Catalysts For Change

What's something you say you want to do but don't actually do?

Why do we fail to follow through on many things that we should be doing; one that many will bring up revolves around becoming more active. 

I want to run 3x a week

I would recommend starting with once a week.

Once a week?! thats not going to do anything!

Therein lies the problem many fall prey to into thinking it's an all or nothing proposition. We'd rather dream about running three times per week instead of actually following through on once per week.

If I get my mind right, then I'll be able to do it

We have it backwards: First change your behavior and the attitude will follow. 

We want to wake up early and hit the gym or get out for a morning run. Change the focus from "I need to wake up to go to the gym" to "how can I create an environment for success". It can be as simple as laying out your clothes the night before and pre-making your breakfast shake. For others it might be getting to bed at a reasonable time. Those are three examples of behaviors you can adopt that will facilitate change. 

What do you consider success?

We want to go 0 to 60 overnight. We want those 6 pack abs and shapely glutes fast, but fail to acknowledge that one month ago you didn't go to the gym period and now you hit the weights three per week and perform cardio twice a week as well. Results take time and consistency. 

A simple system is to shrink the change: 

The 5 Minute Rule

Example: If you've been putting off cleaning a room forever, set a timer for 5 minutes and pick ONE spot in the room to tidy up. Once the timer goes off, if you still don't feel like cleaning, you're done. I'm going to take a shot in the dark that once you get going you're just going to keep going. 

In psychology this is known as "Attribution Theory" which is our way making sense of our choices and behaviors. This "explains" to yourself that you are choosing to clean this room of your own free will and thus you wind up cleaning the whole room. You ignore the fact that you set up a timer to give you an out at 5 minutes. This can apply to every facet of your life. 

We Never Question the Stories We Tell Ourselves

"I can't lose weight because of my metabolism"

"I'm not a morning person"

Are these statements actually true? Ask yourself is this really who I am?

If you tell yourself these stories enough, soon they become a self fulfilling prophecy. You won't be a morning person. You won't ever lose the weight. We can live our lives for years and never question these invisible scripts.

Take control of your life, DECIDE that you want to be a morning person. DECIDE that you will no longer lean on your supposed slow metabolism as a crutch for the inability to lose that weight. You will not be the kind of person who allows these self imposed limitations to hold them back any longer. 

I Don't Have time

Every day we each have a decision to make, how to spend the 24 hours in our day. Answering that differs from person to person. 

Where does the time go!?

The notion of not having enough time is simply an excuse we tell ourselves to avoid the uneasy truth: It simply wasn't a priority. It wasn't as high of a priority, fun, distracting, profitable or urgent enough to make it to the top of the to-do list. Your priorities dictate your schedule. If you're unhappy with how your schedule looks, I would reorder your priorities.

This of course need not apply to people who actually have no extra time like the single parent working two jobs to support their family and spend what little free time with them.

Time is a finite commodity. People are constantly deciding what appointments to honor, how much time to dedicate to TV shows, and to go or not to go to the gym. The solution won't be solved by giving someone more time (impossible) but by creating a greater sense of urgency. 

Every minute needs to count. Well they need to count if you feel like you weren't able to do everything you wanted to do. Need to take a break? Hang out at the bar? Play on the softball team? There's absolutely nothing wrong with those things, so long as you're not complaining about not being unable to accomplish other goals in your life.

Those activites are the types of things that need to be sacrificed in order to get other things done when time is tight. And speaking on the topic of sacrifices, how about we talk about money, specifically your job.

The job you do takes up the majority of your day. Combine that with the 8 hours of sleep you should be getting and we're left with 8 hours a day, 56 hours per week. 56 miscellaneous hours a week for family time and your other goals is more than enough, so what exactly isn't getting done? Sometimes it's a matter of evaluating your happiness versus money.

Here's a real example:

John (not really his name but lets just use John) LOVES basketball. Any free time John has he's playing pick up basketball at the park and plays in two leagues during the week. John also works 40+ hours at an office job he greatly dislikes.

He would always say if he could leave his job and coach basketball while working a part time job he thinks he could be much happier. Unlike the other regulars at this park who told him he'd be dumb to leave a $60K/year job for $40k/year, I asked him would he realisticly be able to live off that? John said he'd have to get rid of his BMW and scale back in a few places but yes he could. I went a different route and said to him, your happiness is worth more than $60k/year and a BMW combined. I told him to be smart, but ultimately to follow what would truly make him happy.

I recently saw John and asked him how things were going. He's made a business out of coaching youth basketball skills and is making a little less than he did at his job (49k/year) but he's immensely happier with his life.

What do you want to do every single day?
If you could do one thing for 12, 15, 18 hours a day and truly be happy, what would it be?
One day you will wake up and it's going to be your last day on this planet. Will you look back happy with the life you lived? Or one mired with regret.

I look back on who I was one year ago and am proud of how far I've come but also ashamed that I had allowed myself to get that low. I borrowed money to make rent. I maxed out multiple credit cards to live. And I could easily blame my business not working or the economy but in reality I simply was not using my time effectively. I wasn't working hard enough. I wasn't making the necessary sacrifices to succeed. I was simply NOT HUSTLING, not prioritizing the things I didn't want to do but needed to do.  

I now live my life according to this quote: 

“Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it away from you.”- Mark Cuban

Now get back to work. 

I'm Not a Powerlifter

Once upon a time I trained with the goal of competing in a powerlifting meet.

My all time best would be (in a self conducted pseudo-meet) as I never quite had the nerve to pull the trigger to get on the platform in my Wrestlemania singlet. 

Squat: 330lbs
Bench Press: 300lbs
Deadlift: 415 lbs
Total: 1,045
At a weight of 149lbs

I no longer squat ass to grass and hardly barbell bench press or deadlift off the floor with a straight barbell. Not because I can't but because I don't need to. 

Squat

I have fantastic mobility and am able to perform a back squat that rivals most lifter's front squat yet I have no reason to squat that low and heavy on a regular basis. Aside from a brief flirtation with olympic weightlifting, there's almost no reason me to go that deep other than "just cuz, hit depth bro".

I now perform a variety of split squat/lunge variations and almost exclusively perform barbell squats to a box (about a hair below parallel, but I'll mix up box heights depending on how I feel after a run). For ME to get ready to squat ass to grass required a good amount of stretching and mobilization which I decided I no longer wished to do every other workout.*
*(Note: This isn't to say I still don't have to stretch, roll out and mobilize, it now takes a fraction of the time which is important to not waste time or energy pre-lift.)

If I do perform a free standing squat it's because the box is taken, and I'll perform front squats or an anderson squat off the pins. I will also throw in DB or double KB goblet squats during the week where I'm squatting as deep as possible to maintain mobility. 

Barbell Bench Press

This is the one lift I've taken out and noticed zero changes in performance or physique. I had finally achieved a 2x bodyweight bench press and was ecstatic, however I also had a chronic pain in my shoulder and elbow. I no longer wanted to push through the aches and pains. 

I occasionally will perform a shoulder width barbell bench press with zero arch. In terms of muscular development and joint health using dumbbells has been much better for ME. If I need to do something heavy, it'll be dips which I'm close to performing one rep with my bodyweight hanging off me. I can still press 100lbs+ dumbbells and about the only thing I can no longer do is barbell press heavy which makes sense due to the lack of specificity. 

Deadlift

One of the last times I deadlifted 400+ off the platform, of course my client only took a photo instead of a video

My FAVORITE lift. 

When I was 17 years old, I threw my back out performing a deadlift incorrectly. It no longer bothers me but there are certain movements which when performed heavy enough makes my low back tick. Heavy deadlifts do the trick. I got to 405, that's good enough for me. 

I will usually pull a conservative stance sumo now anytime I get the itch to pull off the floor, but now almost exclusively use the trap bar to do all my pulls. I can pull multiples of 405lbs off the platform without having my low back/sciatic nerve hate me the next day.

If you don't compete, you don't need to be programming with a fixed mindset of "the big 3" lifts and everything else being an after thought. 

If you train to be a better athlete, you don't program like a powerlifter. If you want to have bigger glutes or larger pecs; powerlifting MIGHT work for some while leaving much to be desired for other individuals. 

I routinely work 12-15 hrs/day, and what's often lost in the sea of social media PR's is a simple fact that if I'm tired there's a higher likelihood I might get hurt...
which then means I can't work...
If I can't work, I don't make money...
And then my cat's can't eat. Ain't nobody taking kibble out of my cats mouths!

To ME it's risk-reward, and it's simply not worth it to me any longer. You can still get at it without performing "the big 3".

I squat, deadlift, and pull to improve my running performance. And I bench to make sure I don't wind up like a typical long distance runner. That's why I lift, why do you? Just something to think about. And now some photos of my cats! 

An excuse to post photos of my cats? D'uh!

So How's That Working For You?

I genuinely ask this question with zero sarcasm.

Whenever I have a client who tells me all about their magical diet that's going to really accelerate their fat loss. I listen and pick out all the things that stand out where I believe it's conducive toward long term change. We reevaluate in two weeks and if nothing has changed, I will ask them about their diet and how that's working out for them?

"Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over." –Seth Godin

It's one thing to decide you want to accomplish "x" goal. It's a completely different story when you go down a path that doesn't work and instead of changing course you keep trying to jam that square peg in the round hole. I will have in mind the goal, a singular focus, but how I get there doesn't matter as long as I get there (assuming I'm not cheating or hurting anyone of course). 

Getting Wedding Fit

IT'S WEDDING SEASON! 
(Not literally)

After turning 30, it seems like everybody is getting MARRIED and having kids! I'm excited to hear about many of their impending marriages and have been fortunate to have been a part of a few special days.

In an ideal world you would have an unlimited budget and a year to get in the BEST shape of your life. This can be difficult with the go-go nature of our society today.

Well my friend and future Mrs., here are a few options for you to get you moving in the right direction.

Former client of mine looking extra fabulous on her special day.

What We'll Target

Shoulders and Back:
Especially if you have a dress that accentuates these areas of your body. The added benefit to training these areas of your body is improved posture! No one wants to be the slouching bride.

Legs:
Even though most dresses don't show off your stems, if your goal is to incinerate body fat as quickly as possible you're going to have to take full advantage of the metabolic impact heavy leg training will have on your physique. 

A double dip for brides who might change during the reception or wish to look exceptional in a bikini on their honeymoons.

Arms:
This one will vary for each woman depending on their preference for how defined they want their arms to be. The plan below doesn't highlight the arms too much, but if you want slightly more definition in your triceps or deltoid area I would throw in isolation work for them. 

Time Frame: 1 Year

This bride planned ahead and has the best chance at walking down that aisle exactly the way she envisions. She won't have to feel too pressured to be super strict, but you also aren't allowed to fall off the wagon every month only to panic 3 months out. 

Cardio will NOT have to be the cornerstone of your plan, and while you will have to do some not as much because you planned ahead!

Nutrition wise you have some wiggle room for error. The biggest luxury will be the ability to experiement with your dietary breakdown and find one that works for your current lifestyle.

I.E: You're a doctor and work crazy hours, eating every 3 hours isn't really feasible. For this individual I would recommend the typical 3 times a day eating style, with a snack somewhere in there. 

Time Frame: 6 Months

6 months is plenty of time to look great for your big day. Yes you should have started 6 months ago, but like the saying goes, better late than never. 

The biggest change will be the cardio and nutrition components. 

You'll have to exercise at minimum 4-5x a week, starting with moderate-heavy weights and finishing off with cardio each session. Nutrition will need to be a little more aggressive and on point (hey that's what you get for procrastinating). 

For this woman I would suggest a carb/calorie cycle (a diet where you alternate between high and low level of carbs and calories) diet like this:

125lb woman interested in RAPID fat loss (this type of dieting works for those who are already fairly lean >24% body fat)

MENU 1 Baseline: 1000cal, 150g protein, 33g carbs, 30g fat
MENU 2, Higher Carbohydrates: 1250 cal, 150g protein, 95g carbs, 30g fat
MENU 3, Higher Carb and Calorie: 1500 cal, 150g protein, 125g carbs, 45g fat
MENU 4, Higher Calorie 1500 cal, 150g protein, 33g carbs, 85g fat

With the weekly distribution of those menus

Monday: 1
Tuesday: 1
Wednesday: 4
Thursday: 2
Friday: 1
Saturday: 1
Sunday: 3

Time Frame: 3 Months

3 months is still enough time to make significant change, it will however be very dependent on your level of commitment to a plan. Nutrition and exercise will need to turn the dial to an 11.

You now have to be active 5-6x per week and every session needs to include some form of cardio, high interval or steady state cardio.

The nutritional outline described above will need to be altered to include more lower calorie menus if greater fat loss is needed. I would be sure to structure the menu so the highest intensity days correspond with the highest calorie and carbohydrate days. 

Sample 6 Week Workout plan (For Bride #1, One Year Time Frame)

Week 1

Day 1:
A1) Squat 5x8
A2) DB (Dumbbell) Row 5x8
B1) DB Split Squat 5x8 ea side
B2) Face Pulls 5x15
C1) Dead bugs 4x12
C2) Side lying clamshell 4x15

Day 2:
A1) (sumo or conventional) Deadlift 5x8
A2) Lat Pulldown, supinated (underhand) grip 5x10
B1) Cable Pullthroughs 5x12
B2) Paloff Press 5x10
C1) High-Low Farmers Walks 4x

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 5x10
A2) Push Ups 5x5 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) KB Swing 5x10
B2) Farmer's Walks 5x
C1) Deadbugs 4x12

Day 4:
A1) Step up x 8 ea side
A2) Chest Supported DB Row 8x
A3) BB (Barbell) RDL (Romanian Deadlift)  8x
A4) Waiter's Walk 5x
A5) Med Ball Slams 10x
Repeat circuit 5x, rest 1-2 minutes between circuits, 15 seconds between exercises. 

Week 2

Day 1:
A1) Squat 6x6
A2) DB Row 5x8 ea side
B1) DB Step Up 5x8 ea side
B2) Farmers Walk 5x
C1) Dead bugs 4x12
C2) Seated Band Abduction 4x15

Day 2:
A1) Deadlift 6x6
A2) Lat Pulldown, supinated (underhand) grip 5x10
B1) KB Swings 5x10
B2) Paloff Press 5x10
C1) Kneeling Banded hip thrust or Side lying clamshells 5x15

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 5x10
A2) Push Ups 5x5 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) Squat jumps 5x3
B2) Single KB (Kettlebell) racked walk 5x
C1) Deadbugs 4x12

Day 4:
A1) BB RDL x 10x
A2) Med Ball Overhead Throws 8x
A3) Reverse Lunge 6x ea leg
A4) Med Ball Slams 10x
A5) Plank 30sec-1 min
Repeat circuit 5x, rest 1-2 minutes between circuits, 15 seconds between exercises. 

Week 3

Day 1:
A1) Squat 4x8
A2) Chest Supported DB Row 5x8
B1) DB Step Up 5x6 ea side
B2) Farmers Walk 5x
C1) Dead bugs 4x12
C2) Seated Band Abduction 4x15

Day 2:
A1) Deadlift 4x8
A2) Lat Pulldown, supinated (underhand) grip 5x10
B1) KB Swings 5x10
B2) Paloff Press 5x10
C1) Kneeling Banded hip thrust or Side lying clamshells 5x15

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 5x15
A2) Push Ups 5x6 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) Waiters Walk 5x
B2) Side Plank 5x
C1) Clamshells 5x15

Day 4:
A1) Landmine Squat x 10x
A2) Landline Push Press 8x ea side
A3) Landline single leg rd. 6x ea leg
A4) Landmine Anti-rotations 10x
A5) Plank 30sec-1 min
Repeat circuit 5x, rest 1-2 minutes between circuits, 15 seconds between exercises.

Week 4

Day 1:
A1) Squat 5x5
A2) Inverted TRX Row 5x8
B1) Seated DB overhead press 5x8
B2) Farmers Walk 5x
C1) Dead bugs 4x12
C2) Seated Band Abduction 5x20

Day 2:
A1) Deadlift 5x5
A2) Lat Pulldown, supinated (underhand) grip 5x6 (go a little heavier)
B1) KB Swings 5x10
B2) Paloff Press 5x8 breaths
C1) Kneeling Banded hip thrust or Side lying clamshells 5x20

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 5x12
A2) Push Ups 5x6 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) KB One Arm Racked Walk 5x
B2) Face Pulls 5x15
C1) Clamshells 5x15

Day 4:
Round 1, 3 sets
Treadmill at 8mph, 8% incline for 25 seconds. 
Goblet Squats (10 reps) and Push Ups (5 Reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Round 2, 3 sets
Treadmill at 9mph, 9% incline for 20 seconds. 
KB RDL (10 reps) and TRX Inverted Rows (10 reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Round 3, 3 sets
Treadmill at 10mph, 10% incline for 15 seconds
Deadbugs (10 reps) and Medicine Ball Slams (10 reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Week 5

Day 1:
A1) Front Squat 5x8
A2) DB chest supported Row 6x8
B1) Seated DB overhead press 5x8
B2) Farmers Walk 5x
C1) Paloff Press 4x12
C2) Seated Band Abduction 4x25

Day 2:
A1) Deadlift 6x8
A2) Seated Cable Row, 6x8
B1) KB Swings 5x10
B2) Bear Crawls, 5x
C1) Kneeling Banded hip thrust or Side lying clamshells 5x20

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 6x15
A2) Push Ups 6x6 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) KB One Arm Racked Walk 5x
B2) Face Pulls 5x20
C1) Clamshells 5x20

Day 4:
A1) KB Swings 10x
A2) Inverted Row 10x
A3) Kneeling Banded hip thrust 20x
A4) Med Ball Slams 12x
A5) Lateral Raises 15x
A6) Plank, 30sec-1 min
Rest 20sec between exercises, 2 minutes between rounds. 5 rounds total. 

Week 6

A1) Squat 6x6
A2) Lat Pulldown, supinated grip 6x8
B1) Waiters Walk 5x
B2) DB Split Squat 5x8 ea side
C1) Paloff Press 4x12
C2) Seated Band Abduction 4x25

Day 2:
A1) Deadlift 6x6
A2) Chest supported DB Row, 6x8
B1) KB Swings 5x10
B2) Bear Crawls, 5x
B3) Broad Jump 3x
C1) Kneeling Banded hip thrust or Side lying clamshells 5x20

Day 3:
A1) Hip Thrust 6x15
A2) Push Ups 6x6 (elevated if needed, never on your knees)
B1) KB One Arm Racked Walk 5x
B2) Face Pulls 5x20
C1) Clamshells 5x20

Day 4:
Round 1, 3 sets
Treadmill at 8mph, 8% incline for 25 seconds. 
Goblet Squat Reverse Lunge (10 reps) and Med Ball Slam (10 Reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Round 2, 3 sets
Treadmill at 9mph, 9% incline for 20 seconds. 
KB Swing (10 reps) and DB Overhead Press (10 reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Round 3, 3 sets
Treadmill at 10mph, 10% incline for 15 seconds
Paloff Press (10 BREATHS ea side) and Squat Jump (5 reps)
Rest 2 minutes

Notes

• The first movement (A1) of every workout is meant to be the main "strength" movement of the day. Each week breaks down into less total reps with the idea that the top sets are a heavish weight. Here's an example: 

Each main movement should be ramped up to a top set.
So you would warm up on say a deadlift as such: bar 5x, 75lbs 5x, 95lbs 5x, 105lbs 3x, 135lbs 2x, 165lbs 1x. You would base your reps off of that heavy single for the day. 
Week 1: 5x8 (40 total reps) 65% of your "max" for the day placing your 5 sets @110lbs
Week 2: 6x6 (36) 70% 115lbs
Week 3: 4x8 (32) 75% 125lbs
Week 4: 5x5 (25) 80% 135lbs

• The Squat is merely the movement pattern. Depending on your skill level and what's available you can use dumbbells, kettle bells and/or barbells. 
• If you need more cardio, I would perform it AFTER the strength training. 20-30 minute of a moderate intensity should suffice. Increase as needed. 

If you have any more questions as this is simply a broad starting off point, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be more than happy to walk you through this so you can walk down that aisle with confidence.