that you need to work out 5-7 days a week. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Most people can get a very nice body if they do a good, full body workout 3 days a week (coupled with a solid diet of course).

The problem is a lot of people get pumped up for some special event or New Year's and they go too far and have very vague goals (i.e., I'm going to "get in shape").  They do this instead of easing into a sustainable lifestyle change that they can actually stick to, including reasonable, measurable and specific goals (I'm going to lose at least 1lb each week and go to the gym 3 days a week).

You have people go straight from the beer, chips and the couch to working out for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week while eating the same chicken breast and rice meal over and over again.  Of course they give up after a few weeks, because such a routine is boring, excessive and just plain unsustainable (not to mention unnecessary) for 99% of the population.

Then the mistakenly believe (or make the excuse) that they can't get into shape because they'd have to spend 100 hours a week on it while eating cardboard and water every day.

Don't get me wrong, I put on my winter weight too (anyone who doesn't live in the south or CA understands) so I know how hard it is.  But the first step is to know *what* to do before you can actually do it.  So in that regard I can't 100% blame some people who can never get in shape, because they honestly don't know what they're doing and think they have to be extreme about it to get any results.

by Tom Hanc on 02/15/2008 05:43:02 PM EST

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