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Training for the Long Game Starts Right Here

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Training for the Long Game Starts Right Here

Late December rolls around, and you can almost feel it in the air.

The inbox fills up.

The ads ramp up.

The gym floors get scrubbed, the lights turned up, and the “New Year, New You” banners come out.

January is coming, and with it, the familiar pressure to do something big. Something intense. Something that proves, to yourself and everyone else, that this is the year you finally get your act together.

And I get it. Wanting change is not the problem. Wanting to feel stronger, leaner, more capable, or more in control of your body and health is a reasonable goal. It’s a good one.

The problem is what we’ve been trained to believe that January means.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that January training needs to hurt. That it needs to be extreme. That if you’re not crawling out of the gym, crippled with soreness and high on adrenaline, you’re not really doing it right.

That belief is exactly what keeps people from lasting.

I’ve been coaching people through this cycle since 2009 as a personal trainer and since 2010 as a nutrition coach, and every single year it plays out the same way. The gyms are packed for the first few weeks. The energy is frantic. The motivation is sky high. And then, quietly, steadily, people disappear.

By February, the crowd thins. By March, the routine is broken. And by summer, most people are right back where they started, wondering why this keeps happening to them.

The truth is uncomfortable but simple.

January doesn’t need to hurt.  It needs to work.

And what actually works long term looks very different from what most of the fitness industry sells at the start of the year.

 

The January Fitness Lie No One Likes to Talk About

There’s a quiet reality in the health and fitness industry that most people on the inside understand but rarely say out loud.

A lot of gyms, programs, challenges, and diets are not built for you to stick with them.

They are built to sell quickly, lock people in, and ride the wave of January motivation while it lasts.

Big-box gyms know exactly what happens every year. They expect a massive spike in sign-ups in January, followed by a dramatic drop-off in attendance a few weeks later.

That’s not a failure of their business model. That is the business model.

The same goes for extreme bootcamps, aggressive “cleanse” diets, and flashy transformation challenges. They rely on urgency, intensity, and fear. Fear of missing out. Fear of falling behind. Fear that if you don’t go all in right now, you never will.

You see it play out everywhere.

Sally at the office drops twenty pounds the first few weeks of January on some B.S. detox and a seven-days-a-week bootcamp schedule. Everyone talks about it. Everyone compares themselves to it. And then, quietly, Sally fades into the background when the wheels come off, as they almost always do.

What that reinforces is a dangerous idea that if it doesn’t feel like punishment, it must not be effective.

That belief is the same all-or-nothing trap that shows up again and again in fitness, nutrition, and mindset work. It’s the same pattern behind chasing perfection instead of progress, something I explored more deeply in Better Beats Perfect — Every Damn Time.

January just turns the volume up on it.

What January Training Is Actually Supposed to Do

Here’s the reframe most people need but rarely hear.

January is not the time to prove how tough you are, it’s the time to prove you can stay in the game.

The purpose of early training is not to chase soreness, exhaustion, or ego-driven numbers. It’s to rebuild trust. Trust in your body. Trust in your movement. Trust in your ability to show up consistently without blowing yourself up.

When January training is done well, the first few weeks should leave you feeling steadier, not wrecked. More confident, not intimidated. Clearer about what you’re doing, not overwhelmed by complexity or hype.

You should start to feel like, “Yeah, I can actually keep doing this.”

That might sound underwhelming if you’re used to all-or-nothing thinking, but it’s the foundation everything else depends on.

Confidence is not built by crushing one heroic workout. It’s built by stacking repeatable wins. By finishing sessions feeling capable. By walking out knowing you could come back tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, without dreading it.

That’s how real momentum starts.

It’s also where people misunderstand discipline. Discipline isn’t about forcing yourself to suffer. It’s about creating conditions that make the right choice easier to repeat, something I unpacked in more detail in Discipline Isn’t What You Think It Is.

January is where that misunderstanding does the most damage.

 

Why We Hold People Back on Purpose (And Why It Works)

This is the part that surprises most new clients, especially in January.

For the first four to six weeks, we intentionally hold back.

·         We hold back on load.

·         We hold back on volume.

·         We hold back on intensity.

Not because we’re cautious to a fault, but because early training is about learning how to move, not how much you can move.

I want people thinking about what their body is doing. How a squat feels. How they control a hinge. How they breathe under tension. How they recover between sessions. How their joints respond. How their energy carries over into the rest of their life.

In those early weeks, showing up is the priority. Performance on the day is secondary.

That can feel uncomfortable if you’ve been conditioned to measure success by how wrecked you feel. But throughout my coaching career, this approach has consistently produced better outcomes. Fewer injuries. Better adherence. Less fear. More confidence. And eventually, far better performance.

It’s also how you build the kind of training base that lets you push later without constantly restarting.

Intensity is not banned forever. Heavy loads are not evil. Challenging sessions are not off the table. They just belong later, once the foundation is solid.

Running shoes, dumbbells and a skipping rope on a yoga mat

“Is This Supposed to Feel This Easy?”

Almost everyone asks this, usually in the first couple of weeks.

They come in expecting one of two things. Either the drill-sergeant trainer who shouts and grinds them into dust, or the hype-machine cheerleader who convinces them to push harder all the time.

And then they realise I’m neither of those. The vibe is lighter. The focus is sharper. The sessions feel… manageable.

That’s when the confusion sets in.

They’re waiting for the hammer to drop. Waiting for the “real” work to start. Waiting for the suffering they’ve been taught to expect.

So we set expectations early.

In the beginning, it should almost feel too easy. On purpose. Not because we’re lowering standards, but because we’re protecting consistency.

The goal is not to crush one workout, it’s to build a practice you can repeat week after week, month after month, year after year.

That mantra doesn’t change, even for people who have been training with us for years.

It’s never about winning a single session. It’s about showing up again.

 

The Long-Game Filter That Actually Works

Here’s the question I want people asking themselves before buying into January hype.

“Can I sustain this until summer?”

“Could I still be doing this NEXT January?”

And not with a hyped-up, adrenaline-fuelled “hell yes.”

I’m talking about a calm, grounded, nine-or-ten-out-of-ten, “yeah, I can do that.”

If the answer isn’t there, that’s not a failure. That’s information.

It means you need to dial things back. A notch, or two, or ten. With the understanding that you can and will build from there.

This is where people get tripped up. They hear “back off” and assume that means lower standards, slower progress, or settling for less.

It doesn’t.

Backing off early doesn’t limit progress. It protects it.

Heavy training has its place. Challenging blocks matter. Progress eventually requires stress. But stress without a foundation just creates breakdown, and January is where that mistake shows up most clearly.

The people who last understand this intuitively. They don’t rush the early phases. They respect the process. They build now so they can push later.

January is not the test, it’s the starting line.

Using Training to Develop Life Skills

This is bigger than fitness.

Learning to pace yourself. Learning to delay gratification. Learning to build something steadily instead of chasing quick wins. These are life skills, and they’re not exclusive to strength training.

You can learn them through endurance work, a consistent yoga practice, daily mobility drills, or any physical training modality that rewards patience and attention over brute force.

Training done well builds confidence, resilience, and independence. It teaches you that progress doesn’t require chaos. That you can improve without burning yourself down.

And once you internalise that lesson in your training, it carries everywhere else.

Work. Relationships. Health. Life.

That’s why this matters.

 

How Weight Loss Actually Works (And Why Most January Plans Fail)

If you want a deeper understanding of why extreme January approaches fail, and how fat loss actually works in the real world, I put together a free mini-course that breaks this down in plain English.

No hype. No detox nonsense. Just a clear explanation of the physiology, behaviours, and habits that actually drive results.

You can learn more about it on the How Weight Loss Really Works page, or go straight to the free sign-up if you want to dig in right away at this link.

And if you’re local to Abbotsford and want hands-on guidance instead of trying to figure this out on your own, you can also learn more about applying for in-person personal training here in Abbotsford. No pressure, just information so you can decide what makes sense for you.

Scrabble letters that spell FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to some of the most common questions people have when shifting from a January “go hard” mindset to a long-game approach.

  • In the first couple of months, most beginners notice changes in energy, mood, sleep, and confidence before major visible changes in appearance. Strength often improves quickly because the nervous system is learning new movements, so it is common to lift more weight or perform more repetitions within four to eight weeks. Visible muscle gain and fat loss tend to happen more slowly. Research on new lifters suggests that noticeable muscle gain can occur within eight to twelve weeks when training and nutrition are consistent, but the exact amount varies widely. A practical expectation is to feel and perform better within the first month and to begin seeing clearer physical changes after two to three months of regular training, adequate sleep, and supportive eating habits. Tracking progress through strength, stamina, and daily energy can help maintain motivation while body composition changes gradually.

  • For most beginners, two to three days per week of structured strength or full-body training is enough to start making progress without overwhelming the body. Many health and coaching organizations also recommend combining this with moderate daily activity, such as walking, to support cardiovascular health. A simple and sustainable starting point is three full-body workouts per week with at least one rest day between sessions, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As this routine becomes easier to maintain, some people choose to add a fourth training day or a light active recovery session. Rest days are especially important early on because muscles, tendons, and joints need time to adapt to new stress. Over months and years, consistency with a manageable schedule matters far more than training every day in the beginning.

  • Beginners do not need to train at maximum effort to make progress, and pushing too hard too soon increases the risk of excessive soreness, burnout, and injury. A helpful guideline is the rate of perceived exertion scale, which runs from one to ten. For most strength exercises, beginners can aim for an effort level around six or seven, meaning the set feels challenging but still leaves two to four repetitions in reserve. Easy cardiovascular work, such as walking, should feel closer to a three or four, where full conversation is still possible. Shorter intervals or hills may reach higher effort levels later on, once a basic fitness base is established. If workouts regularly leave you exhausted, light-headed, or unable to recover for several days, the intensity is likely too high for your current level.

  • Many people start strong in January but struggle to maintain new habits once the initial motivation wears off or life becomes busy. Data from activity tracking platforms shows a clear drop in workout adherence around mid-January, suggesting that overly ambitious resolutions are difficult to sustain. Staying consistent often means scaling goals to fit real schedules, such as committing to three workouts per week instead of daily sessions. Building routines that integrate into normal life, pairing workouts with existing habits, or planning flexible home-based sessions can also improve adherence. Tracking small wins and adjusting plans rather than quitting when sessions are missed supports long-term progress. Shifting focus from short-term resolutions to lifestyle identity helps training become a normal part of life rather than a seasonal effort.

  • Sustainable training habits balance effectiveness with what you can realistically maintain for years, not just weeks. Research on behaviour change shows that routines aligned with personal preferences, schedules, and environments are more likely to stick than rigid or highly demanding programs. Helpful habits include setting realistic goals, scheduling manageable workouts, and choosing activities you genuinely enjoy. Flexible options such as home training or mixed modalities can improve consistency for people with busy lives. Planned rest days, lighter weeks, and recovery periods help prevent injury and mental fatigue. Regularly reviewing progress and making small adjustments allows you to stay challenged without needing to restart from scratch whenever life changes.

  • Overtraining occurs when training stress combined with life stress exceeds your ability to recover over time, leading to declining performance and persistent fatigue. For beginners, burnout often comes from doing too much volume or intensity too soon. Common warning signs include workouts feeling suddenly harder, declining strength or endurance, prolonged muscle soreness, disrupted sleep, and reduced motivation to train. To reduce risk, keep training frequency and intensity moderate at first, such as two to three strength sessions per week paired with low- to moderate-intensity cardio. Including at least one full rest day each week is important. Adequate sleep, regular meals, and managing stress outside the gym are just as important as the training itself when it comes to preventing burnout.

  • For new exercisers, the most important factors in injury prevention are appropriate load, sound technique, and gradual progression. Starting with two to three full-body sessions per week using lighter weights or bodyweight allows time to learn movement patterns before adding heavier loads. Selecting exercises that match current mobility and strength levels reduces unnecessary strain on joints and connective tissue. Progress should be gradual, such as adding small amounts of weight or a few extra repetitions rather than making large jumps. Persistent pain, sharp discomfort, or swelling are signals to reduce intensity and, if needed, seek guidance from a qualified professional. Consistent warm-ups, cool-downs, and adequate rest also support recovery and long-term joint health.

  • For long-term health and fitness, consistency is usually more important than short bursts of very intense training. High-intensity sessions can be effective, but only if they can be recovered from and repeated regularly over months and years. Research on exercise adherence shows that people are more likely to maintain routines when workouts feel manageable and enjoyable, even if each session is not maximal. Moderate-intensity training performed consistently is linked with improvements in cardiovascular health, strength, mood, and weight management. In contrast, repeatedly pushing to extremes tends to increase injury risk and dropout rates, especially for newer exercisers. A balanced approach includes mostly moderate sessions with occasional harder efforts, allowing progress without sacrificing consistency.

  • Many people quit because they begin with goals or programs that do not fit their current lifestyle, then feel discouraged when they cannot maintain them. Data on New Year fitness trends shows enthusiasm peaking in early January, followed by a sharp decline in adherence by the third week. To avoid this pattern, it helps to focus on behaviours you control, such as the number of weekly workouts or daily step counts, rather than only outcome-based goals like scale weight. Breaking goals into smaller steps and acknowledging consistent effort builds confidence and reinforces identity as someone who trains regularly. Reviewing and adjusting your plan instead of abandoning it when life gets busy helps maintain momentum over time.

  • A long-game training mindset treats fitness as a lifelong practice rather than a short-term project. Research on habit formation supports this approach, showing that repeated, context-stable actions are more effective than intense but short-lived efforts. In practice, this means anchoring training to values like health, independence, and mental wellbeing rather than only appearance or rapid transformation. It also means expecting plateaus, travel, stress, and interruptions, then planning to resume training rather than viewing setbacks as failure. Flexible routines, moderate training loads, and a focus on progress measured over months and years help shift attention from quick results to lasting capability and resilience.