Category: Uncategorized

Current.  As a professor of exercise science (exercise physiology), I often reflect on how much the industry has changed (and not changed) over the past 32 years since I got my Master’s degree and 20 years since I got my PhD—moreover, in the past 40 years since I did my first workouts at Steel City Nautilus in Pittsburgh.  In my role as educator, I take being “current” quite seriously.  Personally, I, likewise, want to be current—in a breath of topic areas.

It is easy to let our minds become stagnant and be dogmatic in our opinions and beliefs.  This is unfortunate.

We need to have a growth mindset, if we desire (extra)ordinary success.  From the Intellectual standpoint, this requires constant learning—keeping current.

I enjoy reading.  (If only I could make a living reading and writing….)  I try to read often.  More specifically, I try to stay current in my field—scientific journals, podcasts, (reputable) websites, etc.  Being a consumer of information, it is imperative that one validate information—confirm the truth and accuracy of what one is reading.  It is almost laughable some of the information I see come across my Facebook feed.  (Laughable until I realize that some readers don’t have the necessary foundation to discern fact from fiction.)

Be current in a variety of topics.  Be consumers of the news (and fact-check the information you are receiving).  Listen to podcasts.  Read.  Communicate.  Moreover, participate—in other words, drive the new information in your field and areas of interest.  Be current, but think forward.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Tools.  A friend suggested recently that I might write about motivation, as this is the time of year when New Year Resolutions begin to falter and fail.  As I sat to consider “tools”, the eighteenth Gable Trained Principle, I realized that our resolutions often fail because we lack the proper tools.

I am not a fan of New Year Resolutions.  I prefer a deliberate plan for goal setting and to not limit these to a routine start-of-the-year action.  Resolutions are often a “wish list” for personal development or accomplishment, and, thus, rarely make it beyond the starting gate.  For goals—or resolutions—to be successful, one needs to have the proper tools.

When I think of New Year Resolutions, dieting is often the first to come to mind.  So, as an example, let’s look at diet-related resolution, e.g., “I resolve to lose 20 pounds in 2018.”  Seems reasonable.  What can go wrong?

Many have heard that goals should be SMART.  I like my friend Coyte Cooper’s twist (www.coytecooper.com; Make Your Mark).  He writes that goals should be I-SMART—adding the “I” to the goal, making it personal—“I will….”  In turn, I-SMART goals are Specific, Matter to the individual (i.e., are deeply personal), Applicable to one’s highest aspirations, not-Reasonable by normal expectations, and Time-bound.  With these in mind we elevate the resolution and put in place the tools necessary to succeed.

Goals can be well written–“I resolve to lose 20 pounds in 2018” is not bad.  The challenge comes once the pen is lifted from the paper.  In the present example, the question remains: “HOW and I going to lose 20 pounds.”  Well, with diet and exercise, of course.  Yes, but what kind of diet and exercise?  How will you remain accountable?  How will you manage when the road gets tough?  How will you handle setbacks?  Additionally, what will you do once the weight is lost??  (I once lost 17 pound in 24 hours.  I can lose 20 pounds in a flash, but…..)  We need the right tools.

We need:

A support group.

Experienced help, i.e., “coaches”.

A plan.

A schedule.

The will—remember, it need to Matter.

A number of years ago, I came across these “Top 7 Exercise Motivation Secrets”* for a course I teach in Exercise Motivation and Adherence:

1. Find your “why”.

2. Make a commitment.

3. Set daily, measurable and realistic goals.

4. Keep track of your progress.

5. Get objective feedback.

6. Avoid the “all-or-nothing” mentality.

7. Be accountable!

More importantly, we cannot achieve anything in isolation.  We need the support of other—to teach and inform us, to encourage us, to provide the occasional kick in the butt, and keep us from giving up.  We can do a lot with a screwdriver, but a well-equipped toolbox prepares us for all jobs and helps the job get done right.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!
Carpe momento!

*http://www.topendsports.com/psychology/motivation-moving.htm

Over-training is pushing the body system beyond that from which it is able to recover—to the point of negatively effecting performance.  Common symptoms include: altered psychological state (insomnia, depression, lethargy, irritability, etc.), altered cardiac function (elevated and/or irregular heart rate, palpitations, etc.), increased susceptibility to illness, loss of motivation, increased injury, and decreased performance.  It is a serious thing.  Is it a serious concern for the average gym-goer?  Not likely.  (For the serious athlete?  Most definitely.)

It is my opinion that over-training is quite rare.  More often, it is a case of poor recovery management and programming.  Most of us can do substantially more exercise than we are currently doing.  Unfortunately, we do too much of some things and too little of others.  We also tend to try to cram too much into one workout.

Overload (i.e., doing more than that to which the body is accustomed in order to stimulate an adaptation of a specific body system) is essential for improved performance.  Moreover, overload must be progressive—and it needs to be carefully managed.

Overreaching—more specifically, “functional overreaching”–is the planned overload beyond one’s short-term ability to recover.  This may seem like a bad thing, but when it is intentional and followed by a planned deload (i.e., reduced training load) it can actually accelerate progress.  Continued (mismanaged) overreaching, however, can easily lead to overtraining.

A key to understanding overreaching v. over-training is the understanding of maximal recoverable volume (MRV).  MRV is “the highest volume of training an athlete can do in a particular situation and still recover” (Drs. Mike Israetel and James Hoffman, How Much Should I Train?).  This can be considered from workout to workout, as well as by the next training timescale or cycle.

It is important to understand that to maximize gains, one must maximize the recoverable training volume (and, of course, the recovery strategy—e.g., diet and rest).  If one is exercising three times a week, it is highly unlikely that he or she is overtraining.  Indeed, one may actually be able to increase the volume of training by simply partitioning training into shorter, more frequent sessions.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 8^th ed., 2010) suggests 8-10 exercises (ideally, multi-joint or compound) that feature the major muscle groups (chest, shoulders, abdomen, back, hips, legs, arms) be trained with two to four sets 2-3 days per week.  Splitting these into 4-6 (or more) sessions per week will actually permit one to lean more toward the four sets per exercise at a higher training intensity, thus increasing the training volume without excessive fatigue or overtaxing recoverability.

Finding one’s MRVs is a matter of testing the waters with a variety of training schema until one finds the most optimal volumes.  This can be overwhelming, perhaps, but need not be—especially for those of us with more general fitness goals.  The simplest approach is to begin with the maximal possible time available for exercise (and realize that while more than three one-hour sessions might be impossible, 5-6 (or more) thirty- to forty-minute sessions might be quite doable).  Begin with the low end of possible sets (e.g. 1-2 “working” sets—sets beyond warm-up sets—per exercise per session) and add a set per exercise per session every week until the load seems to be too much (i.e., you feel you are overreaching) and back off for a week—deload.  Find the progression that works for you and cycle through repeated mesocycles (3- to 6-week training cycles of progressive ramping followed by a deload).  I trust you will find you can do more work that you were previously without feeling “overtrained”.  The key is to do as much as you can handle as often as you can handle it.  Avoid trying to do more than you can handle more infrequently.  [I will share more thoughts on repetitions, sets, and training frequencies in days to come.]

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?”  This was a question asked of me in class recently.  This is certainly what we have been taught over the recent decades.  In short, my answer is more of a “depends.”

There is no definitive research on this question.  A popular approach to dieting presently is “intermittent fasting”—restricting food consumption to a small window of time, usually less than 6-8 hours.  The idea is to deplete the liver of stored glycogen and force the body to rely on stored fat for energy.  It is a form a ketogenic diet.  There may be some health benefits—particularly pertaining to brain function—but it is a challenge to get through the day without eating.  There is also some question as to its effects on physical performance.

In my experience and opinion, it is more a matter of carbohydrate management.  The typical American breakfast is heavy on carbohydrates—the bad kind, like pancakes, cereals, breads, and fruit juices (and sugar, in general).  These spike insulin levels leading to sugar crashes and midmorning hunger—and overall excess calorie intake.  If one is exercising hard in the morning, these carbs are less detrimental, indeed, necessary (provided the remaining calories for the day are within the target calories).  More so, they are essential for those who are trying to gain muscle weight.  If losing fat is the goal, though, breakfast is important—but not like we have been taught.

The key is the choices we make.  Whether we “break fast” early or later, we should start with protein and healthy fat.  These are more sustaining and set the metabolism on burning fat.  For most, with careful meal planning and the distraction of work or school, it is possible to reserve the bulk of the day’s calories for the end when one is more likely to “binge”.

I find buttered coffee a good start to the day.  If you drink coffee, adding a tablespoon of grass-fed butter and coconut oil gives it some added flavor and fills you for the better part of the morning.  At about 220 kcal, it is a rather low-calorie breakfast.  If some protein is desired, a couple eggs or a whey protein shake can round off the meal.

A light lunch and healthy protein snacks can carry us to dinner.  Most of us are busy enough that we barely have time to think about eating during the day.  If we are tempted to eat during the day, the key is to keep healthy snacks handy.  Avoid the fast food/junk food trap and stick to low-carb (low glycemic) foods.  Save the higher glycemic carbs for the post-workout window.

I am not a fan of the ketogenic diet or hard-core intermittent fasting for those involved in intense exercise.  If trying to lose fat weight, these approaches can help keep the diet hypocaloric.  The key is to find what works for your circumstances.  Remember: calorie balance is most important, followed by macro-balance, and, then, nutrient timing—in order of magnitude of significance.  Managing breakfast is important in setting the course for the day. 

Be your best today: be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Appreciation.  Gratitude is essential.  As we go through our days, we have the opportunity to embrace what comes and accept that it is all part of our path.

I have written several times about trusting the path we are on.  I had a conversation recently (I have had it several times) about accepting everything that has happened in one’s life—good or bad—without regret.  I like to call this “grattitude”.  As Dan Gable puts it: “Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have.”

It is easy to dwell on what we don’t have or what we perceive to be going poorly in our lives.  In reality, we have what we are supposed have and be in the circumstances we are supposed to be in (at least for the moment).  As we look back over our lives, we can see that these events have brought us to where we are.  Moreover, these events have an effect on the lives we touch (and, in turn, the lives those lives touch).

I struggle often with my path.  Inevitably, though, I am forced to consider what is going on around me.  The bible teaches that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).  It is my experience that this is true.  It is always true—as hard as it might be to accept sometimes.  What I have learned is that I am not at the center of the Universe and “I am third”.  So, I am learning, and I am appreciative.

Carpe momento!

“You can’t control everything, but you can control a lot.  Keep the unknowns to a minimum.  You should be completely confident with what you can do and should have very few question marks.  Have backup plans for any question marks you may have.”—Dan Gable

Unknowns.  We cannot control everything that happens to us.  There is little certainty in life.  Nevertheless, we have to embrace the unknown and live outside our comfort zone.

The unknown can restrain us or excite us.  It is a matter of choice.  In the face of uncertainty, one needs to prepare for the possibilities—to remove the question marks.

Confidence gives us the strength to face the unknowns.  We “gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face” (Eleanor Roosevelt).  So, we must face our fears and, simply, be our best today.

Carpe momento!

“Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.”—Charles de Gaulle

My friends at Wrestleology.com recently shared the above meme.  It struck me as a reminder that most of us are unwilling to pay the price of hard work.  Now, I can’t say that I want cauliflower ears (most wrestlers really don’t, I would believe), but I am envious of what they represent—years of hard work and dedication.  Cauliflower ears come from putting the long hours in the wrestling room practicing and battling with one’s training partner.  So, “Don’t worry.  You never will.” suggests that one is not likely to have what it takes to get a wrestler’s ears.

A number of terms ago, I was asked by a student how to respond to a woman who says she “doesn’t want big muscles.”  Ordinarily, I would respond with references to testosterone, genetics, etc., but this particular day caught me in a sarcastic mood, and I responded: “Tell her she isn’t willing to put in the work.”  The more I considered my response, the more satisfied I was with its accuracy.  Sure, genes and hormones play a part, but the reality is that people with big muscles have put in a lot of work to get them.  If you don’t want big muscles, you don’t have to work very hard to not get them.

The reality is that any great success comes with scars, bruises, humility, and “cauliflower ears”.  We all want to be successful, but very few are willing to put in the effort it takes to get there.  So, when we look at “successful” people, do we see the road they have travelled or just the laurels of success?  If we want success, we have to accept all that it requires—including cauliflower ears.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

Prevention.  Prevention requires foresight.  Preparing for success is invariably preventing failure.  Preventing failure requires that one understand the potential causes of failure.  Thus, to succeed we must allow ourselves to fail.  Sound confusing?

In practicing for sport or anything challenging in life, we have to know what can happen when we don’t execute perfectly and/or the opposition counters our efforts (as we should expect they will).  Remember, “Murphy’s Law”?  Thus, we need to exercise every possible scenario.  Where we are vulnerable, we need a defense.

Prevention is everywhere in life.  We (should) prevent injury or disease.  We (should) prevent the unexpected.  We (should) guard our weaknesses.  Success is simply preventing failure.

We should not enter any opportunity ill-prepared.  Seeking well-centeredness (i.e., Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social preparedness) is our best prevention.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Help.  As I consider my thoughts on the “Gable Trained” principles.  If find it challenging to not repeat what I have written previously.  Partly, I find the principles to be very much in line with the well-centered fitness principles about which I have been writing for quite some time.  Additionally, the Gable Trained Principles all time together in some way–specifically, mentors, communication, examples, and teamwork are inseparable from the principle of “help”.

Brian Tracy has said, “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”  When we look to help others, invariably others will be willing to help us.  The practice of mutual support makes all parties better.  There is a certain synergy that comes when we work as a team and collaborate.  If we look only to help others when there is some reciprocal benefit, we miss the point of helping.

The irony is that we don’t have to ask, “What’s in it for me?”  There will always be a return.  “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want” (Zig Ziglar).  We must all be willing to help someone in need when opportunity presents itself and not worry what we have gain. 

We do not go at anything in life alone.  Maybe it feels like we are alone at times, but there is always someone willing to help.  Sometimes, we just have to ask.  Asking for help takes humility.  It takes admitting that we need to get better.  The thing is, we can only get better if we have help.

In sport, the athlete who seeks out tougher competition gets better.  The athlete who does not risk failure does not improve.  Likewise, the successful athlete identifies his or her weaknesses and works on these.  The successful athlete has a coach and training partners.  There is no athlete who has been labeled the “greatest of all time” who did not have help.  Likewise, success in all areas of life requires help.

We must not only seek help, but we must acknowledge it, as well.  Practice grattitude!  Give and receive help in equal measure.  Live to improve yourself and to improve others.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”—Pat Riley

Excellence.  Vince Lombardi said: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”  The pursuit of excellence is the very heart of “be your best today; be better tomorrow.”  Certainly, it is epitomized by Dan Gable and Iowa Wrestling.

What are we here for if not to be excellent?  Sadly, though, we tend to want to be excellent in areas other than those in which we are gifted.  We each have very specific talents.  We need to be excellent—(extra)ordinary—in these.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  There is no room here for anything less than excellence.  As I write my thoughts on the “Gable Trained” principles, I find a significant amount of overlap.  I find myself wanting to repeat myself.  All of these principles (mentors, simplicity, communication, consequences, focus, examples, teamwork, adversity, improving, remembering, peaking, talent, excellence, help, prevention, unknowns, appreciation, tools, current, normal, victory, recovery, and the longer, the longer) relate to one another in countless ways.  I find it interesting that, of this list, “talent” sits at the middle, followed by “excellence”.  Central to one’s success is talent.  Excellence is beyond average—it is beyond the “successful side of mediocre”.  Excellence is taking our talents to new heights and beyond.

There is nothing successful about merely doing that which you are capable of doing.  Excellence is taking one’s talents and opportunity and developing them.  With talent comes expectation.  Excellence exceeds expectations.  It requires hard work and dedication.  It requires expecting more of one’s self than others expect.

For some, it may seem unduly stressful to have expectations of excellence.  That is a pity.  Our expectations must never be unreasonable, but they must extend our reach.

Ralph Marston wrote that “excellence is not a skill, it is an attitude.”  I would say it is a grattitude.  Excellence is an expression of gratitude for our blessedness.  If one has a talent—and we have many—one should grow and use his/her talent.  We are not here to be mediocre or to hide our talents.  We are here to grow them and to use them.  Booker T. Washington told us that “excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way”.  In other words, be (extra)ordinary!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!