December 5 2014

I wanted to take a few minutes to put some thoughts down for everyone because I’ve been noticing that some people are holding themselves back from time to time not because of their abilities but more because of their beliefs.  I’ve always heard that if you tell someone the truth they’ll believe you but if you tell someone a story they’ll remember.  Hopefully Coach Marshall won’t mind me using him to drive my point home but I think it can go a long way with everyone.

About 10 years ago I decided I wanted to run a marathon, so I did what most people would do, I logged a ton of miles, I did interval work, I did tempo runs and I did long slow distance runs on Sundays.  My 4 month program was mapped out from the beginning and I followed it religiously.  I ran 5K’s, 10K’s, half marathons all leading up to it and built the muscular endurance and confidence to go ahead and complete my first marathon.  On the day of the Marathon I knew I had put in the work over the last few months and believed because of that I could do it, so I did.  Around this same time, Coach Marshall had decided he also wanted to run the Boston Marathon.  He did nothing other than what he always did when he trained, he wrestled, he did bicep curls, he jogged a little bit and he ate McDonalds and half gallons of ice cream on the daily.  Then came patriots day and he showed up to the starting line and did exactly what I did, he ran and completed the Boston Marathon.

Mike is a ex division 1 athlete, he can outwork anyone in here, he doesn’t worry about the fuel he puts in his body, he doesn’t worry about whether he gets enough sleep or not, he doesn’t wonder if the weight is too heavy or if the workout is too short or long, he just works his ass off and because of this he believes he can perform at his best whenever he chooses.  I was not a trained athlete, I spent my younger years abusing my body and not trying to better myself.  I changed my life 15 years ago and now my fuel is carefully portioned out daily, my workouts are carefully programmed with certain goals in mind, I know my rest is just as important as my workout so I’m very conscious of that and because of this I believe I can perform at my best whenever I choose.  The differences in the way Mike and I approach the gym are great but the results are exactly the same simply because of one thing; we both know and believe we can do whatever we decide.

There’s a well known quote that says, “The greatest adaptation in the gym takes place between the ears”  If you think about what that is saying you’ll realize that’s a pretty big deal.  We all know what huge adaptations happen in the gym on the outside, we lose weight, we grow muscle and we gain skills but if THE GREATEST adaptation is happening in your mind, that’s pretty significant.  The point is, lets stop approaching the gym with an attitude of un-surety or  doubt, approach it with an attitude of belief and confidence, yes some of that is built over time but MOST of it is simply a decision to believe in your training, believe in your hard work and believe in yourself and in time that belief produces real results.  See you at 5PM.    

Conditioning:

As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 Minutes of:

7 DB Deadlifts

7 DB Hang Cleans

7 DB Thrusters

7 Burpees

7 Situps

7 KB SDHP

7 Goblet Squats

Strength:

Back Squat

5-5-3-3-1-1-1