7 things you can stop worrying about

Stop Worrying About Fitness: Focus on What Matters

Fitness shouldn’t be one more thing to feel bad about. So, today, let’s take a few worries off your plate. Think of this as a permission slip to stop overthinking the stuff that doesn’t matter nearly as much as you’ve been told.

Even if you miss a week of workouts multiple times each year, it has no discernible impact on your overall progress. You may feel less “full” or “pumped” in the moment, but nothing structural is changing. Regaining any lost strength or muscle happens relatively quickly, so don’t sweat it if you miss a week for vacation or taking care of a sick family member.

Stop Worrying About Eating That Piece of Cake

There are no “bad” foods. Unfortunately, fear-mongering around food is at an all-time high right now. Just this week, I saw someone say not to eat too much spinach or it will bleed the iron out of your body. Not only are these messages wildly inaccurate and unhelpful – they make you feel like you did something wrong.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Bottom line: you’re not “bad” for choosing to eat a food. And if you’re feeling confused by all the nutrition noise out there, check out our Guide to Healthy Eating.

Stop Worrying About Hitting the Perfect Set & Rep Range

You can make amazing progress with both high volume (as high as 20+ sets per muscle) or low volume (as little as 3-4 sets per muscle). Heck, even 1 set per week done to failure has shown strength improvements. Same goes for reps. You can build muscle on anything from 5-30 reps, as long as they are challenging!

Bottom line: if you’re not competing in a strength sport, a few challenging sets per week (at least 5 reps per set, close to failure) is all you’ll ever need. For most people, I’d stick in the 6-15 rep range. Not because it’s a magic number, but because it tends to be the easiest to execute!

Stop Worrying About Rest Periods

I LOVE that this was a question I got from a reader, because it highlights that they’re thinking about recovery, too. There is so much conflicting information out there that we should be taking 2-3 min rest in between sets to gain muscle. But with supersets we’re doing the complete opposite.

A June 2024 study comparing supersets versus traditional straight sets found similar amounts of muscle growth – but noted that supersets DO increase perceived exertion (i.e. it feels harder, likely because with less rest, you’re more out of breath and muscles feel more fatigued!)

Stop Worrying About Having the Right Workout Tools

If you’ve ever worried about if you should use a machine vs a dumbbell, a barbell vs a kettlebell, or just your own bodyweight, let me put your mind at ease. They are all great. You can use any of them to get awesome results.

Bottom line: The best tool is the one that you have access to, are comfortable with, and are excited to use. We can figure out the rest from there.

Stop Worrying About “Optimizing” Your Protein Intake

Protein is important. But if you’re getting around 0.7-0.8g/lb of bodyweight, you’ve already eating enough to support strength, muscle, recovery, and satiety. Heck, I have clients see huge improvements at even lower protein intakes (between 0.4-0.6g/lb of bodyweight).

For most people, it’s around 1-2 palm-sized servings of protein at each meal. That’s it. And sure, going to higher levels may have additional benefits in some unique cases. But these are the smaller optimizations around the edges, not the bulk of the impact.

What Actually Matters

This is the part that gets lost in the noise. What moves the needle the most is incredibly boring and incredibly consistent: Getting enough sleep (7-9 hours for most people), eating mostly balanced meals (with foods you enjoy), moving your body often (some low intensity, some higher intensity), doing strength work a couple times a week (near to failure), staying connected to people you care about, and having a strategy for when life gets messy.

The hard part isn’t learning the “right” way. It’s tuning out all the noise so you can stay focused on the stuff that actually works. My hope is that at least one thing in here lets you take a little breath and go, “Oh…thank goodness. I can stop worrying about that.” If you want help making all this feel doable in a busy, real-life schedule, just hit reply. I’m always happy to help.

Learn more about fitness and how to stop worrying about the wrong things Here

Image Credit: www.nerdfitness.com