Evolutionizing My Style

Well, hello there my peoples! It has been some time. *sniff* I've missed you all so much!!!

I know I promised to post on a regular basis and to talk about my first ever powerlifting meet, but as I'd previously discussed before (in the Cha-Cha-Cha post), sometimes we digress from the paths we initially set out on and make adjustments before moving forward... and so, I've digressed from posting on a set basis (will post as much as I can given the constraints of my list of priorities each week) and will talk a little more about my meet later on (however, for those of you interested, here's a lil' peek at my 245# deadlift at 113# bodyweight).

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I did want to bring to your attention to the evolution of my philosophies on training.

Like all things in life (something I said to one of my clients today), there is a developmental process behind our training style. The beginning (even when you're starting over again after an extended hiatus from having trained before) is your foundational stage – it's the stage where you develop the movement patterns and the habits that determine your future gains. As your training age progresses, things change; your focus will change, your goals will change, the exercises you utilize will change.

Continuing to view our fitness lifestyles from the developmental standpoint, much like the way we develop as human beings, one might say that in the year and some change since I've been back at it, I've gone through an early adolescence (and am still continuing to grow through that as I continue studying and learning). I've tried a little bit of here and there and everywhere, finally coming to understand that the following elements are pretty universal across the board, regardless of what training style you adopt.

In my oh-so-humble opinion, I'm sharing with you a few small metaphors/similes/whathaveyous to think about when it comes to attacking your heath and fitness goals:

• TRAINING IS YOUR LIFE PARTNER. Whether your goal is to burn fat, gain muscle, rehabilitate or maintain, training stands by your side through thick and thin. Training as is appropriate for your goals is necessary and the only way to meet your maximal health and fitness goals. Specific types of training are only necessary as they fit into your schema of ideal health and fitness, in the capacities that they are required (I.E. You want to be a fighter? You need to have enough stamina and endurance to go balls-to-the-wall every round, maximize your rest and recovery periods in between, have the strength and the technique to beat your opponent, etc. Your training regimen should reflect building each of those things in accordance with the priorities you've set to train for, and cycle to maintain balance. You want to maintain good health and keep mobile? Your training regimen can be a little more varied, as long as you balance out the different aspects of health and fitness to the best of your ability by keeping track of your gains in whatever direction you bring them through such activity). 
  
  For some more information on training style and finding the right fit for you, check out Anthony Mychal's write up on How To Find Your Culture (And Why It Matters). Additionally, check out this really cool flowchart that Bret Contreras put together.

• FORM IS KING. Good to perfect form that is appropriate for your body will reduce your risk for injury and help you maximize the effects of your movements while strengthening all the targeted muscles/muscle groups. Focus on maintaining form and stop your set if your form breaks down more than 10% (giving you a little leeway for fatigue and ability to push yourself as far as possible). Remember this: Practice makes consistency, so for the beginner who has had no instruction on movement, it is ideal to get coach who can help you learn how to move with proper form, so that you don't have to worry about overriding bad movement habits that you develop by continuously practicing movements improperly.


• PROGRESSION IS QUEEN. The King and the Queen go hand in hand, rule the land together. They each play their role in the continuous prosperity and growth of the kingdom. As much as you want to focus on maintaining solid form, you should focus on GAINS. Whether it means that you're at the very basic level of solidifying your form, starting to make some real gains in the strength/capacity department and need to either add reps or weight, or are making body composition changes, progressing is important. Providing a challenge stimulus to promote growth in some direction is the basis of progression. Do not neglect her, lest she commands offing of heads and you are forced to remain in stalemate stasis forever.


• WATER IS YOUR SOUL MATE. We need water. End of story. Okay, well if you must have a concise reason as to why you need to drink enough water for your performance is that in order to appropriately utilize all the nutrients your body consumes as fuel for your performance and function, especially in light of the fact that humans are comprised of approximately 50-75% water and increased exertion and activity levels result in the loss of lots of water, you need to constantly replenish your dwindling life force. Okay, maybe that wasn't so concise, but you get the point, right?


• SLEEP IS YOUR LOVER. We need sleep. Your body needs to recover, rejuvenate and replenish its energy. You are energy. You need to be recovered, rejuvenated and replenished. You're like a rechargeable battery. Sleep is your recharger. Plug in to your maximum potential and thus reach it with all the effort that you are able to utilize because of all that energy that you have each and every day. Take yourself to bed each and every night with no exceptions. 6 hours is a minimum for function, 8 hours is a must for performance.


• FOOD IS YOUR FRIEND & FAMILY. We like to spend time with our friends and family. Some more than others. The least unprocessed, whole foods are the ones we should be spending the most time with, especially those lean proteins and veggies. It's alright to spend a little time here and there with all the other folks, but in their right time and place. Think of highly processed foodstuffs as those folks who are kind of toxic and unhealthy to be around... it's okay once in awhile to hang out with them as long as you feel you need to (who knows, maybe one day they'll change?), but at some point, you'll probably draw the line to the highest minimum or completely exclude them from your life because of the way they constantly bring you down and suck the life out of you (or maybe you'll limit your interaction with them to just those times you wanna party in excess/live it up large, which is pretty taxing if you do on a daily basis).

And that's it for now. A few simple thoughts to help give you a glimpse of how I approach health and fitness programming.

Can you think of anything else that should be on this list? Sound off your thoughts, I'm open...