Re-Assess and Re-Evaluate, Regularly

And in summation...   The final piece of the puzzle to our Goal Setting series involves documenting your journey.  Emotions, behaviors, activities, stressors, and traumas - they all have an active role in determining if, how, and when your achieve your ultimate goal.  The key is to be detailed; not only what happened, but also how and why.  As you chart your course, take notice of patterns to which you can relate successes and failures.  Did you have a clear plan of action?  How well did you keep your focus?  Did you stick with the program after the honeymoon phase was over and this thing called reality introduced itself with a firm handshake?  And the most important question of all... "Is the object of your desire still desirable to you?"  Many things can cause a shift in your focus and redirect your goal orientation.  It sounds funny, but sometimes those new directions can be even more fruitful than your original endeavor.  Always revisit your "why" - if it has changed, then so should your plan of action!

Yes, Mr. Churchill, I will never, never, never give up!

Maybe not the embodiment of health, but the man knew how to motivate and inspire people to achieve great things

For those following along in their books, this is Part 3 of our Goal Setting series.  At this point we have defined our purpose and created a focused plan of action to achieve that purpose.  You may recall a reference to a Will Rogers quote in our Don't Miss the Forest... blog post when he said "plans get you into things but you must work your way out".  The planning of your journey is always easier than actually walking the path.  "I have to finish a huge proposal for work by Friday"... "I have a ton of school work to catch up on before finals"... Managing my schedule and the kids' schedule leaves me with little time for anything"... "I'm not sure I can afford it"... "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!"... We've all heard (and said!) the reasons for not being able to follow through on achieving our goals.  Just know that there will be obstacles to overcome and hardships to endure.  Do not waste time by attempting to outline all the things that could go wrong, get started actively pursuing your goals.  Be mindful, though, that your journey requires fortitude to conquer the challenges impeding your success.  There are many reasons not to do something worthwhile.  You have to find the purpose worth the sacrifice, maintain your focus, and always push forward towards achieving your goals!

Does Perfection even exist? At Synergy AP, we are on the Relentless Pursuit of  Improvement!

Don't Miss the Forest For the Trees

Continuing from our previous post on Goal Setting, the next landmark along the course of action is to focus your efforts.  Fundamentally this becomes a decision between supporting your purpose (you should probably make a habit of these choices) and not supporting your purpose (I would advise against these options).  It is easy to be distracted by the plethora of information, or mis-information, opinions, gadgets, and saturated offerings that plague the fitness industry.  Always relating back to your purpose establishes a good BS filter to keep you on-target.  A great strength coach, like the highly-skilled experts and shameless self-promoters at Synergy AP, enters at this stage in the game.  We provide our best recommendations to help you efficiently navigate what will maximize your results in the least amount of time.  We advise on nutrition, activity, and behavior choices to help you sift through the areas in your life that could impact your improvement.  But it is not just about working smarter, you will also need to work hard to effectively squeeze all the juice from your intelligent choices.  Will Rogers more succinctly states, "plans get you into things but you must work your way out".  Just be sure that the choices you make and the efforts you endure are driving you closer to your goal and not derailing your progress.

The Cowboy Philosopher waxes poetic about hard work in a way only he could

Honey, Have You Seen My Why?

     One of the most important responsibilities we address at Synergy AP is speaking with our clients about Goal Setting.  We have a very specific system we use to help our athletes gain perspective on the reasons they've decided to invest in improving their movement skills.  The first station on the Goal Setting train we call Defining Your Purpose.  Unfortunately most eager exercisers shoot themselves in the foot before the gun even goes off (yeah, that can happen!) by missing the most important action step for doing anything - defining purpose.  Chip Conrad, a mentor of mine and a true teacher of physical culture, calls this "finding your why".  It can range from the superficial looking good naked to the interpersonal fulfillment of your usefulness to your community (whoa, that's deep!).

The wall asked Chip why he was holding those funny looking clubs... Chip took it as a personal attack!

     You need to specify what you intend to gain from a healthy, more active lifestyle, be that aesthetics or utility.  This is imperative to not only set your ultimate goal, but to continually motivate you to pursue it.  Of course, your level of connection to your purpose directly impacts your adherence to the program.  It is no surprise that when you find your "why" you find a way to do what is necessary to accomplish your goal.  Without setting your purpose, your path is unclear and it becomes too easy to get off track and lose your way.  Be sure to define your purpose for a more fit lifestyle or risk being another passenger on the "there is always next year" bandwagon.

Teach a Man to Fish...

We have all heard some form of the proverb, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, but teach him how to fish and you feed him for life”.  At Synergy AP we’ve adapted that quote to reflect our approach towards working with training clients looking to improve their fitness and performance: “We can teach you an exercise and give you a great workout for that day, or we can teach you how to use your body and move well for life”.  When working to improve your physical performance, too often the focus is on learning an arbitrary exercise or the output of that exercise.  Outside of a gym, when are you going to lay flat on your back and push something off your chest?  So why does every gym rat always ask "How much you bench, bro?!"  Your purpose should not be to just learn a grocery list of exercises but to first reacquaint yourself with the abilities, capabilities, and possibilities of your body.  Your task then becomes to purposefully practice athletic skills to progress those capabilities.  Certain movement qualities like selective tension, weight transfer, and force generation (amongst many others) need to be developed.  Exercises should be used as the medium to challenge you to fully demonstrate movement qualities, not a distraction from your true purpose of the training.  Avoid limiting yourself by getting caught up with “x’s and o’s” of exercises, but focus instead on learning to properly use your body so that, when asked to complete certain exercises, it's just another opportunity for your body to show off what it can accomplish!

Are You Ignoring Your “Check Engine Light?” by Andrew Banner, CPT

            Can you imagine going a day without your vehicle to get you through your normal routine?  The answer for 99 percent of people is NO!  You need to get from point A to point B to fit every thing into your busy lifestyle.  If your check engine light pops up today, most likely you will schedule an appointment with your trusted car mechanic because it is vital that your vehicle performs for you.  The last thing you need is for your car to completely breakdown because you chose to avoid the check engine light for days.  Your body needs the same attention to perform at optimum levels day in and day out.

            When you experience aches and pains in your daily life, those are your signs (check engine light) that you should not ignore.  Therefore, selecting a quality performance coach (mechanic) is important to your health.  The best car mechanics run diagnostic tests, test drive your vehicle, and provide quality customer service.  Your performance coach should be doing all of the above when they first meet with you, if not, it is important you make a change.  Too many people waste their time and money paying personal trainers to essentially count repetitions.  Most personal trainers take a “cookie cutter” approach with their programming or lack there of, and forget that every person has their own unique needs.  Remember, every car that comes into the mechanic’s shop has different problems and so do you!  This is why the best performance facilities take the time to check your range of motion (diagnostics), test your movement patterns (test drive), and provide quality customer service.  With the combination of the three components, the performance specialists can provide you with a program that best meets your body’s needs to help you get back performing on all cylinders. 

            Listen to your body, when you are experiencing aches and pains, do not ignore them, seek out a performance specialist that tests for range of motion and quality of movement patterns in their assessment all while providing top-of-the-line customer service.  With the help of a performance specialist and a little dedication on your end, you will be back on the road performing as good as new in no time!

A Customized Approach to Post-Workout Nutrition by Jon DeMoss

     As an athlete, you've probably participated in (or at least observed) the following popular post-workout food ritual: a set of free weights crashes down after the last rep; a bottle filled with a chalky liquid gets a good shake; and down goes another protein shake in a single gulp.
     Clever marketing and misinterpretations of research have created lots of confusion about post-workout nutrition. Many athletes take the misinformation and rush to their local supplement store to load up on concoctions of chemical compounds. But post-workout nourishment is more complicated than that. It's important and it needs to be planned properly. Failing to take your workout effort, body composition and training goals into account could prevent you from getting key nutritional components; reduce the benefits of all your hard work in the gym; and derail your progress.
The correct answer to the question of effective post-workout nutrition?

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