Value is king!

It’s the third pillar within the Principles of Excellence I coach leaders on. The full principle is: “Create and Leverage Value.”

You can never truly maximize success with meaningful achievements, relationships, and experiences for you and your team until you maximize the value you and your team offer to others.

There is not one person or team who this does not apply to. It’s how you:
– Create a product more efficiently
– Frame your offer with more clarity
– Increase safety
– Decrease cost
– And so many more examples

Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo, implement a radical idea, make a strong leadership call to action, or take the first steps to build a culture of excellence!

My response… “If you want to make a change, you have to make a change.” But, let’s focus on Keeping it simple and stick to the plan to get it done!

That may be a bit over simplified, so let me dive just a bit deeper. In fact, let’s first bust some common myths about fitness right now.

1. Health & Fitness is a super complicated balance of nutrition, working out, sleep, timing, environmental factors, etc… WRONG! It is actually super simple and only about two things: Work and Recovery. If we can maximize both of those for the time you have available, we can maximize your health and fitness.
2. Eggs are bad for you. WRONG! Eggs, Milk, Whey Protein, Fish, Nuts, etc… are just fuel sources made of Protein, Carbs, and Sugars (also known as Macronutrients). If we get close to the right mix of Macronutrients consumed in a day, you will be on a great track. There are ways to maximize the timing of it, but let’s just focus on the main picture right now.
3. You must eat every two hours… or your not suppose to eat 2 hours before bed. WRONG and WRONG! Your eating timing matters much less than the quality of fuel (food and water) you put in your body.
4. You have to wait 72 hours between workouts. WRONG! Everyone recovers at a different rate. It may take you 36 hours and it may take me only 12 hours. We don’t limit your activities based on general blanketed myths.
5. I have to take a multivitamin. WRONG! You should be getting all of your vitamins and minerals in your regular meals through the day, eating as close to the source as possible. If, after eating the right foods, you see a doctor and they verify a deficiency, then yes, please ensure you make up for just that one thing.

There are many more myths, but we will stop there for the moment and get back on track with getting your fitness program started. Let’s start with some stratigies that will make this whole thing easy to understand and follow.

1. Clearly define your purpose and drive. We need to identify where you realistically want to be and what’s driving your discipline.
2. Operate off of the Theory of Constraints. Focus on the activities that drive the biggest results before getting granular. Most bang for your buck!
3. Utilize the Minimum Effective Dose. How can we achieve the greatest output for our efforts? We will use a bit of science here to guide us.
4. Measure & Track. We need to define where you are, where you want to be and how to objectively and accurately measure this.
5. Stick with the Plan. You can brush your teeth and eat popcorn at the same, but you will neither enjoy the popcorn or get clean teeth. Choose one and stick with it.
6. Prioritize Mobility, then Strength, then Conditioning. You need to have pain free mobility, strengthen your mobility, and condition that strength.
7. Don’t be lazy and do it right. We will hit our goals with intensity, in and out quickly to keep up the tempo and motivation up. We exercise with the correct technique, form, weight, and tempo.

Recovery is the Starting point!

Out of the two core pieces I discussed earlier, recovery is where we need to start. If your recovery is not on point (or close), all the work in the world to get more flexible, stronger, and better conditioned are diminished significantly and much is lost. Recovery consist of fuel (food and water), rest, and body work.

1. Fuel is food and water. Nothing more and nothing less.
   • Water: Get enough. Bottle water is bad… too much plastic/bad stuff. Get purified water from a glass container if you can. If you feel you are drinking a lot and still thirsty, get electrolytes and/or salt with your water. Here are my recommendations for electrolytes.
     • LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/
     • Pickle Juice – great source of potassium.
   • Food: The key is two fold. You must get the right amounts of macronutrients and try to eat as close to the source as possible. Whatever diet you want to use, start with ensuring the Protein is enough. From there, ensure Carbohydrates/Sugars are appropriate for the energy level used for that day. Then, fill in the rest with fats. Listed are a few of the best diets to look at. Again, the diet needs to match with your goals and food preference.
     • Zone Diet: https://zoneliving.com/
     • Paleo Diet: https://thepaleodiet.com/
2. Rest is providing your body time to rebuild after putting in work that stresses the system. This can be as simple as lowering your body temperature or sleeping. Sleep, by a long shot, is the #1 recovery tool top level athletes use. And it’s 100% available to you. The benefits of actually get enough rest far outnumber almost anything else you can do for recovery and overall health.
3. Body Work is using a foam roller, massage therapist, percussion gun, or some other method to work out the knots, scar tissue, and lactic acid build-up in your system. We could spend days talking about this… what matters is how you feel and how well you move. Once you advance your training, we will use this to reduce the time between training to get more out of your body.

Work must be intense!

For our fitness program, I have spent years testing and trying all kinds of theories, programs, and ideas. The result? I have found many to provide good results, but your body starts to perform a complex process where it begins to adapt and accommodate itself to the surrounding environment. This is actually a survival mechanism our body uses called “Accommodation.”

Accommodation looks like this. I stick with a workout program for 6 weeks, and I see great results after 2-3 weeks. Then, at 6 weeks, my results start to taper off. Why? Because the body anticipates what your environment will be and what it needs to do prepare for what’s ahead.

Another example of this is when people start a routine in the gym and jump on the treadmill for 30 minutes. They start to loose weight at the beginning, but after about a month, they not only stop loosing, but start gaining. Why? Accommodation. The body knows you will burn 90 calories on the treadmill, so it builds up the muscle to withstand the resistance at the same time retains extra fat and water to prepare for the loss of it during exercise. What do you do? You go longer and longer until you are doing two hours a day and getting zero results.

So, how do we combat ACCOMMODATION?

We get on a program we know works, then have the courage to move to another program we know works when accommodation starts to creep in. Some people call this “Muscle Confusion” and there is some truth to that, but it’s not quite accurate.

Here is how I combat this. After countless years of testing programs, I found a “CORE” program I come back to often. In fact, I would lean on this as one of my foundational programs I follow as much as possible. What does that look like? I run myself on this program until I begin to see accommodation set in, then I go to another program, then will jump back to this core program. Rinse and Repeat.

Before I reveal what program it is, here are a few of the metrics and benefits I reviewed while looking at my own health and fitness. The program’s ability to safely build strength, consider lifestyle time constraints, and keep me healthier longer. So what did I come up with?

The program is called “5/3/1” and was created by Jim Wendler. In fact, after doing some extensive research, you will find he created this program out of shear luck and happenstance while rehabbing from an injury. Being part of Westside Barbell (acclaimed as the strongest gym in the world), he believed in the age old myth of lift as heavy as you can all the time. The problem with this is 1) Not Effective and 2) You cannot sustain this very long before the body breaks down.

After performing lighter weight lifts, Jim decided to enter a fitness competition and to everyone’s surprise (due to this injury and training regiment) he outlifted what conventionally anyone believed he should have. He then took the data, started to work with the program and came out on the other side with a really great program to:

1. Get strong quickly
2. Stay healthier longer
3. Spend less time training and more time enjoying

Here are a few link’s to the 5/3/1 and the 5/3/1 Beyond (the program for more advanced lifters).

• https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/101065094-5-3-1-for-a-beginner
• https://www.jimwendler.com/
• 5/3/1 explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVjLwzMAJSM

Lastly, what other programs do I use since I said I switch between? I use an mix between strong man, CrossFit, and Olympic lifting. I typically only does these other programs for 1-4 weeks before returning to my core program. Here are a few links of these.

• https://www.crossfit.com/
• https://barbend.com/strongman-lifts-for-beginners/
• https://www.catalystathletics.com/exercises/
• https://www.usaweightlifting.org/weightlifting101/top-10-reasons-to-train-the-olympic-weightlifting-movements

Finally, I want to encourage you to take up you own journey into fitness. No one can do this for you. The one thing I truly appreciate is that no one can buy fitness for you, which means when I meet others who are fit, I know they have the dedication and effort to make things happen. They are committed to goals and have taken the time and energy to follow-through. Be an example to others, step into a new confidence, go get fit!

If you enjoyed reading this article and would like more information, please take a moment to learn about the 4 Principles of Peak Performance and how they will help you achieve more, accelerate success, and fulfil your purpose.

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“As a leader, courage is not admirable when preparation could have prevented chaos.”

As a leader, it’s our job to prepare, train, play the “What if?” game, and be a few steps ahead even when we know we won’t have the answer for everything. This applies to every leadership position, not just ones at the top or ones on the front line. A big part of our job is to prepare a framework for those we lead to understand the values, beliefs, and the box they should operate in so they can be confident to make decisions at their level.

I see great leadership as heavy on strategy. That is, it’s not all tactical and you don’t always have pressure challenging an immediate decision. If you feel this way, you may be doing something wrong… STOP what you are doing and reach out to me immediately so we can figure it out! But, if you’re doing it right, you have time to think through most decisions as a leader. This is the time you build relationships, create systems for success, and forward think. A lot of trouble I see with new leaders is wanting to have the need to prove themselves and be the first to make a decision, without truly thinking it through when there is time.

The other piece of leadership, the one that a lot of people fear — in all actuality it takes the least time, but has the biggest impact. It is the time where being a confident and competent leader comes in to play. Where experience shows up. When you have to make bold and quick decisions with limited time in a volatile or shifting environment. This could be when you’re leading a SWAT team into a mission, or it could be when you’re speaking in front of a group and are asked a hard question on the spot. This is where people and circumstances challenge who you are, your expertise, and your intent with little time to react…

Everyone will feel challenged at a different level when it comes courage, the key is to face your fear and resistance head on. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

The best way to face your fears and resistance head on is to be prepared, know what you stand for, and have the intergrity to live out your values so when those challenging times arise, you are ready to rock ‘n’ roll. By preparing yourself and your team ahead of time, the need to take courageous split second decisions can be decreased dramatically, increasing the probability of success significantly.

#intothestorm #strengthandcourage #bealeader #leadership #courage #integrity #influencer #bulletproofleadership #characterandcompetence #leaderonpoint

Consistency…

Consistency is such an easy concept to understand yet such a hard principle to live out. It does not care about your feelings, the weather, life events, your circumstances… Discipline with an optimistic attitude will get you there! Consistency is the

After almost a year of having Veronica Torres Hazley meet with our team once a week (6:15 comes early ), I can tell we have made significant improvements. Our team (including me) is getting healthier through core strength, flexibility, and mobility… Strength, Endurance, and Longevity are so important in this game.

Veronica says it best, “Consistency is everything. It’s like your general practice. Everything will stick. The wires in your brain, they will come together. Consistently is the only way for results and opportunities.”

Thank you Veronica Torres Hazley for being such an awesome positive input into our team’s success!

Comment below: What are some of your greatest accomplishments by just being consistent?

1-10 * 10-1
Push-ups
Sit-ups
Air Squats
*10 Sled pushes @ 25#

Cash-Out: 25 Strict Pull-Ups

This is a test block to see how it goes.

Attend this class … click here.