“I’m trying to get leaner.” - no.
“I’m a lean person in cut down season.” - yes. “I’ll do my best to finish X.” - no. “I finish what I start.” - yes. I’ve heard master orators talk about only ever answering the question you wanted to be asked. Nixon or Rumsfeld or Kissinger (maybe they all) said that you don’t bother “dodging” a question; you straight up answer the question you wanted to be asked. You ignore the noise altogether. Now, I know these guys aren’t the best examples of how to live life or treat others. BUT, what I do notice is that persistently ineffective, impotent, and depressed people are so busy answering questions they never wanted asked that their minds don’t have the opportunity to wrangle with solutions which would benefit themselves and mankind. It’s a skill to direct the mind and the emotions. Some people are really developed in the skill. Some who are developed in the skill are psychopaths, yes. Lol. But there are also really great people who build this skill. And part of it has to do with realizing that the narrative you spin outwardly and inwardly has a profound impact on your state. Your state DICTATES your follow-through and agency. Just try a week where you catch yourself every time you lament first world problems or victim-heroize yourself. And change the wording, honestly, not emptily or begrudgingly. When you “hear” the criticisms of others, the questions they may not even be asking (but which you really didn’t want people to ask of you), instead speak in a grateful and powerful manner. It won’t make you a snake politician. Just answer the questions you hoped to be asked. And speak in a manner which counts on some beneficial outcome. Your state will place you in a better position to make those beneficial things come true. I’m not talking woo woo magic. I’m not talking The Secret. I’m not talking Prayer of Jabez heresy. I’m talking pragmatic application. If you immerse your mind in a non stop pool of “impossible,” it’s very simple and obvious that your spirit will drown. Speak in manifestation.
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I catch others and myself all the time falling into the false-dichotomy trap. We want to label a food as good or bad, a behavior as good or bad, a political party as good or bad, a worldview as good or bad, a person as good or bad. But nothing exists in an unchanged vacuum. It has a context. And that context changes everything. And the landscape of context is ever-shifting as well, from moment to moment, not just epoch to epoch.
People rave about some plant-based nutrition program; but many people would legitimately die from anaphylactic response following such a diet. People hold up on a pedestal their eating of fruits and veggies, not paying attention to the fact that even these can throw blood sugar all over the place. Never mind that most people I’ve coached are woefully inadequate on protein intake. People lambaste an entire group. Right. Not ONE thing they’ve done is helpful? And not one member has a shred of redeemable traits? Ok. We could go down the list. People, ideologies, groups. Do they really do ONLY good or ALL bad? I don’t think superlative hyperbole and lack of nuance is doing us any favors. So, what question should we ask? How about, “are these combined factors productive toward the outcome I desire?” That leaves open for us the capacity to question the status quo and unshackle ourselves from mindlessly following a given organization or individual. Then, we can utilized benefits from whatever source and accurately and honestly criticize the shortcomings of our favorites. “I Forgot to Worry About It”
- The words of one of my coaching clients recently, as we reviewed a stellar week in the face of a yearly challenge. People have seasonal, weekly, or yearly behavioral habits. I’ve seen predictable to-the-day or even to-the-minute patterns of thought, words, or actions in people. Weekends come. Holidays come. Tax season comes. The busy push at work arrives. And people follow a set of preprogrammed self-destruct as if they’re robots, not humans. All along the way I’ve wondered how we “crack the code.” As best I can tell, acknowledging the reality of stressors is critical. This client bucked the yearly trend by enlisting me in strategy coaching, sure. Moreover, she and I formulated a few different tactics to have in place in order to prevent the impending overwhelm. And then... She forgot to worry about it - “it” being the type of emotional trigger which usually drives people to just fall off completely. When a fear is dismissed, ignored, and unexpressed, it is infinitely powerful. When you don’t speak out loud the defined possibilities, anything is “possible”. And the mind is more likely to flash about erratically, exploring nonsensical scenarios that’ll drive you crazy and over the edge. But when you have the self-awareness to recognize your counterproductive behaviors and emotional states, not only do you place them into a tiny manageable box, you... forget to even worry about them. Never mind the statistics on keeping the weight off, though that too is a serious consideration, weight loss without strength training WILL put you in a far worse position as far as long term health and wellness prospects.
We take for granted our skeleton, muscles, ligaments, tendons and cartilage. But your body sees them as high cost dead weight. We lose 1lb per year on AVERAGE when we don’t stress them with heavy loads. When you purposely make the body shed weight without strength training, that 1lb gets amplified and the lean tissue loss is accelerated. You can easily see this in the builds of people. Those who have lost and gained and lost and gained end up with increasingly softer or toothpick arms and legs with an increasingly large center mass, even if they’re lighter than they once were. Most risks of fall and loss of resilience with aging have to do with incredible weakness. It won’t matter if you’re 120lbs when you’re 80 if you haven’t sufficient muscle mass. Don’t lose weight without heavy strength training. 5 Tips of Engagement for Trainers
video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxze1lyDNgn/ 1 - Take your hands out of your pockets. 2 - Stand on both legs 3 - Make some eye contact 4 - Assume the same plane 5 - Avoid counting UP What else would you add to the list? I would also add: Don’t eat food during sessions Don’t workout during your client’s hour Show up on time Be prepared and pre-planned Base the workout on individualized assessment/need Don’t waste time on flashy/questionable exercises Continue education Be rested/have energy so you can actually do all of the above and more and ensure that what you bring in an appointment is worth MORE than what anyone pays. I tell clients there are two seasons: maintenance and intensity.
Unfortunately, the majority of people never discover the maintenance season. That’s why the average American loses one pound of muscle, cartilage, tendon and ligaments per year. In 20 years, if you are the same weight, you are 40lbs fatter. If you haven’t discovered your season of maintenance, you haven’t the right to explore the season of intensity. Maintenance looks like behavioral practices which will continue to benefit you in small ways no matter what challenges come. You may have a difficult day, week, month, year, but you still remain active, doing small strengthening practices and generally eating like an adult. But this mode can be done for the rest of your life. It isn’t sacrificial. It’s just being a grownup. Once realistic non-self-sabotage systems are in place, you are ready to try a season of intensity, but with the predetermined expectation it is TEMPORARY. There’s no delusion about intensity being a 7 day per week, 365 endeavor. It’s not. It could be a few days, a week, or even a 3-6 month journey, depending on rigorous honesty with self. Afterward, you will return to the maintenance program, not a childlike shooting-yourself-in-both-feet wanton abandon. If you never discovered it in the first place, guess where seasons of intensity land people. To review: 1.) find a lifestyle which will stop making you worse 2.) get good at that 3.) go really intensely for a short period 4.) return to step 2 video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxx0dRYDehG/
This is a client who has gotten up into the 250-300lb working range for Hatfield BSS, here doing his finisher set at 250. I now have three people knocking on 300’s door. It’s fascinating to see how transformative this particular movement is. At first, I find that people are just working hard to feel stable at all with the yoke bar, or even just being on one foot, then fighting to balance once they take their hands off the yoke bar handles. Subsequently, however, once they learn trust, they explode with power and stability. Between this exercise, bottom-up dumbbell split stance, and sissy squat, if you don’t yet have them incorporated into your program, figure it out. IT WILL BE WORTH IT. video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxxaGw7jbZ4/
The “half getup.” Calisthenics and body weight circuits generally have great ideas for lower body, core, and even upper body pushing. But what about upper body pulling? I agree that without a high bar, an anchor, or resistance equipment of some sort (bands are nice travel companions), it’s elusive. However, this “half getup” is one way to contract lat and back musculature against a resistance without anything but a little space. 🔼 50% stronger
⬇️ bodyweight down ✅ 305lb deadlift 🎉 all in 2 weeks Ok. So, not typical results, obviously. But why not? Really, the mind is the great limiter. This is a non-beginner, clearly, with whom I just recently started. But she’s a great example of how small changes in bracing, programming, and positioning can change outcomes A LOT. In the past few years I’ve been meeting with more and more people who are fairly versed in fitness, or they are advanced coaches themselves. I still love beginners. But I get so excited when an intermediate/advanced athlete comes in; because 100% of the time I can make tweaks in their approach or program which changes outcomes dramatically, AND they go pass that on to their clients and peers. And why shouldn’t it be this way? We have a tendency, especially as we progress, to think there is LESS insight possible, when, in fact, it’s precisely the opposite. We have far more areas of possible opportunity and revision. You know this to be true in any area of study wherein you've achieve an advanced level of knowledge. The farther we go, the more there is to cover, not less. Think about mathematics. Is there LESS to cover once we learn the numbers? Is there LESS to learn once we cover basic computations? No. With every new layer of skill, there is an INCREASE in the possibilities of exploration. Think about literacy. Once we recognize letters, is there LESS to learn? Once we recognize words, is there LESS to read? As our vocabulary builds, the options widen. They don't narrow. As we understand metaphor and literary devices, even the same stories we've already read take on increased dimensions by which we may analyze and grow. Likewise with fitness, the more advanced someone is, the more they realize there is to cover, appreciate, discover. We don't reach an end to learning, except when we delude ourselves into believing that we can reach the end. For seekers, there is no end. There is only more learning. |
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