{"id":263,"date":"2007-04-16T07:51:05","date_gmt":"2007-04-16T14:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/16\/want-to-improve-your-fitness-focus-on-results\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T03:30:15","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T10:30:15","slug":"want-to-improve-your-fitness-focus-on-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/16\/want-to-improve-your-fitness-focus-on-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to Improve Your Fitness? Focus on Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"that's<\/p>\n

If you needed to buy groceries, would you walk into the store look around, buy nothing, go home and then pat yourself on the back for showing up? Probably not. If you are going shopping you have a specific purpose for being in the supermarket, it isn\u2019t enough just to show up.<\/p>\n

Likewise, if you are going to the gym or to exercise, you have a specific purpose. Showing up and flipping through the magazines isn\u2019t enough. Browsing by in the grocery store won\u2019t put food on the table and wasting your time at the gym isn\u2019t going to give you the health, fitness and body you want.<\/p>\n

Improvement Pattern – Habits, then Results<\/h2>\n

In my own experience I\u2019ve noticed that most major improvements go through two phases. In the first phase, you focus on behavior and habits. Changing behavior is hard enough, so you make it your primary focus. This could mean saving a certain percentage of your income for investment to increase your financial health, working a certain amount of hours for your business and, yes, exercising regularly.<\/p>\n

But after you establish behavior, you\u2019re only halfway there. Next you need to focus on the results you want. Saving a tenth of your income is a pretty pointless exercise if you aren\u2019t actually increasing your wealth. Going to the gym every day is a waste of time if you aren\u2019t improving your health.<\/p>\n

When you first form habits they aren\u2019t usually optimized towards your goals. Going to the gym every day is better than nothing, but unless you are actually exercising hard at the gym then your habit is just getting you inside the building every day. Focusing yourself on specific results takes a pretty general habit, like going to the gym, and forces you to become more efficient in getting what you want out of it, like fitness and health.<\/p>\n

Test Your Fitness Regularly<\/h2>\n

If you are at the point where you are exercising fairly regularly, the next step is to focus on your results. I test my fitness in several key areas every few months. I don\u2019t necessarily do all the tests at once, but I keep track of my results so that I can have a better picture of where my health is.<\/p>\n

Here are several of the items you can test to gauge your fitness:<\/p>\n