I work in Connecticut in Fairfield County, for those that don’t know where that is its about 45 minutes outside of New York City. I would think most people have a rough idea where that is and what goes on around there.
New York New York
Lots of my clients live in Connecticut and commute into the city for work. What is the profession of most of these guys? Investment banking. Its actually rare and interesting when I have someone that isn’t’ an investment banker!
Now if you get to talking to them about who’s the top guy in their field or even if you have any vague interest in the topic at all you know who’s top dog. His name is Warren Buffet.
You see most people trade stocks, they buy and sell them day to day and hope that they move in the direction they are betting on.
Where did it all go??
Warren Buffet doesn’t trade stocks, he invests in good companies. How’s that working out for him? Well he’s one of the richest men in the world and one share of his company goes for well over $100,000.
Cool. Calm. Collected. And stinkin' rich!!!
I heard a quote from him the other day that got me thinking, I’m paraphrasing here so bear with me: “Buy the best in breed and let time be your ally” So simple and yet so powerful! Think about it: The game isn’t won in a day, and you have to be in for the long haul to eliminate chance and come out ahead.
So how can this great advice be best translated into fitness terms? I think it goes without saying that workout programs should be built around the foundational exercises and their variants.
Here’s a short list:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Lunges
- Push Ups
- Bench Press
- Overhead Press
- Dips
- Chin Ups
- Single Handed Rows
- Two Handed Rows
If your workout program doesn’t revolve around these exercises have you taken time to consider why not?
The back squat, approved by Arnold...
... and used around the world!
Unless you have a damn good reason not to, you should be performing these movements often and measure progress in months and years not days and weeks: That’s the second take home point.
You can’t expect to go through a 4 week exercise program and expect to have completely changed your body. You have to exercise day in and day out and your body will change at a gradual pace and this time next year you can be a completely different person. Patience and perseverance pay off in a very big way when it comes to working out. Bouncing around between different workout programs and exercises will always beat out sitting on the couch and eating pints of ice cream,
On second thought just stay home and have the ice cream!
but it will never beat out a well thought out program that can stand the test of time.
Remember that you have to be making the right moves over an extended period of time to guarantee you come out ahead!
