When you want something good you’ve got to address the B.A.D in your life

Given all the positive affirmations and chatter in this modern world it seems people are in far worse places mentally than ever before.

Although this could simply be how things are being portrayed by various media platforms.

Regardless there’s a little system I’ve used over the years to help people make the changes they desire.

I’d like to share it with you.

B.A.D – Beliefs, Anchors, Desires

There’s a little nuance to this as you use it three times however I will explain it all.

The context for using this is to help those that are stuck, frustrated and generally feel lost.

Knowing the context/premise initially the questions will make more:

What are your current Beliefs?
What Anchors you to them?
What is the change/outcome you most desire?

This helps establish the place you’re mentally in, with a potential reason why this is while also giving a glimpse of where you’d truly like to be.

Once you’ve given some thought to these and answered them use B.A.D again, just with a tweak.

How does your current Belief protect you?
How does continuing to stay Anchored to them help you?
How is this affecting your ability to achieve what you Desire?

Giving yourself some time to answer those three follow up questions will start to have you really understand if your current beliefs are aligned with your best interests.

Finally you will use B.A.D just one more time with a further tweak and this will set you on the right path.

Why would you want to change your current Belief?
Why will your old emotional Anchors not longer keep you stuck in the same place?
Why are you going to achieve what you Desire?

Using this will allow you to establish a solid set of actions focused on change.

Like most things this isn’t magic, it’s just a tool to help you start thinking and taking back control because of deliberate choice.

If you’ve got any questions please leave them below and I’ll happily answer them.

Are you the best?

“I want to be the best version of myself.”

As coaches we hear this a lot these days.

What does it even mean though?

It’s not uncommon for people the say the above.

If this answer pressed for a more detailed answer that has some emotional purpose behind it the result is a wall being shot up 

Along with them repeating – “The best version of me, the best I can be.”

Yet when once again asked to describe what this person looks like in tangible terms the same answers often creep up.

This usually indicates one of two things.

• Their reasons are deeply emotional & painful to say
• They’ve got no clue and say it because they think they should

As such I’d like to pose these questions to you.

What does the best version of yourself look like?

Why is this incarnation the best?

How is it superior to all that preceded it?

Why is becoming this version important to you?

Allowing yourself to honestly answer can help in understanding what may be driving your potential clients in the future 

It will also help you in creating content.

This is due to understanding what one person wants and why.

Unique as the narrative want’s to have us think we all are, in the end we’re all actually quite similar.

So when you know one person, how they think and what drives them (your ideal client), you’ll know a lot of people as a result 

Take weight loss as the classic example.

People will always want to lose weight as a goal, that’s not going to change so long as we are visual creatures and put stock/value in our outward appearance because how we look often changes how people treat us.

While many will rage about this, it’s not going to change

So knowing why people want that specific goal on an emotional level will really help.

Plus you’ll often find that the ‘best version’ of someone tends to be physically different from their current version.

Additionally the more understanding and visual representation of a persons ‘best version’ of themselves you have the more likely you are as a coach to help them become that which they seek.

This is due to being able to ask these questions

What behaviours would this best version of you have?

How would they conduct themselves daily in training/eating?

Why would they make X choice over Y?

Is there one small change you can make today that the best version of you wouldn’t hesitate to put into action?

This approach allows you to put some flesh on to the skeleton.

Additionally you can create a tangible action plan moving forwards with understandable steps that are agreed upon and actually the idea of your client.

It’s a win-win situation when you gain this info 

Before we go, I have another question.

Why do you want to become the best version of yourself?

It’s a good thing to ask and reflect on.

Only then made even more potent by this final question.

Why isn’t your current version of yourself the best version?

Knowing this really opens doors because it’ll reveal if an individual is willing to accept responsibility in that they’ve made choices that have resulted in the less than best version of them being their reality.

Or they will blame the world and its dog dodging any form or responsibility and accountability for why they’re the current version of themselves.

In my experience the first person goes on to great things.

The latter on the other hand, well they don’t ever change.

So dear reader I’d like you to take 5min to go over the questions above and leave your answers to them on the comments below

Enjoy,
Ross

P.S – if you truly want to become the best version of yourself, start acting like the best version of yourself and you’ll become that.

After all, we are what we repeatedly do.

What’s harder?

What’s harder, training or nutrition?

 

Now this is a common question and the answer for most is almost always the nutrition.

 

The funny thing is nutrition isn’t really that hard, you either need to be in a calorie surplus or deficit (depending on your goal), from there you will do well to keep a nutrition diary and record your foods, calories/macros too if you’re that focused.

 

Next you will do well to opt to eat mostly whole foods, however this is not a necessity although it is preferable for health and performance purposes.

 

This again isn’t hard, yet people will makes excuses, piss wings and moan that is it because of the following REAL reason; they don’t want to have to change bad habits.

 

Might sound harsh, however that doesn’t stop it being true.

 

Now as written above, you don’t HAVE to change the foods you eat, provided your calories/macros are set correctly and you hit them you can choose the foods sources, so the excuse of “Good nutrition is too restrictive and hard to stick to” gets thrown out of the window, now it’s just a case of you hitting the number you need to.

 

This is where tracking your calories etc becomes important, again though, you don’t have to, just don’t expect much in the way of progress if yo don’t know what you’re eating calorie wise.

 

Some will chuck in the barrier or “Well I don’t know who to work this out” which again is a redundant excuse considering all the calculators that are available to people, not to mention you can also speak to a respected of successful trainer/coach and have them do it for you.

 

My suggestion would be Eric Helms and his work, or look up the Harris-Benedict calorie calculation formula, boom no more barriers or confusion.

 

Everyone, I don’t mean to sound cynical or jaded, yet I am, this is because over the years I have developed less and less patience for people poor excuses and lack of drive to achieve a result.

 

You have two options really, you either want to make a change, in which case myself and many other people in this industry will bend over backwards to help you. OR, you don’t really want to change in which case we wish you all the best and we can end our conversations promptly.

 

Now as people who want to help we can give you all the tools, help you stay accountable, speak to you daily to make sure you have all the support you need, however if you don’t want to change no amount of help from us or anyone else will make you want to change, that decision has to come from you, from your heart.

 

The knowledge of knowing what will help you in getting results isn’t hard, it’s not the training or the nutrition that is hard, it’s making the conscious choice to change.

 

We, I want to help you, however the real question is do you want to help yourself?

 

Give it some thought.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Lift, Lift, LIFT!

“I want to be big and strong”

 

^^ A sentence many a man has said over the years and continues to say to this day.

 

“I want to be lean and strong”

 

^^ Something I’m pleased to announce more women are saying, it seems there has been a shift in them saying ‘I just want to be skinny’ to now learning the benefit of being lean and strong, it’s great to see.

 

While it is only my opinion, I feel everybody should be strong.

 

I’m not talking about record breaking strong, just strong enough to stay healthy and stave off the effects of ageing on the body.

 

These sports all centre around lifting:

 

– Weightlifting (olympic lifting)

– Body Building

– Powerlifting

– Strongman

– CrossFit (some may not like this one)

 

Did you know lifting weights can have the following positive effects on the body:

 

– Improved bone density

– Ligament/tendon health

– Delayed sarcopenia

– Hormonal benefits: Higher testosterone, better insulin regulation, more growth hormone, lower cortisol to name a few

– Lowers body fat (great for improving health)

– A higher TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, more calories burnt in a day)

– Increased strength for sport/daily life

– A boost in confidence

– Looking better naked (the most important benefit, obviously)

 

Those are only some of the benefits, there are numerous more.

 

Personally I’d say the mental improvement is the pivotal one as this can have the biggest impact on a persons life in a very positive way.

 

However….

 

If you’re not an athlete and lift for health/confidence you should do it because you enjoy it, not because you feel you have to, that’s the secret to balance and long term sustainability.

 

Don’t eat yourself up if you miss a session, chalk it up to life and sue it as a rest day, that way you’ll be more motivated when you get to go in, excited to train in fact. Keep this in mind and you’ll find you don’t fall out of love with training.

 

What if lifting isn’t for you?

 

That’s cool, find soothing you do enjoy, here are some other options for improving strength and all achieving all the other benefits mentioned above:

 

– Calisthenics: bodyweight/movement training, loads of fun

– Martial Arts

– Gym Classes

– Track & field

– Kettlebells (sport or hard style)

– Climbing/outdoor sports

 

There are almost endless options.

 

Find something you enjoy, training shouldn’t be a chore.

 

Now go, have fun and make progress.

 

Ross.

How doing less helped me progress.

Yesterday we touched on who doing too much can hold people back, today we shall look at how the opposite can help you being to once again make headway.

 

MED, remember that?

 

Minimum effective dose.

 

Find what the bare minimum you can do and make progress form and do that until you no longer make progress, then perhaps add the next smallest amount and progress once again.

 

A simple thought that still adheres to the GAS/SAID principle.

 

It will allow you more time to recover, spend time doing other things you enjoy and for the average person, give you results while also having a life.

 

Sounds perfect, right?

 

That being the case, why don’t people do it?

 

Because as we discussed yesterday, too many think more is better and even more than that must mean even better still, not always true, sadly.

 

You will also find that when you take down how much you’ve been doing, you recover and allow the super-compensation element of GAS to happen, meaning gains.

 

Keeping in mind MED, how many times per week do you need to train to make progress?

 

Twice, that’s a great start.

 

Both sessions would follow a full body approach with limited moves that will give you the best bang for your buck.

 

Day 1 – Monday

 

A1 – Front Squat or Squat 10×5

A2 – DB Row 10×6

B1 – Press 8×6

B2 – Chin 8×6

C1 – Dip 50 reps in as few sets as possible

D1 – Loaded Carry 10min x Total Distance (famers walk, etc)

 

Day 2 – Thursday

 

A1 – Deficit Deadlift (any grip) 10×5

A2 – DB Press 10×6-8

B1 – Bench Press or Incline 6×6-8

B2 – BB Row 6×6-8

C1 – Curl 50 rep goal in as few sets as possible

D1 – Prowler or Sprints 10min x total Distance

 

Combine this with solid nutrition (plenty of whole foods and a calorie deficit or surplus depending on your goal) and three simple factors to progress and you’ll be laughing at the gains you make.

 

How to progress:

 

– Add weight where possible (fractional plates are good)

– If you can’t add weight, reduce rest

– Rest at it’s lowest, increase TUT (time under tension) with a slower negative portion of the lift

 

In each session aim to keep a good pace and finish within 45-75min, you’ll find the less you faff the better the workout you get.

 

Obviously over time you will potentially need to add more frequency taking training to 3 days per week, but the longer you can progress on 2 the better.

 

Funnily enough you will find that most elite lifters seem to find 4xP/W is their optimal limit because in each session they train HARD and create a deep ‘in road’ meaning they’ve stimulated growth, you need to do this too.

 

Remember, doing less can help your progress.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

The problem with simple advice is the fact that it works.

Don’t you find it interesting that people are quick to discount simple advice because it sounds to easy. They’d much rather something with super complicated, typically because when something is complicated there can be a ‘logical’ reason for them failing: such as “It was too complex.”.

 

When you get a few wise words it seems too good to be true.

 

The problem can be found in the fact that short and simple advice is seen as too easy, however when applied it soon becomes clear that simple and easy are not two things that correlate very often.

 

Just because something is simple doesn’t mean it is easy.

 

Take this for example:

 

“To build muscle and get stronger you need to lift weights, pick 5-8 exercises to cover the whole body and add sets or reps where you can and when you’re doing multiple sets/reps with ease you add weight and repeat the process.”

 

^^ Nothing fancy, but very hard and people will give up.

 

A lot of people find a degree of embarrassment when they fail, especially when the advice given wasn’t super complex. It’s common for a bystander to say something like “Is that all you had to do?” which essentially means – how on earth did you fail at doing that…

 

Failing hurts the ego, especially when something isn’t hard on paper.

 

Nutrition is another prime example.

 

“To lose fat you’ll be looking for a calorie deficit (eating less than you’re burning), doing some weightlifting and sprint work will also help. Try to eat mostly whole foods and how a little of what you like now and again to keep you sane.”

 

Such wisdom will be kicked to the curb because it’s not a mind-boggling batch of numbers and percentages.

 

Give someone the above and they think you’re taking the piss.

 

Give them ‘Eat 1g or preteen per lean Lbs of body weight, 2g of carbs per lean lbs and 0.5g of fat per lean lbs’ and their eyes light up because it sounds technical, therefore it must be right when in all honesty it is not the sort of thing a beginner needs to focus on.

 

People starting out should be aware that the simple stuff is around for a reason, it works.

 

A lot of experienced people tell you simple things because they have found through trial and error that success requires very little deviation.

 

If you are a beginner keeping things as basic as possible will achieve a few things:

 

– Consistency

– Good habits

– Behaviour change

 

All three are needed for long term progress.

 

Once you get 3-5 years of training down the line you can start looking in to the more complex things, before that you’d do well to remember the good old rule of KISS.

 

Keep

It

Simple

Savvy?

 

Bit of a change to what you might expect the last S to stand for, but it think it sounds nicer because people aren’t necessarily stupid, just misguided and lead astray by too much bad information.

 

Go to a place filled with people who have succeeded in what you’re looking to do and ask 10 of them for some advice, ask them to give it to you in the simplest way possible and you’ll find there is very little difference in what they might say. A common theme will become apparent, trust me.

 

Now go, seek a simple start and then expand from there.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

How to overcome a barrier in 3 easy steps.

Morning All,

 

You’ll find that there is always something that gets in the way or progress, it’s just an inevitable part of life.

 

How you deal with the obstacles in your way will largely depend on the approach you take. If it’s one of panic and ‘Woe is me, all is for naught’ then you might struggle, however if you follow these simple steps you’ll find what is in your way is dealt with swiftly and easily.

 

You’ll need a pen and paper.

 

1 – Write down the barrier

 

2 – Write down what behaviours you need to rectify this situation

 

3 – Apply the behaviours

 

You will often find plenty of people know what to do, but very few do what they know. The secret is in the last part, applying the correct behaviours.

 

Let’s look at a quick example, we’ll use working out in the gym and restricted time:

 

1 – Work needs to work until 8pm in stead of finishing at 5pm from now on. Thus disrupting your 5.30pm daily workout

 

2 – Get to the gym in the Am. Go at 8.30pm. Buy some Equipment for home. There might be other behaviours you can apply, use your brilliant mind to think of them.

 

3 – Pick one of the above.

 

Simple, right?

 

Often times you’ll find you have the answers you seek, if you don’t then ask for someones help.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Failure Mindset

Morning Guys,

 

Do you live with the failure mindset?

 

Plenty of people live with the attitude of:

 

“That person is … Bigger, Stronger, Leaner, Fitter etc… than me because of … Genetics, Money/Born with a Silver Spoon, Steroids and so on…. I will never be like that.”

 

This is the failure mindset and all it serves to do is hold you back because you’re expecting to fail. I’ve said it plenty of times before, too many people make their excuses as to why they won’t achieve XYZ and as a result never achieve anything.

 

Sadly I feel the failure mindset is actually something that our culture is feeding these days, what with all the ‘safe spaces’ the ‘words hurt’ and ‘You all deserve nice things’ campaigns people are becoming mentally weaker by the day. Don’t get me wrong, some things people say really do hurt and there is no need for them but most of the time people need to simply grow a thicker skin and crack on with life.

 

If you’re wondering what’s prompted this post today, the answer is simple. I’ve been in the failure mindset for a while, mainly due to not feeling that I was reaping the rewards for the effort I was putting in, when in reality I was missing certain elements that would allow success. The fault was mine because of my mindset, I stopped training as hard as I should have, I wasn’t eating enough and as a result make slow and lack lustre progress. It sucks but we reap what we sow so it’s time to kick myself up the ass and get back to the righteous path of the iron.

 

I have made plenty of mistakes, this mindset being one of them. It’s time to learn from that mistake and do what needs to be done.

 

Do you live in the failure mindset?

 

Sit down and write a list of all the things you are meant to be doing to achieve your goal, then write down every excuse you use to avoid doing what needs to be done. Once you’ve done this take a moment to change those excuses in to behaviours that will allow you to succeed and break free of the failure mindset.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Start Behaving

Morning All, 

 

If you want to make a change then the first thing you need to do is look at what behaviour caused to to be in your current situation and sort that first.

 

Behaviour is a key component of change, in fact having the right behaviour will make all the difference because without it you’re essentially wasting your time.

 

If we were to say that your goal is to become accomplished in bouldering, how would you do it? It’s pretty obvious, you would start learning the skills required and begin practicing several times per week perhaps building up to even a daily basis. Why would you do this? That’s easy, without practice you wouldn’t get any better.

 

The same it true for building towards a promotion at work, you will do more of what you need to do so that you can succeed. Given that simple logic, why isn’t fitness/heath seen the same way?

 

Baffling, ins’t it.

 

The secret to achieving anything isn’t really a secret, it’s common sense. Change the way you behave and you will change the results you get. Simple.

 

Now you know what to do, grab a piece of paper and write in 250 words or less what behaviour you NEED to help you achieve your goal and how you will make the necessary changes required.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Start Behaving.

Self Coaching.

Did you know that there is technically no need to hire a coach, although t’s highly recommended. You can in fact be your own coach, all you need is the right tools, knowledge and application of them to make the life style changes you need.

There will be 3 things covered in the next few posts to help you achieve this, be sure to check back for more. We all know that there must be a goal but often the means of HOW to achieve this goal are not really taken in to account, this is where our first strategy comes in to play.

1 – Outcome & Behaviour Setting

The title might seem confusing but the overall premise and application are quite easy. First up you need to set your outcome, then the behaviours you will undergo that week to achieve said outcome. Now this will be done on multiple endeavours each week, however you also make this a long term goal setting process as well.

– Outcome: Lose 10% Body Fat – Write specific date to accomplish task, this is the end game.

Behaviours:
– This Month I will: Attend the gym consistently, Track my calories accurately, Keep a consistent diary.

– This Week I will: Do 2 Strength Sessions, 2 CV sessions, achieve a 3500-5000 calorie deficit, track my progress.

– Today I will: Update my nutrition calorie tracking and achieve a 350-500 calorie deficit through food, perform 60minute of productive exercise in the gym and track the estimate effort and caller expenditure, eat 4 meals consisting of whole foods.

The structure is simple, as you can see. All you need do is write your Outcome followed by the 3 actions for behaviour – Month/Week/Day and stick to them. Take some time and write out the first desired outcome, then update the monthly/weekly/daily behaviour as needed.

Enjoy, Ross