By Timothy J Murphy, CAE

A little over four years ago, I wrote a blog entitled “The Top 3 Questions of New Exercise Inc Clients”. At the time of that writing, I had only been a client for three and a half years. Now that I am about to begin my 9th year as a client, I’ve learned so much more about fitness, nutrition, maintenance of healthy weight (I say “maintenance” because after achieving my goal of losing 80 pounds, none of it has come back!) and building strength and solid muscle.

Everything in that original article is still completely accurate and as timely today as it was in 2018. However, having had much more experience with Exercise Inc and my great coach Kyle Truitt, and getting to know many more fellow clients, there are some additional questions many of them have had when hitting more advanced levels of working out. I’ll condense those client discussions down to an additional three, representing the most common ones.

1. “Am I going to hit a plateau in fitness and simply remain where I am after achieving my initial goals”? The short answer is “no”. Interestingly, this question illustrates the long-term effectiveness of the Exercise Inc regimen.

Your coach is always orchestrating your improvement by how he/she adjusts the weight on the machine after you achieve suitable time on a particular exercise. As such, you are constantly improving in strength and musculature. That’s no plateau! I marvel when I see what the original weights were on the machines when I started, and what those weights are now. Whether your motivation is weight loss, strength and muscle growth, or generally being fit and healthier, you will experience constant and consistent improvement in these metrics. Simply follow the Simple 9 Habits for a Healthy Lifestyle, listen to your coach, and give it 120% in the studio each week.

2. “I’ve done this for a few years now. Couldn’t I just join a conventional gym and do these workouts on my own?” While technically nothing is impossible, that’s quite a long shot; and I doubt success in this endeavor for a number of reasons.

I am struck by the number of Exercise Inc clients I know who said the same thing at one time or another, and yet they’re back as clients again after a short period of time. There are several factors in play here. First and foremost, it goes back to your coach; that fitness professional who knows your body—as well as your goals, aspirations, frustrations, motivations, and successes—probably more than your physician does. Your coach holds you accountable; knows how to guide your progress for maximum effect and safety; has precisely calculated your regimen that is tailored specifically to you and your needs and goals; and has a personal, as well as a professional, connection with you. We all have important people in our lives in support roles; your coach is one of those for you. That’s why it’s very difficult to engage something as serious as fitness and health without the guidance of an educated professional.

3. “I originally started as a client because I wanted to lose weight. It’s well-known that the vast majority of people will gain it all back after a time, even adding extra pounds to boot. How do I not become part of that predictable statistic?”

This is a tough one, as there are literally hundreds of books written on the topic of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Since this is a blog post and not a graduate course, I’ll do my best to condense this down to an implementable and achievable strategy and provide some “go to” resources I think you’ll find helpful.

A good start is an article by the medical staff at the Cleveland Clinic entitled, “Why People Diet, Lose Weight, and Gain it All Back”. It’s a quick read and gives interesting perspective.

To keep you from joining the statistical majority, I can tell you what worked for me. In a nutshell, I simply never forgot what it took to get to my goal weight, and I do not wander off that strategy. (By the way, I have a “cheat” every now and again, but it isn’t a regular occurrence.) I have outlined my “secret” of maintaining healthy weight in two previous blog posts; here and here. These two bullet-point lists of ideas got me where I am and help keep me there, and I bet they’ll help you too.

The Exercise Inc blog section on the website is chock full of terrific strategies and ideas for clients and future clients. The Exercise Inc team has curated great content to assist in helping clients achieve and maintain healthy goals and lifestyles. This large collection of brief articles is a great resource, all in one convenient location. I encourage you to go there often; if you are experiencing a particular challenge, it’s likely one or more of those articles will address your concerns. The recipes on the site are also extremely helpful, and you can even watch fun, creative videos by the “Food for Thought” team preparing those dishes.

I have been privileged these last 8 years as a client to help many of my friends and associates become lean and healthy by sharing Exercise Inc with them. It’s fun to watch their progress and see them attain their goals. These clients often talk about their fitness “journey”, and it is just that. Each year we all become stronger, healthier, and happier. If you’re a client, I encourage you to keep setting and attaining new goals and  enjoying your consistent improvements in strength, fitness, and appearance. If you’re not yet a client, it’s never too late to take that first step to make your life better in ways you might think are unattainable. It’s not just a “game-changer”, it’s a “life-changer”!

The preceding was a guest post from one of our clients, Tim Murphy. Since he began training with Kyle at our Zionsville location in 2014, Tim has lost over 80 pounds, reduced his waist size from 40 to 28 and reduced his suit size from 48 portly to 38 slim, among improvements to other key health metrics. To hear more about how 20 Minutes A Week has benefited Tim, check out his Client Spotlight.