Say Yes to Your Dreams

This video is incredibly powerful to those of us who dream. If you are not in tears by the end of this video, take a deep look into what drives you in life, I know I am. What is it that you want to succeed at as bad as you want to breathe? I know I fall into the thinking that there is going to be some magical moment when I know I'm supposed to go chase after my dreams, until then, its just day by day in spiritual hell. But there is no perfect timing to start living out our dreams, so tell me what are you waiting for?







Until next time...

Warming Up: Why & How to Get Started

Warm Ups. One of the most overlooked, yet vitally important components of your workout. The warm up serves a number of different purposes, foremost preparing your body for activity. A good warm up can be broken down into two components, the general and specific.

The general warm-up is any movements that increase your circulation, breathing, sweat rate, etc. etc. A general warm up can be very basic like a short run/bike/row, or any combination of exercises, body weight exercises usually work best for the overall exercise population. One of my favorite general warm ups as a coach is either playing a game, yes adults can have fun playing games, or some sort of movement out of the ordinary.

The specific warm up is the time to focus on the upcoming movements of the workout, whether that be working up progressions or adding weight to lifts. As a coach, I am a huge fan of gymnastic progressions here, since they most commonly utilize body weight and also work a good range of motion. Although there are countless variations and options for warm ups, these two components are absolutely necessary for a successful warm up.

Some of those other options include specific mobility for individuals who lack mobility or that pertains to the workout's movements. Warm ups are also a great opportunity to work on skills. If you are going to spend time on skill development you must be careful to 1) not work yourself too hard and 2) you don't spend all your time warming up and miss the workout.

No matter what you choose as a warm up, it should not exhaust you to the point where it felt like another workout, it should be used a time to prepare your body for activity, simple as that! So start treating your warm ups as important as your workout. Show up on time! Be present & attentive! And get yourself prepared properly and you'll be amazed at the possibilities.

Until next time...

What's Your Purpose?

I've been debating this whole blog thing for quite some time now, mainly because I couldn't come up with a clever name and I wasn't sure anyone would actually read my ramblings, but here it is, I'm doing it! Enjoy!

How often do you wonder about your purpose in life? If it's not every day, then I'd say you're pretty lucky. Let's just talk about our professional life here. I've fallen into a number of difference career paths in my life thus far. First I graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Athletic Training and was set on working either collegiate or professional sports the rest of my life. Well fast forward 3 years post graduation, I'm now living in Arkansas and I never made that professional debut, unless and you count volunteering with an Arena 2 Football team. I was about to graduate with my Master's degree, and although I loved working with a collegiate men's rugby team, I just couldn't imagine my next job. Before graduation I was recruited as a Physical Education Instructor at a local technical college, I took the job and I've been there ever since.

My professors in undergrad always encouraged me to follow education (Like as a career), but I wanted nothing to do with it. (Apparently getting up in front of people is a big fear or something for most people, but it doesn't bother me). Any educator will tell you, there are two sides to the job, one that really sucks, you know the "problem kid," who always smarts back to you, tells you its your fault they didn't do their homework, etc. etc. And the other, the amazing reward of improving another person's life. 

Okay, so whats the purpose of this post? Well, I think I've found a purpose. I hope its not my only purpose, but I think it's one that can be fairly apparent. I love educating, whether that be in a classroom, or more better yet in a gym or even one-on-one conversations. I truly believe the power of changing your life through fitness and nutrition can have such a carry over to all aspects of one's life. It has for me and so many of the people I know. So enter this blog, it's just going to be my personal take on training. I read/watch/listen/etc. so much information on training and I want to share that with YOU! 

So in summary, this blog with be mainly training focused (not so much life pondering like this one, I suck at that stuff). Whether that be how to improve the technique of a certain skills, how to approach daily training, understanding concepts, mental game, how to have fun and work hard at the same time, and the list goes on. I hope you stay tuned and bear with me and I start out on this new journey!

Until next time...