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Be Conscious of Your Consciousness

8/20/2016

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What’s really important to you? I’ve found that I all too easily get wrapped up in the day to day “actions,” that I have to perform. My workouts, going to the store, meetings etc. What I know in my soul though is that although these things consume my time during the days, they don’t define who I am and my day to day brain often forgets that. I’d ask you to take a similar look at how you define your days and life. Do you get so wrapped up in what someone says to you at the coffee shop that you let it consume the rest of your day? Are you so mad/hurt/surprised that you hold onto that comment and it brings you down until you wake up the next day? I’m guilty of this, I have to make it an active practice to release those feelings and understand that I can’t affect what others do or say.
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This is often incredibly hard. What I’ve found is that by hitting a 5 minute pause button on your day, you can reset and let these things go. In writing it sounds easy, in practice it takes some effort. You need to remove yourself from the situation in one way or another, whether physically or mentally. Then you need to cleanse your mental pallet, you can do this by closing your eyes and imagine all the thoughts in your head being put into a balloon, blowing it up, then letting it go into the sky, or imagine writing all the rambling thoughts in your head being written down on a chalkboard then erasing it to get a clean slate.

Once you’ve cleansed that pallet of yours, you can get to the process of setting your new path for the day. Focus in on what makes you happy, what great thing do you have coming in the next couple days? Is there any art you particularly love? Go look at it, even online if you can’t make it in person. Listen to a song. Any of these things can work, but what you’re doing is shifting your mind to a new set of tracks instead of letting it run uncontrollably on its own.
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Be conscious of what your mind is saying, self talk has a big impact on your life and often we’re not aware of what it’s saying. So take control and be conscious to your own life, your body will thank you.
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Just Show Up

8/14/2016

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“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out”
I go back and forth between the relative importance of training volume and intensity. Is it more important to come to the gym 3 days a week and train like a savage, or could one achieve better results coming 5 days a week and simply showing up? I don’t think there is a cut and dry answer here, as recovery capacity is definitely relative to the individual.
 
With that being said, I’d probably say that coming to the gym a bit more frequently, while training at a slightly lower intensity, on average, might yield better results. There is a dose response curve with exercise i.e. not enough = no adaptation, optimal range = positive adaptation, too much = inadequate recovery time and also lack of adaptation. While it may take some time and tweaking to get acclimated to, our bodies tend to adapt to an increased workload positively. More frequent exposures to movements results in faster technical improvements, and increase activity levels improve circulation and can keep soreness at bay.
 
The other thing to keep in mind here is that we’re talking about a potential increase from 3 to 5 hours a week in time spent training. 5 Hours out of the 168 possible seems fairly insignificant when you think about it. That little difference really can go a long way when it comes to how we feel, perform, and look over the long haul.
 
I don’t think this blog post draws any hard and fast conclusions, but I do think simply showing up will compensate and out weight many other common training shortcomings.
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NEW BEGINNINGS

8/14/2016

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​Let's talk today about fresh starts and new beginnings. Reboots. Do-overs. We've all done it at some point in our lives, whether it's a change of career or a change of locale. A change in our appearance or in the people around us. Marriage, divorce, birth, death, they all give us the opportunity to sit back for a moment and take stock of ourselves. If we're brave enough and motivated enough, these moments can impel us to make that change, start that new beginning.

As in most situations, what happens in life happens in the gym as well. Sometimes we lose sight of where we want to go and need to get back on track. Maybe we take a break to recuperate or do non-Flow things (as if there were such a thing). Or maybe we just get out of the habit. An excuse on one day becomes a reason the next, which becomes a fact on the third and gospel on the fourth. Sometimes we fall, but falling is okay as long as we learn to get back up. Because it's only when we fall that we see the mistakes that we've made up to that point and can go in a new direction. 
I've already had several new beginnings in my life and I can tell you that the hardest thing about a new beginning isn't the first step, it's the second. And the third. And the fourth. Granted, that first step is hard, getting back into the flow of an old way of doing things or branching out into something new and different. But anyone can take that first step. It's what you do with the following steps that determines the course of your life. Being able to stick to your guns and follow the chosen path no matter what obstacles may arise, that's when you find what you're made of.

And there will be obstacles indeed. They may be external, people doubting or questioning your desires and motives, or, even more insidiously, they can be internal. That Little Voice again, either telling you you've made a mistake or reminding you of your past glories on the old path. Sometimes these voices are right. Maybe the world's not ready for a personal shopper for dogs. Sometimes the voices are wrong. Just because your old PR was X pounds doesn't mean you'll be lifting X pounds after a one month hiatus.

Listen to the voices and learn to sort and identify them. Listening to the right voices is what makes greatness possible.

At least that's what the voice in my head is telling me right now, that and go eat more bacon.
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The 20 Percenters

8/7/2016

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I want to chat about the “80/20″ rule. I’ve heard it regarding work, lifestyle, relationships, nutrition, training … you name it. And you know what I’m talking about because you’ve said it yourself, “80 percent of the time I [fill in the blank], 20 percent of the time I fudge a little. Ring a bell?

It’s cool. I’m not going to rag on the 80 percenters. Hell, I’m in your boat in about 80 percent of what I do. I want you to know where the real gold is — where those truly dedicated to their goal leap ahead of the rest.

This “80/20 principle” is everywhere.

In a workout, you convince yourself that you’ll just slow down a little bit during the squats and do them faster later. (I don’t know why, but this always seems like a good idea at the time. It isn’t. Go faster now.)

It’s often found in nutrition. Most of the time, you’re spot on. But you fall face first into a bottle of wine and a bag of chips every weekend.

How about relationships? Your partner needs some help and you spend an extra few minutes in the bathroom while they do the dishes.

You get my drift. But think about the potential in the last 20 percent. That’s where success is exponential with every percent. Each extra effort you make in your life puts you ahead of the rest because if they are working hard, they’re most likely doing it 80 percent of the time.

Be the athlete spending time dialing in technique.

Be the spouse taking extra time to give the other rest.

Be the business owner who responds to emails when you’re tired of the computer.


Be the 20 percenter. People can see the difference and you will too.
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