3 Tips to Staying On Track With Your Fitness Goals

I love it when a plan comes together!

I am a huge fan of the A-team and I am so stoked to see the new movie.  It looks great and I really hope it does not suck!

Having a plan come together is truly a great feeling.

Having a plan fall apart, no so good.

Yesterday at about 8:31am my computer started acting weird and forced me to reboot a few times.  Being paranoid I ran the virus scan and nothing major was found.   Now it was not running at all and I got a call that it had a virus.

Crap.  I hate viruses.

My computer was now a brick.  In addition to work, I had planned to put the finishing touches on a revision of my dissertation on HRV (heart rate variability) to send to my advisor that night.  I also managed to leave my jump drive with the latest revision at the U of MN last time I was there and my most recent copy was now locked up on my hard drive.  Wonderful technology.

As it turns out, it was not a virus (sigh of relief) but an update from McAfee Ant-virus that got pushed out and it attacked vital components of the operating system itself.  Something like that and somebody can fill me in on all the details.

Sort of like a computer version of and autoimmune issue.

Now my computer is back up and running, but while it was down I had to execute my back up plan to attempt to stay on track.  Good thing I had a back up plan.

Does Your Training Have a Back Up Plan?

Let’s face it, life gets in the way of our training some times.  That is the nature of life and shifting priorities.  How you REACT to it, is what matters.

Here are 3 tips to make sure you don’t stray too far off from your training goals

1) Prepare

On any given day, your body may not respond the way you want it to and don’t force it.   If you push it, be prepared for the consequences.   I had to learn this recently once again too
My Top 3 Training Mistakes

2) Alternatives

Travel always put a kink in exercise plans at times.   I’ve found put a kettlebell in my trunk, especially on long road trips
Road Trip Kettlebell Swings Tight Hips and Free Stuff

Another option is the TRX Suspension trainer.  It weighs only a couple pounds and you can fit it in your suitcase easily.   It allows you tons of great exercise options from almost anywhere – even Mexico!

3) Have Fun

Maybe it is a day to just try something new.  Does a certain exercise just sound horrible?  Maybe it is not the best one for your body.
Now this is a fine line between doing what is best and skipping all the things that you should be doing.  Having a coach guide you through your body’s own feedback is going to be best.

All Aboard the Biofeedback Bus: A Radical Tour of New Personal Records, Inspiration and Knowledge

You have to be YOUR best coach.  YOU know YOUR body better than anyone else ever will, so don’t ignore the signals from it.

“Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is…”

–C. S. Lewis

Stay on track towards your goals, but be sure to listen to your body along the way.

Comments?  Let me know!
Rock on
Mike T Nelson

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Fitness Sacred Cows BBQ and Childhood Overuse Injuries

Hop On and Here We Go!

Are we focusing on the right things?

Is what we know really the truth?

How do we know?

It is time to fire up the BBQ and grill up some sacred cows!

Do you like sacred cow?

Childhood Overuse Injuries Rant

I was also featured on Mike Scott DPT website along with many other coaches and trainers discussing kids fitness.  The question he asked was

In your opinion, why are childhood overuse injuries becoming so prevalent in our society?

See my rant below

Mike Scott DPT: One Question Many Answers part 2

Thoughts, comments, love, hate?  Let me know in the comments!

rock on

Mike T Nelson

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PS

The contest I am running ends tonight at midnight, so check it out HERE.

Be Remarkable, the number 400, purple cows and you!

The other day when I was updating posts, I realized that this is post #401. Yep, there are over 400 posts on this blog now. Wow, that blows my own mind. For those following along since the start you know that I was on blogger for about 2 years before moving all the content over to the new home here.

The very first post I ever wrote is below

Walking vs Running: Which Burns More Calories?

So I want to thank ALL of you for reading along on my journey.  I really do appreciate all the comments, emails and feedback (hate mail is probably a bit strong).

Struggling

I was searching for something to make the 400th post memorable and I was struggling. There was so much I wanted to say, but I had no idea where to start and then it hit me in the form of this video from my buddy Craig at The Movement Dallas

Be Remarkable

I have always said that the worst place to be is a trainer/coach that gets good results. It is a fast death sentence with a long pit stop at stagnation. I was excited to see that others who I respect (like Seth in the video above) were saying the same thing (although for much longer and much louder).

If you are a trainer getting good to very good results there is not as much drive to do better. Why learn something new that may change my mind when I am getting results already? If you suck, it is pretty obvious (by looking at your athletes results and your bank account) that you need to put up, shut up, or get out FAST.

I hate the word average.  Nobody wants to be average.  This is Extreme Human Performance not Average Human Performance (yawn….)

My Goal

My goal is to get the best results from everyone I work this and to strive to continuously improve myself. This will mean screwing up. Actually screwing up a lot. Now I won’t let an athlete leave moving worse because I re-assess everything, but I won’t have them try the correct drill all the time, every time.

My long term goal is to get 99% of the athletes I see moving better without pain (pain on a 1-10 scale to less than a 1) and performing better in ONE session. Yes, you read that right, ONE session. While this business model sucks large moose balls from a revenue standpoint, I believe it is what athletes are paying for when they hire me or anyone else.

I’ve explained this goal to others in the field and most of the time it is met with one of the 3 things
1) Deer in the head lights of a Peterbuilt look
2) “You are nuts!” (probably true)
3) that is not physically possible.

While I am not there yet, I am at about 80-90% and I know others who are in the area. I am not trying to pump sunshine up my butt here, but athletes pay for results not time. Your goal as a trainer/goal is to deliver results. Period.

Fear of Failure

I believe you need to fail as fast as possible in order to achieve greatness. Most are too afraid to try for fear of failure. Wired magazine (my favorite magazine) has a great cover article discussing how to correctly fail.

Purple Cow or Skiing Ostrich

As Seth points out in the video above (you did watch it, right?) that since their are so few purple cows, if you see one, you will stop and go “Holy crap, look at that!” I would argue that their are few skiing Ostriches, so you will stop and watch one ski

That is one bada$$ two-planking bird!

Being remarkable is rare, so that IS your marketing and others will hopefully spread the good word.

What Do YOU Want To See?

My goal as always is to bring you information you will not find in many places about how to get stronger and become a better athlete.

You won’t read the standard stuff here that you can find on 100s of other websites. Stretching this, lift that, repeat. Please. You know that already and my guess is that is why you are reading here.

You want to move beyond that.

HOW can I lift more?

HOW can I move better with less pain?

WHY do I need protein after I lift?

What does the research say so I can stop reading BroScience articles (er I mean forum posts) from Johnny Big Gunz who lives in his mother’s basement swiping an internet connection from the neighbor.

Feedback

Place some comments on what you want to see here and I promise you that I will work my hardest to deliver it to you.

Now is your time to pick for brain for free and help me deliver what YOU want in 2010.

Rock on!
Mike T Nelson

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