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Are You Doing the Outside Work to Get the Inside Body You Want?

The inside of your body - your heart, lungs, and muscles - are target of all the activities you do on the outside. Are you efforts really aimed at the right things and the right goals?

Tom Kelso

Written by Tom Kelso Last updated on Oct 21, 2021

Think about this concept: The “inside” of your body – your muscle and adipose (fat) tissues, your lungs and the cardiovascular system, and your joint-stabilizing ligaments and muscle-attaching tendons – is the target of what you do on the “outside.”

The outside is the visible stuff. The chosen physical activities, specific exercise performance, and the food and drink you see entering the mouth and then disappearing inside the body. It’s the outside actions that ultimately affect your beneath-the-skin goals. So, the question becomes, are your outside efforts producing your sought after inside desires?

Training should be easy to understand, but we know it’s difficult to actually do. That’s okay, because at least we know the right path to follow even though it can be a rough journey. We have a firm grip on the science underlying physical improvement. We know the basic means to achieve physical gains. So why do we make it into rocket science? What is so complicated with this simple equation?

Work hard -> rest hard and feed your body properly -> love the adaptation and improvement from your hard work -> work hard again and continue the process.

We want it all – to be strong, fit, ripped, a bad ass, an ultimate competitor, an endurance machine, and a role model. Noble goals, but are you truly doing the right “outside” work to achieve these “inside” goals?

Take a look at this simple chart to see if you are on the right path. If not, get on it.

strength training, fitness, exercise, workouts, programming, tom kelso

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Tom Kelso

About Tom Kelso

Tom Kelso is currently an Exercise Physiologist with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. He also trains clients through Pinnacle Personal & Performance Training in Chesterfield, Missouri.

For 23 years he was in the collegiate strength and conditioning profession, serving as the Head Coach for Strength and Conditioning at Saint Louis University (2004-2008), the University of Illinois at Chicago (2001-2004), Southeast Missouri State University (1991-2001), and the University of Florida (1988-1990). He got his start in the strength and conditioning field as an Assistant Strength Coach at Florida in 1984 where he was also a weight training instructor for the Department of Physical Education from 1985 to 1988.

In 2006, Tom was named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association for his years of service in the field. In 1999, he was named NSCA Ohio Valley Conference Strength and Conditioning Professional of the year. In 2001, he received an honorary certification from the International Association of Resistance Trainers (I.A.R.T.).

Tom possesses C.S.C.S. and S.C.C.C. certifications with the NSCA and CSCCA, respectively. Additionally, he is certified by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board in basic instructor development and as a specialist instructor by the Missouri Department of Public Safety. In 2012, he became certified by the IBNFC as a Certified Nutrition Coach.

Tom has worked with athletes at the Olympic and professional levels, presented at various clinics/seminars, and worked several athletic-related camps. He is a strong advocate of safe, practical, and time-efficient training and has published a collection of periodical articles, book chapters, complete books, and user-friendly downloads promoting such.

Tom received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Iowa in 1981(It's great to be a Hawkeye!) and a Master's Degree in Physical Education from Western Illinois University in 1984. He was a member of the Track and Field team at Iowa and served as a Graduate Assistant Track & Field Coach while at Western Illinois.

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