"I want sixpack abs by Christmas"

In physical training as in so many other things, it's important to have a long-term view. The short-term view is more popular but less useful.

A guy came into the gym recently, in his 40s, about 10kg of extra fat on him, mostly his belly. He was only half-joking when he said, "I'd like sixpack abs by Christmas." 

"14 months? Sure, you can do that."

"No, this Christmas." 

"It won't happen."

He looked genuinely surprised.

"It took you longer than ten weeks to get the belly, why would it be quicker to get rid of it? But you can have a significant change in your physique in ten weeks, if you eat and work very hard. Keep that up and you could have sixpack abs the Christmas after that." 

I suggested personal training - not with me, I'm full up, but another trainer could take him on. If someone has ambitious goals or big obstacles to their goals - run a marathon in six months, shoulder reconstruction operation, etc - then PT will be useful.

He said he couldn't do PT because of his business, he couldn't commit to a regular time. But he also said he was going to come to the gym and work out six days a week. I was a bit confused by this. "I can't commit... I will come every day." 

After doing a few hundred initial consultations with new gym members, I can say that generally the ones who say they'll come 5-6 days a week won't come at all. They usually don't even show up for their programme introduction the following week. Those who say they'll come 2-3 times, they're much more likely to actually do it. 

If people have the mindset of doing big things in a short time, they usually do nothing at all. If they have a longer view, they usually do big things. Most top athletes have at least ten years' experience at that sport. Most top bodybuilders have been doing it for a decade or more. Someone with a PhD has been studying their topic for at least ten years. Being a parent or buying a home is an even longer commitment. 

This is an age where electricity is available at the flick of a switch, water at the turn of a tap, information at the click of a mouse, and communication with someone on the other side of the planet at the press of a button, and where if those things do not happen as we want them to within FIVE SECONDS we become distressed or angry. It is thus natural for us to be startled to realise that if it took us two years to get a large gut, it'll take us more than two months to lose it.

But there it is. Consistent effort over time gets results. I've previously noted that when I started training I focused on the effort part, going hard, but now I think the consistent part is more important. I've always taken for granted the over time part, but apparently many people need this part pointed out to them. 

You will not get sixpack abs by Christmas, and if you think you will, you will probably never get sixpack abs, since your disappointment in your unrealistic expectations will make you give up and go back to beers and Bathurst. Nor will you rehabilitate your reconstructed knee, squat 200kg, or run a marathon in ten weeks. But maybe you can do it in a few years, if you stick to it. 

Patience, Grasshopper.