I have been stock piling a list of topcis that I’m going to cover on this site, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I am looking to change the general feel of this space. While my heart is in writing lengthy article-like posts, I plain and simply don’t have the time right now. So I will be using this site as more of a running feed of the fun things I find on a day to day basis. My posts will become much more frequent… but also much shorter. If I find time I’ll dive into a topic more thoroughly, and especially if someone asks me a question. So keep them coming!

While we’re on the topic of not having enough time, I want to share a link with you to a program called HustleFit. As I realize most of you can not share in my luxury of working (read: living) in a fully equipped fitness facility, you are going to love this program. The methods used by HustleFit are geared specifically towards people who have limited access to weights etc., but more importantly, limited time.

Let’s be honest here for a second. Most people, working anything close to a normal 9-5 has very little time left in their day to make it out to a gym for their hour long routine… or even their sub-20min CrossFit WOD. Sometimes all you have is a few minutes between work, fuelling and sleep. This is where a program like HustleFit shines. The workouts that get emailed to you daily are designed to be done in your office, or in a hallway, or in your living room, bathroom, park…, ______(fill in 6′ x 6′ piece of object-free real-estate here). You get sent a link to some videos on how to properly perform the movements and they also throw in a bang-on nutrition tip every once in a while. And best of all, there is no equipment required!

I really can’t say enough good about how this program is structured. Many of principles I use in my own gym have been distilled down to what will work within the limits of normal life. The methods are sound, and based on intensity as the goal of each workout. Plus I love the animal names.

Related Topics

• P90X vs. CrossFit
• The Law of Attraction
• Why we shouldn’t use mirrors when working-out

My reason for mentioning Lululemon is a blog post Chip wrote in March 2009 about the Law of Attraction. Here is a little of the post:

The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract aspects, qualities and people in your life that reflect the type of person who you are.

Alcoholics attract alcoholics
Athletes attract athletes
Thieves attract thieves
People with integrity attract people with integrity
Liars attract liars
People who know how to make money attract people who know how to make money
Empathetic people attract empathetic people
Goal setters attract goal setters
People who take on sole responsibility for how their lives turn out attract the same
Complainers attract complainers
Health attracts health
Sickness attracts sickness

… you get the picture.

Framed another way, the Law of Attraction can be used as a question to ask yourself whenever you find that the goals you have set for yourself are not being met:

“Am I attracting the type of people that will help me reach my goal(s)?”

The point to take home here is that if the Law of Attraction holds true, then perhaps the sinking feeling many people feel when they look in the mirror and realize they aren’t seeing the gains and fat loss they expected, could be due to not having the right kinds of people around for support.

We often feel as though the road to a healthier, fitter body is a journey of personal struggle. The key word there being personal, as in all by yourself, and oftentimes this is the case and it can feel overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be this way however.

Surround yourself with people that live the lifestyle you want.

A key reason for getting the right people in your life is for feedback purposes. Most people have a hard time stepping back, and examining themselves with unbiased eyes. Take a look at your close circle of friends. Are they being honest with you? If you were to ask them some very personal questions like: What can you always count on/never count on me for? Would you get a useful answer, or would they lie to you to save your feelings?
Setting up a solid circle of friends, of people who you respect and admire, will allow you to gain more constructive feedback.

Please note however, there is a difference between friends who make you want to BE good, and friends that make you LOOK good. Your friends should not require you to look a certain way, or buy certain material things. They should require more from you. They should require excellence from you, because their excellence is what ATTRACTED you to them.

The self-help sections of most major book stores are lined with books about positivity, living in the now, and of course, the Law of Attraction! Do you need to go out any spend a fortune on books and spend countless hours reading to move towards excellence? I would argue no. All you really have to do to make huge changes in your life is to take an inventory of the people around you and make sure they are helping you be excellent.

Some simple ways to do this:

Set some goals

Goal setting is one of the most powerful, yet simple tools you can use to achieve the results you seek from life. Goal setting can be used for tasks as small as grocery shopping, to as big as choosing a partner in life. Goal setting also allows you to evaluate the people around you. It will serve as a litmus test to see who in your life is encouraging you to achieve your goals and be excellent, and who is filling your life with negativity and mediocrity.

Ask for feedback

A person who feels they are living a mediocre life is a person who has not asked for feedback. How can you expect to improve yourself if you don’t know what needs to be improved? This hearkens back to having quality people in your life, because it is difficult to see yourself the way the world sees you.
Make sure that the people around you will not only add positivity to your life, but will also help you see yourself, your flaws, be honest with you, and finally help you move towards your goals by providing quality feedback.

Pose some tough questions

Once you have set your goals, quality controlled the people close to you, and made sure they will be honest with their feedback, it’s time to ask some them some tough questions. (Beware, the answers may not always be what you want to hear, but they will provide some very usefully information).

Choose 5 people you respect and admire and ask them the following questions:

What can I always be counted on for?
What can you never count on me for?
What is one personality characteristic you think I can improve on?
If we were stranded on a island in the ocean, and getting off the island required 100% teamwork, would you want me on your team?

The road to self improvement, and reaching your goals will obviously require more work than what I have listed here, but these are good first steps on the road to excellence.

Related Topics

• Why we shouldn’t use mirrors when working-out
• No time for the gym? No equipment? Try HustleFit
• Supplementation. Macronutrients vs. Micronutrients.

Shiny reflective surfaces a.k.a mirrors, will only be present in the washrooms.

At CrossFit we teach you how to move your body with proper bio-mechanical form. Becoming proficient at this requires you to FEEL the movements, not SEE them in the mirror. Mirrors have caused the frontal domination that goes on in most gyms. People want to improve what they see in the mirror, so they tend to focus on exercises that target the chest, arms and abs. This focus on the front of the body contributes to many injuries due to the over-development of chest muscles**, with a general neglect of the back muscles, or the posterior-chain. As with many things in life, proper body composition and posture is all about balance. At CrossFit we teach functional movements, in other words, movements that allow you to move large loads, long distances, and quickly. Because functional movements tend to recruit many large muscle groups at once, the tendency for over domination of one group is drastically reduced.

Another reason we don’t like mirrors in our gym is that CrossFit is practiced for application in real life. We prepare for the unknown, and the unknowable. The majority of the average person’s daily life is lived without mirrors. If you needed to look in a mirror every time something needed to be lifted off the floor, your productivity would be greatly reduced. Thus we emphasize FEELING the movements, getting to know how your body moves through balance development, and coordination. We want to teach you to know where your body is in space, not where it is in a mirror.

Furthermore, our end goal in CrossFit is ultimate fitness. We train to generate power from the human body by developing our proficiency in 10 General Physical Skills: Cardio/Respiratory Response, Stamina, Flexibility, Strength, Speed, Power, Balance, Agility, Accuracy, and Coordination. We care most about our performance, and conditioning a “general state of readiness” that will allow us to effectively face any physical challenge that life may throw our way. That being said, looking good in the mirror tends to be a nice side-effect of CrossFit training. In this case, form follows function.

Related Topics

• The Law of Attraction
• What are the CrossFit Games?
• P90X vs. CrossFit