Best Possible Self exercise

What do you think of when you think of writing? 

I used to think of my bad grammar skills and poor punctuation. I immediately get images of being forced to sit at a desk to write about subjects I don't care about. It is pretty hard to write about things you can't connect with or aren't engaged by. 

What if we wrote about something fun and exciting on a subject you are a world renowned expert on? What if there were no judgements on perfect punctuation or typos? That would be way cooler, right?!

Good news... you can start today! More good news... when you're done, you will most likely be more of an expert on a specific subject than you were when you started. Last good news... that subject is YOU and your future!

Ready to try? There is no barrier to starting this exercise as long as you have 10 minutes, pen & paper or laptop/tablet, and an open mind. (I actually think you could start this exercise with a pretty closed mind, and be pleasantly surprised with how much more open it was by the end)

The Best Possible Self exercise is simply jotting down what your imaginary future looks like if everything goes right. It can be sentences or shorthand. Punctuation doesn't matter. Length doesn't matter. Maybe it is detailed, maybe it's brief. It doesn't need to make sense to anyone except for you. Your 10 minute timer is set, right?

3,2,1, GO!

Welcome back. How was your experience? When you read over the list, are you filled with excitement and optimism? Are you surprised with what your future self values? If so, what are the reasons for valuing those things? Are you living a life today that will get you to your optimal future self? 

This can be done once a week or month with surprising results. After all, how are you going to know yourself if you don't think about yourself. How are you going to get what you want out of life if you never stop to think about what you want out of life?

Bonus: At the end of this exercise, think of 3 pieces of advice that your future self would give you. Then take that advice! Your future self is one smart cookie ;) 

GB, why do you use the term "Humans" so often?

Good Question! I use the descriptive term Humans for everyone because thats how I try to see everyone. No matter what your race, gender identity, religion/non-religion, birthplace, skin color, sexual orientation, height, weight, hair style, nationality, I will do my best to be open and kind to you. 

It's my small way of being the change that I want to see in the world. I believe that these identities, while useful for self identity and creating a tribe, can also be the focus of differentiating ourselves from one another to a level of exclusion and misunderstanding of one another. 

We are all in this world together. This world is getting smaller every day because of the exponential growth curve of technology of transport and communication. Focusing on our differences does nothing to move us ahead as a species. 

From one human to another, I hope you're enjoying this flight on a rock hurtling through outer space, and I encourage you to see anyone in your daily life as a fellow human, before anything else.

<3 GB

Beats by GB (metronome beats, that is)

A Metronome App on my iPhone. Gamechanger.

Standards. Do you have them?

With so many qualitative and quantitative metrics available to modern coaches, we have to know which ones to use, with which clients, at the right times. Speaking of time, lets talk about perfect time.

60bpm.

This is a gamechanger for quality because of the control and grace aspect. It also helps track quantity as well because we can accurately measure time under tension. As a tension teaching tool it can't be beat! A personal example of the effectiveness of the metronome is my muscle-up. Now I'm not one to brag (get ready to hear a brag), but I pull like a savage. My concentric is violent and explosive, but there is one little problem with that. We don't only pull up... we also have to lower down. I could pull on top of the rings with the greatest of ease, but I couldn't lower down without flailing or falling. That single sided strength was likely hindering my progress getting reps, and it was most certainly a recipe for a shoulder/elbow injury down the road.

I added in the qualitative measurement of 3 second eccentrics and miraculously my reps record went from 3 sloppy reps to 5 perfect slow reps.

Now for an example we an all imagine. Have you seen (or been) that squatter that slams to the bottom of the squat only to wriggle/shift/worm/seizure their way up? That person needs some metronome in their life! Making a regression in weight and starting with 5 second eccentric squats until the bar/body path was consistent would do wonders for their performance and longevity. 

• Does this take concentration? Yup.
• Does this take discipline? Yup.
• Does it challenge your ego doing down in weight or reps? Mos def. 
• Is your short term and long term health and performance goals worth the temporary step back?Hell yup!!!

I hope you try these for a phase of your training, and see what the beat can do for you. 

<3 GB

*to balance out the aforementioned brag, its worth noting that I press like a toddler.

**Pro-tip for powerlifters: this technique will straighten out your bar path in the squat and bench in no time. You'll feel how much harder it is to have an inefficient bar path. 

You and your gym need this cheap fix! (Only if you're looking to make progress)

I have an "Intentional Gym Community Member", hereinafter referred to as IGCM, who trains with me once a week, and trains by themselves twice a week. We train compound lifts like squats and deadlifts, and we train gymnastic strength for upper body. Occasionally, this athlete comes to me and says...

IGCM: I don't feel like I'm getting stronger.

Me: How long do you rest between your work sets?

IGCM then says "I dunno" or "like, maybe a minute". Thats when IGCM gets a present. 

The Gamechanger  

Ye olde egge timer... That's it. An egg timer is what its gonna take to get ICGM, and possibly you, stronger and better at the skills they are trying to learn. The vein on my forehead is already starting to bulge out a little, only because encouraging rest (read: forcing rest) is one of those things that I have suggested until I'm purple in the face, only to have my clients come back like "jeez, coach GB, you were right". Resting between sets is not lazy, it's smart. It is how high level athletes train, and if you'd like to get awesome results it would be wise to align your training methodology with someone that is paid to get results. 

As with all things, there are a few exceptions, like EMOM's or limiting rest in attempt to increase work capacity, but for most of us, including me, just need to rest. One of the things I liked most about the Ido Portal Online Coaching was that my rest periods were all written out, leaving very little to question. 

My findings are that timer works better than the large timer on the wall or a cell phone. I believe it's because the egg timer won't distract you like your snapchat riddled cellie, and it's better than the wall timer because it beeps at you and can't be ignored. At least not with my Intentional Community Members around, who will ruthlessly hound you if you leave your timer going off unattended. 

Are you looking for skills or strength but having a hard time finding them?

Egg timer. Gamechanger!!!

 <3 GB

Coaches Corner: Optimal Meet Preparation

Coach Shawn and GB discuss ways to have an optimal meet. No matter what the result, you want to be able to say that you did all you could to be ready. 

Our main points are as follows...

Shawn:

1: Visualize everything.  Imagine yourself smoking your opener, and imagine yourself missing your opener.  Think about the people that will be staring at you (judges and audience).  You won't miss an opener if you've taken your opener 50 times because you imagined every variable dozens of times.

2: Sport specificity is not an excuse to avoid weaknesses.  If baseball players only every rotated in the direction of their bat swing/throwing arm, they would have spinal injuries and hip injuries from imbalanced core development.  If you make the case that this concept doesn't carry over to weightlifting and powerlifting, I am convinced you are lying to yourself and use sport specificity as a convenient argument to hide your pride.

3: There is a difference between "wrong" positions and bad positions.  It may be wrong to lean forward excessively in a squat, but that does not mean that a hinge is a bad position.  Athletes must train movement in every direction under a variety of loads and using different tools to truly eliminate weaknesses.  This training approach builds a more versatile athlete capable of recovering from imperfect movement.  Additionally, training load tolerance in different positions will reduce the likelihood of injury should someone find themselves in a "wrong" position.

GB:

1 - Mimic competition in practice. Team GB and Team MissionFit have always taken a half of a training session to hit perfect singles to a competition standard, with a competition set-up, with  people watching for extra pressure. No music, just focus. 

2 - Do positional work. This has benefitted me personally in my gymnastic strength training, and it is being done by some very forward thinking weightlifting/powerlifting coaches as well. Be rock solid and intentional in every inch of that lift and how you position your body. 

3 - Control your variables. This means no new equipment before your meet. Belts, wraps, shoes, singlets, and tape should all be tried and true. If you get something new, use it next meet!

4 - Know the rules! This one bit me in the butt once, and only once. Know exactly what is expected beforehand. A good meet organizer will provide you with these details, but don't be afraid to ask if they don't.

Letter to a Cynical Friend: The Strength of Optimism

Are humans the most adaptable and capable hardware ever created? We have some built in operating system glitches, and those can all be rewritten with a little bit of time and work. Am I so off on this one? Why wouldn’t someone have undying optimism in the human race? 

Historically, people have gotten things wrong with how to deal with other people. I don’t believe this needs to be an endless cycle. Go ahead, think “But that’s how things have always been.” Then also realize that the appeal to tradition or argumentum ad antiquitatem, can’t be a valid answer.

It may seem like it could take forever to get to the point of collective enlightenment, but please consider that we are closer to exponential growth in technology and shared consciousness than we have ever been before. Imagine the world that your great great grandparents lived in. The world now is unrecognizable to someone 2-3 generations away.

Remember that every almost every advance in humanity comes from optimism. Innovation generates from a person thinking something can happen even when most other people think it can’t. Yes, that was an appeal to tradition, but I think you will find it is one that will get you much further in life. 

❤️

Note: the author is a flawed human being, who is suffering from a brutal case of the Socratic Paradox, “I know that I know nothing"

Happy Hollowing!

Do you, or a client, have a hard time understanding why hollow holds are so valuable? My experiences suggests that maybe, just maybe, you're doing them wrong. If they aren't challenging, it is because you are making them too easy! In the second half of this article I will talk about two ways to approach progression in the hollow hold, and for those impatient souls, I will get right to the point. 

Hollow Harder! Do you guys know about the RKC plank? The idea is that your average, run of the mill plank doesn't engage much, and that you get more bracing tension when surrounding muscle groups tighten up as well. Chip Conrad taught me to do a plank like someone could stand on me.... so I did!

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Phew, my lady walks all over me!

Apply those same principles of tension to the hollow and now you're on a road to Tremble City and a foundation of "core" strength worth building other, more complicated movements off of.

Some people just get how to engage harder, or they can easily be cued with something like "bring your shoulders higher off the ground" or "pretend like I'm about to Godzilla stomp your tum-tum". Others will need the band. 

In the band set-up I have my client lie down on their back, bring then knees directly above their hips, then hold the band in a hammer grip above their chest. From there I tell them to crunch up and don't let their shoulders touch the ground or don't let me pull the band back. I slowly walk back with the band until I see some little abdominal twitches or they say I'm at the right place. It doesn't take much, so communicate well and go slowly at first. 

Make yourself, The Lever, shorter for beginners, and then extend your body out into a longer position to make it more challenging. Be able to own each position for a minimum of 30 seconds before progressing to the next. My 4 basic shapes for the Hollow are as follows.

1. Laying on your back, tuck your knees up until they are directly above your hips. You will start with your straight arms to your sides, then reach up like you're trying to touch your toes. If you executed this properly your shoulders and upper back have now lifted off the ground, and your back is pressed firmly to the ground. 
2. Get into position #1, lock it down tight, and slowly raise your arms to be directly beside your head. This is a good time to check your neck tension. It should be cranked forward or falling back, just neutral like it would be if you were standing. The most common fault I see is the shoulders dropping to the ground, so be mindful of your position as your arms are going back. but your abs staying tight enough to keep your shoulders raised. 
3. This next version can also start from position #1. Start there, find tension with your low back pressed into the ground, then extend your legs. When your legs lock straight (think squeezed quads. Tension!) then you can lower them as long as you hold that hollow scooped out position. 
4. In the last version we transition from position #3 into #4 by bringing your arms directly beside your head.  Your low back stays pressed to the ground. You are now creating the longest lever, so this is the progression to work to after practicing the other ones with quality!

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Happy Hollowing!

4 quick tips that I wish someone had told me sooner about training.

Strength Coaches don't always need to get super cerebral, geekin' out on the deets. These tips are easily digestible and easy to implement immediately.

• chalk on your hands helps you pick heavy things up off the floor. If you don't chalk up you aren't really trying to pick up heavy things. 
• most of us can't do a long distance run on Sunday and expect to PR our squat on Monday.
• you probably need to have eaten something at least 3-4 hours before a heavy or hard session. The fall out, or bonk, is real. 
• you need to rest in between sets if you want to get stronger, or if you want to maintain a high level of control and quality of movement. 

<3

GB

The one person necessary for grassroots success is...

You. 

When you’re excited about the work we do, Strengthening Baltimore’s Youth at MissionFit, you’re bound to ask what you can do to help. I'll simply ask you to tell one person who will also be excited about what we do. At a minimum you will contribute to our word of mouth grassroots marketing, and if you tell the right person maybe they will positively influence some youth to walk through our doors with the intentions of self improvement. Either way it’s a win!

Same thing with Personal Training clients. Tell one person about your progress since you started training with me. If it feels too much like bragging about how many inches you’ve lost or how much your deadlift is, you can humbly give me all of the credit even though we both know that you did all the hard work 😉 

The genius of this technique is that people very rarely tell one person, they tell bunches of people! It works because they will have a very low commitment level to buy in, I mean, everyone can tell just one person. If I asked you to scream it off the mountaintops to everyone you know, that sounds more daunting, and a little bit like work. Telling one person is as easy as can be!

Action items

• Tell one person about MissionFit if you think it’s valuable
• Tell one person about your experience training with me if you think it’s valuable
• *If you are a professional or Non-profit organization and you’re doing great work, try using this strategy for yourself. I think you’ll be pleased. 

Less Fat & More Muscle Starts Here

You are what you eat. Its true and trite as possible. There are times to nitpick the Nth degree of details and there are times for action. Assuming we all know the basics like... 

• Less processed is better than highly processed
• Eat your veggies
• Don't eat until you're busting at the seams

.... then you might need to hear something honest like this excerpt from Dan John's Mass Made Simple...

"Honestly, seriously, you don’t know what to do about food? Here is an idea: Eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid’s cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and— don’t act like you don’t know this— eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up."

...and now, let us focus on how to easily get quality nutrients into your fridge and then into your belly!

Tip #1: Make food shopping fun! My two suggestions are to either go with someone who makes it more fun, or go somewhere that is fun. I have two grocery store buddies, and one farmers market buddy. They make a trip to the grocery store or market way more fun. The farmers market is my fun location because you get to stare into the eyes of the human that raised your butternut squash with care. That, my friends, is priceless. 

Tip #2: Make meal prep easy. This may take a few small financial investments to get the most efficient tools for the job.  I'd start with a crock pot and set of pyrex storage bowls.  The crock pot is for easy cooking and easy clean-up. The pyrex are for easy storage and transport when you need them. We have just taken off some common mental handcuffs when eliminating the "I can't cook" excuse. It is much easier to continue a great habit if you make that habit easy, accessible, and excuse free. 

For accountabilities sake, I'll let you know two of my action items. The first was to get sweet potatoes to put in the crockpot overnight. I did that last night, and this morning I got to eat a delicious small sweet potato! The second is getting a carnitas recipe from my friend Gina. I will be sharing the recipe after I make it, which gives you about a week to buy (or dust off) you crockpot and pyrex!

<3

GB