want to get fit” we start the same way; and it has little to do with HTFU (hardening the f*ck up).
Allow me to explain.
Before we focus on raising fitness levels through exercise we start be creating an environment for success. Most people over estimate what they can do in three months and underestimate what they can do in three years. The first thing we do is create an environment for success. We need to raise energy levels and carve out time (they are related).
Step One: clean up their nutritional choices. We are not talking about a diet or withholding calories. This is about healthy choices and lifestyle changes. Reduce or eliminate processed foods, sugar, trans-fats and hydrogenated oils. This improves body composition and dramatically increases energy; simple but not easy. But I promise you, after three to four weeks you will have the energy you may long for now.
Step Two: Get up when it is dark. Go to bed early. Early morning hours are uninterrupted. They are all yours! Eat right, go to bed early and you now have the energy and have carved out time.
Step Three: build routine. As I said earlier, before adding fitness, build routine. I remind my people that routine has to be established before building fitness. The routine is what will allow your program to be sustained over time. What we want to avoid is the start/stop routine that results from injury, fatigue and resultant loss of motivation.
In summary, nutrition cannot be over emphasized. For the time constrained, go to bed early and get up early. Build routine. Show up and suit up. Early fitness happens by accident if you eat right and build routine. As well, it builds injury resistance.
Keep On Truckin’ …
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Dr. Kevin Purcell is also known as KP here at TMV. Dr Purcell, D.C., works with long course triathletes; from elite to those new to endurance sport. Coach KP has guided dozens of athletes to qualification to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, including over 15 IM age group championships. He is certified in Active Release Technique (ART). Coach KP retired from competition in 2006.
Dr. Kevin Purcell, DC. Dedicated to serving others …