How does this thing work? Specifically, how’s the 4 Stage Cycle For Perpetual Progress work in the Kettlebell Secrets Insider Coaching program? And more importantly, is it for you?
Watch the video below for answers to important questions people have asked. Feel free to ask your own question too.
I often get asked that question and it’s one of the most common questions I see on the kettlebell forums.
Let me help you out by putting this in perspective by sharing with you EXACTLY what I am trying to accomplish with my training, and then why I have made the choices I have.
For me, I like to be strong. And lean. Maybe you can relate. I have been both and I have been strong. I just like the feeling.
But I have a MAJOR problem – my life is about to be turned upside down and inside out by the birth of our first child – our son in two weeks or thereabouts.
Plus, I no longer want to have limitations and restrictions in my movement abilities like I once had – I want to be able to run, jump, roll, and play with my boy, not be stiff, sore, and achy from my training, which is ultimately what the Olympic lifting was doing to me and why I retired.
Now I know that sleep will be interrupted. I know I won’t be able to use my preferred methods for gaining strength and getting lean. So, what am I going to do?
In my last post I outlined what I came up with, but basically, it was this – I am matching my training to what I think my lifestyle can accommodate. Pretty simple.
See, I tend to overcompensate and in the past it has really gotten me in trouble. Life would “pile on” and I would match that by making my training harder and more complicated instead of what I’m doing now, which is making it less so. My training now is based on sustainability – how long can I do this without having to think to hard about it or make too many adjustments?
I’m not saying everybody’s training should look like that – but mine needs to right now.
Here are three simple steps to help you out:
1. Decide what you REALLY want to do – what’s the one thing or theme that you see as the undercurrent in all your training? Is it being as to be as strong as you possibly can be? Is it to be super-conditioned and meet some amazing goals? Or is it to get into the low single digits for body fat percentage and stay there so you can pick up women? It doesn’t really matter to me – because it’s all about YOU.
2. Evaluate where you are now and if what you’re currently doing is in line some way, shape or form with what you really want to do. If it is, keep going in the same vein. If not, stop doing it and do something that is in line with your goals. I love the thrill of heavy overhead lifting – nothing comes close – but I want to play with my kid(s) and I’ve found that Olympic lifting as thrilling as it is, is not the best thing for my body, based on my injuries. So I quit doing it.
3. Pick a program that is in line with your goals and STICK WITH IT. Give it time to germinate. You may not see results tomorrow (you might though) or even the next day. You are “sowing seed” for a future “harvest” – or the realization of your goals. Now obviously if you new program injures you, then it’s not the best for you and you should stop. But if it doesn’t, you should see noticeable improvement in 2 weeks or so. Keep sticking with it.
And it’s really that simple.
You just align your behavior with your goal. And then head toward your goal at your own speed and your own pace. And of course, measure along the way.
Hope that helps you out and clears up any confusion.
The first week of the new year is almost over.
For some, the exuberance and promise of potential change is wearing off as they face the mundane routines of daily life.
Bummer.
Here’s the ONE thing you can do and it’s the ONLY thing you need to do in order to achieve your goals –
MEASURE.
It’s that simple.
I think it was Peter Drucker, a social ecologist, who said, “What’s gets measured gets managed.”
Where do you want to go?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know where you currently are.
Take fat loss.
It’s a popular topic this time of year. Lots of people are not only trying to lose those extra pounds they put on over the past 6 weeks of 2010, but also those same 6 weeks in 2009, 2008, 2007…
And there’s a lot of confusion about what diet to be on, what workouts to do, etc.
But none of that really matters if you don’t have a starting point – or more importantly, the most accurate starting point available to you.
For fat loss, the traditional form of measurement is the scale. Which is ok and better than nothing. Another form of measurement is the tape measure.
The important stuff.
The stuff that matters.
The stuff that actually creates change.
Stuff like –
– Food portions
– Weight used in workouts
– Sets and reps in workouts
– Rest
Simple things.
The bad news is that when you look at those types of things you may panic.
How are you going to fit all that stuff into your current hectic schedule – work, kids, meetings, kids, time with spouse, kids, “honey-do” lists, on, and on, and on…
The good news is that if you pause, take a deep breath, and think for a minute, you already do these things – you know how much money is in your bank account, how many groceries you need each week, and how much gas is in your car.
And if you just take what you already know, what you already do, and apply it to your quest for a leaner, meaner, tighter, lighter you – you’ll be massively successful.
1. Find your starting point. Step on the scale. Measure your waist with a tape measure.
2. Record that number. Preferably right next to your target or goal number.
3. Measure how much (in calories) you need to eat each day. This of course will be less than you are currently eating.
Good starting points are –
– bodyweight *13 if 10lbs or less
– bodyweight *12 if between 10-20lbs to lose
– bodyweight *10 if between 20-30lbs to lose
– bodyweight * 9 if more than 30lbs to lose
And then actually measure the amount of food you eat each day. (If you don’t know for sure, you’re just guessing…)
4. Measure your workouts by recording the sets, rest, weights, and reps in a log. If you don’t have one, get one, otherwise, how will you be able to tell if your making progress?
5. Repeat this process as often as necessary.
– Weighing in: 1x week
– Measuring food: Every meal
– Recording workouts: Every workout
I know what you may be thinking – this will be really inconvenient and take too much time.
Yeah, it may be, but you know what’s REALLY inconvenient?
Flying to your parents house in a foreign country and having to take unpaid leave to do so because your dad has to have heart bypass surgery.
What most people don’t know is the heart bypass surgery is actually “elective” not “necessary.”
You see, you can “elect” to avoid it or you can choose to have it.
The choice to avoid it is based on making those minor inconveniences now as opposed to inconveniencing your spouse and your children when the doctor tells you that your shortness of breath is due to your excessively high levels of bodyfat and blood pressure that can no longer be “controlled” with just a pill (or 5).
That’s inconvenient.
Another inconvenience is when your admitted to the hospital to have one of your organs removed (like a kidney) because it’s riddled with cancer due to the choices you made earlier in life.
(It’s also very inconvenient for your family…)
The point is, you can choose when you’ll be inconvenienced – now or later, but the point is, you will at some point be inconvenienced.
Fortunately, there are really lots of solutions.
They’re pre-written kettlebell programs – just pick a kettlebell program and follow it.
Just one is fine. Don’t try to outsmart the professionals who wrote the programs by mixing this program with that one. Just follow one. And measure your progress.
(Here’s a great fat loss program with kettlebells.)
The important point is that you actually follow it, and measure your results.
And that’s it – the ONLY thing you need to do to start achieving your goals – MEASURE.