The Allure of Abs
For some reason, the gold standard of being “fit” for the last several decades is having abs. Arms are cool… quads are ok… but abs… man… those are what dreams are made of.
At least, that is what mainstream fitness has told us for decades.
And… well… to be honest, I went down that road to.
I got abs… and I kept them for over a decade… which… in retrospect is a bit wild and I learned A LOT along the way.
Here are the top 5 things I learned from having abs for a decade.
1. It’s harder to get a result than it is to keep a result.
This one really needs to be burned into our brains. It takes way more work to go from 0 to something that it is to keep something.
Case in point… it’s way harder to make a billion dollars than keep a billion dollars
This especially applies to a physique transformation… You often have to do a TON of work to change your body, but just consistent smaller investments over time help keep you there.
2. You don’t have to sacrifice everything… but you have to sacrifice somethings.
If your goal is getting shredded and getting abs, you will have to make some sacrifices. Turn down some desserts, get out of bed early to get some workouts, skip the second glass of wine.
But you don’t have to sacrifice EVERYTHING. You can say yes sometimes, just not every time.
3. No one actually cares that much about your abs
Yup… if you have shredded abs or are just relatively lean are pretty much the same thing to basically everyone.
If you are not a cover model… no one really cares that much.
Especially the people in your life who care about you as a person.
4. The discipline you learn along the way is the actual benefit
No seriously. Seeing abs in the mirror is cool for a while… then you just sort of don’t really think about it.
But what you do actually find meaningful everyday is that you learned delayed gratification and discipline.
5. You set new standards.
Here is the thing about success no one tells you about until you get there… that new mountain top becomes your new valley.
You start to realize what you are capable of and that becomes the new standard… which is uncomfortable because it requires you to continue to improve.
P.S. Notice how none of these things involved diet hacks or specific exercises… that’s because these are the things that actually matter, everything else is just noisy details.
