Training

Open Letter to Our Fitness Community

Open Letter to Our Fitness Community

Whether an independent facility owner, Personal Trainer, client, Physiotherapist, customer, local partner, official supplier, attentive clinician or receptionist – we inseparably unite to naturally make people's lives better (our own and for those we serve). So, by now, we are agonizing over the potential loss of our economic livelihood, private studios, gyms, CrossFit boxes, clubs, weekly classes and people who drew us together – that ultimate reality might be frustrating, even disappointing. They were our THIRD SPACES. And if it was your source of earned income, the unwelcome interruption is scary.

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Normalcy Interrupted

Normalcy Interrupted

There are probably too many of us who will take a long time to arrive at the obvious conclusions because they are firmly rooted in denial of what’s to come. They will be the ones who will say, “who knew it was going to be that bad?” It is going to be THAT bad. You can see it on the faces and hear it in the voices of the experts on tv as they sidestep around the questions asked by the media. They refuse to answer the most fundamental questions. Such as: “Do we have enough treatment facilities for the infected?” They are worried for us all.

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GLUTATHIONE: IMMUNOCAL

The immune system is incredibly complex, but a major cornerstone relies on its ability to obtain a molecule called glutathione. Glutathione exists in every cell of your body and is essential for life and critical for health. This molecule is constantly being used up in dozens of your body's functions and is difficult to replace. Glutathione is your body's master antioxidant, its chief detoxification enzyme and is literally food for the immune system.

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The Senior Leader and the Athlete

 Executives and elite athletes share much in common.

The Generalities: They both must perform at a consistent high level in persistently and routinely stressful environments, often standing close to the ledge of their capabilities; Mistakes are measured in fractions and judged harshly, and; Posture is key.

There is, however, one unfortunate and unnecessary difference: Athletes spend, by far, more time practicing to improve their craft than they do competing, and they clearly understand the value of rest and nutrition for recovery. Conversely, business leaders reside in a competitive environment where stress is often a benchmark for success, fatigue is common, and nutrition is often an afterthought.

Why it Matters: In a nutshell, there’s much that a business leader can learn from competitive athletes:

  1. A rested body and mind allows you to return to your work refreshed, bringing clarity. It is now common for sports teams and athletes to employ Sleep Coaches to better combat travel schedules and aide in recovery.
  2. Physical fitness is used as a tool to make tasks easier.
  3. Mindset control is essential to better manage groups of people, and unpredictable audiences or environments.
  4. Small margins can impact and determine success or failure.
  5. You are judged by your posture. Slumped shoulders implies weakness, poor self esteem and surrender. Athletes and business leaders who move well, with ease and purpose are a joy to follow. There is no skill that is not enhanced by better movement.
  6. Pattern recognition and recall allow athletes to quickly and repeatedly extract and sort information that is often coming at them at a rapid, if not unpredictable rate. The development of this skill enables high performers to anticipate and predict possible outcomes. Thereby making them better decision makers.

Movement makes us smarter and enhances creativity. Athletes have learned that practicing movement helps them to solve problems faster and improve concentration. Modern movement science has shifted us away from high-volume training and towards higher-intensity training, instead. “How much and for how long” has been replaced by more focused, deliberate work in shorter bursts with greater allowance for rest and recovery.

Business leaders faced with the constant demands of constant work schedules, travel, self-imposed cortisol hormonal injections caused by constant stress causing damage to cells and disrupting our ability to metabolize sugars and fats can in a similar way benefit from these techniques employed by athletes.

Summary: I’ve condensed decades of work with senior leaders, athletes and their teams to these simple lessons, tailoring them to the individual. While there are obvious differences between athletes and business leaders, the similarities are too myriad to ignore. There is no question that executive teams and their boards can increase the performance and success of their teams by learning to doing the same. You can increase your rate of success by training the athlete in you!

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Exercise Versus Training: An Important Distinction

Exercise Versus Training: An Important Distinction

The problem with the English language is that we have many words that can be conflated to imply the same thing, yet are quite different by definition. Add EXERCISING and TRAINING to that. You can go to the driving range to hit balls or you can go to practice your swing. There is only one small but significant difference: INTENT. And, that is the difference between TRAINING and EXERCISE. It is important to understand these differences and what benefits we can expect from both. 

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THE HISTORY OF HUMAN FITNESS (PART 1 of 3)

THE HISTORY OF HUMAN FITNESS (PART 1 of 3)

“A pattern that had been familiar throughout history is that after a war is fought and won, the tendency is for society to relax, enjoy life, and exercise less. … It appears that as societies become too enamored with wealth, prosperity and self-entertainment, fitness levels drop. In addition, as technology has advanced with man, the levels of physical fitness have decreased.” –Lance C. Dalleck and Len Kravitz

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WHAT YOU TRAIN, IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

WHAT YOU TRAIN, IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

It takes your Central Nervous System lesser time to complete any task than it will take for me to explain it. But bare with me. This is fundamental to why you may not be getting the results you want from training.

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A MOVEMENT FOR MOVEMENT: WHAT'S REPS GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Some of us enjoy breaking the rules or taking the shortcut, no matter how great the risk, regardless of the potential punishment, especially when for short term gains or self-gratification. After all, from an early age, we've learned that we can get away with it, without repercussions. My warning is this: Mother Nature has been at this for far longer than any of us, and she is a master serial killer, with no remorse for us and our ways. She will pursue balance, at all cost. This knowledge has caused me to begin looking at the teaching of movement and exercise from a different, more global perspective. My discovery is: Much of the pain, discomfort, illnesses and disease facing man, is of our own doing.

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MOVE IT OR LOSE IT

MOVE IT OR LOSE IT

We are born natural movers, and that is what we are intended to still be. However now, researchers are confused why some of us are not responding to exercise, no matter how hard we try.

"Is your workout getting you nowhere?", is the opening question posed by Ms. Gretchen Reynolds in her Globe & Mail newspaper article published, January 13th, 2017. For far too many, this acknowledgement is a bitter, if not overwhelming pill to swallow. They are discouraged.

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JUST MOVE IT,

JUST MOVE IT,

For more than 25 years, I've watched, often horrified as the most tragic accidents play themselves out. Hardworking people unwittingly propel themselves into catastrophic physical events disguised as fitness.

Movement is more than a new buzzword, hashtag or a catchphrase. It is a matter of life or death. And while that may seem like hyperbole, the evidence is clear.

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The Power of the Mind

The Power of the Mind

Visualization is a tool used by professionals and novice alike during training and work. In the end, visualization is used to reach success. However, it can also be used more globally as a separate training tool (to see the desired outcome), to establish or renew awareness, to heighten sensory perception, to calm and relax, refocus, to improve well-being and to recover from injury or failure.

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