The concept of the Vital Pyramid was originally presented as a model for self defense and combatives by John “Lofty” Wiseman. In 1959, at the age of 19, Wiseman was the youngest to have ever passed selection to the British Special Air Service at the time.
Wiseman’s model starts with the foundation of Mindset, then works its way up to Tactics, Skills and Kit (for Wiseman, Kit mainly refers to Tools such as weapons).
This model is also applicable to health and fitness. What follows is a detailed description of how you can employ The Vital Pyramid to achieve your fitness goals.
Mindset
The foundation of the Vital Pyramid is mindset. In order to achieve your goals in any area of your life, it is critical that you develop the right mindset.
When it comes to fitness, the mindset you MUST have involves these characteristics…
- Patience
- Selfishness
- Discipline
Achieving health and fitness goals requires substantial patience. This is why so many people fail.
The fitness industry understands that most people don’t have the patience, which is why their marketing efforts always focus on the 60 to 90 day time frame.
In 60 to 90 days, you can definitely achieve a lot, if you absolutely work your ass off, and completely overhaul your diet.
The problem is that this is unsustainable over the long run. Burn out is the usual culprit here, as it is mentally and physically too difficult to train that hard for much more than 6 to 8 weeks.
Bodybuilders understand this, which is why their cutting phase usually only lasts about six weeks leading up to a competition.
In order to achieve your fitness goals you also have to be selfish.
You MUST build your schedule around your workouts, and stick to that schedule no matter what, except for emergencies.
You also must turn down those invitations to go out for a few beers, or enjoy dessert after a nice dinner out.
Nothing will impede your progress more than allowing others to dictate your schedule and eating behaviors.
Lastly, the right mindset requires great discipline.
It is easy to blow off a workout or indulge in a meal that is not good for you and sets back your progress.
Those of us who make our own health and fitness a priority stick with this one overlaying principle… don’t put up a zero.
A zero is a day where you do nothing but lay on the couch and eat what you want.
It is so easy to put up a zero, but it is quite easy to avoid it as well.
Feeling lazy and don’t want to go lift or jog? Take 5 minutes and bang out a few push ups and sit ups, or just go for a walk around the block.
Just DO SOMETHING to avoid putting up a zero.
Tactics
The next level in our Vital Pyramid is tactics.
Tactics are the means through which you will achieve your fitness goals.
Tactics include…
- Lifting weights to improve strength
- Lifting weights to build muscle
- Calisthenics to improve muscle endurance and/or burn fat
- Long slow distance cardio to burn fat and build endurance
- High intensity interval training (HIIT) to burn fat and improve your VO2 Max
- Eating a diet full of protein to build muscle
- Eating a vegetarian diet to stay slim
- Etc.
The tactics you employ are completely up to you. The key is to develop your fitness goals first and then employ the right tactics to achieve those goals.
These tactics must also be in alignment with your personality.
If you hate running or jogging, then setting a goal of running five days per week to lose weight is probably a losing proposition.
Similarly, if you are not a veggie eater, it doesn’t make much sense to try a vegetarian diet to lose weight.
Employing the wrong tactics will lead to poor results, as it will have a negative effect on your mindset.
Skills
Improving your fitness will require some skill development.
Shopping for healthy food is actually a skill you may need to develop, as is cooking. If you want to eat healthy, you have to stay away from the fast-food and packaged meals as much as possible.
Lifting weights requires skill.
The barbell squat and overhead press, movements that are great for developing total body strength, are technical movements.
To avoid injury, you need to learn how to perform these movements correctly. This is the case with many other exercises.
Time management is another skill you may need to develop.
As I mentioned earlier, you must develop the mindset to make your health and fitness a priority.
This means you will need to block out time every day to work out.
If you have a full schedule with a demanding job and a young family, this may also mean you’ll have to work out in a more time efficient manner as well.
Tools
At the top of our Vital Pyramid is our set of tools for achieving our fitness goals.
Tools are at the top of the pyramid, because they are actually the least important level of our pyramid.
It is possible to achieve your fitness goals with few tools. You can get in great shape just through running, swimming and doing push ups and sit ups.
You can also eat out every day as well so you don’t have to cook, which requires a kitchen and cooking utensils.
How many people go out and buy a treadmill only to turn it into a fancy clothes hanger?
How many other people sign up for a gym membership, only to stop going after a few weeks?
This is why Mindset is far more important to achieving your fitness goals than the latest and greatest gadgets.
However, most people will require at least a few tools.
The key is to figure out the exercise modality you enjoy the most, and go from there.
I personally prefer lifting weights over other exercises, so having a power rack, Olympic Barbells and dumbbells are tools I must have.
I will also say that if you are over 50, strength training needs to be one of your priorities, so you’ll want to invest in your own equipment or a gym membership.
If it is not your favorite exercise modality, then don’t spend too much.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you now understand that the Vital Pyramid is an excellent model to follow to achieve your health goals.
Given that I wrote most about Mindset, it is clearly the foundation for success.
However, it is not easy to have the right mindset in the beginning. Many people just can’t turn it on.
Therefore, it is a good idea to set goals that are fairly easy to achieve in the beginning. Small wins in the beginning can turn into massive results in the long run.
The key is to get started now.
