Consistency with the Basics
Too many people spend too much time worrying about all of the tangibles that aren't actually going to move the needle. Things like what shoes should I wear, what clothes am I going to wear, what supplements should I take, do I need to get a new pair of headphones, I can go on and on. Then you have people worrying about the more complex side of strength training and wonder what the optimal exercises for certain muscles are, what RPE they need to lift at, whats the best split. For some it is absolute curiosity, others simply want a short cut to the gains it takes 10+ years to achieve. But truthfully for a lot of people in both camps, all of these things are just a way to workaround the very thing you know you need to do but are afraid of; working fucking hard. At the end of the day, a lot of this shit comes down to working really hard for a really long time, without stopping. Consistent, hard work in and out of the gym is the only answer long term. What you need to work hard on is all of the things that you probably don't work hard on. So if we can fix that equation, then real progress is going to be made. Those basics are pretty simple:
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Proper nutrition/hydration intake
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High step count
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Daily Movement
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Quality sleep
If you can't do these things consistently everyday then a) you don't want results bad enough and b) you aren't going to make any meaningful, lasting progress. You will continue to spin your wheels, constantly searching for the next thing only to find yourself on the same hamster wheel as before. Don't worry about complex things if you can't do the basics right. The basics are your foundation. We all know we need to eat whole, natural foods everyday, accompanied by water and electrolytes. A high step count is very achieveable, getting 8-10k+ per day is going to not only put you in a small % of the population who is active on a daily basis, but it is going to do wonders for your overall health and wellbeing. You don't necessarily have to go to the gym every single day, but you can do something physically active with your body everyday, and you should. Doesn't always have to be weights, doesn't always have to be extremely intense. It just needs to happen. Quality sleep is the glue that holds all of this together. Quality nutrients and hydration are extremely important for fueling our bodies and promoting proper recovery, but without quality sleep none of this comes together like it should. Sleep is truly where our bodies undergo a magical process of restoring us to be able to get up and give our best every single day. This isn't up for debate.
The basics will take you very far, but they cannot be abandoned. You don't wakeup one day and become too good for this stuff. These are the things that will allow you to do all of the other stuff at a high level, not the other way around. Prioritize these things daily and you will become a version of yourself someday you never knew could exist.