Get on the Path

At On Target Fitness, we aren’t just selling you access to a facility or to a workout.  Here, our integrated, whole lifestyle approach to personal training helps you get and stay ON THE PATH.  What is The Path?  It is the journey away from what you don’t want, towards what you do want, where you harness your lifestyle to be your secret weapon to accomplish your specific goals.  

That might sound obvious but here is the simple truth: most people are on a superhighway to exactly where they don’t want to be.  Most people are too heavy, eat crap, have no energy, joints hurt, don’t like the way they look, and know that diabetes and/or heart disease are in their future.  You know where you are isn’t good and you know where you are going is even worse but you can’t seem to change anything.  You make all the tired, cliche excuses but those don’t really make you feel any better.  In fact they make you feel kind of weak when you say them.  

Welcome to where you don’t want to be.  This is where most people are when they come to see me.  That is when we start the process of putting this all BEHIND you.  (If you are ready for that conversation, fill out the info at the top or bottom of this page and I'll take care of the rest.)

The path towards making your lifestyle your secret weapon has 5 parts.  This is a huge piece of what is missing from the normal gym experience.  If you want to get in shape and make long lasting change, you can’t just workout but ignore things like nutrition and sleep.  At On Target Fitness, we don’t just give you one piece of the puzzle and then leave you to figure out the rest all on your own.  We help with all 5 parts of the path.  That is the beauty of personal training.

Each aspect can be made complicated, but I’d like to share some basics of each.  My Marine Corps days taught me brilliance at the basics.  If you strive to be brilliant at the below basics, you will be successful.

1. Exercise

1. Strength train 3 days per week.

2. Walk 10k steps on non training days.  When the walks get too easy, add a pack.

2. Nutrition

1. Stop eating CRAP.  You know what it is : )

2. Meet your daily protein requirements.  (We help you calculate this with our meal plan)

3. Meet your daily caloric requirements.  ( We also help you calculate this with our meal plan.)

4. Take a multivitamin

3. Sleep

1. Get 7-8 hours of quality sleep.

2. If you aren’t, follow the 10, 3, 2, 1, 0 rule of better sleep: No caffeine 10 hours before bed, no more food/alcohol 3 hours before bed, no more work 2 hours before bed, no more screen time 1 hour before bed, and 0 is the number of times you hit snooze.

4. Hydration

1. Drink 8oz of water as soon as you wake up.

2. Carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go.

5. Mental Hygiene

1. Establish a regular gratitude practice.  This can be as simple as writing down 3 things you are grateful for as soon as you wake up.

2. One good decision away.  You are always one good decision away from being back on track.  It doesn’t matter how small.  Just make it.

3. “Brush your teeth”.  You brush your teeth whether you “feel like it” or not.  You just need to.  It’s not exciting or particularly fun, but you do it anyway.  Workouts should be fun, but you still need to just “brush your teeth” sometimes and do it even when you don’t feel like it.  

4. Say “no” more.  Saying yes to everything means you are always saying no to your own needs.  Do this for too long and your life is like trying to cut wood with a very, very dull saw.  There is a lot of heat but nothing is happening.  Take some time to sharpen that saw and you’ll end up cutting more wood.  This is a concept from “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. 

    

Brilliant at the basics, moving towards your goals, moving away from your pain points.  Its a beautiful thing!  A good question to ask if you have tried to get in shape before but failed is: What of these 5 areas was missing before?  You might have been trying really hard in your workouts but your nutrition was only okay and your sleep was terrible.  

Here is another great question to ask yourself.  What happens if you derail and what should you do?  You blew it.  You had the junk meal, the desert you didn’t really want but you caved, etc.  You aren’t happy BECAUSE you turned yourself around.  You are now facing what you don’t want and can feel yourself moving back towards it.  What’s cool about the path is it almost doesn't matter WHAT to get back on the path or how small it is.  Bummed by your bad choice?  Don’t wait to “do better tomorrow” and then the rest of the day is shot.  Take action right now!  Write 3 things you are grateful for, drink 8 oz of water, go do some physical activity, whatever it takes.  Now you are back on the path.  Remember, you are always one good choice away, no matter how small, from getting back on the path!

When you are ready to chat one on one with a personal trainer about your goals, fill out the form at the top or bottom of this page and I will be in touch : )