Talkin' Bout Practice?

Talkin' bout practice?

I love thinking of working out as practice. Maybe it’s because I am a washed-up ex athlete (Sike! I still ball out). Maybe it’s because I love the idea of focused attention on exactly what I am trying to accomplish.

Deliberate practice is a hot-button topic right now. This isn’t a fad or some shit that will be here today and gone tomorrow. Deliberate practice has been around for centuries. All the successful people in anything, anywhere, EVER, implement deliberate practice.

People have this odd misconception that if you just do something over and over and over and over again, then you will just miraculously get better at it. News flash, if you practice something with bad form you will just get really good at doing it with bad form. Let’s talk basketball for a second.  I can go and shoot my shot a hundred times and maybe get a little bit better at making the ball go into the basket. However, if I implement deliberate practice, my results will be substantially better. If I think about where my hand should be positioned on the ball, where my elbow should be placed, what shape I should be looking through etc., that right there is deliberate practice.

Okay, but what exactly is deliberate practice? You’re gonna be happy you asked that question. Deliberate practice is when you think about the skills you wish to improve and what you need to do in order for them to get better and implement different drills to help you become better. Another example of this would be learning how to properly run. Some things you would want to improve are arm action, stride length, turnover rate or how often you strike the ground, and location of footstrike. In order to deliberately practice these, one day you may want to work on skips or bounds, or maybe just arm action and marching, making sure your arm position, knee, and foot position are in the right place.

You must be very mindful throughout whatever it is that you are practicing in order to implement deliberate practice. Often, when we work out or write, or whatever it may be, we completely zone out. It is therapeutic for us. However, if we want to get better at doing whatever it is, we must be aware and mindful of what we are doing so we can correct the things we do not do so well. This does not mean it can’t still be therapeutic. As long as you do not become frustrated and just take each opportunity as a learning experience, there is no reason why it can’t still be therapeutic.

Deliberate practice is necessary if you want to go from good to great. I want to be great at just about anything that I do, so part of that is being very coachable, which was quite the process. The other part is making sure I deliberately practice whatever I need to work on. Just because you know perfect doesn’t exist does not mean you shouldn’t be chasing it. Knowing the true Power of Strength only comes from deliberate practice. This is why I like to think of my “workouts” as practice because I am always looking for what I can improve on knowing that I am never perfect.  

Trust the Process, OK

You gotta trust the process, ok? As I’ve mentioned frequently, having patience is key. However, not only is having patience a necessity, but also having trust. I’m talking about having trust that what you are doing is working and will work if you see it through. Trust the process!

I remember my old coach at UCONN constantly saying, “trust the process!” It would go in one ear and out the other. He went as far as to show us this guy climbing a rock wall in Yosemite without any ropes or harnesses. To me back then, I just saw a crazy dude. Today, I still see him as a crazy dude, but I understand the point of the video. You have to prepare, have a plan, and execute the plan with the upmost trust in order for it to work. As a team, we did not trust the process, or at least his process, which is why we weren’t very good. When you do not trust the process, you will half ass things. When you half ass things you get half ass results. So, fully trust the process. See it out and make the appropriate adjustments afterwards.

Setting and following a plan is where patience comes in again. We should not set these deadlines for when we want to lose weight by. This is automatically going to make us a bit crazy to see results and may bring us to extreme measures to gain them. Remember, we are on a life long journey of trying to create healthy behaviors and habits that will land us where we want to be. Too many times people jump programs after doing it for 2 weeks saying, “That program doesn’t work…Blah blah blah.” Think of it this way, you can’t learn to fly in 2 weeks and the results you are seeking won’t take two weeks either. After two weeks, you essentially know nothing about whether what you are doing is beneficial or not.  A good, solid plan or program will help build you up and lead you towards the right path. Any program should take you at least 6 weeks and, to be honest, I think even that timeframe is too short. Using each program or plan as a chance to learn and adjust in the future will lead to obtaining your goals down the road.

When I was training for the Beast Tamer, I went all in. I came up with the plan, trusted the plan, executed the plan to a T, and still failed. But failing is ok. It’s only a temporary setback, which allowed me to understand what works and what doesn’t work for my body. I went back to the drawing board, made some minor adjustments and crushed it four weeks later. Failure is a part of success. Until we aren’t afraid of failing, or not worried about having our beach body by a certain time, or hitting a PR in two weeks of starting a new program, then we most likely won’t reach our goals because we will be too busy constantly switching up the plan.

Oftentimes it isn’t even the plan that is lacking, but the execution of it that causes it to “not work”. So, remember, if you are starting a new program or plan to help reach your goals, trust it and stick with it. Worst-case scenario, you know what not to do next time. Best-case scenario, you obtained your goals.

Holiday SZN

The holiday season is upon us. I am a human who loves food and I have a hunch that a lot of you love food as well. I cannot wait to feast, drink, and enjoy the presence of family and friends. That’s what the holidays are all about, enjoying life, appreciating all the good things, and whatever other generic shit I can say. However, many of us have goals and have been working very hard towards accomplishing those aspirations. Though the holidays are one to enjoy, often many people get super stressed out because they worry about gaining weight and undoing their results. They let this take away from enjoying the season or they feel guilty about eating all of the food because they feel they haven’t worked out enough. News flash, one day will not kill you! Enjoy the holidays.

This is a bullshit fact, but we only have 10 holidays in a year to celebrate. That’s 10 out of 365 days. I think it is safe to say you can be alright doing what you want on an actual holiday. If during the other 355 days of the year you have a plan where you are working to be better, then feel free to indulge. Even if you don’t have a plan, fuck it, I wouldn’t start worrying about it on Thanksgiving.  Getting back on track as soon as you can is something to think about after the holidays. The better on track you can be throughout the year the less you will worry about what you do on any given holiday.

If you can’t help but feel guilty and have a hard time enjoying yourself during the holidays, then I understand. You can try to limit yourself to one plate and put a number on how much dessert you can have. Also, eating slowly will help you feel full sooner. That way you don’t stuff yourself. As much as possible, try to keep the celebrating and food consumption limited to the actual holiday. If you have a goal to workout 3 times a week, then you can try to get the “workouts” in at the beginning of the week. That way holiday plans don’t get in the way.

For myself, y’all know how I get down. I am going for a record 6 plates this time around.  I love the holidays, I love food, and I love being Strong. So, when I have an opportunity to enjoy any of them, I take full advantage. I hope all of you can enjoy this upcoming Holiday Season guilt free and throughout it I hope you continue your pursuit to find the Power of Strength. 

Breathe in Breathe out

Breathe. Stretch. Shake. Now, let it go. Breathe in. Breathe out. Simple, right? Well, not quite. In a society where we sit a lot, move very little, work a lot of hours, and are fairly stressed out, we need to think a little more about breathing than we currently do now. Something as simple as breathing is often neglected. Many of us don’t know how to properly fully inhale. Breathing properly can be the magic many of us are looking for to help facilitate better sleep, less stress, less pain, etc.

Now for the million-dollar question, “How do I breathe properly?” I do not want to get too sciencey on y’all, but basically, we have this thing called a diaphragm, which is supposed to be responsible for breathing. When the diaphragm is used properly, it pulls air down and in to our belly. We call this diaphragmatic breathing. It triggers a relax response, puts us into a better state of homeostasis, and recruits the proper muscles necessary for breathing. Most of us do not breathe this way.

On a daily basis, we find ourselves sitting at desks, looking at computers, and stressed out of our minds. All of these things pile on top of one another and lead us into a stressed state for the majority of our time.  We are shrugging, with our shoulders up by our ears, without even knowing it. Our backs hurt. Our necks are tight. On top of all of that, we breathe in a way that makes all of this far worse. Most of us shoulder breathe. This is when you take a breath in and your shoulders rise up towards your ears. Shoulder breathing requires the use of a bunch of smaller muscles in your shoulders that typically should not be responsible for breathing. Over time, the muscles become overdeveloped and can lead to many neck, shoulder, and back issues.

Learning to take full breaths in to your belly can help completely relax you. Learning how to properly pull the air in through your nose, in to your belly, and in to your pelvic floor has many benefits, too. This can help take some of the tension out of your neck, shoulders, and lower back. If you are one of the many people with sleeping problems, this can just be a breathing issue. It could also mean you are a shoulder breather. Having a breathing issue is a stressful state. It triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response, which can leave us with an elevated heartrate, increased blood pressure, and make us take short, shallow breaths. All of these are poor qualities for getting valuable sleep.

Surprisingly, breathing is a powerful tool to help make us feel better and Stronger. I’ve mentioned neck and shoulder issues being cured by belly breathing. This is not a hoax. Allowing those tiny muscles in your neck and shoulders to relax can help you regain the mobility you thought was lost. It will feel like the weight of the world was lifted off of your shoulders. So, give it a try. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Strength is a Mindset

I hope by now you have figured out that Strength is not a place. Strength is not a number. Strength is a mindset. Your mind is a powerful tool. It is Strong as frick. We all have one and we can all use it to our advantage.

 I think it is important to remember we all are on our own journey through life. Worrying about what Janice Squats or Tommy benches are will not help you accomplish your goals. Asking, “How do I get my chest to look like his?” or “Why can’t I do 20 pull-ups like Tasha?” will do nothing but frustrate and disappoint you. Take your focus off others because they are on their own journey. You have no idea what their life history entails.

I can’t tell you how frustrated I used to get watching someone do a really cool skateboard trick and say, “I should be able to do that.” Meanwhile, I had never even figured out how to Ollie, let alone do anything else. An Ollie to skateboarding is like squatting to exercise. Point is, comparing your journey to anyone else’s just isn’t smart. Complaining why they have something you don’t, or can do something you currently can’t do, will simply frustrate you. No matter who you are, there will always be someone who does something “better” than you. Unless you are motivated by that type of thinking, jealousy, envy, which is very rare, you will ultimately never find happiness with what you have.

You have to be able to find happiness in what you have or what you can do. This does not mean be complacent with where you are. We are always looking to grow. Instead of dwelling on shit that’s irrelevant to YOU, think of all of the things you currently can do. Also, look to make little personal records, or PRs, as frequently as you can. Lift a few pounds more than you ever have while performing a Goblet Squat, push yourself to do one more pushup in a set than you ever have in your life, or complete your first pull-up ever whether it was assisted or not.

Whether you have thick legs or skinny calves, like myself, you have to learn to love you for you.  I am certain someone else out there is into whatever you have. Love is always the answer. Just love yourself.

Look for the small victories, whether it’s the PRs in the gym and at home. Even outside of the gym, make some PRs by telling your girlfriend she is beautiful more times than you ever have, telling your boyf he’s the man, opening the door for a stranger multiple times in a day. The little victories that make you happier will make someone else happier and ultimately make you a better person. That’s what makes you Strong! So stop being so harsh on yourself. Love yourself and worry about your own journey. Remember, Strength is a mindset. If you think you are Strong, then you are Strong. Ya dig?