The Truth About Getting In Shape.

The Truth about Getting in Shape:
Where It Starts and What It Takes

by Christopher Sutton

If you're cracking this book open and expecting to see a ton of pictures of guys lifting weights, doing resistance bands, running up mountains, counting calories, and all that good stuff -- this is the wrong book. What we have found after being in the martial arts and fitness industry for many, many years and speaking to people on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis about their goals and aspirations, is that getting in shape is 99.9% mental.
What do I mean when I say that?

Getting in shape is 99.9% mental
If I took a million people and told them, "If you don't run fifteen miles today, you will lose every possession and every dollar you have," guess what -- every single one of them would run fifteen miles. As a matter of fact, they'd do whatever I asked them to do. They'd do a hundred pushups, run fifteen miles, and swim a mile. Why? Because the motivation is intense enough.
They have the physical body to do it. The mechanics are all there. Human beings can get the job done. They can work out.
And if you want to badly enough, so can you.

So why don't you?
We've come to the realization that the problem is 99.9% mental because mechanically everyone is built the same. If, then, you have the ability to work out, why don't you?
Most people naturally want to be in shape and look their best possible. Why aren't we doing what it takes to get there?

It's mental. If you have two arms and two legs, your heart is beating, and the doctor says it's okay, then you have the same inherent ability that every other human being walking the planet has. So why aren't you using that?
Now that we've determined that the mechanics are there, what about the programs?
How many times have you heard someone say, "The program I'm on just isn't working. That's why I can never get into shape."
Here's a little secret that we've discovered: Most of the workout programs out there work very well. Any program that provides a sound cardio and strength training workout and an easy-to-follow nutritional program will be effective. But the best program in the world does not work unless you do. You have to be consistent, and you have to stick with it long enough to achieve results.
With any new activity, there tends to be this honeymoon phase we go through. Maybe it lasts a week, maybe it lasts three weeks. You could start kayaking, you could become a swimmer, you could sign up for a new spinning class. You could do yoga, you could jog, you could take up triathlons. No matter what you do, it's going to work only if you do it long enough for it to work. If you get bored after a couple of weeks and quit, you're going to end up right back where you started.
The supercomputer between your ears is what we need to discipline and train to get your life truly turned around. If we can change your mind we can change your body.
Most fitness fads are built around the idea that someone has created a new and unique workout that's better than anything else out there. Somebody comes up with a niche or a gimmick or some new-fangled machine. That's not going to cut it, guys. What we need to change is your mind. Once your mind changes, everything else follows.

Changing your mind.

The real truth about getting in shape is that first and foremost we have to change our habits, our attitudes, and our mental approach to working out. Everything else is easy. Once you change your mind, you'll find the right workout, you'll find a good nutritional program, and this time it will work because you'll stay consistent.
The variety of different programs you can get on is amazing, and for the most part all of them have the potential to work. But until we can get your mind to wrap itself around the fact that you need to get in shape and how important it is to you to stay with it, nothing will work. I can come to you with the best workout to date, the most cutting-edge nutritional program, the best supplements you can possibly take, and they will all fail miserably if we haven't changed your mind first.
If you want to get in shape, what you have to do first is change your entire mindset.

Excerpted from the book Creating the Ultimate Body: The Truth about Being in Shape, What It Really Takes, and Where It Really Starts by Christopher Sutton. Copyright 2011.