Jack Juel

The way you carry yourself will affect your productivity. If you tell yourself: "I'm terrible", "That piece sucks" do you really think it'll help you get better? The way you speak to yourself will eventually be the way you think about yourself. Be your own best supporter.

The Fitness Advice You're Following Might Be the Reason You're Quitting I have gained more fitness clarity from trying than I have from blindly following some advice online. It makes sense to consume a lot of fitness content, ask AI, or your friends when you’re starting, but if that’s all you do, then you’re seriously hurting your journey. The thing you do at the start won’t always be the right thing My start was bodybuilding. Not only was it my start, I spent hours creating a program based on “best of” exercise videos only for it to last 30 days. I wanted to quit so bad that it got me thinking, is this what fitness is all about? You should consume, but only to figure out what to do It’s natural to either give up or sticking with it because that’s what you decided on. But you can’t do that with fitness. Giving up is obviously not the answer, but if you’ve done something for 30 days and you still don’t like it, replace it. It took me 6 months before I knew what I wanted to do I switched from bodybuilding into strength training and discovered that I loved leg exercises more than chest exercises. I learned my passion in life was to lift heavy and all of this turned into 8 years of strength training. But I had to start somewhere to learn this. Don’t just follow everything you see online, use it as a guide to learn what you like, replace the things you don’t like, and slowly build up a list of things that you actually like. That’s how you achieve your fitness goal.

The Waiting Room: The habit that lets you achieve any fitness goal The idea that you have to be perfect before you start won’t get you anywhere. Find something that you can do long enough to build the habit you need and you won’t have to worry being perfect. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the exact thing that you’re trying to achieve. The waiting room is where you build the confidence to chase the real thing. Instead of telling yourself that you shouldn’t start because you can’t run 5K, accept it, and start with something simpler like walking. This will be your waiting room and once you’re walking a couple of times per week, then you can start to walk/run once a week, and slowly get into running. The waiting room allows you to build something to hang on, so the challenges doesn’t feel as overwhelming After walking for a few weeks, it’ll be so ingrained in you that running won’t feel as overwhelming. Of course, your running form hasn’t improved, but with the habit built, it’ll be much easier to push through the difficult days, not give up, and achieve your goal of running. The super power is in the waiting room It allows you to make progress by leaving your expectations at the door and focus on what matters the most: building the habit. Until that’s done, then you shouldn’t worry about how fast or strong you’re. That’ll automatically comes when it feels second nature for you to work out.

You’re better off just starting than waiting around for perfection. I know this is thrown around a lot, but think about it. If you just start, you’ll make progress towards perfection instead of wasting time not getting any closer.

Do you think scrolling for answers will help you out of the restarting bubble that you find yourself in? It won’t. The only way is to do the thing that you want and luckily it isn’t as hard as it may seem. It’s not as complicated as the internet wants you to think Pick your interest and go do it, simple. All the “how do I do this best, what do I need” questions are just a waste of time in the beginning. Let’s take running as an example. A nice watch to track pace, a chest heart rate monitor, a nice pair of shoes,sun glasses, vest for your water are all very nice, but they aren’t the things that’ll get you running. It’ll be the idea of running 5K in under 30 minutes that will. Forget about all the equipment and just do the thing It’s easy to think you’re behind because you don’t have the right equipment or are training the most effective way, but want to know something? Not training at all isn’t super effective either and none of these things will help you if you don’t build the habit first. So don’t worry about all the gear, PRs, or technique. If your goal is to run a marathon, believe in that dream and just go for a run. Build the habit and then you can start to obsess over the small details.

Another 5AM session in the bag. I don’t know where the energy comes from, but running for an hour as the sun rises is all I need to feel ready for the day. An hour works for me, but 30 minutes might do the trick for you.

If the last 100 hours working out in zone 2 has taught me anything, then it’s that things happen under the hood that you can’t see. I’ve never felt slower, but more energized than I do now. I’ve never felt more excited, yet less drained after a training session as I do now. Doesn’t matter what your starting point is, start with what you’ve got and let the effort speak for itself.

Exercising is one of the biggest internal battles you can choose What do you do when the demons inside of you tells you to stop? This is a question that’ll stand in your face at some point during your fitness journey and the answer is simple, you can either stop or you can keep going. Fitness is one long battle with your inner demons The current version of you will be an old version tomorrow and the future you will be the current version now. It’s a constant battle and some you notice, some you don’t. But the important thing is that they are there. They are necessary for you growth. A sign that things are going in the right direction The demons are usually your old habits, feelings, personality clashing with the person you’re becoming and it’ll always feel overwhelming. It means change is close the surface and is another reason why you need to keep going. Maybe not at the same pace, but slowing things down, so you can reflect and live through it, is all that you need to do. It feels intense because it’s a pivotal moment on your journey Any change requires a lot of work, but nothing compares to a change happening due to exercise, and the internal battle is because your old self is doing everything it can to make you cling onto it. And this is a good thing. It means that it won’t last forever and that you’re very close to a breakthrough. It means that your effort is finally paying off and all you gotta do is to let go and not lose hope that you can achieve your goal.

Work hard, chase your dreams, be nice. That’s the motto behind a simple, but purposeful life.

Online fitness coaches are making it harder for you to succeed You aren’t good enough if you can’t do 20 pull-ups. So many online coaches will tell you that the benchmark is to do 50 squats, 20 pull-ups, or even being able to run 5K, but it’s not helping. I understand the point of the posts are meant, but pushing this agenda helps nobody, especially those who needs it. The only purpose of the unrealistic agenda is to make you feel bad about yourself The truth is, if you’re just starting out, then you shouldn’t listen to this as it’s so far away from what you’re trying to achieve. Because while the true nature behind these posts are probably meant to spark engagement - and they do - they unfortunately also leave the people, who are desperate to change, feeling like they are doing something wrong. Forget all the advice telling you to hit a certain number When I started, I was overweight, played video games 14 hours a day and only moved when I needed a toilet break. Had I read “20 pull ups are the standard” then I’d given up right there. Hell, even after 8 years of strength training, I’m lucky if I can do 12, so it makes sense if you feel demotivated and belittled by posts like this. Of course, later down the line you can pursue those goals, but right now, all you need to focus on is getting started and building a consistent routine.

The goal might be to become a pro triathlete and build a successful business, but none of that matters when I hold my daughter in my arms. She’s two months old and doesn’t care about any of that. She just wants her father and I’m 110% okay with that.

Do yourself a favor and smile. Things could be a whole lot worse than they are right now.

Following fitness trends are easy, but boring. I train for triathlon, not because it’s mainstream, but because it’s the thing that gets be out of bed in the morning. Find your trend and you don’t have to worry about the overwhelm of building consistency doing something that doesn’t fit you.

@L_U_H_X @DearS_o_n That's cool. Just like I said, it isn't impossible, but just a very misplaced advice, especially for people just starting out.

@ItsJackJuel @DearS_o_n I can do 20 pull ups…

Young man, your minimum base fitness level should be: • 50 push-ups • 20 pull-ups • 50 squats • 20 dips If this sounds unrealistic, you have SERIOUS work to do my boy.

Maybe I’m the only one, but I’ll gladly spend hours after a training session researching ways to get better. Find drills to do and things to tweak. It can get overwhelming, but you have to stay on your toes if you want to keep things interesting and yourself excited to train.

Why focusing on your end goal isn't enough to stop yourself from restarting. The focus shouldn’t just be on the end goal. Enjoy every step that you take, every session that you go through, because this is where 99% of your time is spent. Achieving any fitness goal takes anywhere from 3 months to multiple years, so if you only focus on how you’ll celebrate once you reach that goal, then you’re in a for a lot of self-doubt and frustration. Fall in love with the process and you won’t even notice the progress It’s easier said then done, because how do you fall in love with the process? First off, you’ve to make sure that what you choose to do is something that you actually like doing. Choosing to run 3 times per week because you want to lose 20kg isn’t better than walking if you stop running after 2 weeks. The thing you can consistently do, that feels natural to you, and that you enjoy is how you get to love the process. Plan the journey, but accept that you might go off-road Reaching your desired goal is never a straight line. This isn’t necessarily because you did something wrong, but people change and so do you. And this isn’t such a bad thing. Today you might only be able to walk, but in two months, you might be able to run. After that you might get interested in joining the gym, and before you know it, you’ll not only have lost the weight, but you’ll have found your next goal.

Learning how to swim is the hardest fitness challenge I’ve ever done. All the running, lifting and carrying heavy stuff’s got nothing on it. But as much as it makes me want to drown myself, I don’t think I have ever felt as alive as I do in the water.

@RTthinks Besides you've to take a few steps before you have anything you can analyze. My approach is to put in the work for 30 days and then look back at the data - I know, some people say you should do it weekly, but since I've just started, I don't need to be perfectly optimized.

You can’t outthink fear. You can only outpace it. Stop analyzing. Start walking. Even slow steps is better than staying stuck. Momentum is the antidote to fear paralysis.

@mskoriwilson Just gotta add: get pissed off and have a purpose to find something new. I've been pissed off at my current life for the last few years, but I've just been treating water because I didn't know what else I wanted or how to do it.

You don't need motivation to change your life. You need to get pissed off at the one you currently have.

@siddharthwv Maybe I'm doing it completely wrong then, because I'm doing neither. I'm just posting, seeing what works/what doesn't, and then doing more of that while keeping the core message and story the same.

99% of personal brands never grow because they study the algorithm. Not human psychology.