How do you prevent routine and discipline from turning into monotony and threatening your consistency ? Tune in to today's Quick Wits to find out . Welcome to the Wits and Weights podcast . I'm your host , philip Pape , and this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger , optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition . We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement , metabolism , muscle and mindset , with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry , so you can look and feel your absolute best . Let's dive right in .
Philip PapeEvery single morning , weekday , weekend , it doesn't matter . I love to have oatmeal , peanut butter and maybe some fruit , and I've been doing that for years on end and I love it . I enjoy eating that . It meets my macros , it meets my requirements for carbs , especially after a workout . It's delicious , it's easy to prepare , I don't have to think about it and I can copy and paste it in my food logger . Now , that is a form of practice . That is a form of routine , of discipline , something that benefits me . I don't have to think about it , it's part of what I do . That is different from something that you force yourself to do over and over again , hoping that it will stick and give you results and it becomes monotonous . Reconciliation is a challenge to your consistency , whereas discipline and routine are not . So it's important to understand the difference .
Philip PapeIf we think of training , for example , when you go to the gym , there might be movements that you do session after session after session , and they never get old . For me , that might be my bench press or deadlift . Now they might get old in the sense of they're too stressful or they impede my recovery , but I'm simply talking about the psychological aspect of the movements . If there's something you can do over and over again and you can progress , there's no reason to change it . As I say , if it ain't broke , don't fix it . But if you are doing something like , for me , the low bar back squat , I recognize its value and importance , but I would also get bored to death and psychologically challenged if I had to do it over and over and , over and over again , and so the programming that I follow allows me to vary my movements across . Different squat movements , get similar muscle , similar movement patterns , work similar muscle groups and , in fact , enhance my ability to increase my low bar back squat without it being monotonous . So think about the difference , whether it's your food choices and your routine there , eating the same meals over and over again . If you enjoy them , if it makes it easier to stick to your plan , that's awesome .
Philip PapeIf you feel like you have to do it , that's where we question hey , is this just a form of psychological torture and monotony that we need to question and introduce some novelty , some variety ? That is the antidote to monotony . Is a little bit of fun , right ? We're human beings . We like things to be changed up a bit , and variety for variety's sake isn't always a bad thing . It's all in context . So ask yourself if what you are doing is part of a positive practice and routine or it's monotony and requires some novelty . And go from there and that's how we build sustainable practices . Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights . If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights , please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode . Until then , stay strong .