I don’t like to brag (ok maybe I do a little bit) but sometimes you have to toot your own horn or nobody else will. 

Last week I set a new personal best for bench press and leg press.  Considering I am 45 years old, I thought that was pretty good.  Most people I know quit increasing their max 10 years before that.  I bench pressed 435 lbs for two reps and did over 1000 lbs on the leg press for a full set of eight!!  That’s pretty good by any standard and awesome for me.  It is particularly good considering I weigh 210 pounds with less then 10%  body fat and I have been decreasing my percent body fat simultaneously. 

So how do I do it?  Do I have a secret?  There are a few fundamentals that everyone should know and take advantage of, but yet so few do.  I will talk about four of those today and leave the rest for another essay. 

First, get to the gym!  This means quit waiting to “get motivated” to work out.  So many people never start because they just cannot motivate themselves.  I often ask them how they get motivated to go to work in the morning or to brush their teeth. 

I cannot wait to get motivated, I simply do it.  Day in and day out, you find the type of exercise to fit your goals, then you just do it!!!  Make a decision that starting today you will work out every day, or 5 days a week, or whatever you decide, and then stick with it come hell or high water.  Just make yourself do it. 

Don’t wait to get motivated.  Don’t wait until you have the right partner.  Don’t wait until they build a new gym, or you get a new bike, or whatever.  Use the Ready, Fire, Aim philosophy Michael Masterson talks about in his new book and just start doing it.  Figure out how to do it better as you go.  The perfect day to start never comes, as it turns out.  The best time to start is today, so what are you waiting for… go! 

Personally I go to the gym (or its equivalent) 5 days a week.  I work out for an hour each of these days.  I vary my routines doing stretching, cardio, weight lifting, circuit training, or various other work outs.  I get bored so I like to change things up, which also does not allow my muscles to get used to one thing. 

I lift weights for each body part once a week.  In other words, I do chest once a week, then arms, legs, back, and shoulders once a week.  This allows me plenty of time for recuperation.  It also enables me to lift harder and spend time doing other things such as stretching and cardio.  When I do cardio, I like to do the stair master, or incline treadmill, or bike and do intervals for 20 to 30 minutes.  Sometimes I will do my cardio at my ranch and do hills or sprints instead.  The point is to find what YOU like to do and then focus on that.  Change things up and see if it doesn’t make it more fun.

The next secret to achieving your personal best, is high protein, low glycemic index (low carb) eating.  I don’t like to say diet because it is a four letter word and the first three letters are DIE!   I prefer to think of healthy eating as simply that, the way I eat.  I am not on a diet, I simply eat healthy to fuel my body with the nutrients and building blocks it needs to keep me lean and mean. 

I eat every two to three hours for a total of six to eight meals a day.  Each meal consists of protein and fresh fruits or vegetables with an occasional complex carbohydrate such as a sweet potato.  I consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight in pounds.  I drink plenty of water and I take supplements every day including creatine, glutamine, branched chain amino acids, a pre-workout drink, a multivitamin, and fish oil supplements. 

I try to eat plenty of healthy fats including nuts, avocados, and fish.  I do not avoid red meat; in fact I eat a rib eye steak just about everyday.  I rarely eat processed foods although I do have a free day once a week from 5 pm on Saturday to 5 pm on Sunday and allow myself to eat whatever I want, although I don’t usually “cheat” nearly as much as I think I will. 

Another way I stay on track is to write down my fitness goals and constantly review them.  I try and look at my goals every single day.  It helps to keep them somewhere you will see them daily, like on your mirror in the bathroom. I even have a picture of some of my goals.  For example, on my mirror right now I have a picture from Muscle and Fitness magazine that has the abs I am striving for.  (I also have a picture of the Cirrus SR22 airplane I would love to own.)  

I even like re-writing my goals frequently because it helps me to make and revise them all over again.  Many people think that goals are static — that once you write them down, then you either accomplish them or you don’t.  I tend to think of them as being more fluid than that.  They are sort of living entities that change with time. 

Part way through trying to reach a goal, it may change or take on new form depending on what else has happened, new information you now have, or a change of heart.  That is ok.  Last year I had a goal to do a 6-minute mile, running.  I trained pretty hard but about half way through I realized that I did not care if I ran a 6-minute mile.  What I wanted was to have better cardiac fitness and had mistakenly thought that was the best way to get there. 

I changed my goal to increase my cardio fitness and then changed my workout.  Some may say I failed at accomplishing my goal but I don’t see it that way.  I simply changed it for a better goal.   Ultimately it does not matter whether or not we reach our goals. What is important is the better people we become in pursuit of them. 

In summary, aging is no excuse for not being fit and healthy.  There is so much information out there that  sometimes it is difficult to figure out what you should or should not be doing.  The best approach is to stick to the basics: exercise, eat healthy, keep adjusting your wellness goals, and get started today.  But mainly, stop waiting for the perfect time to start.   In fact, I’m feeling so good now, think I will head to the gym and do some legs!

[Ed. Note: Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert. For more information, click here.]

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