In 2020 I committed to stretching every single day for 7 minutes.

Almost 4 years later and I haven’t missed a day.

While some people believe it’s discipline and willpower on my end, I believe it’s simplicity that made it work.

I’m not a very disciplined person and I certainly don’t have the most willpower.

Ask any client that came to my retreats how much I love desserts when they are in front of me.

Doing the thing comes above optimization and perfection.

Too many guys quit before they are consistent and then tell themselves “I just need to work harder, I know what to do”.

No, it’s not about working harder.

I have seen it so many times.

Cutting out whole food groups overnight.

Slapping together 2h workouts and excessive morning routines.

All in the name of health.

We go ALL IN.

And then we fail.

And then effort goes to nothing until the next time.

How many times does this need to happen before the lesson is learned?

The solution is to start with a simple base you can stick to.

And then from that base you start optimizing ONCE you’ve established the habit.

This gives you certainty in your capabilities because you’ve built a base that allows you to fall back to when life inevitably comes along and throws you a curve ball.

It eliminates willpower & discipline completely from the equation, which makes it sustainable.

As a type A man you want results yesterday.

It’s a hard lesson to learn – but the most important one when it comes to getting back in shape.

It’s on you to implement, but it’s on the coach to put you in a position where failure is nearly impossible and success inevitable.

If my stretching routine was 45min long, then I wouldn’t be able to sustain it.

If I had to workout 6 days a week for 2h, I wouldn’t be able to sustain it.

But with 7min stretching? Doable.

30min workouts 3-4 weekly? Doable.

While my routine is far from perfect, I’m consistent with it.

PS.

This is coach Fortino Arroyo demonstrating six pack exercises & stretching to some clients at the past retreat.