There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
Finding Joy and Longevity in Fitness: Crafting Your Unique Path to Wellness
Ever wonder why most New Year's resolutions fizzle out by February? Join me, Rob Maxwell, as I share insights from both my personal journey and behavioral science to reveal why lifestyle changes triumph over temporary resolutions. In this enlightening episode, I introduce you to the story of a passionate runner who has defied the odds, maintaining her exercise routine for over a decade, even amidst setbacks like injuries. We'll explore the magic of consistency and adaptability as the real game-changers for achieving lasting health and fitness success.
Discover how to craft a fitness routine that you'll not only stick with but genuinely enjoy. Forget one-size-fits-all solutions; this is about finding your unique path to wellness. I'll share anecdotes, like the sheer joy of long walks with friends, to illustrate how embracing activities you love can lead to sustainable health benefits. We'll focus on nurturing a mindset that values long-term achievements in fitness rather than quick wins. Whether you're a fitness newbie or looking to rekindle your passion, this episode is packed with practical advice and inspiration to help you find joy and longevity in your routine.
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell. I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There, there is a method to the madness. Today I'm going to talk about setting some good habits and getting into better routines. Before I get to that, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service. They have the sales and the reviews to back that up. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412.
Speaker 1:All right, so we're getting a little bit closer to the end of the year. When you hear this, it should be on the 16th, or that's when it pops out actually. So December 16th. So we're getting there. And what do a lot of people do? They set those new year's resolutions right, years resolutions right, and if you follow at all any kind of behavioral science, you know that most people don't stick to those resolutions. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing to have some goals and to be thinking about what you want to do a little bit better and some habits you can establish. Of course, that's not a bad thing, but how do we do it a little bit better?
Speaker 1:You know, from the time I started studying health and fitness and I have to go way back before I had my formal education, like before I started even working on my bachelor's degree, when I was just really starting to getting into working out and I was doing more like bodybuilding style workouts down at this old gym down in New Smyrna and I knew I needed to eat to kind of promote the gains and all. So I was really starting to develop a good habit, like we're talking way back then, and so that's well before I ever even thought about going into business as a personal trainer, becoming formally educated. But I was already starting to learn what it was all about. And the people who went before me, who wrote books about health and fitness, who lectured on health and fitness, who wrote articles on health and fitness and this was long before the days of podcasts or internet or any of that they talked about lifestyle changes versus diets, lifestyle changes versus training for something for a short period of time, for example, your high school reunion or a wedding it was all about lifestyle changes. So we've known for a really, really long time in behavioral science, the better way to frame things, to put things and that's really what it is all about, more than anything else is a lifestyle change, like if you don't love it, if you don't learn how to love it, you're probably not going to stick to it. And if you learn how to really find the lifestyle that you're looking for and you really, really like it and you stick to it, and you stick to it and you stick to it, well, the outcomes are going to happen, just naturally. But the key isn't so much to look for those outcomes as much as it is to try to establish the better lifestyle that you're seeking.
Speaker 1:I heard a quote today that I really, really liked, and what they said was it is far more impressive to have a record of running three times a week for a decade, for 10 years, than it is to have said you run a marathon or you ran a marathon. I think that is so true and so wise and really thought-provoking that I want to talk about that a little bit, and it's kind of funny because this comes on the heels of one of the people who I train and she works at the gym sometimes Angelica. So she did a ultra marathon yesterday, which the 50K, so that's a little bit over 31 miles, so that's a great accomplishment. She was second overall and just doing one of those is incredible. So that comment about a decade of running being more valuable than a marathon isn't supposed to take away from that. It's supposed to really magnify what is most important, right? So the only way we can really reach those milestones in running is to look back and go well, what has their habits been over the course of time?
Speaker 1:Now, I think one of the better things that she has actually accomplished and she's had a pretty good if not a really good, if not an excellent running career. And she's had a pretty good, if not a really good, if not an excellent running career. There's been great marathon times, great 5K times, there's been wins, there's been all these types of things. But one of the things I was thinking about is, man, she's like pretty run. She has run pretty consistently I mean really consistently for the past 13 or 14 years that I've known her. She had a little bit of time off earlier this year. It was actually almost at this point last year in December, when she was doing a trail run that I happened to do yesterday and broke her ankle and that put her out for about six weeks to eight weeks and then she was able to put it together and train for a marathon a few weeks after that, which was incredible. But outside of breaking an ankle, she's had a really good run of consistent running.
Speaker 1:So that's the most impressive thing, and not everybody does. I mean, if you look at running, for example, there's a lot of start and stops. Some of it is people lose motivation and just get away from it. Yeah, that I mean that's fine, as long as you replace it with something else, in my opinion. But then some of it is just overuse injuries. I mean I know so many people that can't stay healthy with their running, and I shouldn't say can't, they can, they just choose not to. They would rather just continue to push the envelope more, more, more. They don't listen to their body and then they get hurt, they can't train and, as I've always said, you can't get faster if you're not running, if you're not doing your thing because you're hurt, you're not going to get better.
Speaker 1:So that's not very impressive to say, well, you had this great race, this great PR accomplishment for you. You did this great event that you've been training for a really long time for and was on your bucket list, but you got so beat up doing it or so burned out doing it that you ended up not having an active lifestyle after that. That's not really a win in my opinion, even if you took home the trophy that day. Unfortunately, they don't give medals to people for being consistent day in and day out with nobody knowing it. But the true win is in that, because you really will reap the benefits of that healthy lifestyle. But it's not rewarding, right? Just like the guy or gal who eats healthy almost all of the time, like, more often than not, they are eating healthy. So because they're eating healthy and they're eating within their means, they're not gaining weight, they're just staying nice and consistently fit year in and year out. You don't see that on the news because you're going to see only the person who lost X amount of weight on the news. So it's just not like glamorous to point out the consistency in people, even though it's the consistency that really, really, really counts, like that's the thing.
Speaker 1:How can you have zero, less, zero days? How can you say to yourself whether it's fitness, whether it's eating better, whether it's better wellness techniques, whatever? Because you know I can go in a million directions, but this show is about health and fitness. So how do you have less zero days, meaning how do you have less days where you just didn't exercise because it had to be perfect, it had to be the exact way that you needed it to be, so you did absolutely nothing. I mean, how do you eliminate that and simply make it a lifestyle instead? I mean I can think of examples for me and I'm very fortunate, grateful, happy, proud, whatever you want to say, I mean all of those things to say that I'm very consistent with exercise and eating right. It is absolutely a part of my lifestyle, a very important part of my lifestyle.
Speaker 1:I've had days where I had to work and had to catch a flight because I was traveling, so my days, my hours to exercise that day, were few and far in between, but you know what I'm thinking of like two or three examples where I did this. I did not want to have a zero day, so instead, once I got to the airport, because we all know we have to get to the airport a little earlier than we really need to. You know, depending on the airport you go to, if you go to Daytona, that's less of an issue. They're great, you get in, you get out. But I mean other airports you tend to have to get there a lot earlier. So I told myself all right, I don't have time this morning. I have clients I've got to see because I'm going out of town. And when I'm out of town they're not going to get the workouts in. So I got to squeeze these in. So I got to the airport and I walked, and I walked, and I walked and I paced, and I paced. Is it like the best workout in the world? Nope, but you know what? It's a heck of a lot better than zero. I got in a lot of steps and when I was walking I might decide to lean on a wall for a second and stretch my quads. You know whatever I mean. I made use of the downtime to get something in, so I didn't have a zero day.
Speaker 1:So how can you get into the lifestyle? Do you want to be the person that doesn't miss workouts and eats right more times than they don't? Do you want to be that? I would guess so, because that's going to bring the results that you're most likely looking for. Like most people want to be leaner or they want to be lean. Most people want to be, have more muscle tone or they want to be toned Like they want the now. They want to be the thing that they want to be. But how often do they really want to say they're the verb? How often do they want to do the work? How often do they say I'm going to do something today as a positive contribution towards this? Whatever that is and I think, if we make it our lifestyle, versus this short-term fix of beginning January 1st I'm going to get on this routine and I'm going to lose 30 pounds by the end of the first quarter. I mean great. Like I said, if it motivates you, great. But how often does that work? Most of the time, people don't hit those goals, and then the ones that do typically don't keep it off because it's a resolution versus a lifestyle change.
Speaker 1:Instead say you know, I want to have, I want to go through this upcoming year and be a slightly different person than I am today in regards to my health, my fitness and my wellness routines. I want to be able to say that I had worked out almost every day in some way, shape or form. I want to be able to say that I ate good more times than I didn't Never ate perfect once and I didn't eat horrible once. I just ate good more times than I didn't. Throughout the year that I made sure that my health and my fitness and my wellness was my priority, like that would be the key.
Speaker 1:How do you do that? Like, how do you like it enough, where you're not always thinking about the end but you're thinking about the means? Like, how do you like it enough? Are you maybe feeling compelled to do certain exercise that you don't like? You know like maybe you lack some flexibility. I mean, I can relate to that and so you think you know what I really need yoga for me, what if you hate yoga? I mean I don't, I think it's great, I don't do it because I honestly don't have time. So I take care of that aspect of my fitness doing other things. You know I shouldn't say I don't have time, I don't make time, it's not a big enough priority for me. I think it's great, it's just not always for me. But how do you figure out what is like? How do you figure it out that you know there's no perfect way to exercise and there's no perfect way to eat, so what are the better ways for you that you can go? I really like that. Like you know, my friend's been doing this and every time I've gone on long walks with her or him I've really enjoyed it. Okay, well, there you go. Like, maybe you found a niche, maybe that is it for you.
Speaker 1:So how do you figure out how to start to develop healthy lifestyles to where, when you get to this point next year, you're not starting over again or you're not looking for something fresh. You're actually just saying, man, that was pretty cool. I had a really good consistent year, because you know what Longevity speaks volumes. If you've been doing something for a really long period of time, chances are you are reaping the benefits to that. And too often we do not give enough credit to like the lifetime achievement awards, which tend to be so much more valuable than the flash in the pan awards. You know, somebody might like reach these fitness accomplishments in a year and you're like man, that guy or girl is jacked or man, they, they did this and they did that. I mean that's awesome.
Speaker 1:But like I look at the people that are older, that have been doing it for so long and they've stayed fit and they're consistent, I mean life is a marathon and that's the true, true hard part right there. How do you stick with it, how do you be consistent, how do you become a person of longevity with it? I mean, for me it was easy. I fell in love with exercise strength training, running, jogging, cardio, all of it. I like it all, so it's easy. How do you figure that out for you All? Right Now let's figure out how to buy the best garage door in Daytona Beach, which happens to be overhead door of Daytona Beach. Jeff and Zach Hawk are friends of mine. They're sponsors, they're clients, they're just great individuals who are going to provide for you the best garage door with, the most important part, the best customer service. Check them out Overheaddoordaytonacom.
