Personal Trainers Top 10 Fitness Quotes

Fitness, health, nutrition and performance can be a confusing topic of discussion, but you can often read or hear something that just really rings true, massively simplifies things and staples itself at the forefront of your mind.

I’ve been coaching in this ever-complicated fitness world for a long time now and have heard many statements/sayings/quotes over the years but only a few are worthy of this list.

So without further ado, here are my Top 10 fitness quotes that can massively simplify fitness.

1- If you want to look like an athlete you need to train like one!

This is one of my favourite, which is why I’m starting with this. The more you know about training the more you start focusing on things that often don’t make a huge difference and then neglect the important stuff, like training f*****g hard! The main thing you need to do in the gym is train hard…..train like an athlete!

2- Focus on building muscle in the gym and losing fat outside the gym!

This one I’ve not heard often, but can never forget. If you’re unsure, essentially what this means is you need to focus on building / developing lean muscle tissue in the gym rather than spending one hour on the treadmill with the aim to burn x amount of calories, as you can do this outside the gym by controlling your caloric intake and moving more.

3- Eat for performance!

I like this one as it gets people to think of food in a different way, rather than simply focusing on calories, they can think of food as the fuel that is going to take their training to the next level and aid recovery. Not only does this result in people eating food that makes them feel energised, but it often results in people eating less as it’s very hard to overeat on the right foods.

4 - Consistency is key!

One of the classics that people often don’t fully comprehend the importance of. Think of it this way, if someone is fitter than you, it’s likely because they’ve been training longer and/or more consistently than you have. It’s unlikely because their training routine is more superior than yours.

5 - No pain, no gain!

Probably the most controversial statement on this list as pain in the gym is not always a good thing. However, 95% of people know the difference between the pain you get from training hard, the muscular damage and build-up of lactic acid compared to pulling a muscle or damaging a joint. If your muscles are burning and you’re accumulating a painful sensation is your muscles, then this is a good sign that you are appropriately pushing yourself.

6 - Abs are made in the kitchen!

Love this one! Obviously you do need to have some abdominal muscles to show visible abs and this might require some ab exercises. However, this is nothing compared to the importance of proper nutrition and creating a calorie deficit to strip away the fat a reveal those beautiful abs!

7 - Eat less and move more!

Another controversial statement, but a true one, nonetheless. The reason it’s controversial is because people think it’s as simple as that for everyone, but it’s not. People might know that they need to eat less and move more, but they still need the right kind of coaching or a mindset change in order to get them to the result they’re looking for. On top of this, if someone primarily eats very low nutrient foods that are heavily processed, they will have very low energy levels if they only focus on eating less, instead, they would be better changing their diet whilst eating less overall and moving more. Having said all that, there is something quite amazing about simplicity in this increasingly complicated fitness world and if people just nailed this concept alone, it could really help them manoeuvre through the bull**t!  

8 - The only bad workout is the one you didn’t do!

This one was generously given to me by a long term Online Personal Training client, this is one that I’d never heard before, but I don’t think I’ll forget it. People often skip a workout as they are “not feeling it” and are worried about not having a good workout, but the only bad workout is the one you didn’t do!

9 - Give your mental wellbeing/health the attention it needs!

This brings a bit of mindset into this article, often it’s not the case that people are struggling because they haven’t grasped the concept of eating less and moving more, but rather they have mindset barriers, bad habits and/or are emotionally driven towards food or are fearfully driven away from the gym. Therefore, focusing on your mindset, your mental wellbeing often results in all the other stuff falling into place, often you need to learn to love yourself before you can look after yourself. Mindset is huge and it’s becoming ever more important in the fitness world. I’m going to let you in on a little secret…...shredded abs won't make you happy, but changing your mindset can.

10 - Feel the love!

I’ll be honest, at this stage of this article I was snuggling to think of a worthy number 10, but I think I’ve nailed it! I had to pick my brains and go back to my old Military days. Before I became an All Arms Physical Training Instructor in the Army I used to have to take part in Physical Training rather than just instruct it, that means I was the one sprinting up the hill rather than shouting “spirit up that hill!”, back in those glorious days, I remember one of the instructors always used to refer to pain as love ”feel the love!” and “embrace the love!” as comical as this one is, it does get you to think of pain in a different way, the pain is a good thing, the pain is what you’re chasing, it can be hard, but it’s what you need…..just like love. So next time you are in the gym, don’t just go through the motions…..feel the love, embrace it and enjoy it!