The power of repeatability

One of my mentors, Coach Dan John, once taught me that “repetition is the mother of implementation.” It’s a lesson we all would be wise to understand and adopt, especially when getting in shape or reaching your fitness goals. 

As a coach myself, I have to be honest with you. There’s nothing I can give you that’s ever going to make much difference to your body. Seriously, the potential influence of anything you do will always be rather small. Even the most extreme habits that push your mind, body, and lifestyle to the limit will hardly move the needle toward the results you want. 

Which is why the power of repetition is so important. Being able to perform even a small activity repeatedly will make even trivial habits a much bigger influence on your goals. Eating protein at each meal or doing twenty push-ups may not seem like much, but repeating those habits almost every day of the week will compound their effect into a substantial outcome over time. 

This is why seeking the most “effective” diet and exercise tips is often a wild goose chase. It doesn’t matter what the experts claim is the best exercise for building muscle or burning fat; the most effective habits are whatever you can repeat with relative ease.  

This brings us to yet another superpower of calisthenics training. The simple and efficient nature of calisthenics exercises makes them ideal for repeatability. You don’t need much time or fancy equipment, so it’s easy to get in a few sets within a busy lifestyle. Even jumping up on a doorway pull-up bar or hitting a plank once a day does more than most people think when you repeat the habit over time. 

Repetition is the mother of implementation, so seek that which you can repeat, and you will find your path to success.