“There are no shortcuts—everything is reps, reps, reps.”
~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
Almost everywhere you look, you will see an ad trying to sell you something. Often, it’s not just a product or service but an idea. Many of these ideas are not designed to make you succeed, but to make you buy something so that the seller succeeds or profits. Any ad that promises shortcuts for things which take consistent effort over a long period of time, do not have your best interests at heart. What’s more, these ideas burrow themselves into your subconscious and set up unrealistic expectations.
Do you really think you can lose 30lbs of bodyfat in 6 weeks? What about 8 weeks? 12 weeks maybe? It’s a good idea to evaluate your expectations and see how realistic they are. Also, ask yourself, what if I don’t meet these expectations? What’s next? Do I quit?
I learned this lesson a long time ago when I began taking Kung Fu and Kickboxing classes at a martial arts school. I was in a number of fights growing up (because it was how many disputes were settled back in those days) and I held my own on every occasion. Therefore, I entered the class with the expectation that I was a tough kid and a pretty good fighter. Boy was I humbled. Not only was I completely out of shape but I could not even come close to throwing a technically sound punch. Compared to every other member of the martial arts club, I was terrible.
I remember looking around the class and what really stood out for me were the black and red sash members (black was the second highest and red was the pinnacle). They moved with such explosive grace. They were smooth as silk in their movement and sprung in and out of strikes effortlessly. I told myself, I want to get to that level and masterfully command my body the way they do.
After the class, I spoke with some of these black and red sash members and guess what? Every time I asked any of them how long it took to attain their sash, none of them said 6 weeks or 8 weeks or 12 weeks. All of them had been practicing for many years. Yes, years and years of good old, dedicated hard work, sweat and tears. Each of these members threw thousands of punches and kicks before these strikes became as remarkable as they are today.
If you want to master anything or attain anything worthwhile, you have to put in thousands of daily repetitive actions toward it. There are no shortcuts. If your goal was to climb a mountain, would you ask for helicopter ride to the top? What would be the point of setting the goal? You have to take thousands of steps to climb it and the greater the struggle, the greater the growth and strength of character you attain. This is the real value or reward of any endeavour. To become a new, upgraded version of yourself.
V10 Health is not a shortcut program. You start at whatever your current V-score is today and you start working toward the next level above. If you are a V3, it will take a lot of daily repetitive actions to get you to a V4. Once you evolve to the next level or a V4, you will stay there if you continue to do the same things. You have to adapt and stimulate change again if you want to level up to a V5. And again, you have to put in the reps to get there. This is the way. Don’t be fooled by false promises of instant results and rewards. Anything you gain quickly can, and often is, lost just as quickly. Think of yo-yo diets. Shortcut up and shortcut down.
Your V10 Coach,
Sal Crispo P.S. If you are interested, I also make a coaching video for each of these posts on YouTube. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel so you do not miss out on any of the valuable content I share. Here is the link for this post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sg9JEKup60