Dismissing the CALORIE

There was a time when I first got out of college and immediately ran into a world that DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE in the field of Strength and Conditioning, Fitness, or Nutrition (meaning that I had higher expectations for my peers). I needed a job so I took one at a corporate gym (awful idea), where it was important to kiss ass, toe the line, keep your opinion to yourself, and conform into A COMPLETE TOOL.


Click here

Needless to say, I didn't last long in that environment......IN FACT.....I got fired.....about 2wks before I was gonna quit. Kind of coincidental, but it was bound to happen. I told people the truth, or as much as I knew at the time. I wasn't willing to mislead or tell them bullshit that wouldn't help and sometimes could potential hurt their progress.

Now I notice how wide spread this little anomaly is now, which actually makes it NOT an anomaly. But it can be better. The standard right now is that if you can sell and motivate then you make money, and this somehow makes you an authority. This is sad.

GRIT GYM has sold based on it's expertise from the day of it's conception, and continues as such to grow as a leader in this area.


If there is one thing I've somehow done a good job of in my continuing education, is the recognition of BULLSHIT, and the dismissal of such. When I talk to other people that do what I do, I usually end up laughing, and the majority of it is at their bullshit.

This video is to clear up the first bit of bullshit I ran into when I got in an argument with the staff at that first "Club".

COUNTING CALORIES IS BULLSHIT

This will become a series and we'll get into the more controversial lies that you've accepted, and that you will have a hard time believing me about. 

For instance why NOT to eat breakfast. Mmmmmm.....wouldn't that blow your mind if that happened to be true......?

The best is yet to come. 

Bit About the Hamstrings

In this installment we go into why/when we do or do not stretch the hamstring. Here I'm staying away from the differentiation between dynamic, ballistic, or static stretching. It's unnecessary for the purpose of this post.

What you need to know is that "absolutes" are extremely rare. The answers almost always lie somewhere in the middle. Some people will need their hamstrings left alone almost all the time, and some will need their hammies worked on often. It completely depends on the individual.



Our main focus during the screen and assessment that tells us what we need to know concerning the hamstring almost always comes from:

1. The alignment of the hip: anterior/posterior/neutral pelvic tilt
2. The symmetry between the flexion and extension patterns of the Right and Left leg
1. Asymmetries are actually the 2nd biggest predictor for injury, the 1st being pre-existing injury
3. It has NOTHING to do with a sit and reach, that is a low back test, not a hamstring test

When Stretching the hamstring, where the majority of the world goes wrong is using a touch the toes or a sit and reach approach, both are terribly incorrect with regard to the hamstring. Yes they do have a place, even though it is rare and should only be used in assessments such as the SFMA, which is an incredible way to look into what's going on with a person in pain. Practicing these movements and stretches is an entirely different deal.

When stretching the hamstring, we want to support a proper spinal alighment. In order to improve this stretch use a towel under your low back.


If I were to show you my other leg in this video you'd see why I need more work on my right side and less on my left.

Keep in mind that most people actually need very little hamstring stretching, and the ones that do usually need quite a bit of it. So it's going to be a good idea to get assessed in order to adjust your actions with your needs.

How to Live INCREDIBLE for over 360 years

It is important to consider what he says about the age 14. 

Around 14 is the 2nd phase of development for humans, the first being around 7 when school starts (when we are institutionalized). 

It is here that most of us stay for the majority of our lives (it satisfies one of our highest purposes, to create life to ensure continuation of the species), unless something traumatic happens and/or we go to a huge ambitious journey of emotional/spiritual growth. 



This journey can happen in many ways. One is already mentioned, it is the school of hard knocks. The 2nd is through deep spiritual practice (but christianity and many of our religions are screwing it up by using 'guilt', which is the opposite of 'grace'). And/or we can be courageous enough to immerse ourselves in learning and challenging ourselves w/ deep psychological practice w/ a coach and self learning.

In common terms, this takes tons of courage, and tons of commitment to ones self IN ORDER TO KNOW ONE'S SELF (this scares the shit out of 99.99% of people, people fear what they don't understand and 99.99% of people do NOT know who they are).

Resistance to this is simply fear, and not facing this is succumbing to that fear. Also, Negation of this is a simple projection of such. 99.99% of people are subject to this. Just how it is.

The ONLY way to BE INCREDIBLE is to take that 

journey. To learn.

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The Bullshit of Goal Setting

What are you doing TODAY?

When talking "Goals" in today's world, the cart is almost always put ahead of the horse.

The high school athlete says "I want to be a state champ". 

Well that's great, but you're not playing for the state championship today. It may be the first game of the season and if that athlete's head is in the last game of the season s/he isn't going to play up to potential in the current game, s/he is on some level preoccupied w/ the last one that s/he hasn't earned yet.

Don't do this. It's good to have goals, but until there is a plan behind them, and this plan can be day to day, until then those goals will be BULLSHIT. 

The point is to do the ABSOLUTE BEST that each athlete possibly can to develop their body, mind and skills everyday and this will take care of the goal. It'll release the athlete of fear that only holds them back, allows them to remain in the present solely focused on the task at hand that is to develop their ability or to dominate w/n the current competition. It'll also allow for excitement in preparing for as well accomplishment to this instead of fear (there's a big difference between the two).

Start by taking action on what you can do TODAY. Just like the past cannot serve you other than what you've learned from it, the future hasn't happened yet, it doesn't serve you in any other way than your PREPARATION for it.


Preparation would be to include all things necessary to build ability: Strength and Conditioning, Psych, and Skills. So is the body and mind right as well as have skills been honed as best possible?

Athlete1: is obviously very good as seen by his/her ability levels, however falls short of best possible preparation. This doesn’t mean s/he lost the competition, it means s/he isn’t best possibly prepared for it. This has to be okay. In going for the outcome s/he has gained something incredible IF s/he gave it ALL. Then there is nothing more s/he could’ve done AT THIS TIME. Now s/he KNOWS s/he did his/her ABSOLUTE BEST. That’s true success and victory regardless of the outcome. Trying to do better than your best is a set up for failure. 

This is how an athlete lives on the edge, and every athlete should live on their edge. 

Athlete2: is obviously very good. His/her progress best sets him/her up for competition. Both athlete’s have the same responsibility in their competition, just so happens that Athlete2 is best prepared. Both require their ABSOLUTE BEST every single day. 

These reminders in your pocket, goal setting, and PRESENT preparation are all about focus. There are two relevant questions to ask yourself.

Where are you?
This reminds us to be Present. 

The 2nd question gets us focused to the task. 

What are you doing TODAY?

Farmer Strength, Ninjas and Being INCREDIBLE

In order to watch this, keep in mind that a Bovine animal will grow around 3lbs/day in the firstyear, and a pig will grow around 2.2lbs/day. It'll make sense when you watch.

Yogi's vs Lifters vs Desk Jockeys vs THE FREAKS

These are spectra. Everyone sits somewhere on these, between your ultimate strength and weakest or between the furthest degrees of stiffness and mobility. It’s categorizing people to learn where we need to be and what means of exercise we should tend to in order to promote the best athlete (strong, efficient, fast, durable) that we can be (everyone has an inner athlete, age and ability level are irrelevant).

Everyone should be reaching towards the middle and doing more of the same won’t help. It is necessary to do what is opposing and usually what does NOT come natural. We must practice, this doesn’t mean immerse, but practice what we are not good at performing. Naturally mobile people will excel and therefore tend to enjoy yoga b/c they are good at it and will end up doing more and more of it.

People w/ a certain amount of “natural strength” (I use this loosely b/c it doesn’t exist) will gravitate towards lifting b/c they’re good at it. These people are typically on the more stiff and wound up (psychologically) side that could use the mobility, relaxation and breathing patterns of yoga. This is true and the same for the yoga person that needs the addition of strength work (actually more so than the other way around, even if I’m slightly biased, science agrees).

The desk jockey needs to do something that’s off his/her butt. And the genetic freak has just happened to luck out (h/e remember that ‘natural’ strength doesn’t exist). Unless they are too mobile, then this goes to the “stability spectrum” that I’ll explain next time. I happen to be one of these too mobile/strong/ freaks and it can raise a whole new host of issues that I’ll get into later.

Until then, do what goes against your nature or comfort zone. That’s where the magic is. 

Defining GRIT

I once heard a man say "Words freeze reality". Sit w/ that for awhile. 

Humans are extremely social animals. To the point that w/o this we will die. Interestingly enough the reason we are so social is due to evolution. Groups made us better able to survive. The mammalian brain developed from millions of years of the outsiders of primitive species getting killed off and failing to reproduce, while the more social insiders stayed close to each other, survived and had offspring. 

Reptillian brain: Instincts like reproduction and survival (food, fight/flight, sex), along w/ our masculinity/femininity.

 

Mammalian brain: emotions, social stuff like attachment/bonding/friendship, it assigns value to people/events/symbols/information (this is how friendships start, a certain amount of shared positive emotions), we don't have direct influence of this like we do in the higher brain. 

Higher brain: beliefs, intellect, character, commitment and identity, creativity, decision making, ethics, identity, boundaries, etc. This is also where we trick ourselves w/ our own bullshit (logically we know who and what we are but the bullshit is that on some level this logic contradicts our true deep down belief of our self that we've developed since infancy through our experiences and the bullshit is the lie between your logic and your true beliefs that aren't logical, everyone has this, but no one knows that your logic/truth is based on a lie w/o lots of work and being told so, something like this, b/c the lie has been going on before our first memory so it is accepted as "true" and we don't know any different, until we do something about it like this: click here, esp the bottom two). 

Verbal communication (words) live in the top two brains (80% of human communication is done nonverbally). They are important, and why have them if not to be clear on what each mean. How else are we to clearly communicate w/ each other? 

Since the first idea of GRIT GYM there's been a question to how do I define what GRIT means. I know what it means to me, but how will that come across to anyone else. It's not JUST about getting results or being part of a tribe, it's a way of living, it's an attitude, it's about character and growth, it's about being a badass (not the weak, insecure bully or passive type but the strong willed, personable, intelligent person of high character or seeking high character), but this is still vague. To someone else Grit could mean that the gym is full of sand or about clenching your teeth. 

A word that is strikingly interesting to me around this is RESOLVE, as a verb and a noun. 

RESOLVE

• A resolution or determination made, as to follow some course of action.
• Firmness of purpose or intent; determination.

It's been a year of testing one's resolve, the cinderella story is long over and the gym is approaching the terrible two's. Just like anyone else, I know my resolve has limits. H/e I also know that depending on what it is I'm likely to cross that line between tough and stupid long before realizing that I need to give it up or make a change. 

Personally, my resolve is subject to my titles: Man, Coach, Uncle, Friend.

At any point in time this is to be the most incredible that I can be in that particular moment and it has nothing to do w/ perfection. Best coach I can be when I'm coaching, best uncle I can be for the moments when I'm w/ my niece and nephews, and the most incredible friend that I can be when it's time. Which means (and this is the most important for everyone) taking care of myself first to be the most incredible man/person I can be, then I can be of true service. 

"If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation." -Lao Tzu
(that's where this would come in: click here) 

That's my resolve and my preparation for these moments, it's what it takes to be and do the best that I possibly can. The best I can possibly prepare, will prepare me to do/be my best while in these moments. Same goes for everyone. Just so happens that I bite off more than I can chew on a regular basis, and I've fail a lot. Show me someone that's never failed and you'll see a person that's never taken a chance and never tried. 


Failure is not only powerful, it is NECESSARY. What matters is what we do after.
Will we learn and rise, fall apart and crumble, or repeat and stay the same?

GRIT means: 

Can't stop it, can't smooth it out, wont quit. It's about character.

Character is largely built on resolve. That's what GRIT is about. What you are willing to do. Willing to work, will to change, willing to do what you fear, don't understand or not ready for, and willing to challenge everything you 'think' you know or accept of your self and circumstance. GRIT is about resolve and that's up to you, but for GRIT GYM it's about doing w/e it takes, and what it takes is doing your best in each present moment. 

This carries into any application: life, job, sport, passion, studies, family, etc. 

There are people w/ more titles than me, for instance: teacher, partner, wife, husband, mother, father, etc. When it is time to embody that title I hope that everyone has had the resolve to be their best and for that best to be enough.

"It's not about what you're capable of, it's about what you're willing to do."

No one wins every competition. Losing doesn't mean that your not enough. You cannot do better than your best, but most of us are so scared of our best that we avoid thinking about it. We make up pain that hasn't happened yet, what if we lose (click here). If you compete fearing to lose it'll end up like anything else that you go into w/ fear about. You'll lose, even if you win. If you go in accepting that you can fail but you're going to give it every possible thing you have, then you can experience the win and you can lose w/o failing (w/o being defeated). You gave it everything you had for that particular moment, and that's enough. A hat can be hung on that.   

"Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality" -Bruce Lee

So I ask you to define your resolve. It will change as you grow. Just as it should. You'll find yourself recognizing your personal limiting beliefs, things you didn't know existed (like challenging your personal bullshit) and what set/s you apart from others. The nice thing about all this is that there is ONLY ONE YOU, no else can be you, so be your own hero, it's your story that you're living. 

My resolve is simple: The absolute best I have and can do in the present moment and that is enough. Can't stop it, can't smooth it out, wont quit. 

I'm not saying it should be yours, but I encourage you to be courageous, to be present, continuously learn and challenge yourself, and to do your best, which will be incredible as long as it is your best. When you do that, it will be enough. You'll experience the victory, and you'll be able to live w/ loss w/o being defeated. Much like we'll all die, we'll all lose, and much like there's no point in living fearing death b/c it's inevitable and a waste of time/life, competing is the same way. Compete w/ the acceptance that you can lose, but that you're competitor will have to beat your absolute Grittiest, disgustingly aggressive, methodical, focused, relentless best that you have in that present moment and that you've prepared w/. 

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our Deepest fear, is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small, does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking So that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear; our presence automatically liberates others."

Your best is incredible, if you'll choose to go for it. What you choose is your resolve. 

"The reward for our work is not what we get, but what we become" -Paulo Coehlo 

Resolve to be your best, to be present, and to love yourself.

-Adams & Baumbach Associates (319)351-6654

-www.doctorpaul.net (or www.womenshappiness.com for women) 
Add "REES" for a $20 coupon.

-Websters dictionary

-Coach Carter (2005)

-Rudy (1993)
-Good Will Hunting (1997)

The Hidden Gem of Plyometrics NO One Talks About

The basics of strength and conditioning come down to one formula. Everything else is built around this. 

Force=Mass*Acceleration 

The more force we can produce the faster we run, higher we jump and stronger we will be. 

We can do this two ways: increase mass (resistance training like squats and deadlifts) or increase acceleration (plyometrics like jumps and sprints). This is a spectrum not an absolute, and in between would include weighted jumps, kettlebell swings/cleans/snatches and olympic lifts to name a few. 

H/e what is being missed in the plyometric world, THE HIDDEN GEM, is NOT in the initial jump like most coaches and people assume and seems logical at first glance. The initial jump does have merit, but the REAL BREAD AND BUTTER of a plyometric is actually in the LANDING. 

• In landing we're learning how to absorb force properly, which decreases injuries, allows for quicker transitions w/ less energy as well as to better change levels. (Almost all traumatic injuries occur during deceleration. Look at ACL tears, it's almost always during the landing after a jump.) 

• Landing is the fastest part of the movement. It's where our body will develop the MOST FORCE. Therefore it's where we get the most out of the exercise. It's also the most stressful and why it's pivotal to progress athletes correctly w/ a foundation of strength to handle that landing first, and avoid too much volume. This is where we get the real gains in force production, it's NOT in the initial jump.

During a box jump, we're raising where we'll land in order to learn to land w/ babysteps (less force to absorb). As we progress the box should actually GET SHORTER rather than TALLER.

We're jumping as high as we can regardless, the landing will become more difficult as the box gets lower to the ground b/c the body will be traveling further. More time in the air means more acceleration means more force to be absorbed. 

Loading up boxes to ridiculous heights isn't training, it's entertainment, a circus act. It'd be similar to a fighter throwing a punch harder when 5' away than 1' away.  

Not only is this dangerous and silly, but it's also of little to no value to an athlete's training. Anyone can do this stuff, it does NOT aide performance. 

My best cue for jumping is to do so LIKE A NINJA. 

1. Jump as high as you can regardless. 
2. Land w/ no noise in athletic position ready to move.

For more infomation Click Here: How To Become A Ninja

A friend of mine actually showed me this book. Apparently he bought it when he was a kid, and it is fantastic. The pictures alone make it worthy of anyone's coffee table. 

Learning Movement

We have to do a movement 1,000x perfectly before we can do it w/o conscious thought. In competition, this becomes very important, b/c we can't be thinking about how we're jumping if we want to play well, too much internal focus. We need to be thinking about the game. 

In the batters box an athlete can't be thinking about his/her swing, s/he needs her/his head on the ball. The 1,000 perfect swings needed to have already happened so that the athlete's head can be clear and the bat can fly how it needs to in order to connect how we want it to. 

Same thing here, learning to land properly in a controlled environment that way it happens automatically during competition, w/o thinking, just the way we want it to. 

• Start w/ arms high (this aides downward propulsion that we'll have to overcome and will in turn actually make us jump higher)

• Throw arms + load hips

• Jump as high as possible whether it's a 10" or a 36" box

• Land by absorbing the force (no noise, toe-heel, opposite of the jump) into athletic position, loaded and ready......LIKE A NINJA

Sports psych and Food addiction

Before starting this post take into account that this information is coming from studies of credible science based information and been reviewed w/ a renowned sports psychologist and behavioral therapist. 

It's widely agreed upon that 90% of any game is mental, which means 10% is technical. 

So why then do we spend more than 90% of our time on technique and less than 10% on the mental side? 

This is the newest video I did w/ the news and goes through some of what I notice in the relationship between mental health and progress in sports and workouts. 

http://thegazette.com/2012/11/28/talking-mental-health-and-fitness/

Much like suns damage to skin, it's already done. We learned as children and have a lot of reps over the years. Reacting (small/large) to our experiences w/ anger, anxiety, shutting down, running away, giving up, etc. These reactions are based on fear, and it's not about getting rid of the fear. We ALL have to have it, fight or flight is built on fear and w/o this portion of our reptilian brain we wouldn't survive. 

Extreme example, but we're all reacting in much more mild ways (could be a small habit we don't know about) throughout our day, the idea is to recognize when and then refocus.

We need fear, it's presence is NOT the issue. The issue is how we manage it. Acknowledging it, learning about ourselves, recognizing it, and refocusing for continual improvement. We all have and need this, no one is exempt, and the best are the people that acknowledge and learn to manage it.

It's also very real. Most of the time this stuff sounds like hocus pocus bullshit, but it's deeply rooted in our psychology and our biology. There is a mind body connection that we CAN MEASURE. This is the science behind Omegawave. Cortisol and adrenaline in blood, heart rate variability, grip strength, vertical jump, are all measurable and directly related to the biology - psychology connection. The body doesn't differentiate between stress: a fight w/ a friend, hard day at work, football game or a broken bone, stress is stress. 

It's hard work that takes time, as well as a coach (we're too good at tricking ourselves or suppressing it to figure it out on our own). Much like a baseball pitcher changing throwing mechanics. It takes 1,000 good reps before a change in technique is made permanent w/o thinking about it, and that's w/ a coach there delivering feedback. The pitcher can't watch his arm action and throw the ball at the same time, his mechanics would never change, and he probably wouldn't know there's anything to improve. 

It's recognizing when we feel these reactions, then accumulating good reps. No one is perfect, we all stumble, but we have to learn from each time. 

So when you subconsciously grab that handful of candy/comfort food, and eat it only to realize what you've done 5min after or don't know why you want it so badly, don't label it failure, learn from it and move fwd. Talk about it w/ your coach. Get deep w/ a behavioral therapist about what's really going on up stairs. S/he is the coach giving feedback on the arm action during the pitches. Your behaviors are the pitches and your mind is the arm action, and it could be clear down to foot placement. But you can't see it, and you never will on your own. 

A few sports psych things to think about: 

Anger is an aggressive display to push others away from seeing our fear. As kids we're taught that being afraid is weak and shameful. From the logic side of the bystander, we show anger to create distance so others wont see that we're afraid. Afraid to be afraid b/c fear is weak. This is unreasonable. 

Could be fear of failure, who knows, but that athlete has no idea why they're mad let alone that they're scared. Think of that the next time you see a football player throw his helmet (he didn't perform good enough, fear of failure). We'll never play up to our best potential when we're angry. Too much internal focus, can't think. We can feel or we can think, not at the same time. It's about management and learning through repetitions, the sooner we can start recognizing this and performing GOOD reps the better. 

Anxiety can be seen two ways. It's a call to action, to make a decision, to be courageous (do the right thing even if it's not the feel good thing). Or a fear that we wont be good enough. Wont perform well enough, aren't big enough, strong enough, smart enough, fast enough, successful enough, etc. This is where perfectionists, workaholics, and cortisol addicts live. 

Why get nervous before a wrestling match? It's an opportunity to showcase all the hard work. It should be exciting, amped up, ready to go. Instead we get nervous and scared of not being good enough to win so athletes compensate that w/ anger to hype up that way. Now there's some fake courage to take into the match, not enough external focus, and too much internal focus, so can't think. Athlete's should be excited, not scared. Excited is when they'll perform their best and that's when they'll have the best experience. 

The passive athlete is so scared to do their best that they wont even take the bat off their shoulder. It's a depressive's attitude. Hoping for the world/others to satisfy them. In this case that'd be a walk from the pitcher and/or umpire. Trouble is the only other outcome is to strike out. Home run, hit, walk, or an out. 3/4 is a lot better than 1/2. Especially when the 1 (a walk) isn't all that great. No risk, no investment, no reward. 

The outcome of a competition is dependent on if the best an athlete can do that day is better than their opponents best that day. It's not a cop out. Any day this can go both ways. The whole "control" thing is an illusion, the more fear we have, the more we attempt to control. It's not about controlling anything, it's about performing up to a personal best that day. Could have the flu, could have something happen in your family, could've failed a test, official could make a bad call, doesn't matter. We want the best possible performance in that competition that day, and that's enough, and that's where we get to enjoy our experience. It's not a cop out, it's the best you can possibly do. 

It's all about managing these fears, and through that we can start learning from our repetitions. 

Then we're enjoying playing and working out more, doing so for the right reasons, and making more progress than we thought we could all b/c we can be aware and recognize our fears and then better learn to manage them for not only progress in sports, but also in life. There's a lot of carry over that we learn from sports. 

We'd be better athletes that have a better experience. We'd be better coaches and better parents. Stand up w/ better posture, more progress from workouts, live more fulfilling lives, we'd be enough for ourselves. Not content, but our best would be enough.  

If we started this well before 12yrs old, we'd change the world. 





-This blog is written w/ the help of Morrie Adams a renowned sports psych and behavioral therapist.