Many people like the idea of becoming the fittest version of themselves, but actually making it happen can be surprisingly challenging. A lot of people who get into fitness believe that it's going to take them years to make significant changes to their bodies. The reality is not like this. It takes far less time than many people think.
How do you become the fittest version of yourself in less than six months? What can you do in the first 180 days to massively transform your body, fitness, and physique?
Define what fitness means using data
The best place to start is by defining what fitness means using data. You want to start with baseline checking and recording your current body fat percentage, weight, height, and max reps for key exercises like pull-ups and push-ups. Then you can aim for specific numbers by the 6-month mark. For example, many people aim to run a 5K marathon in less than 25 minutes or deadlift more than 1.5 times their body weight. There are little things like this that can make all of the difference. When you start tracking everything, you notice what's happening and how your body's changing. This gives you motivation because you can see that you are making lots of progress.
These days, you don't need to write down all of your performance metrics in a notebook. There are plenty of apps out there that will let you quickly record what you did and then compare it using data to previous weeks.
Master the big movements
Another thing you want to do when becoming the fittest version of yourself is work on mastering the big movements. You want to make sure that you are performing exercises like:
Deadlifts
Overhead presses
Bench presses
Squats
Weighted dips (if necessary)
Try to hit each muscle group twice per week for maximum growth, and use progressive overload. This is a non-negotiable part of your training routine. Every time you go and hit the weights, you should be doing slightly more reps, slightly more weight, or a combination of both.
You'll notice that all of the fittest people in the world take this approach, no matter what type of training regimen they have. They always increase the difficulty over time, which forces the body to adapt and respond to the input.
Get your food right
If you're not eating the right food, then you'll never be able to get the body that you want, and you won't become the fittest version of yourself, especially in six months. Food is perhaps the most important element of the entire journey. If you can get your nutrition right, then you will transform your physique very quickly by gaining muscle and losing fat.
If you're not sure how to improve your diet, get personalized nutrition guidance. Ask experts what you can do to change how you're living and whether there are any improvements that you can make. They can perform an audit of your current diet and lifestyle and show you where you might want to improve.
When it comes to protein, you want to aim for around 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight. If you're doing a lot of heavy training or you're also carrying a huge amount of muscle right now, you can increase this to 2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight. Protein is important because it repairs broken-down tissue from training, allowing you to come back stronger.
In terms of hydration, make sure you are drinking at least 3-4 L of water daily. If you don't do this, you can experience significant performance drops.
Work Zone 2 and do high intensity interval training (HIIT)
If you're looking to increase pure fitness, then don't neglect Zone 2 training. You want to spend around 150 minutes a week walking at a moderate pace, getting your heart rate somewhere between 110 and 130 beats per minute. You don't have to do HIIT (high-intensity interval training) all the time. Usually, you want to do this once or twice a week maximum, and then track your VO2 max over time if you have the equipment to do this. If you train too hard too often, then you will fail to recover, and your body won't come back. Even though Zone 2 training might feel easy, it's still having a profound effect on your biology and making you fitter.
Use sleep and recovery as a weapon
If you are competing with other people, it's worth remembering that most of them won't be treating their sleep and recovery as a weapon. Instead, they will be going to bed late, maybe waking up early, going to work, and tiring themselves out. Many people in this situation tell themselves that their training will undo the harmful effects, but it doesn't. If you have less than seven hours of sleep per night, then it worsens your hormonal environment, turning on genes that store fat and break down muscle. During your off days, make sure that you're active: move your body, stretch, and do yoga; walk the dog if you have to; just make sure that you're getting around and doing things.
Be 90% consistent
Many people who start a health kick beat themselves up when they're not 100% consistent. But the reality is that most people are never going to get through life adhering to the perfect regimen. If you can, avoid the all-or-nothing trap. Even if you miss a workout, it's not the end of the world, and you don't have to beat yourself up because of it. Don't throw away the whole week just because you missed one session. Instead, be 90% consistent and get back to it the next day. If you don't feel like you can give your 100% at the gym or on the track on one particular day, then don't. It's okay to put in 50% effort if your body is telling you to relax.
Remember, there's always a dip around month three when the initial excitement wears off. Getting through this, if you get through this, it often means that you'll achieve your goals in 180 days.
