There is one thing everyone can agree with: working out and eating healthy is incredibly hard to do, but with the help, that process can be fast and fun!

Most important would be to make sure everyone knows one cold hard fact: results take time, and sometimes it can take a long time. What is especially important is to know if one wants to achieve a certain physique, this is not the guide for that. The goal is for everyone to perform moderate exercise and simply live life a little healthier and hopefully a little happier. 

“Drop weights,” Cross Country senior team captain Evan Seki says. “It’s super important to work your body out and get that blood pumping. Also workout with someone else. It’s always good to lift with a partner.”

A good workout depends on how much time people have and consistency. For this article, we shall stick to bodyweight exercises (workouts without the use of weights). For beginners, doing two sets of fifteen pushups (with one minute rest in between) is a great start. Following that up with two sets of fifteen squats and bridges is also great for the legs and core. Use this video to learn how to do a proper bridge. But there are other ways of staying healthy.

“I do encourage people to exercise, at least a few hours a day and they should go on runs or jogs if they like, or if they’re into bodybuilding they should partner with someone and work with each other to get stronger,” senior Dominic Ruiz says. “The most important exercises are the ones that strengthen your heart, your arms, legs and core”

“I would say that at age twenty seven was the time that I built the most muscle. To be thirty pounds over my natural weight was a goal that took me about two to three years to get to without any drugs or steroids,” former bodybuilder David Gorsage Sr. says.

The right workouts are incredibly important, but so is the proper fuel. Seeing as natural produce has been digested by people for centuries, it makes sense that it can digest those natural ingredients faster and better than something that is packaged or processed. But what is key to being healthy outside of working out would be having that good diet. 

“The size I had at age twenty seven was two hundred and twenty two pounds with less than ten percent body fat. Had me a little frustrated after a while, since I didn’t want to get too many calories from filler protein shakes,” says Gorsage Sr. 

Preparing meals for the week in one day (meal prep) can be a quick and easy way to get proper nutrition, especially when the day’s schedule runs tight. Not only does preparing meals beforehand cut the time of making a meal, it ensures proper nutrition rather than running out of time and grabbing some McDonalds. 

“Just stick to what’s natural, the fresher and more natural the meal is the better it is for your body. It’ll be easier for the stomach to digest all that stuff,” says Gorsage Sr. 

Of course, when using the body in more extreme ways, even through moderate exercise, eating a little more would only be healthy. Think of the body as a car, and in order to use it properly it needs to be fueled properly. However, this is all useless if done sporadically. 

“I used to say four bad or mediocre workouts a week are better than one or two great ones. Why, the four are at least building consistency,” says Gorsage Sr.