Prioritizing Consistency: Biggest mistakes and the best decisions I have made in my Fitness Journey

Hey, and welcome to this fit meter fitness podcast episode in today's session, I'm talking about my own fitness journey and my especially my workout. So as many of you already know a little bit about my background, I'm at the moment recording this 42 years old and I must say I have been more or less consistent my whole life with my workouts and but there are some phases like it's over 10 years ago now when I completely lost my motivation. And there are reasons why that happened. And now when I'm looking back, what kind of mistakes I made at that time, and what I would do differently if I look back earlier and also what I'm currently doing, as I'm not working out probably as much as I used to be, but in this story, I don't know if that interests someone, it's it feels kind of weird. Talking about myself as I'm most of my episodes, they have been helpful content for different kinds of people. But this is like kind of myself talking about my own workouts and maybe you find that some valuable tips from this episode and if it does help you feel free to reach out sending me DM in my Instagram, or email me Turo at fit mentor.com If you have any feedback about this episode of if it was helpful, what was your biggest takeaway? So of course I really appreciate all those messages like to love to have conversations so don't feel ashamed that why I should write for to wrote that it's not Virta Vittori will not reply I will I promise I will reply every single email every single DM I get or at least as many as I can and really love to connect with you and help you justify again, so a sip of water and then let's get into the episode. So first of all a little bit about my background like as you know, I was a professional ice hockey player I was never a top player. I wish I made it if I think now back pretty much the highest possible way of with my talents with my skills and because I if I think back that there was there were times like for sure it's like a hockey if you are in if you are good enough you will always have a possibility you will get your chances but then as you are there are many different players are at the same level and it's it's really about small things 10 can really literally change your life. So if I think about my OB carrier, I'm really grateful that I could make it for my living. And that was my goal kind of always I never I was never some superstar NHL player I was kind of a lower lower league player, but stay mainly for living I was just playing professionally for almost a decade so so really grateful to be able to do something What do you actually what is your hobby? What do you enjoy doing and to get paid for it so so that is a little bit about my background. So obviously when I was younger I started to play ice hockey, I was seven years old and and I be always back home in Finland I'm originally coming from Finland so we love to play all kinds of games we were playing at the time they were not so many computer games or or anything we were always outside we were playing in our garden says the hockey games and we had a kind of ice place where was the natural ice I can't remember but I assume it was like that for four to six months, maybe not six but at least four months of the year there was ice and you could go there playing and I remember vividly how they close the lights I can't remember was it at eight o'clock in the evening or nine o'clock in the evening but they played always until they close the lights and we had to go away so it was just the playing with the friends not thinking about that if that that is going to be my professional because there's something we naturally insert with my friends and playing there all night so obviously it all started from that and then at the age of seven my mum asked if I would like to join for the team and that it was the first time I'd signed for the team and and then I really got into hockey and practicing so so that's how I kind of got started with sports and and I'm like when I look back I'm so grateful that I joined for a team found friends who are still one of my like even we are not staying probably that much in Dutch but still even those who I started playing with they are they're still some of like good friends and over or if I still meet them we will for sure talk about and and You will always remember all those kinds of relationships, what we had, what what kind of courses we had, who were playing with you and, and what kind of themes you had. So I think that is that was your kind of first experience that was so beneficial also later in life not only not only playing hockey, but kind of creating those social, social connections, building friends being every year with the new team. So so that was that is really, really beneficial if I think later on like, it doesn't matter where I call if I call for new environment, because that was kind of nightscope for almost 15 or 20 years, you have almost every year new team, you have to do any new band of working friends or teammates, and you cannot get along with everyone. So this is about hockey and team sports in general, what I think it's so beneficial having that kind of ability to be able to work with so many, many people. So obviously, if I think back my own workouts, like, obviously, that was in the beginning, it was all about I was training only for becoming a better hockey player. And then that was kind of there was that kind of performance that I wanted to improve my skills in hockey, it was a shooting, it was a treatise, it was getting stronger or getting faster, all these kinds of performance based goals from very young age. And, and one thing what I remember vividly like I was I think I was 1314 15. So like in my teenage years, and some goats introduced me to filling out verbal diary. And I got really obsessed about like writing down obviously, at the time, there were no kind of apps what you could be using, like now, if I look I have my own workout app, where I can see I have planned what kind of workouts I'm going to do. And I'm staying on track, I can look back for past years, what I have been doing to see my strength training, like how much weight I have been using, so I can track everything back since I've started using it and that is so beneficial. But obviously at the time, there were no such apps, it was just the pen and paper and you filled out everyday what you were doing, you had like printed paper for your workout program, and that I was trying to follow through as well as possible. And then I was writing just yesterday did speed draining for one hour. Then I was playing tennis for two hours, I was running for an hour I did stretching, or 30 minutes. So I got really obsessed of filling out that workout diary. And it was such a motivator for me at that dates. Like I remember vividly, I wish I was one week in the summer. I wish I was on average weeks, I was working out maybe 1000 minutes per week. So how much that is like less than 20 hours per week, or even a bit less. But one week, I got like 2000 minutes. And obviously it was like some big goal for me. I want to get 2000 minutes in and and that was like I was stressing like obviously it was including everything like that what I counted, like I was playing tennis for three hours. Then I had I was stretching for an hour. And it was like a full time job. Like I did obviously at the time I didn't work that was only thing more ideas, but 2000 minutes for a one week. Like obviously there was a lot of like recovery work like a straight CS, but that was nice. I was so proud of myself. And and this was this was kind of motivated for me at the time was like, I was always I was never I always was one of the guys who wanted to work harder. And it was not I didn't think about like working smarter. But it was all about working hard and getting the work done and doing doing the most I can and I remember it was like 15 815 16 We had a younger, like we started to start to select kind of like a national team in Finland or three national team from a region. And I was not I was kind of in three selection. But I didn't make it to national team. And they were like for some of my teammates who got selected. And then I was looking at the fact that I'm gonna be better than those guys. And then I was looking, we were living pretty close, working out together. And then I knew that that guy, he didn't work as much and I said if I want to be better than him, I must work more than he did. And I was making sure that I did always something a little bit more than he did. And even even truly like that was at the age of 1516 years. Like that was kind of a turning point for me. I understood that If I find the only way I'm not, they are other guys who are lot more talented than I was. But that was the moment for me when I understood that with the hard work, you can beat talents. And, and it took like a couple of years, and I got better than those guys who were when they were younger Dave are better than me. But that that with the hard work, I made sure that I was always the first one I did, I did all my old work, I didn't skip workouts. I really, that was my motivation that I needed, like, to work harder, and to workout more than those other ones. And that was kind of my competition or my motivation to make as much as I could, that I was able to, you know, at least if I look at some point back, I'm not going to like our posts, it was always we're always telling that that you know, you'd have to chances you have all possibilities to do what you can that you don't have to look back when you are retired that if I would until like these stories as you as we heard from so many guys, like tell him that if I would be doing working out or if I were to if if and then maybe I would be there I said I'd never want to say that and now when I look back I can't say anything that if I would do something more so only the more I will change at the moment is that I didn't know so much about training so I would work probably a lot smarter like obviously at the time knowledge was not as great as it is now and now if I think that with knowledge what I have gained with working with so many people athletes, normal regular people with that kind of knowledge do you don't need to work out that much harder if you were out smarter and focus on different things like Jose I remember I was doing we were doing like some speed training like sprints what God is like and now for now I know that for Sprint's I need to have like a longer risk or otherwise you don't work anymore for speed you work more on endurance and you know we did sprints but then if they were Scott's was writing like I have to rest two minutes and I skip the rest is that what the what the hell I'm not going to rest two minutes if I'm I'm good to go after 32nd or 60 seconds rest and now obviously now I understand that I wasn't working anymore for speed I was working for endurance even I didn't feel tired at the moment obviously that is the kind of hardest thing to understand if you do like speed training you want to improve your speed. It's not that you don't need to do read a lot more and I remember still it was very kind of high school back home and looking like they were athletics like sprinters who were training 400 meter sprints they did one sprint rested like five minutes did some straight C's or some were just talking there and we were like a hockey guys we were always like guys, we need to work harder and we were like what is that for training like they are there for an hour and we may be five six sprints in whole hour and we were like doing like really hard workout and obviously be very tired. But now when I look back I probably I think that the okay those over training for Sprint's probably they gained actually more from that workout, especially for that goal what they had, instead of be like, obviously be learned how to workout harder, but not necessarily moving closer, especially if goal is to improve your speed. And this is something what I what I have learned now with my also with my own practice is that doing it in the right way you don't need to put so many hours in, then when you work really with the smarter and you have a really like a program, what you are following and then changing it changing it like if you'd like planning little bit. Like earlier, I was never planning my workouts it was just kind of hours trusting my feeling what I'm doing. And now I always like to plan out for at least or next three months. Usually it's that now for next three, four months, I'm going to focus on let's say some some time I will focus on building muscle mass. Sometimes I grew up on my endurance some times I grew up on my athletic performance. So even I don't have those kind of goals anymore. I find it so interesting to change that. See if that focus that it's not always the same thing and keep it kind of interesting, but I get back from that a little bit later. What I'm currently doing than that. Now. Now, if I if I think back from my carrier that was or my younger life that was kind of I was working for performance. So that was all it was all about improving my performance and that was obviously at the time it was such a motivating thing to focus on getting better at ice hockey, and then everything obviously changed. I retired, I was 30 years old. So that's now 1213 years ago. And I gotta say that at the time, I was so tired in my later Later, my last year, I wasn't any more practicing that maths in summer, I did a lot less. I saw that, okay, it didn't actually impact so much on my performance anymore. I was playing at the same level, I obviously I didn't improve. But obviously, that everything like kind of work, I have done so much earlier that it didn't happen, I could maintain relatively easy everything. And then when I when I retired, I hit the point that I was doing, I was working out that seemed really hard to always every summer. And obviously then during the season, it's more like, maintenance on everything and, and focusing really on playing games and maintaining all kinds of Ofice things. But at the time, when I retired, I was like, okay, for what I should work out. Now I didn't want to I didn't enjoy doing some gym workouts. So that was the first thing I said, I'm not gonna go the gym, that's, that's the last thing I want to do. And obviously, then I was doing something what I actually naturally in so doing like first, maybe two, three years, I didn't do basically anything. I was maybe walking, sometimes I started my I was working in office, I had an office job at the time. So it was very unconsciously distantly doing something, maybe sometimes I was playing tennis, going for a walk. But it was really not a lot. And then at some point, it took like couple years, and I started to see that I started to gain weight, I didn't feel well, I started to have back pain, all kinds of everything started to hurt, I was around 30. And then I thought that I gotta change. And then luckily, that happened that I happen to lose that job what I had in office, I didn't have a possibility. And then I was like that whatever I'm going to do. And then I thought that okay, I kind of always enjoyed doing some kind of sports, helping others and I was always very interested about fitness and there was an opportunity my wife always told me that why you don't why you don't become a coach, why you don't help you start with fitness studies your best and you love doing it. And then I started I did some courses started everything. And now it has really gone to bed. Right really passion of mine and I really still love learning every single day something new, find different things with my symmetry with my clients. And, and obviously in the beginning, I did a lot of mistakes and a lot of mistakes. I, I if I look back now broke out programs, or I did what I did, right in the beginning of my career, I'm like looking at Holy shit how the hell I would do like, I would never ever recommend to doing those same things what I thought at the time that they those were absolutely the best workout programs. And now after obviously every year, it's going to be probably like, if I think now what is going to happen in next maybe 510 years, when I'm still planning to do this. So I'm going to look probably back to what I'm doing now that I'm I might think that what the hell I was doing at the time, but that's how every vote should feel that when you look your workout programs from yours, and if you don't find anything, what you would do different, you are not you are not you stay where you are. So there is always some room for improvements. See what actually works if you either try yourself or you see what kind of results your clients get, what type of clients need what kind of exercises so so you learn through that process so much and that was what I learned, too. So so for me during that time, like I said it was not when I started then my coaching that's now like bit more than eight years ago, and at the time it was still I didn't change a lot I obviously started to do some kind of Bodyweight Workouts if I look pictures now I was very thin I have lost almost my old muscle mass. And I like still love group workouts. I still do them. I still enjoy doing them with my clients there hit the COVID I did a lot of kind of Bodyweight Workouts they were more like random workouts obviously you work certain muscles that's what I always try to try to include to my workouts micropro cards also that you work through your whole body so you have full body workout. And then sometimes I tried myself with that different kinds of sleep upper lower, full body splits because there's so so much different things that you could be trying back what I have seen what verse for most people like, obviously depends on your workout days everything, but full body workouts are the best. Like obviously, if you are someone like working out five, six times a week, then probably I would split those workouts plates. But for me, it had been always like kind of full body workouts two to three times per week, sometimes maybe four. But, uh, but that that has been a game changer that I you get more frequently when it's a bit less. It is for long term results and what I have seen with my clients, they tend to get better results. Why is that? Because if you think that, why those all like most of us, we don't like to be become body builders. So if you get even a little bit less work, but in in a form of it comes more often than what happens often is that you know, you miss one workout there, one broke out there. And let's say that if you have your let's say you do upper lower body split and you miss your lactate. And then you have in the end of the week, we might have two or three weeks that you don't basically never train your legs. So even it's a little bit less, it's always you will see so much like the consistency and the frequency matters so much more than hitting, doing following your bat plan perfectly. So when everything changed for me it was three years ago now it's now we are 2024 and 2021, I made a decision that I need to start strength training, I was always I knew they I was talking myself so long out of it. I said that. But then something happens that now I need to start I need to do it. Like I started to feel like my back was hurting everything there were so much pain. And I wasn't happy how I felt even I was in a good shape. But I wasn't feeling well. Or my body didn't feel felt. And I was not even I wish I didn't have too much fat. But I wasn't feeling what I had have now was totally different in my body. I wasn't confident anything. But then I made a decision that I'm going to get started was such an embarrassing feeling because it's obviously I have done strength training in the past. And when I remember in my best ice hockey player times, I was squatting like 200 kilos. And now after over a decade without barely or any strength training, I go for doing some squats. And I'm thinking that I'm gonna get started with 60 or 50 kilos. And I think I had a 50 or 60 kilos, I still remember my legs were shaking, I couldn't walk for a week, I could barely do 10 repetitions. And same thing with the bench press and all those exercises it's been you remember, I remember exactly how much I used to have how much I used to lift, and then you get back and you are like 1/3 or, or even less what you had, and you feel so bad. And I wholly said they have lost everything. But then I said let's I gotta get started again, and actually took maybe three months, two to three months. In the beginning, it was two times per week for first two, three months. And then I said okay, now I'm at a point that three times is sustainable. So started working out three times per week. And that, like I said, two to three months, and I got really close to those strength levels. So it's just a sign of muscle memory, what is actually a real thing so so if you if you have obviously I didn't get improve, I didn't get stronger than I was but I got pretty close to those my strength levels what I had earlier. So that's the starting to doing it again. So So muscle memory is something that your body remembers you are getting relatively quickly back where you were, where you used to be obviously then to get your personal base and something that takes a lot of time a lot of effort. But getting back even even you string that's one of the greatest benefits of strength training. It's it's that it takes even you haven't do not do it you get relatively quickly, everything back. It's a bit different with the cardio so if you cardio, you lose your Euro, you have been a runner at some point and you lose it. It takes a lot longer to get back to those same same levels. But with strength training, it's relatively easy. And now my goals if I think like I don't have any aesthetic goals anymore, like I used to work out for my performance and obviously when I was younger it was like looking better and And maybe it was like kind of you wanted to attract some women or you think that you needed to have visible ABS or big biceps or whatever arms and now, I don't, I can't, I don't care less how I'm looking how my body is looking like, obviously, it's kind of bonus of doing it what you do. But it's not the, like main priority, why I'm doing it. And now I'm really focusing on my health and stay pain free. And so that's the basically the only only reason why I'm working out obviously, I'm still icop refereeing. So there is some kind of performance based goals. So that's why I love to work on also my performance. And like I said, at the moment, at the minute, when I'm looking my workouts either about let's say, three months, three to four months improving my performance, then there might be next three to four months building muscle mass, then it might be like, I love to try different things like working on like a Strongest Man program, I actually create that kind of program with the help of ofa relative to our or bought the program from Strongest Man. And actually, I loved it, I loved the results, how it made me feel and that and then like, kind of, kind of different types of programs. So of course, there are so many ways how you can do that strength training, like obviously, you could just get to get started. And then keeping these things kind of interesting. And for me, that is the kind of the best way to do it. Like not only all four, totally focusing on improving your strength, but that just mixing little bit on your performance and different kinds of types of strength training. So this way, this way, I have been really staying motivated. And like I mentioned, my motivation is unfortunately i i lost, it's now 14 months ago, I lost my dad, at the age of 70, he lost his health at the age of 60. And that was like, hardest thing for me, I it was one of the reasons why I knew that I need to get started with the strength training. So when I saw that my my dad, he couldn't walk anymore how quickly he lost his muscle mass, there was basically nothing left. There were no muscles, obviously no fat either. But he was he got so thin, he couldn't walk, he couldn't do anything. And I was like, this is something that I don't want to do for myself. Or if I happen to have somebody, it's adamant that they have to go through this. So this is my kind of motivation. At the moment. Even I don't have any aesthetic goals. But that picture of my dad is still for me visible on every single day when I need to get started with my workout when I don't feel like doing it. And trust me that happens very frequently. I'm not naturally insert an image how I stay motivated at this point is that I keep promises or I make to myself. So that is the first step I always I decide I have a rule for myself that I need to decide on Sunday. For the next week. When I look my schedule how many workouts I get, then I don't need to finish my workout like at the moment my workout schedule ideal case, it would be three times a week around 45 minutes. But lately, it has been two times a week, maybe 25, maybe 30 minutes. So if I know that I can, that's really unrealistic. I make decision on Sunday that it's going to be this week, I'm going to get started two times per week and it doesn't matter if it's for five minutes if it were one exercise, but I need to get started. And if it's for some reason, usually my workout days it would be on Tuesday, Wednesday Friday if I can get started on Wednesday and I said okay, I don't do it today but I started them tomorrow so I know exactly which day I'm going to get started and I'm I need to end up by end of the week I need to get started three times per week and I never promised myself to finish my workout but just to get started because usually it's just about getting there getting started. And if if I don't feel like then I have permission to quit anytime. So this has really helped me to stay consistent and keeping promises what I do for myself of course earlier I would start maybe a program do it for a week or two and then you know we are so I'm so good at talking myself out of doing it and and finding like its reasons which might be even accurate and valid reasons but now I decided that I'm not going to give myself that permission to not get started so I can do always can do a bit less but to get started or if I need to have a bit of I decided to be Before that, this week, I'm not going to even trying to work out. But that staying consistent that has helped me and like I said that my motivation is if I if when those days are coming the time, like kind of knowing that I need to go, then I look picture of my dad reminding me why I'm actually doing it. So that pain of or fear of losing your hand is at the moment is greater for me than actually getting the work done. And in the end, when I have been now I'm 42 years old, I have basically never ever felt as good with myself with mental energy, everything in my life. So it's, it's really those long term benefits what you are getting when you put yourself out there consistently, and finding your way forward. I know some people they need to motivation, they don't have that kind of deeper motivations. But for someone it's sitting, signing up for a race for running, thinking or marathon or whatever, or I know some friends are doing some Spartan Races or whatever also think like a deadlift goal or, or some kind of all what you are working towards, I don't have at this point, I don't have any kind of performance based goals, like in that sense, because I don't want to i i gotta be acknowledged with enlarged hours. And I'm not allowing I'm not allowed to use like a do strength training with lower reps where I have to kind of hold my breath, which is making things only bursts. So I really have to pay attention for that. But there's so many things that you can do. And this is what I'm going to implement in my life and how I have stayed for the past two years, consistent, literally, three years. And I hope this helps you to find your own existence because I what I see is that there are so many people struggling with the consistency and really keeping those promises, what do you make yourself so if you always feel that you are starting breeding starting, then maybe lower your expectations. Allow yourself to start with the low, staying consistent for the first 3060 days. And then if you still feel like it if you don't get enough results you feel that you can be you would be doing more then it's time to add things but do not get started with the five times a week. Workout, because you know that you have to be perfect for next month. Because that just me actually in so many people who are starting that that's going to end up only that you're going to wait, you're going to feel like a failure. So don't do that. So that was episode for today. I really enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you found some value. Like I said, we appreciate sending medium in my instagram or email me Turo at fit material.com And let me know what you think about this episode. So thank you for listening and optation