(Or: Why You Need To Kill The Demon Before It Takes Over.)
There are spoilers ahead if you’ve somehow managed to avoid forty years of Evil Dead films.
Although, let’s be honest, if you’re watching Evil Dead for the plot, you’re probably missing the point.
The basic premise is pretty simple.
Some poor sod reads from the Necronomicon.
Says the 4 word incarnation and bosh.
An evil force gets in.
Then it spreads.
One person becomes infected.
Then another.
Before long the whole place has gone completely tits up.
Chainsaws.
Shotguns.
Buckets of blood.
Standard Wednesday afternoon in an Evil Dead film.
Fitness isn’t all that different.
It Always Starts Small
Nobody wakes up one morning and has gone completely off the rails.
It always starts with something tiny.
“I’ll skip today.”
“It’s only one takeaway.”
“I’ll start again Monday.”
“I’ve had a stressful week.”
“I deserve this.”
None of those things are dangerous on their own.
They’re just thoughts.
Tiny little decisions.
Little compromises.
Choices.
Unlike the deadite in Evil Dead.
It doesn’t arrive kicking the front door down.
It sneaks in quietly.
One Thought Becomes An Identity
The clever thing about Evil Dead Deadites isn’t the gore, although if you do like a bit of gore porn then this latest instalment will certainly hit the spot..
It’s how quickly the evil takes over.
One minute someone’s themselves.
The next they’re well…. Possessed.
Training can be like that too.
“I’ve missed one workout.”
Becomes…
“I’m so inconsistent.”
“I’ve put on a few pounds.”
Becomes…
“I’m just lazy.”
“I’ve had a bad weekend.”
Becomes…
“I’ve ruined everything.”
Over time.
One action suddenly becomes your identity.
And that’s where it goes to shit.
Don’t Feed The Deadite
One of the worst things you can do in an Evil Dead film is ignore the problem.
To be honest with you, you can’t it just is there trying to spread.
It never gets better.
It grows.
Training works the same way.
Miss one workout?
Fine.
Miss ten?
Now it’s harder.
One takeaway?
Fine.
Two weeks of “I’ll start tomorrow?”
Now you’ve built momentum in completely the wrong direction.
The earlier you deal with something…
The easier it is.
The Hero Never Waits For Motivation
The hero in the Evil Dead movies is many things.
Mostly confused.
Occasionally heroic.
Frequently covered in blood.
But one thing they never does is sit around waiting until they feel ready to do something about it.
When things go wrong…
They get moving.
They adapt.
They fight back.
Sometimes badly.
Sometimes with one hand.
Sometimes with a chainsaw attached to the other.
But they keep moving.
Now..
People spend months waiting until they “feel motivated.”
The hero would already have kicked the door in.
Your Brain Loves Horror Stories
Here’s where the real comparison comes in.
Your brain tells stories.
I’ve said this before, we naturally as a species go to the negative because it is our survival instinct kicking in.
“You’ve failed.”
“You’ll never stick to it.”
“Everyone else is better.”
“You’re too old.”
“It’s too late.”
Those thoughts aren’t facts.
They’re just the internal version of Deadites shouting nonsense through the window.
The mistake is believing them.
Remember, they are just thoughts and you have 1000’s of them a day so you can just change them.
Kill It Early
The best way to stop bad habits taking over isn’t heroic willpower.
It’s dealing with them while they’re tiny.
One missed session?
Book the next one immediately.
One bad meal?
Eat normally at the next meal.
One lazy weekend?
Go for a walk on Monday.
Don’t wait until you’ve been possessed.
Deal with the first whisper.
Why I’m Building The Unf*ck Your Fitness Collective
One of the biggest reasons people quit isn’t because they don’t know what to do.
It’s because those little thoughts start taking over.
“I’ve missed a week.”
“I’ve failed.”
“I’ll wait until next month.”
“I need to start again.”
Before long they’re completely out of the habit.
That’s exactly why I’m building the Unf*ck Your Fitness Collective.
Not because people need another workout programme.
But because everyone needs someone reminding them that one wobble doesn’t mean you’re back to square one.
Sometimes you just need somebody to hand you the metaphorical chainsaw and remind you to crack on.
That’s what community does.
It stops the little demons becoming big ones.
Founder pricing and early access details will be released at the end of July ahead of our September launch.
Final Thought
The thing about Evil Dead is that evil never arrives all at once.
It creeps in.
Quietly.
Your Fitness journey works exactly the same way.
Good habits grow quietly.
Bad habits do too.
The difference between the people who succeed and the people who keep starting over isn’t perfection.
It’s spotting the little demons before they take over the whole cabin.
And remember…
You don’t need a chainsaw.
You just need to deal with today’s decision before it becomes tomorrow’s identity.
Keep Smiling.
