Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Resolve: The Missing Ingredient.
Resolution-the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.
What is your resolution? If you are like most people "Lose weight" or "Get in shape" are on the list. It seems that every year around the end of December, people start making resolutions and by early February those resolutions are distant memories. By June most people are farther away from where they want to be than ever. Sound familiar?
What is the problem? Why does this happen? What is missing? The desire is certainly there, but unfortunately, that is not what it takes. You can have a very strong desire for great health and a small belly but if you are eating doughnuts all day and the only exercise you get is walking to the kitchen during commercials, it ain't gonna happen.
The Missing Ingredient
Notice the last 3 words of the definition above: Firmness of Purpose. There is no definite purpose in the list above. "Losing weight" and "Getting in shape" are not goals-they are ideas.
A firm purpose changes "I am trying to lose weight" to "I will weigh 120 lbs by April 15th by eating wholesome foods and exercising 3 times per week." Having a purpose changes "I'd like to get in shape" to "I will implement a structured exercise program that includes resistance training, endurance training and mobility training at least 3 days per week for the next three months". See the difference?
What is the single most important part of the process? The overwhelming desire to achieve a specific goal. I tell my clients that if they really want to get amazing results then they must be prepared to do whatever I ask to get them. Getting the results is not that complicated. It is the overwhelming desire that counts. The firmness of purpose.
Most people think -- "Well - one cookie won't hurt me will it?" I encourage my clients to think, "Will this help me or not? Is this a step toward my goal or not?" When fitting into that dress for your 25-year reunion becomes more important than the cookie, you are on your way. Once you understand this and really start to internalize it you become unstoppable.
So what are you going to do? Float through 2009 with the vague notion of better health and fitness while you waist gets bigger and your life expectancy shrinks? Or will you take control of your life and transform your desire into results? I challenge you to aim at a target and keep at it until you get there.
May 2009 be your best year yet!
Dave
PS-My favorite program for achieving (not just setting) goals is Dax Moy's Magic 100.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Formula for Success: Knee update
In mid- November I had my yearly physical and the MD asked if there was anything I wanted him to look at. I told him I had some stiffness in my right knee that had been there for several months. The short version of the story is that he sent me to an ortho doc and the diagnosis was torn meniscus, the treatment was physical therapy.
Interestingly, I wound up being a patient of Mark Snow, an athletic trainer who is in my AM Nashville Kettlebell Bootcamp class with his wife Nikki. In addition to our work with kettlebells, Mark also has trained with Gray Cook and the Functional Movement Screen. Short version again- Mark “gets it” regarding what I do and how we train.
We focused on improving knee extension and correcting the firing pattern of my glute and leg on the right side. Mark watched me do a set of snatches that mimics the RKC snatch test and spotted some imbalances in my movement pattern and recommended that I avoid snatches or swings until we correct the problem.
You know the old Cinderella song “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until It’s Gone”? (Yeah, I went there. 1988 rocked!) Tell a guy like me that he is prohibited from snatching? I literally felt the physical pain of disappointment and denial.
I had my follow-up appointment with the ortho doc to see what kind of progress I have made. In a little over 3 weeks of physical therapy my extension went from a being about 7 degrees short of full extension to completely straight. (the left knee naturally hyper extends about 5 degrees, so they still aren’t exactly even) I have no pain in flexion squatting) until I get REALLY deep. The doc was “surprised” at how rapidly I have improved. I was surprised at the quickness of improvement, but not at the improvement itself.
Here’s how it all it all fits together: Action A plus action B yields result C. The process is the same, regardless of the desired outcome. Consistent action that moves you in the direction of the goal results in success. It is a mathematical certainty.
Mark gave me specific things to do at home to improve extension and the firing pattern. And I did them. That is all there is to it.
Say you want to press a heavier kettlebell: Go to the Right of Passage program in Enter the Kettlebell. And DO it.
Formula for success: Intelligent plan + Consistent action = Desired result.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Guest Post By Jayson Hunter, Registered Dietitian
Rotate "Carbs" for Rapid Fat Loss
By Jayson Hunter, Registered Dietitian
Millions of people have tried both "low-carb" and "no-carb" approaches in an attempt to lose weight quickly. But few have tried a much safer and healthier approach known as Carb Rotation. It is a much more effective and realistic method of rapid fat loss.
There are two general approaches to Carb Rotating. The first approach is to follow a "no, no, no, high carb" program. This means you would eat no carbohydrates at all for the first three days and then eat a "high" amount of carbohydrates on for the fourth day. The fifth day you are back to eating "no carbs" again.
This plan can be effective, but you have to be very strict. It is an aggressive approach that may trigger your starvation response. Yes, the very same starvation response which causes elevation of a hormone called lipoprotein lipase. When this hormone becomes elevated your metabolism begins to slow down. And since that is the last thing anyone who is trying to get rid of unwanted pounds wants, it is not the approach I recommend.
Additionally, when people deprive themselves completely of "carbs" for three days they have a tendency to:1) Go completely overboard with carbohydrate consumption on the fourth day of the rotation.2) Not be able to go back to the three days of carbohydrate deprivation resulting in failure of the program.
The much more common sense approach is to follow a "high, low, no carb" program. There is much more room for error with this type of plan. It is much easier to follow and leads to much greater success.
Rotating your "carbs" in this manner allows you to shed fat and keep your metabolism elevated, which is the key to long term weight loss. There is a consistent transition with a "high, low, no" approach because every fourth day you repeat the cycle and you aren't depriving yourself of "carbs" for three days straight. And again: potentially triggering the elevation of lipoprotein lipase.We tend to eat too many "carbs", we eat improper "carbs" and we don't eat enough protein in our diet. But by following the guidelines laid out in a "high, low, no carb" program we are manipulating the blood sugars and insulin response in our body to achieve rapid of fat loss.
Rotating Carbs allows you to control and manipulate your blood sugars and insulin response so you are allowing your body to burn more calories for energy instead of storing "carbs" as fat. This means you are shedding fat and increasing your metabolism. Two very good things!
Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS is the author of the Carb Rotation Diet. You can take advantage of his holiday special by visiting his site Carb Rotation Diet.
Monday, December 8, 2008
More tearing cards-this time in Handcuffs
Handcuffed, in front and behind the back. Big thanks to Dennis Rogers for teaching me the feat and Adam Glass for helping me with it.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Practice, patience, repetition.
I was having a discussion with a client yesterday about snatching, ripped calluses, etc.
I told him that I haven't torn my hands up in years (I literally do not remember the last time) from snatching.
The explanation: by doing literally tens of thousands of kettlebell snatches, I arrived at point of unconscious competence. I can do it absolutely correctly, every single rep, without thinking about it. If you have to think about it, you still haven't completely absorbed it, made it a [I]part[I] of you.
The beginning point: you first try to figure out what to do, then try to perform it.
The ending point: you have done it so much that to explain it requires that you stop and figure it out.
Paraphrasing Bruce Lee-After a while, you don't snatch, it snatches all by itself.
