Is This Necessary?

“Because most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘is this necessary?’”

-Marcus Aurelius

When stress starts to take over, I follow the advice of the stoics and try to simplify my life and be deliberate. Asking yourself this question serves as a reminder that not all things need to frustrate or fluster you. We often have more time and freedom than we think. Being stressed out or angry is one thing, the way you react to those moods is another.

There’s a lot of extra fluff throughout our day. Let’s focus on the things that we care about, the things that make us better and happier and more productive, not the unessential.

If you find yourself flustered today, reflect on if it’s necessary.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Another Short Week

There are two ways to go about handling a shortened training week. Both are good. It isn’t about one way against the other. It’s about figuring out what’s going to work best for you in your current situation.

The obvious way is to stick with your plan as best you can. Try to get all your normal training days in, but maybe you take the 4th of July off to give yourself an off day. Maybe you stay up late one night and opt for more sleep instead of rolling out of bed to hit the gym early.

The other option is to back off a bit. You probably have a day or two off from work, hopefully we’ll have some nice weather and it’s the 4th of July! Giving your body a break from training is productive. It likes recovering just as much as it likes training hard and pushing it. Pack up the car, head on a road trip or head to the beach. Don’t worry about your strength training but be physical: play games, walk more, occasionally stretch. Integrate gym things into your everyday life.

What you don’t want to do is fall into the summer trap. Taking a full week off can do this. You head on vacation, recharge and come home next week to a busy schedule and the priority of the gym keeps getting demoted. If you feel like you’re slipping, get back on ASAP. The longer it lingers, the harder it will be to overcome.

Let’s start July off on the right foot.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

PS: Fourth of July Hours:

CLOSED - Thursday July 4

OPEN 9-12am - Friday July 5

COMMUNITY WORKOUT - Saturday July 6 @ 8am

Most Important Turns

Recently on a podcast, former chess prodigy and world campion in Jiu Jitsu, Josh Waitzkin described what the 3 most important turns are when on a ski run. Waitzkin now spends his time helping top performers and decision makers to operate at full capacity. This question was one that a high level skier friend asked him when teaching Josh how to ski.

The most important turns are the last 3 before you get on the lift. Not the first 3 at the top or in the middle of the run when you’re going to maximum speed, the last 3 just before you shuffle into the lift line. Most people get lazy here, Josh explains. The run is almost done, the turns you take at the bottom usually aren’t as sound technique-wise.

Lazy technique creates bad habits and can set you up for injury. To build on that, Josh claimed that after those lazy turns, you get on the lift and sit down and your body is unconsciously remembering what the most recent turns felt like. If you focus, turn into the line with good technique, there’s some skill in there your brain will remember.

The lesson, don’t mail it in at the end. Keep working diligently till you’re finished so you don’t create any bad habits and you give your brain good information to adapt to.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Efficiency vs Discomfort

Strength training is about challenging positions. Here is the optimum position, i.e., the one that is the safest, but also where we can display the most effective usage of force. Us coaches try to figure out the appropriate stimulus to make it so you’re challenged. We don’t want it to be impossible, and we don’t want it to be too easy.

Our bodies are incredible at adapting. Because of that, we can fall into a trap of efficiency. Our bodies don’t want to spend unnecessary fuel to accomplish something. It wants to hang on what it can while completing the task. It’s why HIIT is such an effective method, it’s difficult to do efficiently and easy to find that zone of discomfort.

Runners fall into this trap a lot. People want to run faster, but do their standard run a couple times a week at their normal pace, never pushing or digging into that discomfort. That’s required to get faster for a race. If you operate too efficiently, you’ll have no reason to adapt or make changes. That’s why we need to push the limits every now and then.

Easy training is good too. Maybe just as important. Every now and then though, I encourage you to dig deep and push it hard when you’re on the bike, pushing the sled, on your run, or finishing your workout with some medicine ball slams.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Get Your Reps In

Yesterday on Instagram, James Clear author of Atomic Habits posted a quote that said:

Your first first blog post will be bad, but your 1000th will be great.

Your first workout will be weak, but your 1000th will be strong.

Your first meditation will be scattered, but your 1000th will be focused.

Put in your reps.

When we’re bad at something, we don’t want to stick with it. The easier path is to quit and chalk it up as not for us. It devastates me when this happens at the gym. People decide it’s not for them but they just haven’t stuck with it long enough.

I’m equally as impressed with people who have stuck it out this long. There are a lot of yellow name tags on the wall. That means those people were able to get through the confusing, difficult and frustrating parts and are now looking back at 4 years of solid training.

Sticking with something that long is impressive. It gets your reps in and sure way to see improvement. Make sure you can get through the difficult parts where you feel like you aren’t making any progress. In fact, that’s why I’m writing this blog. I was never able to stick with it and I realized, the only way I’ll be pleased with the outcome is if I get a lot of reps in. That’s why I do this everyday, getting in the reps and playing the long game. What are you playing the long game in?

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Find It

Yesterday we talked about how technology is starting to alter our skeletons. Sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s true. Our environment, or where and how we spend time, plays an enormous role in how our health and well being.

If we look back in time, humans lived a much different lives than we do now. We were hunter-gathers who spent the day foraging and roaming. About 10,000 years ago we figured out the whole agriculture thing and no longer roamed, but instead did back breaking work around the farm to grow food and care for the land.

The other day, during my 60 minute sled march through my yard, known as mowing the lawn, I paused to think that here is free fitness that no one takes advantage of any more. It got me thinking, where else in our day have we transcended doing the actual work? Seriously, lawn care companies haven’t been around for that long. For a while, everyone probably mowed their own lawn and they probably had to push the mower too.

Now, this isn’t a rally to get you to start push mowing your lawn. Instead, I want you to think, where in my day can I find some physical activity? Can you carry a basket around the grocery store instead of pushing a cart? Can you opt for the stairs instead of the elevator? Can you walk to your destination even though it’s over a mile away?

Before, there were no other options, people needed to do these things. I would argue they were probably better off because of it. As the world continues to change, we need these artificial (like a gym) activities to get our bodies the movement they crave.

It’s clear to see the direction this is headed. You don’t need to start haying your own field by hand, but sprinkling a little more physical activity in your life will surely pay off.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Subject to Our Environment

It’s easy to forget all the things around us contribute to our health and how we live. Last week, Australian researchers published a paper about the “horns,” or bone spurs young people are developing on the back of their heads from prolonged cell phone use. Humans are adaptable. In the gym, we create a stimulus and your body changes to overcome it. Our environment outside of the gym is playing a big role too.

Technology is shaping our brains and now maybe even altering our skeleton. Technology isn’t going anywhere, we must modify our environment to help ourselves not become overrun with technological woes. App limits, no phones before bed and trying to walk more should be top priorities for us all.

We all want to live better, healthier lives. In order to do that, we’re going to need to keep a serious eye on the rectangle that you’re reading this from now. The phone is becoming more and more addictive, to the point of alternating our skeleton. We need parameters or guidelines in our live to make sure we’re not overdoing it.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Summer

Time for nice weather, late sunsets and stuffing our social calendar. Hopefully you’re headed on a vacation or two. All of that means time away from the gym. I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be okay. You’re going to survive a week’s long vacation without access to a gym. I would be as bold to say that it may even benefit you.

Taking some time off lifting lets your muscles recover. Sure, you’ll feel a little out of sync, maybe even weaker your first session back, but after you get that out of the way, it’ll benefit your fitness. You won’t be starting from scratch again. Your body knows how to do these exercises and knows how much weight it can handle. It won’t all disappear without you really trying to give it all up.

Careful how much slack you do give yourself. While some time off won’t hurt, letting that time off or skipping the gym every Saturday morning instead of just that one when you were out of town will add up. Each time you skip a session you could make, it gets easier to skip the next one. Keep that in mind as the perfect weather starts to roll in (hopefully!).

I’m ready for a great summer, both in the gym and out in the real world. Let’s make sure we hang on to our fitness and challenge ourselves but let’s get outside the gym as well. Try something new, do active things outside, walk more, go to the beach, go on a hike, just keep moving and try to have fun.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach'

Power

Improving power output, in regards to fitness, is about how quickly we can produce force. We see expressions of power all the time: a fast, crisp deadlift from the floor, jumping to a box, side tossing a medicine ball and shouldering a d-ball all express power.

As we age, power output, not strength is the first thing to decline. We want to keep the ability to move quickly and rapidly, producing force over time. It will help us keep power up and aid in maintaining strength.

Put a little extra pepper on those medicine ball slams or shotputs. Try to move the bar quickly when standing up from a squat and be explosive on those swings. We can do dedicated power training, things like olympic lift variations or dynamic effort loading protocols, however, we can also try to improve our power output by being deliberate during strength work. Move that bar!

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Tension with Your Feet

During our movement assessment with new clients, we look at how they move and what sorts of movement habits they've developed. Besides watching, it’s an opportunity for us coaches to provide cues and see if we can clean up the movement.

There is one cue that seems to make things click for people. It’s screwing your feet into the ground. Even the most die-hard fitness enthusiast is unaware of this simple cue and how much it can impact their movement patterns. 

Hopefully, if you’ve been training at GAIN for while, this is a boring reminder of something you always do. When we screw our foot outward, or heels towards each other, without letting them move, we effect the whole lower body system. I create a stable foot arch, my knee caps rotate away from each other, creating a stable knee, and my hips rotate outward, providing you with the optimum position to create tension and therefore, move.

Your squat may look great while being unaware of this. I would challenge you to think that it could feel a lot better if there were more tension. The more tension we create, the more stable we are and the more force we’ll be able to produce.

Justin Miner

@porstmouthcoach

Rhythm

You ever have one of those days where everything clicked? Time flies by, you’re feeling good, not distracted and ready to make stuff happen. I call that using momentum or having rhythm.

Running is about rhythm. Having the rhythm to move over the ground in a smooth and fluid way. Hiking is the same. You get lost in one foot in front of the other. Focused on the task of reaching the destination. Your breathing matters, where you’re looking matters, the sounds around you and feel of the woods and your state of mind create the rhythm.  I try to create the rhythm I feel while running or hiking or camping during my normal day. 

For me, its a blend of having a schedule, but also having flexibility so I can do what I have momentum to do - trying to not lose the rhythm. If my day is too rigid, I can't find the the groove. I feel like I’m being pulled in too many directions. Instead of focusing on what I’m doing, I focus on what I need to be prepared for next. Often at the expense of what I should be focused on.

The opposite happens too. With too much flexibility, I may try to come up with the most fun or most productive thing, only to spend the time I have planning it and never pulling the trigger. In other words, unable to find the rhythm.

How do you find rhythm in your day? Are you a scheduler or a free-wheeler? What activities help you find rhythm or get in the groove? Which ones throw it off? Let me know! 

Justin Miner 

@portsmouthcoach

Slow it Down

I spent last week off the grid. Where I was, there's no cell service. That removed the temptation of scrolling through and seeing what was happening in the world. After a couple of days I adjusted to not having the rectangle in my pocket provide all answers and fill in down time. 

There’s always a task to do when backpacking. Whether it’s gathering wood to burn, setting up camp, drying out wet hiking clothes or filtering water, there’s always something to do. I would get lost in these tasks. There wasn't much else to worry about and no phone to provide distraction. 

Reintroduction to normal, 21st century life is tough. As soon as you turn your phone back on, you’re hit with the wave of distractions and angst that comes with the territory of having that phone. I’ve written before about how I need to slow down, concentrate on what I’m doing instead of jumping to the next thing. That week of backpacking was a nice reminder to slow down, do what you’re doing well and stop letting distractions run your day.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Do Your Actions Match Your Goals?

In order to work towards a goal we must take action. If we don’t change our daily habits we will remain the same. It is important to understand that these actions must match what we’re trying to accomplish. 

If weight loss if our goal we shouldn’t be eating a lot of fried and greasy foods. If we want to improve out health we shouldn’t be smoking cigarettes. This idea is simple, but serves as a good reminder.

To create a lasting change we must understand what actions move us toward or away from our goals. Then we can find ways to implement these actions consistenly into our daily lives.  

Taylor Reuillard

@tailored_strength

Patience with Progression

It’s important to become proficient performing basic movement patterns (squat, hinge, push, pull etc.)  before progressing to more advanced variations. This is a lengthy process that requires hours of practice – repeating the same exercises over and over again. 

Thinking of movement as a skill will make this process more enjoyable and lead to more sustained progress. Jumping into advanced exercises without spending time with the basics won’t get us very far – and it could potentially lead to injury. 

Trust the basics, they work. Practice them with intent. Trying to perform them perfectly should keep you busy for a while.

Taylor Reuillard

@tailored_strength

Move with Intent

To get the most out of our training it’s important to develop movement awareness. To improve this we need focus on what’s happening while running, biking, lifting weights, etc. Concentrating on technique will improve exercise effectiveness and promote progress. 

Think about when you first learned an exercise – you had to slow things down and think about what you were doing. This concept should continue well after the initial learning process – there are always ways to refine and improve technique. 

Going through the motions mindlessly can lead to sloppy form and potential injury. We want to own our movement, be in control and move with a purpose. 

Taylor Reuillard

@tailored_strength

Learning from Failure

We’ve all experienced failure – it’s an inevitable part of life. How do you respond to it? Do you give up and stop trying? Or do you reflect and learn from your experience.

In order to grow we must fail. We have to try new things and put ourselves in uncomfortable situations. It is in these moments that we learn and develop. 

We shouldn’t avoid failure. We should use it as a tool to improve ourselves and overcome obstacles. Your mindset is so powerful – a small change makes a big difference. 

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

-Henry Ford

Taylor Reuillard

@tailored_strength

Checking Out

We’re surrounded with technology. Our phones are wonderful but wreak havoc on our bodies. Constant light, small screens, push notifications and checking likes is wiring our brains to crave those dopamine hits each time we pick up our phones. It’s rare when we go a few hours without using it, never mind a full day or a week.

I’ll be checking out this week. I'm headed into the woods for a backpacking trip and I’ll be turning off my phone. I’m looking forward to some solitude and time away from my phone and computer. Taylor will be keeping the blogs going every day, so be sure to check back here tomorrow. 

Have a great week. Plan your trips to the gym, eat to fuel your body and if you get a chance, give yourself a mini break from technology and try to shut it down for an hour or two this week. I promise you’ll be happy that you did. See you next week! 

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Small Improvements

Mastering the fundamentals is key for high performance teams and individuals. These masters, are able to understand the basics, not let it bore them and be okay with small incremental changes. This attitude affords high performers a better understand of what they’re doing, how it works and how it can transfer to other skills. 

In Atomic Habits, James Clear includes a line graph of how improving 1 percent each day or getting 1 percent worse every day will work out over a year. Turns out, if you get 1 percent better every day for a year, you’ll have improved 37 times better than then you started.

Realize that the small choices we make every day will impact us in the long run. Your mental battle whether to have a salad or a sandwich for lunch doesn’t matter today, but it will matter when you choose salad 100 times and sandwich only 5 times. We all want big changes now. We must realize that small decisions we make every day impact the changes drastically over time.

To be the bearer of bad news, your goal will take longer than you want it to. Focus on what you can do each and every day. Master the fundamentals, be okay with getting bored of doing the same thing. The small decisions and changes you can make will have a big impact in the long run.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

The Best Performance Enhancer

Regardless of your goal, better sleep will help. If you want to lose weight, build strength, get better grades, be more alert, be less stressed, more and/or better sleep will help. Don’t think sleep is a big deal? Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, says “the silent sleep loss epidemic is one of the greatest public health crisis we face in the 21st century.”

Walker makes arguments that lack of sleep makes us more vulnerable to caner, Alzheimers, depression, obesity, amongst a host of other medical conditions. It isn’t as easy as getting more sleep either. We need to get better quality sleep, especially if you’re someone who struggles to sleep at all. Use these tips below to upgrade your sleep hygiene and get a restful night of Zs. 

Establish a routine. Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday. Yes, even the weekends. It will help your body get used to the pattern and you’ll start getting sleepy around bedtime and pop out of bed ready to go in the morning.

Keep it cool and dark. Make your room as dark as possible. If light still makes its way in, try using a mask. Walker says optimum sleeping temperature is 65 degrees. 

One hour before your bedtime, shut down the screens. That means no phones in bed! 

Avoid using caffeine after 1pm. If you can drink a cup of coffee at night and still fall asleep, congratulations. It still messes up your sleep cycle even though you think you’re immune to caffeine’s effects. Same goes for alcohol. It blocks your REM dream sleep.

Sleep is the hidden performance booster we all have within our control. Establish a routine and work on building the habit. You’ll be glad you did. 

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach

Are You As Consistent As You Think?

We’ve talked a lot on here about how you need to be consistent to make positive changes. We commonly hear people venting that their weight loss isn’t moving fast enough or they aren’t making strength gains. My question to you is, are you being as consistent as you think you are? 

We often think we’re doing better than we actually are. A nice way to find out is tracking your progress. For eating, I recommend people do a food log.  I’d like to see a week’s worth of eating, written down, in detail. 

When you go over it, you might start coming up with excuses. Well that night I had this event, and Saturday was a special date night and Sunday was so nice out I needed to have a couple beers outside and Monday was a crazy work day. The excuses start flying. I don’t want to bring this to your attention to shame you. Rather, I’d like to point out that you aren’t as consistent as you think you are.  That's the underlying problem. Not deciding between keto or vegan or paleo. 

If you’re in a rut and are unsure why, really ask yourself if you’ve been as consistent as possible. Track your habits over a week or two and you’ll see if you hit your macros accurately, aren’t over consuming calories and hitting the gym as frequently as you think you are.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach