Little and Often Over the Long Haul

Words of wisdom from a great coach

I don’t know about you, but I’ve grown tired of the maximum effort approach to fitness. When you strain so much to do all the things in a short period of time, you inevitably quit when it starts to get hard and overwhelming. That kind of effort is impossible to sustain. You simply cannot do all the things, all at once, all the time. This type of effort might last 24 hours, maybe a week, maybe a month, but it’s bound to fail.

Why? You ask.

It’s a frail and fragile approach to life long health and longevity. Relying on pure willpower and “white knuckling” yourself into fitness is not the way. I am not saying that you should not be acting with a sense of urgency. What I am saying is if you’re relying on maximum effort over a long period of time, you will burn out, fizzle and fade away. There might be a small contingency of the human population that can endure sustained maximum effort over the long haul, think elite armed forces, Olympic athletes, but most of us aren’t them. It’s time to stop repeating this cycle of self torture, inevitable failure and shame.

Little and often over the long haul, is a methodology taught by my mentor in strength training, Dan John. In Dan’s world, we should focus on the smallest things and get those right first. Before you try to lose 100lbs next week, first start by getting 7–9 hours of sleep tonight. Do that consistently for a few months. Try flossing your teeth every day for the rest of your life. Try to drink close to your body weight in ounces of water each day for the next few months. Eat mostly protein, fruit and vegetables for the rest of your life. Dan would remind us, “Eat like an adult”.

Do the smallest things well, then add. Do not add until you’ve done the smallest things well for quite a while. You can begin to layer your approach once you’ve got some mastery in a thing (or two). Rather than trying to go to 10 spin classes a week, lifting weights every night, and taking two HIIT classes on the weekend, start much much smaller. Start with a sustainable effort. Try to walk 7–10,000 steps every day for the next year. Be consistent, every day, at something helpful.

When it comes to fitness, little and often over the long haul is the way forward. Once you’ve proven that you can show up over and over again, then you can add a layer. You could add weight lifting into your routine by hiring a professional, after you’ve done a few small things to create consistency and a baseline for health. At that point, it will feel easy to commit to 2–3 strength workouts each week, and to do this weekly for the long haul.

Remember, don’t spend too much time in the extremes. Dan John discusses, “Mild vs Wild” when it comes to strength training and fitness. Most workouts should be mild. Every now and again, there’s a wild challenge or something wild to take on. Mild over wild pairs nicely with the little and often over the long haul approach. Keep yourself in the game, make small improvements over the next few days, weeks, months and years. Don’t sprint to the finish line, because you probably won’t finish. Try to walk instead.

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