Guest Blogger: Brandon on Focus, Schedule, Little Goals, Confidence

A lot of people ask us, what we (my wife and I) do outside of work.  Much to many people's surprise it often is the same thing as always - fitness related.  One of us has a race/event, Aubrey has a crossfit workout - everything that people say we do everyday.  True - This is what we train for.  This is what we love.  Fitness is a lifestyle, I like to think. 

One of the most important qualities a person can have is the ability to focus.  Focus on your family, focus on  your work, focus on your training.  Anyone can focus on one thing and complete it - I can focus on an upcoming certification exam and pass, my wife can focus on her figure competitions and become a pro, and my mom can train to finish a half-marathon, if she wants it.  But, if all we had to do in life was to focus on one thing, we could be pretty successful at it. 

The only problem is in life we don't have just one thing to focus on.  We have multiple, if not hundreds of them.

I can focus on an upcoming exam, but that's only after focusing for 10 hours at work and after focusing on my workout for 2 hours.  My wife can focus on her workouts but only after focusing on her job and me :)  It takes a special person to be able to focus 100% on multiple things.

My wife is one of those "special" people.  She will go to work, focus 100% of her time and effort on the job at hand, and then to her workout and re-focus her mind and body so it is 100% on the WOD.  Then when she comes home at night, she can re-focus once again 100% on the family.  The only way we have gotten this to work for her is through proper scheduling.  She literally has to write down her work schedule for the week, plan her workouts around her work schedule, and plan her meals around both of those. 

Scheduling is important not just for planning workouts, but for life.

Scheduling what you have to complete at work keeps you focused throughout the day; scheduling what you want to do in a workout keeps you focused and efficient in the gym; scheduling your meals keeps your energy high and metabolism up so you never have that "crash."

By scheduling out her day, no task will become too overwhelming.  If she were to look at the calendar and say "in 6 weeks I have to be in the best shape of my life to compete for a pro card" - which happened to her the other day - she would become very overwhelmed.  Fear and doubt would creep in to the mind and focus is lost.  However, we sit down and get her to write out her basic plan and schedule, so she can see things are not as overwhelming as originally imagined. 

Scheduling allows us to focus on little goals, which ultimately lead us to the bigger goals.

She can focus on each week, each day, each hour and complete "little" goals that give her confidence and keeps her focused.  Then when the big day arrives, she'll know that all of those "little" goals got her prepared for this "big" goal - competing for the pros.

The same can be said about training for a marathon, triathlon, body building, losing weight, even an exam.  Instead of "I have to lose x amount of pounds in 3 months" break it up into smaller goals.  The visual now becomes, "I will eat healthier tomorrow by doing this" or "I will do 30 minutes of cardio".  Then when you complete that goal move on to another, and another, until finally you are where you want to be - your ultimate goal.  When studying for the CPA exam I would say to myself, "Today I will get through 15 pages of this book."  Once I completed that I would say "Today I will get through 15 more pages."  By keeping my mind focused on these little goals I was able to completely focus and ultimately pass the exams.

Along the way there will be distractions that try to disrupt your focus.  Do not let this happen!  Stay focused on your goals, not the negative distractions.  Stay on course and in the end you will be a happy camper :) 

It doesn't matter what others think - it is YOUR goal to obtain and no one else's. 

As an endurance athlete and half-ironman finisher, people think I am crazy to pay $250 to enter a triathlon and put my body throuogh 5 hours of pain.  But it's what I love to do and what I want to accomplish.  No one can tell me differently.

If ever you have a moment of doubt, just watch the greatest basketball player ever to walk this earth and be inspired by the focus and determination displayed in this clip:



Now THAT is focus!  Go out there and get that goal!!

Bell Curves: Kettlebell Workout - Fitness Magazine

Bell Curves: Kettlebell Workout - Fitness Magazine

Today's challenge -

For women used to working with kettlebells use 1 pood (16kg). For women new to this start where you feel comfortable (lighter for the windmills - 6-8kg, heavier for swings 10-12kg). This should not be as easy as this demo.

KB should be fairly heavy in the swings. Exercises like this give you the benefit of working your core while engaging the muscle targeted (ie. legs, glute, low back for swings, and a bit more arm and obliques for windmill). To keep your heart rate raised and increase fat burning do this at a consistent pace with little rest. This may mean you need to go lighter, however keeping your workouts at a lower intensity for a consistent duration is necessary to keep your body moving on those days when you just feel like you'd rather take the day off.

Post questions and results to comments.

Did you just call me a "nasty girl"?!

In the world of crossfit, what do you do if someone comes up and calls you "NASTY?!"
You look back, smile and say "yea we are".

One of my teammates for the Affiliate Cup, Eric, recent conversation at the crossfit qualifers.

Man: Are you from Crossfit Balboa?
Eric: Yea!
Man: Damn, your girls are "nasty"!!
Eric: Your (dang) right they are!!

Now in any other context outside of crossfit people this would be taken as an offensive comment. But a "nasty girl" refers to someone who can handle a wicked tough workout and come back for more, who doesn't just stop when things get hard. Check out the "Nasty Girls WOD" above for a great workout.

Traditional crunches vs. "Flex Belts" or the like

I recently got a question from a friend about my thoughts on the product - Flex Belt - that basically works like shock therapy.  Activating your abs through the use of electro pulses to activate your muscle without the individuals control.  Here are my thoughts on this:

Disclaimer: I have never used the flex belt - I'm not familiar with this particular line, but I am familiar with the concept. The downfall with this kind of thing is that often people report that after using things of this nature have problems with actually flexing the muscle properly without using the "shock". Additionally, the muscle may spasm. Basically it tries to flex without your control because it's used to do this through the shocking therapy.

My thought on anything like this is that if you don't put in the work and it's a "easy out" it's probably not a great option.

Gaining a great body - one to be proud of takes a lot of work. That's what makes you more proud of it. Accomplishment! I would work with the diet and put in some core exercises throughout your exercise plan. It's actually not much about crunches, it's more about eating healthy to lose the body fat on top of the muscle and working in the full range of motion for all exercises. Cardio is good, but is not seen as strength building exercise. The thing to remember is the more muscle that you have the easier and faster your body works to burn fat --> higher metabolism.  Double bonus!!! :)

Is strength training beneficial for endurance athletes?

Sample meal plan - paleo style specifically for endurance athletes thanks to the paleodiet.blogspot.com

Endurance Athlete Sample Menu for Two-a-Day Workout


5:30 AM
Pre-workout Breakfast Smoothie- 8oz brewed, chilled, natural decaf green tea with a banana, egg white protein powder, almond butter whizzed in the blender with some baked yam on the side.

6:30 AM
3-hour bike ride on the trainer-carbohydrate gel taken every 25 minutes.

9:30 AM
Immediate Post-workout recovery drink- HOME BREW (recipe in The Paleo Diet for Athletes) – cantaloupe, egg white protein powder and glucose. Drink plenty of water- keep hydrating.

10:00 AM
Raisins (to restore body alkalinity, continue to help the body recover post workout, and prepare for the session later in the day).

11:30 or 12:00 PM
Grilled Chicken breast, flash-sautéed asparagus, drizzled with flax seed oil and an apple

3:00 PM
Natural unsweetened applesauce with chopped egg whites (to prepare for 2nd workout of the day-shift from the usual Paleolithic macronutrient ratio to the pre-workout focus on carbohydrates).

For more specifics and a non-training day diet, please visit there great blog @ http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/2010/04/sample-menus-for-endurance-athletes.html