Each year I tend to look back and see what did I do, what did I accomplish/achieve, heck what kind of life did I live and was it better than the last year?
Below you will find some of the new things that I have leaned this year or even just further ingrained in my being.
Well honestly these are more like my rules of life; I’ve even heard some of my clients call these “Travisisms” that I have used to help govern MY life this year.
These are a bit random in regards to fitness, thought, and just being human in no particular order but take a look and tell me what you think.
***Some of these may be a bit harsh***
1. Meal quality beats meals frequency – You’ve may have heard me preach the IF (intermittent fasting) on multiple occasions and I still stand by this. The thing that has been further ingrained in me it it’s NOT even about taking a break from food or only allowing yourself a small window to eat. It’s about WHAT you eat during that feeding window that counts; one or two organic grass fed meals will greatly benefit the body BETTER than 6 mediocre meals.
2. Mediocrity sucks – I never hear people brag about how they are just average at something, face it we don’t remember average. Don’t live a life of just mediocrity, go out and do something or anything great.
3. Progressive overload is still a tried and true principle – We’ve been experimenting with some strength programs and I have to admit that we have been seeing some impressive gains in strength and muscle development. Out of all the principles that we have rotated the concept of progressive overload has always proven to be one of the better options with training to gain strength and development.
4. Conditioning workouts are the key for fat loss – Something else that has been fun here at Fitness Revolution Rowlett is manipulating the intervals for our conditioning programs (think Tabata style training) No matter what though every time we have people do conditioning workouts 2 times a week we notice fat loss is accelerated and beats out the steady state cardio for dropping those pounds.
5. Smile when someone insults you. – Face it, you’re going to come across people that just for whatever reason don’t like you. It’s ok, just smile and to let them know you don’t’ give a crap.
6. Your hip flexors hate you – We continue to have this beaten into our heads that the hip flexors (it’s not one muscle but a group of muscles) just hate about everyone. They are needy attention whores that will let you know what they think of you if you don’t pay attention to them almost daily.
So my best piece of advice is to stretch those things as OFTEN as you can.
7. If you don’t like dogs you have no soul – Need I say more?
8. “Liking” something on Facebook does nothing – This is more of a peeve, but when I see people share things on Facebook for tragic events, charities or even prayer they feel that if the “like” the post or share it commanding their following to do the same then they have done their good deed for the day.
No.
Your “liking” or “sharing” did NOT save a child from sex trafficking and it does NOT count as a prayer; instead shut down Facebook get off your butt donate your time, money or go to a church.
9. If you can’t grip it, you can’t lift it – Grip is one of the first things to go out with most strength and muscle gaining routines. The more research we do with grip training the more that we realize we need to put this in EVERYONE’S routine multiple times a week.
If you can really grasp that bar or dumbbell with ANY exercise you’ll notice that YOU control the weight and the weight does NOT control you.
10. Don’t trust spell check – I’ve learned this the hard way.
11. Stop making excuses – Also don’t be one of those people that says, “I KNOW I’m making excuses, but…” That is also just as annoying.
12. This is a good one – 
13. Train your calves – You don’t meet too many people that have great calves but calves just stand out with both men and women, so not only are they functionally beneficial with training but they just look damn good when developed.
14. If your accomplishments are older than two years no one cares – After two years in college no one cares about your SAT scores; after several years out of college no one cares what degree’s you have.
The point is to always be moving forward and working on something every few years. If you are still reliving the days of high school football glory then you need to do something to make yourself a more of an interesting person.
15. Entertain ideas, even if you don’t agree with them. – Aristotle quoted “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” In today’s world of bigotry and ignorance this is a dying ideal and I hope we find more individuals that will continue hold true to this. <=== Tweet That
16. Make an ex jealous – I don’t care how shallow this may sound, we have ALL thought this. I’ve NEVER heard anyone say they wish their ex wasn’t missing them or regretting calling things off; it’s human nature to smile a bit as you walk away feeling their eyes looking you up and down.
The best thing you can do to just let it show that you’re better off without them.
17. Before you judge makes sure that you’re perfect – We all have imperfections but before we go blasting others on perceived shortcomings just make sure that YOU can walk on water.
18. Don’t own a lot of things – Tyler Durden said it best in the movie Fight Club “The things you own end up owning you.” I’m the first to admit that I do like nice things and I do have somewhat of an involentary expensive taste that did lead me down a path at one point in my life to just working to maintain those things.
You’ll never be able to keep up with the Jones’s and in the end no one really cares.
19. You can’t fix stupid – The fitness industry is an industry of helping people feel and look better (yes we are an education based practice but most don’t care as long as they are looking hot). I’ve seen some beautiful people come in to train but a Happy Meal has a higher IQ than them, other words they get by on their looks.
I’ll be the first to tell you that looking good helps, you’re naive if you think otherwise, and we can ALWAYS fix the way a person looks with diet exercise but EVENTUALLY looks fade and stupid is what remains.
20. Take pictures – Everyday take a picture, because you never know when that memorable moment will happen that you wish you had a pic to look back and smile about. You’ll forget more than you can realize but a picture can always bring a smile back of a memory long forgotten.
21. At least once, get shredded – Why? Cause to see what you can look like if you really push the limit, and its fun to go “Wow…” as you stare in the mirror… and take a picture with your camera phone (Oh we’ve all done it).
22. Always carry a lacrosse ball – Not only is this thing beneficial for digging out knots in your back and shoulders but you will never know when you need to call upon your inner Nolan Ryan to stop a robbery. 😉
23. Read all the time – Not only does this make you a more interesting person but it’s the sign of a good educated cultured personality.
24. You are who you surround yourself with – Mostly this has to do with peer pressure. I would rather get pressured to do great things that push me further to my dreams and goals and NOT deter me away from them. So take a look at the people closest to you, are they pushing you further to where YOU want to go or are they dragging you down? IF they are dragging you down ditch em and get new friends, I can promise you that you’ll be much happier.
25. I don’t workout to be healthy; I workout to look sexy as fuck, naked – Um… ya!
I’m sure that I’ll contiue to add on to this list over the years but as I gain a bit more street cred with life these principles alone have helped me deal with a lot of crap that has been thrown my way and I’ve walked away feeling happier than before.
In Health and Awesomeness,
Travis Merritt, BS, CPT, CES, RBT is the owner of Fitness Revolution in Rowlett, TX.
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