How to Keep Your Fitness Journey Simple.
- Whole Happy Health
- Sep 24
- 4 min read

Hi Team,
When I was at uni, I met a friend lets call him called Bob and he was a rugby player, he was in my media course and once we had a bit of work to do, we ended up hanging out and getting through it. I was a skinny, emo/alternative kinda guy and he was a charismatic rugby player. During the first year of uni we became friends and it was a mission of his to get me going to the gym.
I didn't want to go, I had no idea what the hell to do at the gym and I didn't want to be surrounded by meat head 20 year olds trying to show off. It sounded like the worst place ever.
In the second year of uni, Bob and I and a few others ended up living together and he finally convinced me to come to the gym with him.
He showed me bicep curls, squats, skull crushers and bench press.
I remember trying the pull up bar and just hung there for a while.
I eventually went going on a regular basis and it was in the mornings that I preferred going, as it wasn't busy and all the show offs were not there with their vests and abs and egos.
It was Chest on Mondays, Legs on Tuesday, Back on Wednesday's, Cardio on Thursday and Arms Friday.
After every session, A quick trip to the Spa for a fresh baguette and a can of tuna on the way back to the apartment, and it was a protein shake and a tuna mayo baguette everyday for lunch while watching Deal or No Deal.
The most important thing back then was just trying to lift as much weight as possible and just eat protein.
Results were good and "newbie gainz" were a thing. I noticed body changes and who would have thought that going to the gym would actually work.
My friend dappled in using steroids for a while and man, they work! (just check out out any youtube or instagram fitness influencer) but steroids were never a thing I wanted to do as I was so scared of any form of drugs and at the time I was thinking about joining the military.
Bob's muscle mass increased and he was lifting weights that I could only dream about at the time. But he seemed to always be getting angry and on nights out he thought he could take on the world sometimes and a few times I had to pull him away from some interesting situations...
It's funny the cycle of the gym as a guy.
When you start out, it's all about lifting weights and making sure you are adding weights to every lift every week and ensure you look good naked for the girls.
I then started a career and I went into functional fitness and those DVDs of Insanity and P90x with loads of burpees and workout sessions where I would feel so ill and sick and yet a another body change into a more athletic look and cardio fitness was the best.
As I hit my 30s and towards my 40s, I realised that keeping your workouts as simple as possible, quick but intense is the best way to get strong and maintain your strength and fitness.
What I have realised is:-
The less options you have, the better the workout.
Stick with the fundamentals and repeat, repeat, repeat.
What does that mean?
Well, when someone goes into the gym or look at fitness youtube videos, holy moly there is too much!
In the gym, there are so many machines, weights, kettlebells, slam balls, cardio machines, TRX straps, bars, benches, boxes, - where do you start?
There are burpees, plyo jumps, tyre flips, sprinting, boxfit, zuma, body pump, legs, bums and tums, spinning, pilates yoga.
Where do does anyone start and what works?
Everything work for around 6 weeks!
But if I could tell young 20 year old Chris - it would be :
All you need is a pull up bar, a kettlebell and an ab wheel - You could get a really decent workout for the rest of your life with those pieces of equipment.
There are only 4 movements that you must do every workout - the rest after that is a nice to do.
Push - Shoulder press
Pull - Chin up or back row
Hinge - Deadlift/kettlebell swing/hip thrust
Squat - well, squat.
Add some dips, push ups and curls once in a while then you will nail muscle building and toning!
One the weights get easy to do - increase the weights or the reps.
For cardio, go for a 30 - 40 min walk a day and if you want to get a sweat on go for a run or do a heart pumping fitness class!
Young Chris for nutrition - Eat protein, eat fruit and veggies and drink lots of water, tea and black coffee.
Track your calories. -
Body weight goal in Pounds (lbs) x 13 = Daily calorie intake
and Boom!
Nearly 20 years of trying different workouts and trying all diets and fads from the internet, that is all I would recommend nowadays.
I'm now 40 and I am lifting heavier weights than Bob did when he was 21 on steroids, and I am proud that I never touched the stuff!
That is just with doing what I believe:-
Show up
Eat well
Be consistent
Do your best.
Chris
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