WHAT GET'S MEASURED GET'S RESULTS

What is it that you are going after?  Is it to get faster, lose weight, get stronger?

Have you taken the time to break that goal down to the action steps that it will take to accomplish it?

That is the first thing that needs to be done because if you don't know what you are aiming for, you will never hit it.

Once you have your goal dialed in and are focused on it, do you track it daily?

If you don't have a way to measure if you are getting better, how will you know if you are getting closer or not?

The key to getting closer to your goals is looking at them everyday, and keeping yourself accountable for the attainment of those goals daily.  You keep yourself accountable by measuring your progress.

This will help take the guesswork out of your goal achievement plan.  The ability to look back over your prior week and determine whether or not you have made progress or not, is vital to your success.

Make the decision today, that you are going to start tracking your results for the next 21 days and watch your progress soar.

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise
1.  Choose one of your goals that you are focused in on right now and break that goal down into action steps
****These action steps could be:  strength training sessions, stretching, meditation, or nutritious meals****
2.  Over the next 21 days you are going to start tracking what you do everyday for these goals
3.  Every 3 days during this 21 days duration, you need to analyze what you have done, and if it is satisfactory towards the attainment of your goal, continue what you have been doing.  If it is not, then adjust accordingly

A FEW WORDS OF ADVICE

When you are training and you get to that threshold point where your body is ready to throw in the towel, what do you say to yourself?

Internally are you saying, this is too tough, why am I doing this?

Or are you saying things such as just one more, or be strong, or something else?

This internal dialogue that you use during these tough times is called your self talk. 

I remember using this self talk in the Marines on long humps or long runs and it is the same two words that I use today:

BE STRONG

When I use these words, it helps calm me down so that I can maintain my focus and perform at my highest level.

Controlling the words that you say to yourself when your body is in pain will help you continue to perform at your highest level.

Navy SEALS use the verbiage: EASY DAY, Marines like to scream out: GET SOME 

So I ask you:  What are you saying to yourself when the training gets hard and you are ready to quit?

MVP Mental Exercise

1.  Go for a long run that includes short bursts of speed, as well as long bouts of a quicker-steady pace than what you are used to

2.  When you feel yourself starting to get tired and you are ready to slow down, use a short phrase that makes you feel good

3.  Recognize how this self talk gives you more energy, makes your body more relaxed, and helps you work harder

Other examples are:  gettin better one step at a time,  no pain no gain, I got this, do work

There are countless others.  Post up the phrase that you use when your training gets tough.  

STRETCH YOUR BODY TO GET BIGGER, FASTER, AND STRONGER

Is stretching something that you do on a daily, weekly, or when I get around to it basis?

If you are not taking the time to stretch, what is your excuse not to?  I would assume it's the same excuse that plagues everyone and that is you don't have the time.

We always make time for the strength, cardio, or general physical preparedness work but not the stretching. Why is that?

The reason could be the lack of importance that we place on stretching, and we don't think of it as a tool that we help us create major impact on our body and our performance.

What if I told you that by increasing your body's flexibility, you could increase your body's strength and stamina.  

In order for your muscles to fully contract, they have to have full flexibility.  By limiting your flexibility in your muscles, or by limiting your mobility in your joints, you are then limiting the amount of force that can be applied to those areas.

By not capitalizing on this, you are not getting the most benefit out of your training.  

So what are you to do?  You want to put the majority of your stretching post workout and a morning routine that you can get yourself into.  These stretches will consist of 30 second static, or held, stretches.  Focus on the major areas like hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders, chest, and lower back.

Pre workout you will want to focus on shorter dynamic stretches of the same area.  

MVP Mental Exercise

1.  Challenge your self, regardless of what stretching that you do now, to create a daily stretching routine that you do for the next 21 days

****Make this goal something that is easy enough that you know you will complete, that may be just one or two stretches****

2.  Do these stretches statically, or held, post workout and in the morning after you have been up for at least 20 minutes, and then do these stretches pre workout in a dynamic matter

WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR

This phrase hit me like a ton of bricks the other day:

If you only got to live today, with the things that you were grateful for yesterday, how would today look like for you?

Take a moment and let that one sink in.................

What were you grateful for yesterday?  Was it two things? One thing?  WAS IT NOTHING?

I'm guilty of this from time to time and this question helped put a fresh perspective on where my attention needs to be.

We would all like for life to be perfect and never have any speed bumps along the way.  But that isn't the way it happens is it?

In order to propel ahead, we have to remind ourselves just how great we have it and at the same time realize that we want more.

Remind yourself today, on a Monday where you determine where you end up this week, of all the things that you are grateful for.

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise

1.  Get out your journal and write down three things that are grateful for

2.  Get in the habit of doing this first thing in the morning and the last thing before you go to bed

3.  Set a goal to do this for each area of your life for 30 days 

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 6

Welcome to the final installment of this series.  If you haven't already, make sure that you check out parts 

1-5 first and then move on to this post.  This last post will give you a general idea of what movements to do.

You will want to combine the information in this post with part 2 of this series.  Here is a general breakdown of the movements.

Warm Up:

Soft Tissue:  This is where you will use a foam roller and work all the soft tissue on your body.  If you have limited time, just pick certain areas to work on each day.  You will want to put a lot of focus on the lower body as this tissue generally will have the most "knots" in it.  Coach Hulse is a wild man and does a great explanation on how to foam roll.

Lengthen:  This is a fancy word for stretching, I would focus on dynamic and quick stretches versus long static holds.   You are trying to get your body to move.  Focus on shoulders, hamstrings, and hips first.  If you have more time work on a full body lengthen.  

Activation:  Now that you have your muscles at the proper length, you need to turn your muscles on and activate them.  A great movement for activation is laying on your back, feet flat on the ground, and doing about 15 hip raises.  You are trying to push your heels into the ground and get your hips as high as you can.  For the upper body you can hold the upper portion of the pushup for 30 seconds.    

Multi Joint Functionality:  This will be something that causes your body to move as a collective unit.  I would recommend 25 bodyweight squats and 25 jump ropes.

Torso:

Hip Flexion:  Any torso movement where the knees come towards the chest

Hip Extension:  Any torso movement where the knees extend away from the chest

Stability:  Pushup hold on bosu ball or other unstable surface

Rotation:  Torso movement that involves rotating of the torso.  An example of this is when you are laying on your back flat and you then do a crunch and try to touch your knee to the opposite elbow.

Posterior Chain:  This includes your glutes and your erector spinae of your back.  An example of this type of movement is a back extension.

You will want to aim for a bout 20 reps for each torso movement.  You may only have time to execute one of these categories per day.  That's ok, just ensure that you rotate through them equally.  

Strength:

Upper Body Push:  Pushup

Upper Body Pull:  Pullup

Lower Body Push:  Squat

Lower Body Pull:  Kettlebell Swing

GPP or Cardio:

Box Jumps paired with burpees

Cool Down:

Static Streching:  Focus on the big areas again with 20-30 second static holds.  Hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders

I hope this helps gives you some direction on a training program.  Again, if you haven't already, go back to part 1 and go through the exercises to get caught up.

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise

1.  Not a huge shocker here today:  GO AND TRAIN TODAY

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 5

This is segment 5 on how to create a training program, the next segment will be the last.  I didn't want to get too wordy in this segment so I cut some of it off to leave for tomorrow.  If you haven't seen the other segments of this post, be sure to check those out first.  This segment is going to go over progression of your program.

In order for you to achieve your physical goals, you have to place a stressor on it that it has not adapted to you yet.  For instance, if on day one you do 20 pushups and it is very difficult, your body will begin to adapt and change so that it can handle those 20 pushups next time around.  If you only continue to do 20 pushups however, your body will NOT continue to change because it has already adapted to the 20 pushups.

In order to keep your body adapting and changing, you have to progressively overload for a while, followed by a period of deloading.

This is a twelve week program, and you will break those twelve weeks down into (3) four week mini-programs. What you are going to want to do is create your program so that it gets progressively harder for each three weeks and then on the fourth week, you will pull back the throttle and let your body recover. This doesn't mean sit on the couch and daydream but it does mean that you do not want to train at more than 60% of your capacity.

Think of it like gas in a car, if you just continually run your body like a car, then eventually you will run out of gas and the car will deteriorate.  Same thing happens with your body.

One thing that I have always taught my clients is that your body gets better and adapts by RECOVERING FROM the training, and not just the training alone.  If you don't give your body the time to recover, you are shooting your self in the foot.  

Tomorrow will be the final segment of this post and I will go over the actual movements in this program.

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise
1.  Revisit Tuesday's post about your Chief Aim
2.  Write that Chief Aim down on three separate note cards
3.  Put one notecard on your nightstand so that you can review it upon rising in the morning, and going to bed at night, one in your bathroom so that you review it everytime that you are in there, and put one in your car so that you can review it everytime that you start your car

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 4

Now it is time to put it all together.  I won't go into all the specifics of the exact movements that you need to do as the options are almost limitless.  I will give example movements that you can use later.

The main thing to focus on for this last step in the program is to tailor it to your specific goals.

If you are targeting strength and getting stronger, you will want to work with a 1:3 work to rest ratio for the strength portion.  For example if you do 3 sets of 5 of back squat, each set will take roughly 20 seconds.  So that is 20 seconds of work. So if you put in 20 seconds of work, you then need to take 60 seconds of rest, 1:3 ratio.

If your main objective is fat loss then you will want to stick closer to a 1:1 ratio for work to rest.

For the GPP or cardio section, you will want to focus on getting your heart rate up, record what you did, and then your next training session you will want to increase the amount of work that you did in the same amount of time.  For example:  training session one you did 35 burpees in three minutes.  Your next training session you would want to focus on doing 38 burpees in the same three minutes.  Then the next session you will want to get 40 burpees in the same three minutes.

All you are trying to do in the section of your program is increase the amount of work that you do in a given time.

Nice job on making it this far.  Tune in tomorrow as I will break each section down into more movements as well as help you create a training log.

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise
1.  Now it is time to start keeping a food log for your nutrition
2.  You can either record in a notebook everything you eat, or you can use an app such as my fitness pal

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHIEF AIM OR MAIN GOAL

What is it?  What is the number one thing that you want to accomplish right now?

Are you able to raddle it off quickly and does it have the exact same verbiage as it would if I asked you a week ago?

If the answer is no, there is your first clue that you have not set a defined target yet.

Why haven't you taken the time to set this goal?  Are you scared that you won't achieve it?

It could be that you have just been too busy and life has caused you to push it aside.

Decide today, that you are going to set a defined goal and target, and then get to work on accomplishing that goal.

Those are the two main ingredients for achievement, but first you have to know where you want to end up.


MVP Mental Exercise
1.  Take 30 minutes today and ask yourself the question What is one major accomplishment that I really want to achieve?
2.  Write the answer to that question down
3.  Put a deadline on it
4.  Take at least one action on that accomplishment today, no matter how small it is
5.  Continue to write that same goal out every morning from memory until it is realized

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 3

Now it's time to take what you have done in parts 1 and 2 and create the timeframes for the different segments of your training program.  If you haven't read parts 1 and/or 2 make sure you check those out first before you start part 3.

In order for your training program to give you the most most benefit, you will have to make sure that it entails all the different criteria.  Your training program needs to consist of:

Warmup (20 % of your time):

Include all of these every day

Soft Tissue work

Lengthening

Activation

Multi Joint Functionality

Torso(10% of your time):

You should include 2 areas per day

Hip Flexion

Rotation

Hip Extension

Stability

Strength(35% of your time):

You can concentrate on two areas/day or if you have the time you can add in more

Upper Body Push

Upper Body Pull

Lower Body Push

Lower Body Pull

Be sure to incorporate single arm and single leg movements as well

General Physical Preparedness or High Intensity Cardio(20% of your time):

Interval Training

Escalating Density Training

There are countless options here

Cool Down( 10% of your time):

Static Stretching

5% is left out so that you have time between all of the movements

That is a basic run down of a complete program.  Don't worry right now about what everything means.  Move on to today's exercise to learn how much time to spend in each area.  Tomorrow we will start deciding rest/work ratios and exercise selection.  Keep up the good work.  

MVP Mindset Mental Exercise

1.  If you haven't done parts 1 or 2 make sure that you do that first as you will need that information for part three

2.  On a separate piece of paper write the different categories that are listed above: warmup, torso, strength, gpp, and cool down

3.  Next to each section go through and write down the exact minutes that you will have for each sections.  For example, if you have determined that you have 30 minutes to train your break down would look like this

Warmup: 6 Minutes

Torso:  3 Minutes

Strength:  10.5 Minutes

GPP:  6 Minutes

Cool Down: 3 Minutes

 

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 2

If you missed the post for part 1 make sure that you check it out as it is very vital to go through part 1 before moving on to part 2.

Today will be about laying the foundation of the logistics of your program.  Not very exciting stuff but it is vital to your success.

Does this statement ring a bell?

I don't have time to go the gym or to train.

Everyone has some sort of free time, we just have to find out how much time and during what part of the day.

Once you can identify what time you have to train, only then can you start to create a program around your goals.  You can't pick a random program out of a magazine and just go at it because life will get in the way.

Go through today's exercise to find your time.

MVP Mental Exercise
1.  Think of the last 3 days and write down what time that you got up
2.  Do you have at least one free hour on the weekend?
3.  Start to break down your day and see if you can come up with at least three days per week that you can devote 20 minutes of exercise to.
4.   Once you have identified these three days, now determine whether you want to train at home or at a gym.

HOW TO CREATE A TRAINING PROGRAM PART 1

I get asked this question a lot about how to create a training program for people that will maximize their results in the shortest amount of time possible.

I thought it would be beneficial to break down how I have helped write programs in the past.  The will be a multiple part series and today we will focus on the first part of that series:  Figuring out what you want.

Before you start to train and workout, you should have some sort of goal in mind, some sort of target.  It's never fun to go to the gym, just because you feel you should go to the gym.

What is it that you want?  Do you want to increase your muscle mass, do you want to get stronger in certain lifts?  Do you want to lose some weight?

You have to know where you are headed before you begin and today's exercise will help you pinpoint that

MVP Mental Exercise
1.  Pick a goal that you want to achieve over the next 12 weeks  12 weeks is preferred because I am going to have you set up three 4 week programs
2.  On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, rate your goal on your belief that you can actually achieve that goal
3.  Your goal HAS to fall within the 7-10 range in order for you to have confidence that you know you can complete it, but still hard enough to where you will need to grow in order to achieve it, if your goal does not fall within that range, change it until it fits that criteria
4.  Take that goal and determine the reason WHY you want to achieve it, think very hard on this as this will help harness your motivation for those days when you just don't feel like it

****Do this activity today and stayed tuned for the next part in the series****

THE JACK OF ALL TRADES IS THE MASTER OF NONE

What is is that you want?  What is the number one thing that you will go after?

Are you able to answer that question or do you have six other things that you are "focused" on right now.

Multitask is an abused word these days, there really is no such thing.  We can literally only focus on one thing at a time.

If you want, and are ready to make huge changes in your life, then you have to have one focus and concentrate on getting better in one single area at a time.

Think back, is there a time in your life when you have done this?  Put all of your eggs into one basket?  What were the results?

Make the decision today that you are going to go against the grain of"multitasking" and create a laser sharp focus on one thing to make leaps and bounds over the competition.

MVP Mental Exercise
1.  Choose your SINGLE top priority
2.  Take that priority and write it on at least three note cards
3.  Take those notecards and hang them up in areas where you will see them frequently throughout the day
4.  Take at least one action towards this priority today, and continue taking action for the following six days