I am obsessed with the underdog story. Are you one?

A fitness underdog might be…

• the person who has never worked out before
• the person who can’t stay on the plan
• the person coming back from any challenge /injury
• the person who has tried out every other gym and failed
• the person who hops around from diet to diet

Before opening RPT, I worked at a lot of different gyms. I loved the people that I trained, but I did not like the sleazy sales tactics we were forced to use. They are set up for the underdogs to fail.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a few examples.

They don’t sell solution to your problems

Equipment will do nothing if you don’t know how to use it or get bored after doing the same things. Working out will do nothing if you don’t have access to someone who can help with nutrition. Yet most gyms are selling training plans and programs left and right to people who a) don’t know how to execute them b) start off with best intentions but life interrupts or c) get bored with exercises they don’t enjoy.

Most of you need those accountability checks, or at least people to say “hey, that’s bogus info.”

Most gyms are playing a volume game

They care more about your membership than you. They could care less if you show up as long as they can cash on on that direct deposit. The more people they can swindle in to believing they need XYZ intervention, the better. Once you sign on the dotted line they lose interest.

So yeah.  A lot of gyms set the underdog up to fail. But how do you win as a fitness underdog?

Think back to your favorite underdog victory. USA hockey in 1980, inspiring the movie Miracle. Leicester City somehow winning the Premiership. Holly Holm taking down Ronda Rousey.

Whenever you see an underdog team win, it’s a beautiful fairy tale. But churning underneath the glow of the lights is the team behind the scenes. The sum of the parts that makes a whole victory. In your fitness journey those parts can be:

• Belief in yourself
• Support from your gym partner
• An excellent trainer
• A gym community that pushes you
• Check-ins from your fitness team after missed sessions
• Guidance on nutrition
• …And so on and so forth

The first and most important step is to believe! Then surround yourself with a solid team who cares about you and will have your back, no matter what. And finally –
never. ever. give up.

Stop thinking and attack it. The hardest step is the first, so get started. You need accountability. Every workout is not going to be a 49 on a scale of 10. But look at the big picture. Join our community, punch the clock every day, and earn your reward. The underdog story is yours to tell – let us help you write it.