No More resolutions!…And, it’s good that you have a goal, now don’t get blindsided on your way to it. Part II
Balance your journey by building solid foundations.
The word Balance in dictionaries is defined as:
noun
: the state of having your weight spread equally so that you do not fall
: the ability to move or to remain in a position without losing control or falling
: a state in which different things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance
We think of balance as something much like our personal holy grail. We must find it, have it, embrace it, but it's highly unattainable and overbearing. Similarly, the fitness world is full of misconceptions and extremely confused on the subject, both on how to balance life and fitness and on how to accurately train to improve one's balance.
I'll talk about how to structure a balanced routine (workout) and on how to actually train your balance on later posts. Right now let's get back to the topic at hand. First, some clarity. We have established that to ensure success in any endeavor, one must have a defined purpose and set specific and attainable goals. Here's your what and how:
Purpose.
This is your greater good. Your most important focus for taking action towards your goals. Whether it's a small daily step or bigger strides, your goals will be hard to reach without internalizing a greater meaning to achieve them. For example, to start exercising and lose weight is a goal. To be healthier, live longer and be happier and more comfortable in your own skin, is a defined purpose for training.
GOALS.
Establishing goals is an important part of path to success. A goal sets you in the right direction, provides short-term motivation to get moving, and helps you plan out your progress. This all sounds great but then life happens, or you hit some roadblock you are not prepared for and bam! There goes another year of lost initiative. Set your goals right and clear to begin, then focus on implementation. Here's some help on goal setting from the pros at TED:
SMART Goals
A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:
• S – Specific (or Significant).
• M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T – Time-bound (or Trackable).
In other words, define a specific outcome, tie it to a deadline, break it up in reasonable milestones, and measure and track your progress.
But accomplishing your goals without proper preparation will most likely lead to disappointment and loss of drive to continue.
Planning
Since I'm on a roll, here's another cliché: failing to plan is planning to fail. But seriously, I rambled on before about the difference between exercising and training, so by now it should be understood that training is a process of thought and deliberate actions.
Creating a good plan needs:
• Analysis of current conditions and needs. Your health and readiness state and what you can put into it in terms of time and money.
• A clear goal.
• An honest assessment of what you actually know and the resources available to you, including gyms, coaches, nutrition guidelines, training programs, classes, etc.
• A training schedule for the month or pre determined number of weeks. This includes a set number of progressive, effective and efficient routines (workouts) that fit your current fitness level, your main objective, and the time you can devote to training.
• Being aware of the known difficulties you will encounter in achieving the plan and establishing solutions before hand.
• Expect the unexpected, Identify risks, and plan for contingencies. This allows you to work on a damage control system before hand and make quick and effective response when crises arises. For example, what to do when your energy or motivation is low or who to consult when you are confused about a possible setback.
Finally, take all of that and focus on this:Systems of implementation.
• Make a commitment to the plan and the process and don't get overwhelmed by the goal. Don't miss your scheduled workout sessions and if you anticipate having to miss for whatever reason, make a plan to make up for it within the same week if possible or add an extra day the following week.
• Accept that you're in this for the long run and forget about immediate gratification. Focus on what you need to accomplish with each session, don't try to out do the plan and feel good about the work you just put in. Most people hurt themselves because they do too much too soon. It is true that patience is a virtue in this case.
• know the main purpose of each session. If you find yourself pressed for time or something unexpected happens last minute, do the most important work that was planned for that day and get to the rest later. Every little bit counts.
• Review your work periodically and make the adjustments necessary to stay on track. Make Sure to have a clear understanding of the program you are following and how to detect what needs to be modified or prioritized. Nothing is set in stone and we need to be flexible and capable of making the right changes to the plan as we go. A good coach and/or a solid education on how to do this is imperative for long term success.
Focus on the process not the outcome. With this approach you will enjoy your journey. Each new accomplishment or milestone reached will be rewarding and encouraging to continue. Likewise, each set back and obstacle will be met with the acceptance needed to not be discouraged, giving you instead more power to find solutions, over come it and move forward. Remember that working out is meant to enhance your life and should not dictate your life or be a source of stress in your life.
Always Strong!
JC
No More Resolutions: "Life is about balancing the journey".
No More Resolutions!
…And, it’s good that you have a goal, now don’t get blindsided on your way to it.
It has been said that life is a journey and not a destination. Life is also a highway and a rollercoaster. We should all hope to grow daily and somehow adhere more and more to the perspective that life is worth living it and, therefore, we must try to balance our journey so we can accomplish our goals in time without loosing sight of what matters and killing ourselves a little at a time racing our way there.
Fitness is no different. I’ve asked of you before to train with purpose and set goals, yet these steps are just that, steps or pieces in a puzzle. Don’t worry, I will show you in reasonable time that this puzzle is really not that complicated. For now, let’s focus on the missing links: Planning and systems of implementation.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Can you find your higher purpose without constant self reflexion and study?
2. Can you reach your resolutions or goals when they are so overwhelming that they cause more stress than motivation?
3. Can you succeed without planning, proper learning, and daily practice?
AlwaysStrong!
JC
UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRAINING AND EXERCISING CAN HELP DEVELOP SKILLS AND IMPROVE LONGEVITY
Lately I've seen more articles tackling this particular subject. Let's thank the universe that the stars align from time to time and some commercial media channels actually feature real experts with valuable, truth-based information. Unfortunately, most of it lands on deaf (uneducated and/or confused) ears, probably because these same channels precede and follow up such articles with the latest "fitness craze" or "newest celebrity trainer signature move". So here's a quick look at the importance of this subject and hopefully we'll start a conversation to build on.
1. Training is about a greater purpose. Exercising is about exercising.
To gain a positive life changing result, you must know what your working, fighting, and/or training for. Training is about working effectively and efficiently towards achieving your defined goals. Exercising without this greater thought process may yield some positive changes short term, but you will only accomplish a fraction of what could be accomplished, and most likely waste a lot of time in the process.
There is no magic pill or perfect method to get you in the best shape of your life. There is no perfect system of training either. Everything works until it doesn't. Anything can work if you believe enough in it and you follow instructions well. The truth is, however, that nothing will work without purpose. I can say with full certainty, that all false promises that feed on the emotion and superficial desires of the masses will eventually run their course, just as any empty and unclear pursuit of greatness will eventually have its downfall.
Find your purpose and define your goals. Then you have the first step towards finding the right means to achieve results and reaching your true potential. There is no perfect mean, but there is a right process. There is also the science to guide the process. This process is determined by the purpose behind why you are training. What follows is a thought-out plan and expected, timely and measurable results that add up to a greater long term goal. This implies that every training session or routine (not just a workout) also has a specific purpose. Furthermore, this implies that there's sufficient knowledge and understanding to correct, modify or change something about the plan when needed. This implies success.
2. Training is about the future. Exercising is about today.
We all know regular exercise and daily physical activity can improve and maintain good health. But exercising randomly doesn't win you championships, help you break personal records, transform your body, or actually make significant health and functional changes that will improve your long term health and quality of life.
Most exercise based protocols consist of constant movement and excess sweating. You may feel that you are accomplishing a goal and that you are extremely productive, but one must question the sustainability and longevity of approaching fitness in this way. If your workouts consist of ONLY endurance work on a bike or machine while going nowhere, and/or frantic, time-based bouts of combined exercises, such as circuits of running in place, erg rowing, pushups, squats, burpees, swings, light high-rep resistance work, or any other of the same old monkey business you see in any fitness class or informercial workout; You are indeed exercising -Not training. Yes, you are burning calories, but will you burn more calories day in and day out, even while at rest, long term? Yes, your heart and muscles can do more work after a while, but are you reaching your full potential by randomly shuffling around the same activities and protocols?
There is an inverse relationship between Quality and Quantity. More people, more reps, more sets, more exercising, more moving, etc.; by definition leads to less individual attention, lesser ability to teach and learn properly, less focus, little to non existent quality programing, less recovery, and so on. This approach is successful from a business perspective as it draws herds and motivates them to move in community, with less thinking and affordable prices. But I'll repeat again, these focus on exercises pulled out of a hat to "lose calories", break a sweat, or make you tired, you will NOT result in any significant long-term progress. You will not really be strong and keep getting stronger. You won't be able to do a triathlon. You won't correct your weaknesses and may create further long term damage. You won't carve an admirable balanced physique, and most likely you won't be able to keep it up much longer without abuse injuries, plateauing, getting bored, or feeling the need to find the next and newest trend.
Yes something is better than nothing and classes formed with some minor progressions and changes are better than just something, but there's already inhibited limitations in this format and not enough good coaching to overcome it long term. Though fun and enjoyable as they may be, these Churn and burn focus only result in SHORT-TERM achievement. They solve the problems of today. You may lose some calories so you can keep eating and drinking the same and not gain any more weight, or they can possibly make you "skinny" if you starve yourself while you feel "the burn" everyday. Either way, this warped perception of fitness that prevails rampantly now days is the total opposite of what having a fit life style means.
3. Exercise is about breaking a sweat; Training is about gaining a skill.
Some people are content with just exercising; they are just looking to stay in shape. I am encouraging you to seek purpose within your workouts. Make your sweat during workouts mean something. Make that jump from exercising to training. Changing your outlook and seeing fitness in this way creates the right platform to finding true balance of mind, body, and spirit, and ensures that exercise becomes an integral part of your life and not just a chore. Achieving this balance and know how is precisely what it means to have Skill. Here's your dictionary.com definition:
The ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well: "Carpentry was one of his many skills."
Competent excellence in performance; expertness; dexterity: "The dancer performed with skill."
Mastering an exercise is skill. Mastering the ability to pace your self or push yourself further when it counts, is skill. Achieving a movement task or performing in a sport efficiently and effectively, in a fluid, coordinated and timely manner, is skill. A lot of skills are dependent on strength, or some form of strength, and developing strength properly and safely is a skill.
Although practice implies repetition, repeating things over and over without some evaluation, correction, and progression, will not result in skill building. It will result in burnout. Variety is needed to prevent accommodation, yet too soon or too much change won't allow significant adaptation and can cause damaging fatigue to the system. So, as you see, knowing how to train can be complicated and is in itself a skill. The more skillful one is at training, the easier it is to make complicated training decision and guarantee results. More on this to come, but here's some food for thought:
If you are paying a trainer, are you paying him to exercise you or train you? and which is the trainer actually doing?
Lastly,
People who exercise want to look and feel better. People who train want to see tangible results, and make sure they feel, look and perform better. Having purpose within your workouts will improve your mind, which, in turn, will improve your body. Accomplishing a goal feels good. Training effectively feels even better.
Without a good plan, continuos learning and good coaching, there's no improved longevity, no developing of skills or real learning on how to work out appropriately for your body and its needs. Much less does it help you develop a process that is sustainable and that you can engage in for the rest of your life. So the pursuit of the daily burn may ultimately leave you in ashes.
As we have learned last week, working towards goals is an important step to effective training. So again, define your long and short term goals and educate yourself on how to best achieve them. Next we'll put all goal setting and training knowledge together. 'Till then,
Always Strong!
JC
Six TRUE ways to lose body fat and stay lean
1. Alternate daily caloric intake: more on training days and less on inactive days.
2. Depending on your training/performance goals, consume between 15% and 30% of your caloric intake in the forms of good dietary fat.
3. Taking into consideration individual needs, Lower but do not Eliminate carbohydrate intake, and make sure to eat mostly high quality complex carbs.
4. Eat frequently and don't skip meals or starve yourself.
5. Consume as much quality protein as possible each meal.
6. Weight train often. 3-4 times a week is a good goal with moderate cardio exercise and interval training as needed. But do not abuse cardio or think this is the only form of exercise needed to get lean.
More on these points soon.
Always Strong!
JC
High Repetition, Less Weight? or Less Repetition, More Weight?
In response to my post yesterday, Ruben asked a great question: to gain more muscle mass you do use high weight less reps and to get toned and ripped, you do less weight more reps?
I wanted to share my response to clarify or help you better understand the relationship between repetition, and weight size.
I'll try for a brief answer but the truth is that it's really not that simple. For the majority of people getting "ripped" it's more a function of diet than the type of work performed. Building more and more muscle requires not just increasing the weight but eating more as well.
The word "toned" is not deemed accurate terminology amongst professional coaches and exercise scientist, but in popular culture refers to a low level of muscular development that's visible but it's not "bulky" or bodybuilder type. So to be toned you still have to build some muscle. In either case, "tone" or "bulk" requires periodic changes in intensity, exercise selection and execution, in order to ensure ongoing adaptation and prevent accommodation or stagnation if you will.
So low reps or high reps, you still need to up the weight on your chosen rep scheme to make progress. There is an inverse relationship between intensity and duration. All things being equal, You either work hard for a short time or work light for a long time, but you can't do both. As an example outside of lifting, take sprinting and long distance running as comparison. You can't sprint your way through a marathon, and you can't pace your way to a 100m record. Also, take a look at the difference in physic. To confuse you even more (not really but bare with me), you can get stronger and more powerful without putting on tons of muscle as athletes with weight class requirement often do.
Still With me? So unless you have a defined goal of either getting the strongest possible, the most powerful possible, the biggest possible, or a combination of these, you're best bet is to train for strength sometimes (low reps/higher weight), muscular and short term cardio endurance other times (moderate or medium range reps/weight and sprints), and some quality mixed days with higher reps and either sprints or mid-duration cardio bouts sprinkled on top.
Whatever your focus, it all boils down in the end to having and maintaining a nourishing and supportive diet that allows you to achieve the results you want. Understanding your particular needs and Having a clear goal are the first steps towards finding the right solution for you and educating yourself on how to achieve your goals effectively, efficiently, and safely.
Always Strong!
JC
DISCOVER YOUR GOAL
This week’s Chalk Talk is all about goals.
Goal setting is used by top athletes and successful people in all fields to reach milestones and give long term purpose to their lives. Are you clear on your goal and how to best achieve it?
We all know how important it is to have goals, but Goal is a broad term. The word goal is defined as “the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result." I had asked you earlier to discover your true reasons for training. And I will ask you again. What is your AIM, or DESIRED RESULT when training? There are endless amounts of reasons which we can list, but finding a goal that is specific to YOU is the most important. The more clarity you have about what you desire to achieve, the better you can prepare and plan for success.
Determining ones goals can be overwhelming at times, but it is through this thinking process that we turn our vision and desire into reality. Fortunately, there are established goal setting tools, extensive body of work on the science of exercise, and plenty of examples of success to help us. This week we will be working on crafting the right goal based upon three factors. Today we will begin with the basics. Eventually we will build a goal that answers these three questions.
· Is your goal practical?
· Is your goal specific?
· Is your goal quantifiable?
By the way, have you noticed that I keep making emphasis on training and not just exercise? Do you think there's a difference? To be continued...
Always Strong!
JC
Welcome to JC/PE TRAINING
Hello!
Here I will be sharing my extensive knowledge and passion for fitness education. I am excited to announce the launch of my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I feel my first Facebook post displays the most important aspect of training. And so I ask you again, "Why are you training?," and "What is your purpose?" These are two essential questions I will push you to constantly ask yourself.
In order to seek results, and to achieve your goal, I urge you to decide what exactly you are trying to achieve. Figure out your goals in order to accomplish them effectively.
We all strive for perfection knowing that perfection is unattainable, but this is what makes us human. We will try to achieve perfection in the best way we can despite its unlikelihood. It's logical to argue then, that what we determined to be the "best way" to achieve this task is most likely not so and just another self defeating prophecy.
Before we begin, I encourage you to truly figure out the reason why you are training. Accept fitness as a part of your truth, and know that it is a necessary component for your mind and body to grow. There are no real short cuts or magic pills. Your gratification should come first from being clear on what you want and on knowing how to achieve it. This will give you the short term motivation to work towards that destination and why not? enjoy the process or journey if you will. Once you understand that fitness is a lifelong commitment you will be able to set goals, make plans, and achieve results. This process is the key to improving the mind, enhancing the body, and attaining happiness.
Enjoy reading the content on my blog. I look forward to hearing your feedback, and opinions.
Always Strong!
JC