BUILDING A SOLID FOUNDATION
In the Gospel, according to Matthew (the first book of the Bible's New Testament and the Gospel of Jesus Christ), Jesus delivers his famous Sermon on the Mount. During this event, he teaches many lessons that are said to have astonished the crowds.
The very last portion of the sermon consisted of Jesus talking about building our house on the rock:
Nothing I am about to share with you could compare to what Jesus said or taught in His sermons and throughout His life. However, I want to focus on this passage in the book of Matthew because it highlights an important concept: establishing firm foundations in life is paramount to success.
While Jesus primarily discusses faith and trust in God, this portion of His sermon can apply to many areas where we would like to improve.
I know you're seeking quick fitness advice, but it's important to remember that results won't happen instantly. I believe there are practical and relatively quick ways to get in shape; however, as one of my former Captains in the Navy used to say, "There are no easy trips!"
The key point here is that the strength of our foundation will determine our ability to achieve real success in fitness and health. Doing things correctly often requires slowing down, being patient and resilient, and showing a fair bit of grit. We can't have everything we want immediately, and anyone who tells you otherwise is not being honest. Long-lasting success often requires delaying gratification and refraining from taking shortcuts. This couldn't be more true when it comes to getting fit.
Trust me, the best things in life that are built to last come with time, patience, and foresight. Nobody knew this better than Jesus.
Here are eight key factors to getting in shape quickly that anyone, especially men, can follow regardless of their current situation.
#1. DEFINE WHAT BEING "IN SHAPE" MEANS TO YOU
The first step is to ask ourselves: What are we aiming for? Being fit or in shape varies for each person and is based on individual goals and aspects of health-related fitness. Having a clear understanding of what "better fitness" means for you is crucial for tracking progress.
Some people prioritize their overall health and are less concerned with appearance; they focus on prolonging their lives and reducing the risk of heart disease. Others aim to compete in athletics and need to meet specific performance standards. Some people want to improve their fitness level and challenge themselves to become leaner, stronger, or faster.
Before we proceed, each of us needs to determine our objectives. This will allow us to better comprehend and manage our expectations by focusing on achievable goals. Remember, this is just the beginning, so take the time to carefully consider what your ideal definition of "fit" is, while also keeping the issue of vanity in mind.
#2. KNOW WHERE YOU'RE STARTING FROM
If driving ships across God's earth for the U.S. Navy taught me anything, it's that if we are unsure of our current position, it isn't easy to plan where we want (or need) to go from there. For instance, to complete a marathon without walking, you must know your current running capacity before training for a 26-mile race.
We all need to assess our current situation honestly. This is the stage where we often feel the most motivated because it's often tied to the reason we want to improve our fitness level in the first place. For one reason or another, we want to improve our body's health and enjoy the benefits of a great exercise routine, such as looking, feeling, and living better.
It's essential to remember that getting in shape quickly may take longer than a few weeks (depending on our starting point). However, that's okay because if we're not going to do something right, we might as well not do it at all. Remember, my friend, slow and steady, often wins the race.
#3. PRIORITIZE EATING WELL & UNDERSTAND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
I have written a separate article about effective weight management, which breaks down calories and macronutrients:
Success in health and fitness is contingent upon the relationship between physical activity and dietary practices. This makes perfect sense because what we consume (calorie intake) must directly serve what we expend via exercise (calories out). It is often said that 80% of success in health directly correlates to dietary practices, and I'm certainly inclined to agree.
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) reports that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. One-third of these deaths may be preventable through healthy lifestyle choices, including diet and physical activity.
ENERGY BALANCE
None of us is unique regarding energy balance, the relationship between energy intake (calories eaten) and output (calories burned).
Think of your body as a simple science equation. Everyone has a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) – the number of calories they burn daily.
There are three parts to this:
- Your personal Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
- Food digestion (i.e., your body's thermic effects on the food you eat).
- Your level of physical activity (how much you move your body).
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is a "unique" caloric threshold that remains consistent throughout your life but can adjust as your body changes. Your body determines this threshold at birth based on factors such as your genetic makeup, ancestry, height, weight, and biological needs. This number represents the calories your body naturally burns daily by regulating itself in 24 hours.
CALORIES 101 (CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT)
As for calories, think of them as energy. In fact, one way a calorie is defined is as a unit of energy.
Have you ever been so hungry that you didn't have the strength to do specific tasks? This is because we need to eat to expend energy, but not all calories are created equal (more on this later). If you look on the back of most nutrition labels for food, you will see that the recommended amount of what is presented is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. The number of calories you need may differ from what I or someone else needs (I require about 2,400 calories daily to maintain my current weight).
Remember this: If you consume your "unique" caloric threshold (for me, it's about 2,400 calories) each day, your body should (theoretically) maintain its current weight. After all, your body needs a specific number of calories to regulate essential functions such as movement, blinking, breathing, pumping blood, etc. This is all part of our BMR.
This brings me to my next point: Our BMR accounts for approximately 75% of our daily energy expenditure. The remaining 25% is a combination of our body's digestive effects on food and the number of calories we each burn daily.
MACRONUTRIENTS 101
The information we just covered explains how we maintain our bodies. Before we discuss how we lose or gain weight, it's vital to address calories and their relationship to macronutrients. As mentioned before, calories are units of energy that we need for living and moving.
Calories are comprised of macronutrients, of which there are three:
- Carbohydrates
- Fats
- Proteins
All macronutrients are essential for our body because they provide various benefits to our health.
MICRONUTRIENTS (QUALITY MATTERS)
I think it is essential to consider the quality of our diet, not just for managing weight but also for overall health. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are essential nutrients, but we shouldn't overlook micronutrients like vitamins and minerals found in virtually all foods.
Good-quality micronutrients are often associated with higher-quality foods and can impact our overall health in the long term. While it's challenging to measure the specific impact of micronutrients on weight management as they don't contain calories per se, focusing on the quality and quantity of food is essential for healthy weight management and long-term well-being.
#4. UNDERSTAND THE SCIENCE OF HOW TO GAIN & LOSE WEIGHT
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT
To lose weight, we must ultimately generate a caloric deficit. Translation: In order to lose weight, we must consistently burn more calories than we consume. This can be achieved in three ways:
- Eat fewer calories.
- Burn more calories.
- A combination of eating less and burning more.
Suppose someone claims to have significantly reduced their caloric intake over a long period without seeing any results. In that case, I would bet that they are probably not paying enough attention to some common human errors that are likely impeding their progress. These errors could include underestimating how many calories they burn daily and/or their overall energy expenditure.
It's important to note that if you have additional health issues that are atypical of the average person, I recommend consulting a medical professional. However, it's essential to understand that the body is designed to function straightforwardly, and energy balance is the key factor in weight management.
HOW TO GAIN WEIGHT
Gaining weight is just the opposite of losing weight. Consume more calories to create a caloric surplus.
We often don't realize how many calories we consume over a long period of time. Eating very little for a day or two doesn't necessarily lead to weight loss over time. Our bodies don't operate on a 24-hour cycle; instead, they respond to our long-term eating habits; therefore, consistency is key!
If we consistently overeat more days in a week than we undereat, there is a good chance that, depending on our individual BMR and level of physical activity, we will gain some weight. This can often lead to frustration or stress.
#5. INCORPORATE MEANINGFUL CARDIO INTO YOUR REGIMEN
Cardiovascular exercise is crucial for improving fitness. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can quickly get us in shape by increasing our caloric burn rate. I often include HIIT-style workouts in my own fitness routines and find they can easily adapt to different fitness plans.
When I mention "intensity," I want you to consider your heart rate. Increasing our heart rate in a controlled, intense manner, followed by short rest periods, helps us burn a lot of calories quickly. Vigorous exercise and a healthy diet are also crucial for preventing cardiovascular disease.
HOW TO INCORPORATE HIIT INTO YOUR ROUTINES
Numerous activities can get your heart pumping, but I think that jumping rope is one of the best forms of cardio exercise. However, I might be biased since I jump rope almost daily. Still, according to several studies by leading medical authorities, jumping rope is one of the most effective ways to burn many calories relatively quickly.
I always suggest incorporating jump rope into your training. This helps increase the number of calories burned by providing an excellent challenge to the body. Adding calisthenics and/or plyometrics ensures that you are diversifying your workouts and not repeating the same movements or exercises too often, which could result in repetitive motion injuries. Just be sure to change things up now and again!
Here is an example of HIIT-style workouts that incorporate weights and jump rope.
If you don't enjoy jumping rope, you can try short burst sprints or use an exercise bike or stationary unit. No matter which method you choose, remember to give it your all, as high intensity requires maximum effort to elevate your heart rate!
#6. BUILD STRENGTH WITH RESISTANCE TRAINING
This might sound counterintuitive if you want to lose weight, but strength training is significant for your body's long-term health. This is where we begin to discuss the importance of remaining fit for longevity, so listen up!
THE IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTH TRAINING
Like it or not, our bodies will break down and give out one day. It is inevitable. Anyone who tells you that running or cardio, alone, is all that you need to remain healthy for the entirety of your life is not providing you with sound advice. Again, there are no easy trips!
There is never one "magic" exercise you can do that will cover you for everything. To remain healthy and fit, we must incorporate resistance training routines into our training regimens, especially as we age.
Substantial research shows that healthy adults aged 60 to 80 found that long-term resistance training increased dynamic muscle strength, muscle size, and functional capacity. As we age, we need to engage various areas of our bodies through resistance training to maintain a healthy degree of function in our daily lives. The best way to do this is to start early (well before the 60-to-80-year mark for age).
How we go about doing resistance training is a whole different issue. You don't have to train like a bodybuilder to enjoy a healthy and robust resistance training regimen. I firmly believe that resistance band training is an excellent way to stimulate various muscles across the body.
At the end of the day, "time under tension" for our major muscle regions is what matters most. How much time and tension will vary depending on our unique genetics (i.e., size, height, weight, muscular structure, bone density, etc.).
Balance is key; too much or too little of anything is never good. When lifting weights or doing resistance training, it is important to do so proportionately to our body size. Too much weight or resistance can lead to injury, while too little won't challenge our bodies enough to promote meaningful growth.
UNDERSTANDING PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
To gain muscle mass, we must create tiny tears in our muscle fibers by lifting weights slightly heavier than our bodies can (comfortably) take. By instigating a controlled amount of strain in a specific muscle region, we force our body to get stronger by introducing heavier weights in conjunction with the number of repetitions (volume) we perform.
However, this does not occur overnight; growing muscle mass takes time. Increasing weights on specific lifts will inevitably impact strength, but this doesn't mean doing single-rep "maximum" lifts is enough. Progressively increasing the weight at which we can perform a certain number of repetitions is another vital factor.
Muscle growth occurs in response to progressive overload, leading to increased strength (larger muscles typically correlate with greater strength). However, multiple factors contribute to muscle size, including the volume of lifts, effort during workouts, rest time, range of motion during exercises, and training intensity. Genetic factors also play a role, with certain individuals finding it easier to gain muscle than others.
Of course, this doesn't just happen on its own; as we lift heavier weights over time, our bodies must be adequately nourished by quality foods rich in proteins and fats. Simply put, it takes protein as fuel for the body in the form of food to gain protein in the form of muscle. That's just how God designed us.
A QUICK NOTE ON MUSCLE SORENESS
We just finished talking about how the tears in muscle fibers repair themselves to come back stronger once healed (resulting in soreness). It would be best if you didn't believe that all muscle soreness indicates that your muscles are growing in size. Not all muscle soreness is the same, I'm afraid. If you run a great distance for the first time in a while and your glutes are "on fire," this is not the same as lifting a bunch of heavyweights in the gym.
The discomfort you're feeling after running is probably because you're using muscles in your legs that haven't been very active or in a different way than before. You wouldn't gain muscle mass because you haven't overloaded the body with heavy weight. So, be sure to think through your soreness logically.
#7. SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
Back in 2018, I was visiting my family in Georgia from San Diego for the holidays. I was 22 and took a trip to our local gym for a typical workout (the same gym my father and I used to go to when I was younger). I distinctly recall placing a pair of 40-pound dumbbells on the floor, which was a usual set of weights for me.
Immediately, I felt my lower back lock up, and I mean badly. I couldn't walk! No seminal event occurred, no sudden "pull" or "pop." It happened slowly throughout my workout as if my lower back muscles were tightening like a guitar string. Setting the weights down had finally done me in...
I was bedridden for the rest of that week before flying back to San Diego. Even after returning to California, I had difficulty moving normally for a few weeks. I would have at least one annual episode in the following years, some worse than others.
This experience taught me the importance of focusing on the "small stuff," such as specific areas of the body that are often overlooked. This is crucial for any fitness routine because it helps us to stay in shape and remain comfortable in the long run, reducing the likelihood of experiencing pain.
It took me until 2023 to realize that my lower back issues were a result of weak gluteus medius and minimus muscles. These muscles are not the same as the gluteus maximus (you know, your butt), as they reside above and beneath the glutes that we all know so well.
You've probably seen "those" people in the gym who you might often observe doing weird exercises. I'm talking about controlled hip raises, pseudo-yoga poses, foam rolling, etc. Well, odds are, those people know a thing or two about "sweating the small stuff."
As a teenager and young adult, I laughed at these people because I thought they looked silly with their foam rollers and weird "air-bending" poses. Now, I am that person who is foam rolling each day because I've learned that many obscure exercises we wouldn't see outside of physical therapy can do wonders for mobility, stability, and easing the pain in our bodies in the long run.
#8. FOCUS ON LONGEVITY
The final crucial factor is prioritizing the development of a health and fitness routine that focuses on longevity. This is the best way to get in shape quickly. Suppose we want to create a strong foundation emphasizing aerobic fitness, bodyweight exercises, resistance weight training, and healthy eating with a well-balanced diet. In that case, it can't be a short-term effort. Instead, it needs to be a lifelong commitment we continuously build upon after establishing a firm foundation.
OUR BODIES ARE OUR TEMPLES
I understand that you want to get in shape quickly, but depending on your starting point, it may take longer to see substantial results. Getting in shape should not be overly complicated or burdensome. It should be a life-giving experience that helps us live, flourish, and thrive to fulfill our purpose: building a relationship with God through Jesus and following Christ's model of service and love for others.
We should strive to build and maintain our bodies as temples for longevity. We must establish a solid foundation for our exercise routine based on realistic fitness goals, sound exercise principles, and healthy foods to achieve this.
