About the School of Fitness
Mr Delia Steele
Welcome.
Before deciding to read the Iron Law of the 6 pack, the Genetic Lottery, The Ron Burgandy Principle or any other lessons in The School of Fitness you might want to know what it's all about. Read on so you know the logic behind the nonsense, the sense behind the silliness and the message behind the madness.
THE NEED FOR THE SCHOOL OF FITNESS & WHY MOST FOLK DON'T SUCCEED
Most people are not fit. They do not have an ideal body fat percentage and compared to their potential they are in pretty damn poor shape.
Some people don't care, we have no problem with them - this is their choice. But many do, and these are the ones we want to help.
Most people would probably want a better looking body, to be fitter, stronger, leaner and more attractive. So why aren't they? That's what we are all about. It's not just laziness, they just need a re-education!
You may have been lost but now you are found!
The school of fitness is dedicated to helping more people get the body they want, to stopping the thousands of hours wasted on ridiculous exercise programmes, fads & poor techniques
If you want to get fit, the school of fitness will teach you what to do, train you to motivate yourself, understand your body and to get the results you want.
The more you know, the more you can grow...or shrink. (Or push or pull for that matter.)
BUT WHY?
If so many people are out of shape but want to be fit, what are the reasons and what can we do about it?
We think people tend to fail for these reasons:
TOO MUCH DODGY INFORMATION
There is more dodgy info out there than you can shake a pink dumbbell at.
Some do it on purpose, some don't know any better and some don't care. As long as you're reading or buying then they will pump out any old jibber jabber. Be careful what you read!
If you get your training info from a newspaper, magazine or other random source the chances are you aren't gonna do too well. Proper fitness isn't news!! In isolation, bits you read may be ok, but there will be a lot of rubbish and a lot of stuff taken out of context.
If you haven't had good info, then you won't do smart work. If you don't do smart work you're not likely to be successful. Fitness is hard enough already.
NO COACHING & DODGY TECHNIQUE
When you watch most people train, when you know what you're doing, it hurts. It looks wrong, they are doing the wrong stuff and they are normally doing it incorrectly! But who can blame them. It's not easy to perform exercises with heavy weights with perfect form, it takes time effort and patience to learn. But once you have learnt it will stay with you forever.
It's easy to hurt yourself with poor technique. It's easy to completely ruin an exercise and not get the benefit from it. The majority of people (especially the un-coached) have atrocious exercise technique. Training this way you will probably get hurt or at least waste your time. This is partly why so few people train consistently through the years. If you want to be successful and have a great physique for the longterm, get a coach or learn from very carefully selected resources. Or both.
LACK OF BELIEF
If you've tried and failed, look like beached whale or your biceps are smaller than your wrists then the belief required to motivate yourself to train to reach your goals can be hard to muster. Build your knowledge with the school of fitness and you will overcome this.
You have to conceive, then believe, then achieve. I think. I can't remember the Tony Robbins infomercials that well. But what if you don't believe? If you're not confident you can change, it must be hard to commit to action.
This is a problem faced by many. They don't truly believe they can do what they want to do. As a result, they don't do what they need to do and they don't manage to get what they want to get. Whether that be a 140kg deadlift, a lean shredded six pack or shoulders so wide they can't fit through a door.
By learning from the school of fitness, you will start to see how you have stuffed up in the past. Your increased wisdom will fill you with confidence and hopefully this new found belief will motivate you to do what you need to do in order to get the More-Athletic benchmarks that will make you happy.
You will look back and cringe at the mistakes made by your weaker, skinnier fatter former self - and you will be filled with excitement about what a wiser, stronger, leaner machine you will be in the coming years.
LACK OF CONSISTENCY
As outlined in 'Lesson 10 - you have to consistently be consistent' - most people fail to be consistent with their actions. The more you know about training, eating and behaviour management, the better your chances of doing the right things year in year out.
If you're not consistent, you will struggle to look like someone who trains consistently!
LACK OF INTEREST
Let's face it, most people don't want to read about the ins and outs of training. They don't want the Biology lessons, the articles on sets and reps, the details required for proper technique or the constant contradictory information they will have to sift through, they just want the results.
That's fair enough, there is plenty of other things to do with your time... However, interest comes with knowledge (to a certain extent). Hopefully by putting yourself through the school of fitness, you will pick up enough knowledge, motivation and interest to drive you onto get more from your body.
You will learn how to get the minimum effective dose and then get on with your life. In time, you may find you are more interested and can start to add more to your workouts. If you need to.
Doing stupid programmes in stupid places:
I guess the result of all the above. If you don't know what you're doing it's hard to do smart work. The school of fitness aims to help many more people do smarter work more consistently.
WE WANT YOU TO LEARN HOW TO THINK, MOVE, EAT, and party LIKE A FITNESS EXPERT
..in bite size pieces, without having to spend years studying.
The more you know, the more you can grow...or shrink.
The things you need to know don't need to be taught in school, nor in university.. but they won't be taught in glossy mags or in your gym induction.
If you actually understand the science behind what you want to achieve, you are more likely to achieve it.
In the school of fitness, we will teach you think like a pro. Understand what's important, understand what good technique is and understand how to make it happen.
DONT JUST GET A PROGRAMME...LEARN PROPER FITNESS
If you're just getting into fitness, or if you've been training for a while but without satisfactory result, you've got plenty to learn.
If you get yourself a well designed programme and get started, you will do ok. But long term, if you intend to continue training, want to control your fitness, appearance and health then it makes sense to use your brain a little so that you aren't at the mercy of every new fad and gym plan that comes your way.
RANDOM OTHER NOTES & STUFF
The posts aren't finished articles. They will be refined, revisited, tweaked and improved over time. What I think is optimal now will be different in a years time. The same should be true for you as you seek to learn fitness.
You can disagree. Some of what you read here will be opinion, some will be fact. You might read something you disagree with or that doesn't suit you. That's fine. Keep an open mind and find out what works best for you. Remember, 'it's science'...and no one has all the answers.
If you like The School of Fitness and know anyone who can benefit from not being such a chubster, please share it with them. If you help them out they will like you more.
If you've got a question or suggestion, please send it in - why not? We may or may not have time to answer it....but there's no harm in trying and Mr Delia Steele will be grateful, even if he doesn't know how to show it.
Be careful what you take as a fact. See, don't believe the 'truth'! Use the school of fitness as your starting point, but look for the holes & keep your mind open. Even the worlds most elite fitness coaches are often changing their minds, re-evaluating their techniques and trying to find a better way. You should too, no matter what your commitment level. Always strive to get more from less.
While the message is serious, our presentation is a little less so. Life can get boring otherwise. Be serious, but don't forget to party. We want to make it as easy as possible to go through the school of fitness. If it's boring, you probably won't like it.
The aim is to pack the lessons with wise & useful quotes from fitness experts and film stars alike. Whoever says it best or helps to make it more memorable.
It might take a little while before we get practical. Tough luck. The best policy would be to get a sensible programme and get started, then to refine your strategy as you learn more.
