I hate the word 'balance'

I think it's misused and overused

"I don't want to be too extreme. I just want to be balanced"

Men use this with work/life balance

Men use this with their health

And I believe men use this to make excuses and justify their lack of results more than they use it because they want real balance.

Because believe it or not, the only way to achieve balance is to get out of balance

Hang with me on this one.

I first came across this concept in the book One Thing by Gary Keller (great read by the way)

I later had this idea reinforced through a friend and coach of mine Jerred Moon

To achieve balance - at least the balance you probably picture in your head and the balance you desire - it will almost always require you to get out of balance

At least at first.

When you see someone balancing, it's not a static activity

It's millions of micro-adjustments and corrections to achieve a state that APPEARS balanced

Alright that makes sense...but how does this apply to your health and fitness?

If you're afraid of being extreme - you might never look or feel the way you desire to feel.

If you're afraid to be 'extreme' when it comes to your health, then you probably:

1) Are afraid of taking action, or at least afraid of taking the wrong action

2) Are justifying why you're not where you want to be

3) Have an unhealthy picture in your head of what extreme looks like

Because when I think of getting 'extreme' - I think of a short-term push that will get me over a hump I'm stuck at

What I don't think of is a self-absorbed person who only focuses on themselves for the rest of their lives

Or someone who eats brown rice and chicken perfectly measured out for every meal for the rest of eternity

If you're stuck on the term extreme - you can substitute the word aggressive

But if you're triggered by the word extreme, I'm guessing aggressive doesn't sit well with you either

The opposite of extreme is safe, or minimum

The opposite of aggressive is complacent or passive

So if your only goal is to avoid being extreme, then you'll subconsciously settle on passive, complacent, safe, and the minimum

Have you found yourself there at times with your health and fitness?

This is where too many men end up

Gradually finding themselves 5, 10, 20+ pounds overweight

And if you haven't been strength training aggressively during that time period, then that is more like 10, 20, or 30+ pounds of fat when you take into account the muscle you lost in the process too

The longer you've let yourself get that way, the more aggressive your approach might have to be

Not forever, but for a little while

Because I can tell you it sucks to take safe action and get lousy results

You decide to make a few small changes, you see some small results at first, and then 3 months later your progress has completely stalled

You're frustrated, annoyed, and you decide to give up

You blame the process, but maybe you didn't really give it the effort it deserved

I believe burning fat and putting on some lean muscle can be an easy and enjoyable process

But if you've tried something time and time again, and you keep finding yourself further from your goal, it's time to wake up and realize it's going to take a fight to get you to where you want to be

You can guess what's going to happen if you step into a fight passive and unprepared

And that's what I mean when I say there are times when you need to be extreme or aggressive.

There are problems with avoiding extremes or taking aggressive action

And the same extreme you are trying to avoid leaves you seeking the opposite extreme that might be even less desirable