1. Trying to overhaul everything at once is why getting healthier feels overwhelming before you’ve even started. You don’t need a bigger plan. You need the next quest.
2. The next 30 days, mapped: start with a short walk today (Quest #0), make a 30-box Adventure Log (Quest #0.5), and spend Week 1 on daily movement snacks. A new quest arrives each week after that.
3. Track it on paper, expect some hits and some misses (totally normal), and build from there.

Here’s the reader email that kicked this off, and your first quests.

I got a lovely email from a reader who was so excited to find Nerd Fitness.

Here’s what she told me:

“I’m mainly looking to get healthier, get stronger, and finally build some habits that I can actually stick with long-term. I’m hoping Nerd Fitness can help make the process a little less overwhelming – and maybe a bit more fun, too!”

She came to the right place! We have tons of cool resources to help with exactly those things.

But you know what? I have an even better idea.

Let me map out the next 30 days for you.

So you know exactly what to do – without the second-guessing.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Each week, for the next 4 weeks, I’ll send you a quest.

Each one will focus on a different aspect of fitness.

And by the time you complete all of them, you’ll have the foundation for a healthier, stronger, more consistent you.

(And we’ll make sure we have some fun with it, too.)

Sound good?

Awesome!

One quick thing – I only want to send you these emails if you actually want to get them, so there’s a link down at the bottom to opt in. Make sure you don’t miss it!

OK, with all that out of the way, let’s get started with the quest for this week.

Well, actually, it’s a few quests. But I promise they won’t take long!

Quest #0: Go for a short walk.

Seriously. That’s the first “step” (pun intended ).

Any length. Any location. Even if it’s a few laps around your house!

This marks the start of the 30 days, and a shift in momentum.

You’re out there doing the thing.

We can build off of that.

Quest #0.5: Get out a piece of paper.

Draw 30 boxes. We’re going to use this to track the next 30 days.

It can look like a standard calendar, or even a treasure map if you want!

Put it somewhere you’ll see it.

Each quest gets its own mark. Whenever you complete one, add it to that day’s box.

Consider this your “Adventure Log.”

This will be important for later.

Week #1 Quest: Daily movement snacks

And here we go!

For this first week, your goal is to get some extra movement in every day.

This isn’t a full blown workout.

This is about making time for movement more “normal”.

Keep it simple. A few bodyweight exercises while the coffee brews. Stretching on the floor while you watch TV at night. A couple of minutes at a time.

Want to add a bit of fun?

List out 6 different exercises and roll a die to determine what to do. For example, that could look like:

1. Bodyweight squats
2. Countertop pushups
3. Doorway Rows
4. Side Planks
5. Step Jacks (or Jumping Jacks)
6. Floor Bridges

Each day you do a movement snack, mark an M in that day’s box. The end of your week might look something like this, with some hits and some misses. Totally normal.

That’s the start of our 30-day adventure.

We’ll continue to level up and build from here.

Want the rest of the quests?

Click below and they’re yours.

[I’m in Send me the quests!]

OK, now go take that walk!

From a fellow adventurer,

– Coach Matt

The post A 30-Day Beginner Fitness Plan That Won’t Overwhelm You (One Quest at a Time) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

1. When a program gets boring, reaching for a new one feels like a fresh start. It’s also why you feel like you keep starting over and never getting anywhere.
2. New is fun, and the fun matters; it’s a big part of what keeps people moving. The catch is that most goals need repetition: you get better at the things you practice again and again.
3. So keep the program’s frame the same, and give one exercise a target you can hit in 2 to 6 weeks. When you hit it, level up that one exercise and leave everything else alone. Something is always changing, and your progress stacks instead of resetting.

Here’s the client story this comes from.

“I get bored easily.”

This was the first thing a new client said to me.

When we dug into it, here’s the pattern that emerged:

-> Start a program

-> Get bored a few weeks in

-> Fall off the map

-> See something new, give that a try

-> Repeat

Strength training, then running, then a yoga challenge, then back to lifting with a different app.

Nerd Fitness Coaching was the latest in a long line of fresh starts.

And here’s the thing: all of it was GOOD.

She was moving. She was trying new things. She was having fun (at least at first).

But she was frustrated with herself.

She felt like she kept starting over and never getting anywhere.

And she wanted help figuring out what to do.

New is fun

Let’s be real: trying something new is exciting.

A new program, a new class, a new challenge. There’s a buzz to it.

And that buzz isn’t bad. Enjoying it is a big part of what keeps people moving.

The catch is that most goals need some repetition.

Getting stronger, running farther, learning a skill. You get better at the things you practice again and again.

So the question isn’t “how do I stop getting bored?”

It’s “how do I keep some of that new-thing fun AND repeat things enough to see progress?”

That’s what we worked on together.

Here’s what we did: level-up targets

When I built her program, I kept its overall shape the same week to week.

But inside it, a few key exercises got a target. Something like:

“Once you can do 12 reps with 25 pounds, we level up.”

The targets were far enough away to stretch her, and close enough that she could hit them in 2 to 6 weeks of focused practice.

When she hit one, we leveled up that exercise: new reps or weight, or a new variation. Everything else stayed put.

So something was always changing.

There was always a target she was closing in on and a level she’d recently beaten.

But the frame stayed the same. We were still working on the same overall qualities.

And that’s what let her progress stack up instead of resetting every few weeks.

Here’s what changed

She was able to stay really consistent with her program.

She still fell off some. (Life happens.)

But when she came back, she wasn’t looking for something new.

She was excited to pick up her program and keep progressing.

And sure, sometimes her goals would change.

We spent 6 months training for her first half marathon, then switched gears to focus on building muscle.

But that was a choice, not a restart.

Try a new level before a new program

Liking variety isn’t a flaw.

If you love bouncing between things and you’re happy doing it, keep bouncing.

This is for when the bouncing starts to feel frustrating.

Before you reach for a new program, try a new level.

Pick one exercise

Set a target you could reach in 2 to 6 weeks (a rep count or a weight)

When you hit it, level up that one exercise with new reps, a new weight, or a new variation. Leave everything else alone.

Then pick the next target.

I’m excited to see what you come up with.

-Matt

Whenever you’re ready, here are more ways we can help

1. Not sure where to start? Take our Getting Started Quiz.
2. Want a coach who sets up your level targets and adjusts them as you go? Learn about NF Coaching.

The post Bored With Your Workout? Try a New Level, Not a New Program first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

1. The drill sergeant version of accountability (“why did you skip that? do you even want this?”) questions YOU instead of helping you. If being hard on yourself worked, it would have worked by now.
2. Real accountability is built on two things: forward momentum (get the next available win, then look ahead) and honest feedback (a neutral observer reading the evidence, not a judge handing out punishment).
3. You can run it on yourself: win first, plan the rest of the week, then look back at what’s working and what’s not.

Here’s what that looks like inside real coaching conversations.

When most people picture “accountability,” they picture a drill sergeant.

Someone standing over you going “What were you thinking? Why did you skip that? Do you even want this?“

(And if there’s no drill sergeant handy, we do a pretty good job of beating ourselves up all on our own.)

Here’s the thing: if being hard on yourself worked, it would have worked by now.

Great accountability isn’t built on being a hard-ass.

It’s built on forward momentum and honest feedback.

The drill sergeant questions YOU. Your motivation. How much you want it.

Real accountability helps you try again quickly.

Then helps you see what you’re doing well and what can improve.

Here’s what that looks like:

Forward momentum

A client of mine had a hectic week. Travel, out of their routine, workouts missed.

The drill sergeant move is “why didn’t you do your workouts?!” at the exact moment they were already struggling.

Here’s what I sent instead:

“Hey! I know this has been a hectic week. Let’s do some push-ups together. Do a set next chance you get and shoot me a . I’ll do one too.”

This got a and a “Thanks for the encouragement! This week has been so hectic my schedule got away from me.”

That win got them back on the routine.

Then we build off of that by looking ahead to the next few days.

“How’s the rest of this week looking for strength training? I went ahead and put together a few variations in case you’re short on time.”

When you’re already struggling, the question isn’t “hey, why didn’t you do that?”

It’s getting the next available win.

Then looking ahead to what’s coming up after that.

Honest feedback

But forward momentum is only the first part of the equation.

The second step is giving honest feedback on both the wins AND the challenges.

That’s my job as a coach.

To be a neutral observer. To point out what’s going well, what’s not, and suggest how we can improve it moving forward.

Based on the actual human in front of me: their unique goals, motivations, and whatever flavor of chaos they have going on in their own life (work, family, travel, illness, injury, etc.)

Here’s a recent example:

“Hey! I reviewed the strength workout on Friday. Solid work all around here. I can see from your form check video that you’re doing a better job staying balanced across your whole foot on the squat.

I also noticed that the middle of the week has been tougher to get consistent workouts in. You’ve hit 2 out of the last 4 midweek workouts. I know work has been crazy with the project deadline you have coming up, so my guess is you’re getting buried and it makes it hard to get to the gym. Am I on the right track? I have some ideas for how we tackle that next week that I’ll drop down below in a video for you.”

This is the honest part. It didn’t go anywhere!

But instead of berating you for missing a workout, the goal is to look at all the evidence and suggest next steps.

Including if the evidence says that something BIG needs to change. It’s all on the table.

Accountability isn’t punishment for what you didn’t do.

It’s helping you decide what you do next.

Here’s how you can try it on your own

If your week went haywire, before you beat yourself up, take this approach:

• First, get your next win. A set of push-ups. A 10-minute walk. The short version of your workout. Give yourself the . Then ask “how’s the rest of the week looking?” Plan ahead instead of fixating on what you missed.
• Then, once you’ve collected some data, look back like a neutral observer. What’s working? What’s not? Not “I’m a piece of crap for missing my workout.” Instead, “I had a really hard time getting my workout in when the kids have after school activities.” That’s something we can work with.

For the Rebellion!

-Matt

This is one piece of how our coaches do accountability. Here are a few more ideas for you:

1. Curious why accountability feels different for everyone? [Here’s the article]
2. Want a coach who does this with you every week? [Here’s our whole coaching system]

The post How to Hold Yourself Accountable Without Beating Yourself Up first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

1. There is no “perfect” workout plan. Nobody can know what perfect looks like in advance. If you’re too afraid to start and make a mistake, it will keep you stuck at the starting line.
2. Build an action plan instead: 1 or 2 small actions this week, and everything else blocked out for now.
3. Action is what teaches you. Three weeks of imperfect reps will tell you more about what fits your life than three months of research ever could.

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck at the starting line?​
​
You want to improve your health and fitness. But there’s so. much. going. on.

Every time you try to make a plan, you get 1,000 opinions on the “perfect” workout. The “perfect” diet. The “perfect” routine.

You’re not sure where to start or what to do.

So you freeze.

I hear this story so often that I gave it a name. And a face.

(h/t to Leo, our awesome illustrator who makes these images for us from scratch! )
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Meet Major Overload.

He’s every fitness voice on the internet at once.

Do this. Never do that. Fasted cardio. Never fasted cardio. Carbs are fine. Carbs are the enemy.

The Major loves it when you have 100 tabs open on your browser, but haven’t done a workout yet.

He wants to keep you plugged in to The Matrix. He feeds off of you staying stuck in planning mode while he drains your batteries.

My client Eric ran into him a few months ago.

He’d spent weeks searching for “best at-home workouts to lose fat”.
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In his words:

I know exactly how that feels.

It’s the way I felt when I tasked myself with running Nerd Fitness’s Instagram.

A million different opinions on how to do it. Hours spent researching. And weeks later, I still hadn’t filmed an actual video yet.

I was firmly stuck in analysis paralysis.

Same boss battle as Eric. Different rabbit hole.

What got me unstuck was the same thing that helped Eric.

It wasn’t finding the “perfect” strategy or plan.

It was two decisions.

1) Follow one plan and block out everything else for now.​
​
​2) Commit to taking some small action, most days of the week.

The first one turned Major Overload’s volume down.

I didn’t need every voice. I needed a simple starting point. One that didn’t have a gajillion hoops to jump through.

The second one is where the learning actually happened.

I didn’t have to be perfect. I had to commit to imperfect reps.

I’ve learned more from a couple of weeks of posting than from all the agonizing I did beforehand.

Here’s what I told Eric, and what I’d tell you, too:

There is no “perfect” plan

Unless you’re Doctor Strange, scrubbing through 14 million possible futures to find the one where everything works out, you can’t know what perfect looks like. Neither can I. Nor anyone on the internet, no matter how loud they get.

Luckily, you don’t need a perfect plan.

You need an action plan.

Enough structure to get out there and do the thing. Not so convoluted that you never get started.

That’s why we built the Beginner Bodyweight Workout and our Strength Training Templates.

So you stop getting stuck at the starting line, and start putting in the reps.

Moving from planning to action does two things at once.

It breaks the inertia, and it teaches you what fits in YOUR life.

And that’s where the real magic happens.

It’s where you learn that, actually, training later in the evening works better for you than trying to force yourself up at 5AM.

It’s how you discover that splitting your workout up into two 15-minute chunks works better for your schedule.

Or that you prefer training with weights to training with bands.

You won’t know those things until you get out there and try.

It’s just as important to learn what DOESN’T work for you as what does.

Three weeks of taking imperfect action will tell you more about what works for you than three months of listening to Major Overload ever could.

Here’s what I want you to walk away with

Instead of searching for the “perfect” plan, build your action plan.

1 or 2 actions you can take this week, small enough to test and see how they feel.

• A short bodyweight workout​
• A free trial session at your local gym​
• ​A recipe you bookmarked to prep this week
• A lean protein at each meal

That’s exactly what we did with Eric.
​
We mapped out his first few action steps. Things that fit his life, and he felt confident doing.

And now? He’s 4-months in and training consistently. Not perfectly. Consistently.

And that’s made all the difference for him.

One more thing about Eric’s story I want to leave you with. He also shared this with me as part of our conversation:

That’s something else I hear all the time. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of!

Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is to ask for help when you need it.

That’s the whole reason we’re here.

When you’re stuck at step one, overwhelmed by information and not sure what’s worth your time, that’s exactly where a coach can help.

We build a program around you: your schedule, your equipment, your starting point. And then we help you run it and adjust as you learn.
​
If that sounds like what you’ve been looking for, here’s my invitation:

​Fill out this short form. Someone from our team will reach out to have a real conversation about whether NF Coaching is a good fit for you.
​
And if it’s not a fit? We’ll tell you that too, and point you in the right direction.

Either way, the goal is to get you out of analysis paralysis and moving forward.

Take that, Major Overload!

-Matt

TLDR: Build an action plan, not a “perfect” plan. Commit to something simple to start. Learn and build from there. And if you want guidance from a coach who’s been through it all before, here’s how to work with us.

The post Overwhelmed by Fitness Advice? You Need an Action Plan, Not a Perfect Plan first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

Because the only predictable thing about life is that it’s unpredictable.

A kid gets sick. Sleep falls apart. The to-do list explodes.

You can’t know which one is coming or when, but you can know something is, and you can build your routine to expect it.

That’s the whole trick: take two minutes and decide, in advance, exactly what you’ll do the next time life goes sideways.

Here’s the coaching conversation that shows how it works.

I want to let you in on one of my biggest lessons from the last 15 years of coaching.

Once you know it, it will feel like you can see the future.

On a live Q&A, George (not his real name) told me about a pattern he kept running into.

He’d start strong. A few good weeks.

Then a kiddo would get sick, or some other responsibility would pop up, sleep would fall apart for a bit, and the whole routine would go with it.

So I asked:

And he got this look like “Oooooohhhhhhhh…no. No I haven’t.”

He’d been treating the sick kid as something that happens to the plan.

Not as a predictable part of the plan.

So we talked through it right there. Here’s what we came up with:

Now, he wasn’t just reacting in the moment, trying to “gut it out.”

He knew exactly what to do and it fit what he needed.

Here’s the thing: these moments don’t come out of the blue. They are predictable.

A kid is going to get sick.

Your sleep is going to get messed up.

You’ll have WAY too much on your to-do list.

You’ll forget your gym bag at home.

Your motivation will come and go.

I don’t know which one, or when exactly, but I do know that it’s inevitable.

And that’s great news!

Once we accept that the only predictable thing is that life is unpredictable, we can use that to our advantage.

Take two minutes right now and finish this sentence:

First blank: the thing that knocked you off track the last time you were trying to get into a fitness routine.

Second blank: the best version of your plan you can still commit to on one of THOSE days.

You won’t always get it right.

Sometimes, life will throw something at you that you REALLY didn’t see coming.

But the more of these you’ve been through, the clearer the crystal ball becomes.

And the better you get at navigating it.

Hit reply and send me your crystal ball plan. I read every one, and I’ll tell you if I’d tweak it.

-Matt
​
​P.S. This is exactly the type of stuff we work on in our coaching program. My job as your coach is to look into my crystal ball, and help you plan ahead so you don’t get blindsided. Learn more about how coaching works [HERE].

The post Why You Keep Falling Off Your Fitness Routine (and the 2-Minute Plan That Fixes It) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

A few days off changes basically nothing, measurable losses take roughly two to four weeks depending on the quality (muscle endurance fades first, maximal strength last).

Muscle memory makes rebuilding faster than building the first time, and maintaining takes a fraction of the training that building did.

Here’s the timeline, and how it can inform your training.

Has this question ever crossed your mind:

This was an awesome question that Charles sent my way. (Thanks Charles! )

When life gets crazy and you find yourself skipping workouts, there’s a voice that says:

I had that exact thought the first time I had to take significant time away for a back injury.

And heck, just recently my kiddos brought home the “crud” from school and I missed a full week of workouts.

So, let’s look at what actually happens, and what it means for your training.

Strength is stickier than you think

Short version: a few days off doesn’t impact your maximum strength or muscle size basically at all.

Your muscles may look or feel “flatter”, but that’s because stored water and glycogen decrease, not because you are weaker.

And this “pump” comes back quickly once you start training again.

Here’s a rough timeline of when we start to see the effects of detraining:

• Muscular Endurance 1.5 to 2 weeks
• VO2 Max 2 to 3 weeks
• Muscle Size 2 to 3 weeks
• Maximal Strength 3 to 4 weeks

Highly trained folks and older adults will notice detraining faster than new or younger lifters (so they’ll sit towards the beginning of these timelines.)

But you don’t lose your progress in any meaningful way after a week or 2 away from the gym.

Your muscle remembers

And if you DO have to spend significant time away for whatever reason, I have good news for you, too:

“Muscle memory” is a real thing.

1) Your nervous system remembers how to do the movement.

The first session or two in the gym after time away may feel a bit clunky, but you’ll quickly regain the technique.

And a big component of strength is neuromuscular coordination (i.e. your brain and muscles firing together more efficiently, which improves rapidly.)

2) The muscle itself seems to hold onto some of the machinery it built, so it rebuilds faster the second time.

A general rule of thumb is about 50% as long as you were away (so if you were away for 12 weeks, it may take ~6 weeks to rebuild your strength.) Take this with a grain of salt as there is a LOT of variation here. This isn’t a hard and fast rule.

(And you don’t want to jump right back in at 100%. Use the 50/50 rule to get yourself going again.)

The point is, it’s generally easier to rebuild than to build the first time.

The work you did before still counts.

A little goes a long way

Building muscle and strength? It takes time and effort.

No one wakes up a day after a workout and has just magically put on 5 pounds of muscle.

But maintaining what you’ve built?

That takes only a fraction of the volume.

When you keep intensity the same (i.e. how hard the exercise is), doing 1/3 the number of sets maintains your strength for a loooong time.
​
The point being: doing ANYTHING during a period where you aren’t able to consistently work out is still really really helpful!

So what do you do with this?

Two things:

1) Keep a toe in the water.

When life throws you off track with your fitness goals, you’re not starting back from square zero.

And even a single session each week with a couple challenging sets is enough to hold what you’ve built until things calm down.

2) Get the work in now.

There’s that old saying that: “The best time to invest was 20 years ago. The next best time to invest is today.”

I think the same holds true for building up your fitness.

Every session you put in now is strength you get to keep later.

The effort is worth it.

This is exactly why we built our coaching program. Because having a coach makes both of those so much smoother.
​
We take the thinking off your plate so it’s easier to get going.

We direct your limited time and effort toward the stuff that actually moves the needle.
​
AND when life pulls you away (sick kids, a work deadline, etc.) we help you maintain and get right back at it.
​
If that sounds like the kind of help you’ve been looking for, here’s how NF Coaching works.
​
-Matt

The post How Fast Do You Actually Lose Strength? Slower Than You Think first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

That day-after ache (DOMS) mostly tells you that you did something new, not something effective.

Progress is more reliably measured in your training log: more weight, more reps, more control over time, sore or not.

Rachael (a reader and all-around amazing person) sent me a question about this so well-organized it came with multiple choice answers.

I LOVE this question, because almost everyone who’s getting started (or starting again) wonders the same thing:

What soreness actually tells you

Quick definition first. That achy, stiff, “why does it hurt to sit on the toilet” feeling that shows up a day or two after a workout has a name: DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

It usually peaks somewhere around 24-72 hours after you train.

Severe soreness is NOT an indicator of a good workout.

It’s a sign that you did something new that your body isn’t used to yet:

• a new exercise program
• a bigger range of motion than you’re used to
• coming back after time off (that’s when I personally get the MOST sore)
• more emphasis on the eccentric portion of a lift (the down phase, which is known to produce more soreness)

So it’s not something you need to chase.

But it’s also not something to be afraid of, especially if you switch up your routine and are mildly sore for a day or two.

Your body is adapting quickly! And as you adjust to the new exercises, you’ll be less and less sore from it.

Are there any benefits to soreness?

So when is soreness helpful, if ever?
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Soreness can give us a useful signal that we worked a muscle we were trying to target and hadn’t felt before.

But if you’re SUPER sore? Like, can’t get out of bed the next day and have to waddle around like a newborn giraffe sore? That’s a sign the jump was bigger than your body needed.

And the real cost (beyond the discomfort) is that it gets in the way of your next couple of workouts. Either because your technique gets sloppy because everything hurts, or you’re so wrecked that you don’t want to show up at all.

The best way to lower your odds of severe DOMS is to ease into a new program slowly.

Start with fewer sets and lighter weights than you think you need, and build from there.

Wait, don’t I have to push myself?

Yes! You DO need to push yourself over time in order to make progress:

• lift a little more weight
• do another rep or set
• run a little faster or a little longer

That’s the law of progressive overload, and there’s no getting around it.

Sometimes adding that extra bit will make you sore. Other times, it won’t.

But it’s the underlying principle that matters: are you asking a little more of yourself over time? Not: did it hurt afterward?

The Minty Toothpaste Effect

So why do we care so much about soreness?

Here’s what I think we’ve fallen into with fitness in general.

We as humans operate really well with feedback. If we touch a hot stove, we get burned and know not to do that again.

The same goes for fitness.

We want to know, immediately after doing something, whether it worked or it didn’t.

And with strength training, you don’t feel stronger the next day. It takes time to build up.

So we reach for proxies that close that feedback loop.

It’s exactly like the story of minty toothpaste.

As the story goes, toothpaste manufacturers had a hard time selling their product until they added mint.

Suddenly, there was a tingly clean feeling you could latch onto. “Oh, this IS working.”

The mint doesn’t clean your teeth. But it’s associated with the thing that does, and it gave people something to feel.

That’s where soreness sits for me.

It’s not the REASON you’re getting stronger.

But it can be associated with the work you do, especially as a beginner who is new to exercise, so we’ve learned to chase the tingle.

What to measure instead

Measure your output:

How much weight, how many reps, how many sets are you doing?

Is it going up over time?

Do you feel more stable and controlled with the exercise than you did last month?

Then great! It’s working. Doesn’t matter if you never get sore.

And if you do end up super sore after trying something new, it’s not that you “failed”.

Just take it as a cue to introduce things more gently next time.

So, back to Rachael’s multiple choice question.

C is really close. But I’ll add an fourth option:

D) Soreness tells you what was NEW. Your training log tells you what’s WORKING.

No extra fitness points for being sore. No points off if you do end up sore, either.

All the points gently ramping things up over time, and showing up again next time.

-Matt

Quick recap

Is it bad if I’m never sore? No. If your weights, reps, or control are improving over time, your training is working, sore or not.

How long does DOMS last? It usually peaks 24 to 72 hours after the workout and fades over a few days. If you’re regularly wrecked for longer, ease the jumps in your program.

Should I work out while sore? Mild soreness is fine to train through, and easy movement often helps. If you’re severely sore, target a different part of the body, scale down, or take another rest day; what we don’t want to do is have sloppy technique because we’re SO sore we can’t perform the exercise normally.

The post Does Soreness Mean a Good Workout? No. Here’s What It Actually Tells You first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

A bridge task is a small, neutral action (not fun, not hard, just…meh) that you put in between the two so the jump is smaller.

Below is the 5-step version one of our coaching clients uses with her own students, plus a free worksheet to map your own.

A few weeks ago I was talking with Tabitha, a Nerd Fitness coaching client, about a challenge a lot of people face.
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Some quick context: Tabitha is an executive function coach. She helps neurodivergent students and their families build the skills and systems that support their academic and personal goals.
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And she noticed something:
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The challenge of getting started on a workout is almost identical to the challenge her students face when trying to start homework.
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This might sound familiar. You get home after a long day, mentally fried, and all you want to do is veg out on the couch.
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In that state, getting up to cook a healthy dinner or go do a workout can feel really freaking hard.

Why starting a workout is harder than the workout itself

Here’s Tabitha’s insight:

Switching from a “YEAH!” task (chilling on the couch) to a “NAH!” task (workout/homework), is often harder than the task itself.

If we can make that gear shift less dramatic, it can make a big difference!

What is a bridge task?

That’s where bridge tasks come in.

Instead of going from YEAH! to NAH!, you insert at least one task that’s just…MEH.

I’ll let Tabitha walk you through it.

How to use bridge tasks: the 5 step YEAH -> MEH -> NAH sequence

I’ve been working with Nerd Fitness for 3 years now and have had so many successes! Coach Sarah and I have been working on my self-trust and mindset, along with cross training to support my aerial silks goals (inversions, I’m going to own you one day!)

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During our sessions, Coach Sarah and I often talk about the overlap between how executive function impacts the ability to achieve fitness goals just as it impacts our students’ abilities to achieve their goals, so when Matt sent out his message about a back to school fitness group, I was struck by the parallels between the challenges we have with task initiation for fitness and how those challenges show up for our kids.

If you are also struggling with the executive function skill of task initiation, whether it’s getting to the gym, or hitting the books, here’s the process that we use to help parents build the bridge from preferred to non-preferred tasks – by adding some “meh” into the mix.

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1. What’s the yeah?

Identify the preferred activity and postpone the decision that requires gear switching.

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Example: I’m sitting in my cozy spot on the couch and I’m tired and it’s time to workout.

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​2. Delay and take one step away.

Delay the decision. Rather than fixating on the NAH task, instead focus on movingawayfrom the preferred activity.

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Example: I’m not going to worry about my workout right now, I’m going to put my coffee down and get up to get cold water for my electrolyte drink that I love.

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​3. One step forward.

​Start closing the gap. Take some physical steps that move you closer to the final location.

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Example: I’m going to go down the basement stairs and check to make sure my guest room is ready for a visit (our daughter recently moved close enough to come for a weekend so this makes me really happy.)

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​4. Revisit and micro-commit

​Now is the time to remind yourself of the NAH task and make a micro-commitment. What is the tiniest step you can take? 2 minutes or less.

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Example: OK – I can put on my shoes and turn on the treadmill to walk S L O W L Y.

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​5. Reflect
​Nerd Fitness has been fabulous at making sure I don’t forget this step. Shoutout to Coach Sarah! <3

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Example: I wasn’t resistant to the workout, I was resistant tostartingit. When I added more “meh” tasks in my toolkit, it allowed me to dial up and down as needed.

The big takeaway

OK, Matt again.

Here’s the big takeaway:

If you’re struggling to start your workout, don’t fight the gear change. Bridge it.

Add a little MEH to the mix and see what happens.

Tabitha put together a free worksheet that walks you through mapping your own task initiation sequence. Your personal YEAH -> MEH -> NAH.

Try it this week, and keep me posted on how it goes.
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You got this.
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-Matt

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways we can help:

1) Not sure where to start? Take our Getting Started Quiz.

2) Want a coach who builds a plan and walks with you each step of the way? Learn about NF Coaching.

The post How to Start a Workout When You Really Don’t Feel Like It (The Bridge Task Method) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

People in their 70s, 80s, and 90s get meaningfully stronger when they start strength training, and beginners tend to see the biggest response to training.

You also need far less than you’d guess: 30 to 60 minutes of lifting spread across a week is a great starting point.

Here’s the science, three ways to begin, and a client who started at 57 and is still going at 77.

A reader wrote me this week. Her whole email was one sentence:

That hits deep. That fear of: have I missed my window?

I want to share with you what I shared with her, because the science behind this is actually super cool and empowering.

Heck no, it isn’t too late! 

What happens when you start strength training later in life

Your body doesn’t have a cutoff age.

People in their 70s, 80s, and 90s still get stronger when they start lifting. And it meaningfully improves how they move through their lives.

And if you’re someone who hasn’t trained before, or hasn’t trained in a while, I have even better news.

As a beginner, your body is even more sensitive to training. Translation: you get even more reward for your effort!

In the first few weeks, most people feel stronger before they look any different.

That’s because a lot of early strength is actually your muscles and brain learning to coordinate. The movement gets smoother. Standing up from a chair feels a little easier. Etc.

Over a few months, muscle starts to build.

Your bones respond to the load too (strength training is one of the best-supported ways to support bone health as we age.)

Balance gets better.

You’ll start to feel some muscle in your arms that you didn’t notice there before, like this reader who’s been doing workouts 3x/week and kicking butt with it:

Is every body different? Yes. Does it also depend on sleep, nutrition, and what else life is throwing at you? Also yes.

But the direction is the same for everyone. No matter your age, you can make a meaningful impact in your overall health, fitness, and quality of life!

How to start strength training after 70: three ideas to get you going

1) Don’t start with workouts. Start with practice.

Take a few minutes each day to learn and practice a couple of strength moves.

You’re not training yet. You’re getting acquainted.

Try some push-ups off of the wall or the countertop.
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Sit down in a chair, slow and controlled, and practice keeping your weight evenly spread across your feet (that’s a squat right there!)

Grab a gallon jug, some light dumbbells or canned goods or whatever you have on hand, and practice a one-arm row. See if you can feel it in your upper back as you pull the weight up.

Work within whatever your ability level is, what feels safe and approachable to start.

You’re collecting information about what your body is ready for, and learning exercises like you’re learning a new skill.

2) It takes way less than you think.

30-60 minutes of strength training in TOTAL across the week goes a surprisingly long way.

You can break that up however works best for you. A short 5-10min session most days of the week, inserting some “movement snacks” throughout the day, or a couple of longer sessions 2x/week, etc.

It doesn’t require hours of your day to make serious progress.

3) It’s easier to level up than to cut down

Because your body is more sensitive to strength training, you’ll likely feel more sore in the beginning.

So in general, I recommend you err on the side of less is more.

If you do a few short sessions during the week, and wake up the next day feeling great with little to no soreness, great! You can add a bit more the next week.

Mentally, I’ve also just found it’s way easier to be “leveling up” than having to cut back, which really helps with building that early momentum.

Becky started at 57. She’s 77 now.

Becky, a Nerd Fitness coaching client, is someone I immediately thought of when I read that initial email. She’s 77, and didn’t start going to the gym until she was 57. Here’s what she had to say:

I couldn’t have said it any better myself, Becky.

No matter your age or where you’re starting from…YOU GOT THIS!

-Matt

Whenever you’re ready, here are more ways we can help

1) Here’s an article with a bunch of different bodyweight exercises and progressions you can do at home.

2) Our coaches build programs specific to you and your needs. Here’s the exact system we use.

The post Is it too late to start strength training at 70? (No. Here’s what happens when you do.) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

Bodyweight training and weight training are both strength training, and both run on the same principle: progressive overload.

In a gym you add weight to the bar; at home, you change your leverage.

Each has real advantages. Bodyweight goes anywhere, needs little or no equipment, and is still highly scaleable. Weights make heavy loading and progression math simpler, and cover pulling exercises more easily.

Your progress is based on the principles of training, not a specific location.

Here’s how that works, and why one reader’s plan got derailed by a single sentence from a friend.

Enter Ant-Man

I was chatting with a reader a couple of weeks ago – let’s call him Ant-Man to protect his secret identity.

He’s been doing awesome with tracking his food and dialing in his nutrition. But on the workout side of things? He was feeling stuck.

So we decided to start off with a bodyweight routine at home.

Then he told a friend about it.

To paraphrase, his friend said something like:

“That’s kinda pointless. You’re gonna have to go to a gym eventually if you want to make progress.”

When I followed up with him, Ant-Man told me this:

“I feel kinda silly admitting this, but it really deflated me. And I haven’t been able to get myself to workout for the last month.“

First things first: it’s not silly to feel that way. That kind of comment lands hard when you’re already unsure about starting.

The real bummer is that these types of comments are rampant within the fitness industry as a whole – not just from friends, but from other personal trainers and strength coaches. “It only counts if you do it THIS way.”

And. It. Drives. Me. CrAzY.

It only puts more barriers between people and the thing that would help them.

It keeps folks stuck waiting for the “right” way instead of starting with the good way that’s available today.

Even if the claim that you eventually need to go to a gym were true, it’d be bad advice to give someone.

Lucky for us, it also happens to be untrue. Let me show you why.

Can you get really strong with bodyweight training?

Yup.

Here’s the thing that often gets confused about bodyweight training and weight training – they are BOTH strength training, and they operate on the exact same engine: progressive overload.​

Challenge your muscles, let them adapt, then increase the challenge.

With weights in a gym, you add pounds to the bar or the machine.

With bodyweight, you change your leverage. I.e. you put yourself at a mechanical disadvantage so your muscles have to work harder to perform the same task:

• Squat -> Staggered squat -> single-leg squat (you’re increasing the load that each individual leg supports)
• Incline push-up -> floor push-up -> decline push-up (changing the angle changes how hard your muscles have to work)

Same principle, regardless of where you train or what implement you use.

And the ceiling is much higher than people think. Look at gymnasts and calisthenics athletes – they are some seriously strong, seriously muscular humans built largely on leverage and bodyweight.

Or look at our client Jimmy – he trained at home, got strong, and cosplayed as his favorite superhero: Spider-Man.

Jimmy had the exact same concern when he started out – he didn’t enjoy going to the gym, had a packed schedule, and wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make serious progress at home. 12-months later, and he was ready to swing around the Spider-verse.

Bodyweight training has it’s own set of superpowers:

Travels well (living room, hotel, park, etc.)

Minimal (or zero) equipment required

Highly scaleable based on your current ability level

OK, so what about the gym?

Let’s be fair to Ant-Man’s friend. Weights and gyms have real advantages, too:

• Simpler progression math. Sometimes it’s easier to add 2.5 or 5 pounds to a movement than to find your next leverage tweak.
• Heavier loading (especially for the lower body). If your goal is maximal raw strength, a barbell lets you load beyond what bodyweight alone can. You can still build an awesome foundation of lower-body strength and power with bodyweight exercises – a barbell just makes really heavy really convenient.
• Pulling exercises. If you’re going strictly no equipment, rowing exercises can be harder to perform at home. (Though a cheap pair of gymnastics rings or some creative towel set ups go a long way.)
• A separate space. For some people, the gym is where they step away from everything else and focus on themselves. That can be valuable in and of itself.

Some people love the gym.

Some people love training in their living room.

Some people do both, depending on the season of life.

It’s all good stuff.

The real deal about progress

Your progress, especially when you’re getting started, isn’t owned by a place or a piece of equipment.

It’s made of principles, and you can dial them up wherever you are:

1. Increase intensity – add weight, or decrease your leverage
2. Increase volume – add a rep, a set, a round, or an exercise
3. Introduce novelty – a new exercise variation, angle, or position can help if you’ve stagnated

So the question isn’t “which type of exercise counts?”

It’s: which one works for you, consistently, in your life right now?

For Ant-Man, that’s a bodyweight routine at home.

For his friend, that may be the gym.

Both totally cool.

So if you’ve found yourself thinking, “It doesn’t really count unless I….”

W’ere here to help.

You got this.

-Matt

Whenever you’re ready, here are the ways we can work together:​
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1) If you’re where Ant-Man was, ready to start but no gym in the picture, grab our free Bodyweight Adventures Workouts. They are scalable, progression-based, and doable in your living room with little to no equipment. [Snag the workouts HERE]

2) We’ve helped thousands of nerds build confidence in their fitness.  This video shows the exact systems we use.

The post Do you need a gym to get strong? Bodyweight vs weights, explained by a Coach first appeared on Nerd Fitness.