Lifestyle Design

How to Automate Fitness in Life (For next 75 years!)

Reading Time:

5 mins

December 6, 2023

Everybody wants to look good naked.

But 95% never do.

They never aim for it. They never "think" to solve for it.

Now imagine there is a magic pill to keep people in their best shape for 90 years.

Oh, imagine how would people flock to the stores in unending waiting queues. They'd pay any price for it. Pill of the fhooking century!

Ah well, there isn't a "magic pill". But guess what?

There is a "simple way", to make fitness effortless as long as you live.

A simple way to live in harmony with nature. So that "health" becomes your natural state of being, as it should be. So simple, so basic - yet only 5% people practice it.

So what exactly is the lifestyle of the 5%? Let's simplify in this issue of the hypertroph letter.

The whole thing can be summed up as 3 lifestyle rules.

Lifestyle is the way

Here is an absolute truth of life -

“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh (the art of mindful living)

And as a lifestyle coach, let me add to this golden truth - "There is no way to fitness, fitness is the way."

Your lifestyle truly is everything. And lifestyle has to be designed, with thought.

And lifestyle design is an art.

The art of finding the sweet spot between -

what is optimal in the books
what is practical in real life

You know what's the first thing I teach my mentees at Hypertroph?

That we aren't here for "a 90 day fitness plan". No.

We are here to learn how to craft a 90 year lifestyle. So that fitness becomes a natural by-product. So that health becomes a natural state of being. So that.. "fitness becomes the way".

That my friend, is the only goal worth aiming for. Everything else is small.

When it comes to fitness - people nowadays like "90 day challenges".

Yeah cool, but then what. What happens once it's over?

That's right, most people don't think that far.

Truth is that the 75 and 90 day challenges won't take you anywhere.

They are good for fun. They are good for business. They are terrible for an individual's lifestyle design.

Stop thinking 75 days. Think 75 years. Think Big. Solve Big.

There is no way to fitness. Fitness is the way.

The title says "Automate Fitness".

To me, a well designed life is simply good decision making automated.

Lifestyle design is the sweet spot between "what's optimal in books" and "what's practical in life".

For fitness to become the way, you must follow the 3 commandments of lifestyle-

1. Keep it simple (and scalable)

To sustain anything for 75 years, it must be kept as simple as possible.

Simple scales, complex fails.

All the fluff and in-essential should be eliminated without mercy. The in-essential only comes in the way of getting the essential done.

This means your exercise selection should be kept simple.

Based on 6 Core Compound Movements
80% Compound Work, 20% Isolation Work
No fancy or new trendy exercises

What are these compound exercises - that must form the bread and butter of your gym routine. You may watch my detailed 26 minute long Youtube video on it.

And yes, every compound exercise can be done at home as well. Your body doesn't care where you exercise, as long as you get it done.

Similarly, when it comes to nutrition - your food selection should be kept simple.

4-5 primary protein sources
400-600 gms fruits/veggies day
Simple & Repeatable meals, based on whole foods
No fancy foods or superfood stuff

In life, what works best is often the simplest path.

If you are unfit or out of shape, then it will naturally take 6-8 months to first get into your best shape. (If you have the right guidance and direction.)

But just because the process takes some time, doesn't mean you need something complicated.

Simple is beautiful. And simple is scalable.

2. Keep it sustainable (and effective)

We all have 24 hours in a day. Out of which 8 are gone before we start the day.

The remaining 16 we have to allocate to major life areas - health, work, relationships and leisure - in a manner that we live our life in balance.

Neglect any one area long enough - and you are on your way to becoming unhappy and miserable.

So for sustainability, the time allocated to fitness should be kept within reasonable bounds. Your fitness gameplan should be time-efficient, while being effective.

Fitness should revolve around your life, your life should not revolve around fitness..

Unfortunately, this is where most people mess up. Doing too much - achieving too little - and ultimately giving up on the whole thing because of it's sheer un-sustainability.

When done right, focusing only on essentials - exercise takes 4-6 hours per week.

That is 3.5% of your week. Reasonable. Fair. Sustainable.

Here's how -

3-4 training days/week
60-90 minutes/workout
train hard with good intensity

This is all you need to build your best shape, and even to continue progressing.

And when it comes to nutrition, well you don't really need extra time.

You need smart systems and smart routines.

Routine is simply good decision making automated on a daily basis.

Simplify: Figure out your go-to repeatable meals. They should be simple, good on taste, easy to make in under 2 minutes. There are plenty of such ready-to-go meals.
Examples- oatmeal, protein fruit smoothie, alu-egg chat..etc.

Outsource: Hire a cook and just delegate the job of cooking. Very affordable in India. Give them specific instructions of what you want to eat. Salad and fruits should be cut and ready. Protein source is a must with all meals.
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Automate: Use cooking appliances - microwave, blenders, air fryers, rice cookers. 80% of the cooking is passive. Set timer, go take a shower. Be smart.

I can go on and on.

By the way, if you want a step by step plan on body transformation, with-

every system, strategy, lifestyle hack
every principle of exercise selection, meal design
proven to work hypertroph templates (diet & workout plans)
all organised at once place for you to use

Then I invite you to join my transformation course.

My promise is simple - you will transform your lifestyle, your physique, and become 100% self-reliant after taking this course.

Through 24 tutorials, I will teach you "everything" in a step by step fashion.

As a reader of the letter, you can use the Coupon "READER" to get flat 33% OFF.

3. Keep it flexible (for consistency)

Very important. Ah, so important.

If you are gonna commit to something for 75 years, then it should not come in the way of your freedom.

Fitness should never become an impediment -

to live your life fully
to say "yes" to life
to make beautiful memories
to be spontaneous in life
to your leisure, fun, rest

For me, freedom is the highest value.

A fitness plan on a sheet of paper won't just do it.

Forget a fixed plan. Let's craft a dynamic strategy.

I often say to my mentees - "be married to the game, but not tied to a plan."

We need a smart strategy that is adaptable to the dynamic nature of life itself.

To skip a workout, if need be for personal reasons. To eat that plate of golgappe with friends. To have a drink in a social event. To eat a laddu that your mother made with pure love (and ghee!). To have a random cup of chai sometimes.

To live your life. To say "yes" to life.

Fitness has to be practised as a lifestyle, not a life-sentence.

The lifestyle should feel light-hearted and fun.

So how does one achieve this degree of flexibility and freedom, while also staying fit?

It's simple. You simply have to be "consistent".

But most people don't really understand what "consistency" really is. Zoom out my friend.

Consistency doesn't mean "perfection". Consistency means "having good averages".

Don't think "consistent for 75 days". Think "consistent for 75 years".

It's a different scale we are talking about.

You don't have to exercise everyday. You simply need 10-12 good hard sessions per month.

Some weeks 2 sessions, some 3, some 4 - depending on how the week unfolds. Full open to all possibilities. Fully open to saying "yes" to life.

Your diet doesn't always have to be 100% clean all the damn time.

Fun is the spice of life. We are here only for a short time, so let's be practical.

Skillful eating is simply having a sense of portion control and always giving respect to fruits/veggies/protein. Be good 80% of the time. Have fun 20% of the time.

At hypertroph, there is no word like "cheat meal" in our vocabulary.

Such a concept is not scientific. And science is the only language I depend on.

Food is food. It's either highly nutritious or scarcely nutritious. It's either calorie-dense, or calorie-efficient.

Know your foods, and control portions accordingly. Become a skillful eater. Have fun.

How I live my life

On internet, you might know me as the fitness guy. Sure, I am that.

But I am also the guy who can be seen having an occasional drink, a slice or two of pizza.

I am totally okay missing a workout - if some interesting event/opportunity knocks at my door.

I flow with what is happening around. I often say "yes". I don't make it a big deal.

I can't imagine living a life of "don't do this, don't do that, this is not in the plan".

My plan is to have no plan.

Even if I am full, I will usually take at least 1-2 bites if someone is offering me something special with love.

I am married to the game, but not tied to a plan.

I have the big picture. The law of averages is my biggest ally. No matter what happens, I am consistent enough to keep "good averages" over the week, over the month.

"The highest technique is to have no technique." - Bruce Lee

Amen to that.