I know it's scary right? Seeing all these new fitness plans & diets, everywhere you go it seems the trend changes. From diets ranging between Paleo to Keto, workout plans consisting of Bro Splits, and to all sides of the Glutes. It can get hectic so what you need to do is do like the top 1% do and invest. Now what does investing and fitness have in common you ask? Fitness is an investment in yourself. You have the power to change your portfolio to whatever you deem successful, so why wait until the future to start? Below is a definition of invest to put things into perspective.
/inˈvest/
verb
provide or endow someone or something with (a particular quality or attribute).
So by providing someone (YOU) with a particular quality or attribute (Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, etc..) you're technically an investor. Congrats! Now its time to figure out what to invest in and if you have money, you should invest in using these apps to help your pockets as well -->
But, first things first, here are four questions that you need to ask yourself to invest in your fitness:
1. What is my plan?
You have a plan everytime you're about to workout? If not, then this should be your first step. Having a simple plan of what your workout consists of saves you not only time but also the headache of doing too much, not enough or quite simply the wrong thing entirely. Your plan allows you to focus on what's most important to yourself at that time.
I'd recommend sitting down one day for at least one hour to write out your plan. This will come in handy once you come in contact with any roadblocks and be able to fall back on something.
2. Buy or Sell?
"Here, buy this brand new Theragun G3PRO Cordless for all your pain relief and total body recovery!" "Why you need to stop drinking water and switch to BCAA's during your muscle-building workout." Knowing what to buy or sell when it comes to your workout is something that is often forgotten in today's world. Think about it, if you see all your friends on social media trying a new core routine that seems great "30 Min Fat Burner", you're more likely to buy-in based off the feedback. Likewise if you've been doing the elliptical for cardio, but you've seen an article explaining how the Stairmaster reigns supreme in the cardiorespiratory room. To be able to determine this situation, you should think like a investor and do your research before hand. Investors just don't buy random stocks, they look deep into research about a particular product
3.What workout regiement will give me the biggest ROI?
This is a question that often gets overlooked by many. If your goal is to lose weight, then doing sets of Dumbbell Bicep Curls has no ROI. Return On Investment (ROI) tries to directly measure the amount of return on an particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost. If it don't make money, then it don't make sense. And in your case, if it doesn't provide the certain type of stimulus that you're looking for, then it does you no good. Instead, opt in for things that give you the most ROI. An example would be the Squat. This exercise would give you one of the most ROI for targeting the major muscles in the lower body.
4. High Risk vs Low Risk, which is better?
"What exercise is best for..." Is a common question with an unlimited amount of answers. The best answer to that question should be "Depending on your goals, there's a high risk and low risk opportunity." High-risk, high-return investments come with a high percentage chance of loss of capital or under-performance, while low-risk investment options come with a relatively small chance of a devastating loss.
Relative to fitness, there are exercises/workouts that will give you a greater reward. The only cost is that the risk of injury is higher and so is the difficulty, making it real complex if you're a person who's highly susceptible to injuries or has difficulty performing certain exercises correctly. There are also low risk, low-return exercises as well. These have a low risk as far as injury and difficulty go, but have also a very diminished reward.
An example would be the best exercise for the leg. Squats would be considered High-risk, high-return since it's a big compound movement known to produce significant result when done properly. But the movement can also be a recipe for disaster if you're squatting with poor technique. Leg Extensions would be classified low-risk, low-return the reasoning behind this is due to the fact that this is an exercise that has a lower rate of causing injury, being less difficult to perform and the results would not be as up too par as the Squat.
Whenever you get a chance to yourself sit back and ask this question, "Is my current workout a liability or an asset?"
Do you use any investment qualities in your workouts? Feel free to brag about your success in the comments!