Secret #4: The 3 Essential Components of Fitness
- Kevin Guardado
- Sep 28, 2018
- 2 min read
The 3 essential components of fitness:
- Resistance Training -
- Proper Nutrition -
- Adequate Sleep -
When beginning a program, start mastering these 3 components.
Wait until those components are in place before adding anything else! This should be second nature and incorporated as a part of your lifestyle before adding things like cardio and supplements. Let’s break these components down:
Resistance training - a form of exercise that strengthens your muscles and bones by moving against a resistance. Building muscle creates a strong body and a fast metabolism, allowing you to lose body-fat and keep it off.
There are several types of resistance used at the gym. Each offers a different stimulus on the muscles and should be varied. Three 30 minute resistance training workouts a week is enough to keep you healthy and strong. This includes:
Free weights such as barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells
Machines and cables
Bodyweight exercises and TRX Suspension Training (pic below)
Resistance bands
2. Proper Nutrition - it’s as simple as controlling your calorie intake. A calorie deficit will help you lose weight, a surplus will help you gain weight.
Stay away from empty calories such as sodas, desserts and alcohol. These are high in calories/sugars and offer no nutritional value, making you feel sluggish and unsatisfied. Drink WATER instead.
Track your Macros! It is important to spend your calories on a balance of 30% Protein, 30% Fats and 40% Carbs. This is a safe macronutrient breakdown to start with.
Eat your fiber! Men should have 25-35 grams of fiber per day while women should have 20-30 grams per day. It’s a great way to control your hunger and ensure you’re getting carbs from a natural fruit/veggie based source.
Pay attention to your eating habits.
Stay prepared by journaling your food intake, meal planning and prepping, setting goals and being accountable to someone else.
Adequate rest - your body needs time to recover and adapt to the training. If you feel your body really needs it, sometimes sleep is the better option than a hard training session. Make 7-9 hours a priority.
Take a nap or meditate! 20-30 min power-naps and meditation sessions can rejuvenate your mind and reset your hormones similar to a night’s rest.
If you have time, use recovery exercises such as foam rolling, yoga or other light dynamic movement to help your muscles recover.
A few points on Cardio…
Cardio is a good thing, as long as it does not compromise the 3 essential components. Adding cardio too early creates more stress, as it takes up time and has very little weight loss benefit (compared to the combination of resistance training, nutrition and rest).
Once the essentials are dialed it, you WILL have the energy to do other activities such as hiking, biking, walking the dog and even cardio!
In a perfect world...
We’d have unlimited time to go to the gym; a personal chef and nutrition plan; 8-9 hours of sleep a night; weekly massage sessions; time for leisurely activities.
Since we don’t live in a perfect work, focus your efforts on BUILDING THE FOUNDATION. This is the most efficient, fastest and safest way to achieve your Fitness Results.
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