On behalf of Cloudtag and Jessie, we’d like to thank everyone who took part in the health and Fitness Q&A we did last month. There were some great questions and we are so glad that we managed to help some of you along the road to your fitness goals.
Read More...The word relapse is not motivational. The title of my blog is not motivational. I could make a play on “re-lapping” but I won’t. I’d also like to make clear that in this instance I am not referring to addictions, although relapse is very relevant in that context.
Read More...The paradox of change. I called this blog “the carrot and the stick” because this dynamic is still the primary way most of us set up our health and fitness goals which goes something like this:
Read More...Develop a sense of how you celebrate achieving a goal. Decide exactly when you have accomplished what you set out to do and consciously decide to celebrate it. Bask in your glory! And with others if you can! Be satisfied!
Read More...A favourite coaching maxim, “starting with the end in mind” is a sound approach to getting as much direction and clarity as possible when we start our adventure. No, I don’t mean start with the last piece of cake first, or have an argument now in case you have one later, although that cake does look good…
Read More...I have connections all over the world and enjoy some cracking contact and conversations with people, some of whom I haven’t even met.
Read More...Mastery asks us to proceed regardless of the outcome. Mastery asks us to harness the process, the immediate task of getting going and of learning. It asks us, finally, to keep going against odds, against instinct, against opinion, until we become what it is we set out to be, a master.
Read More...Hacking. Not through jungles. Or running from hockey masked psychopaths on ill informed group holidays in abandoned warehouses. I’m referring to hacking, “bio-hacking,” terminology applied to “getting the job done” in fast, sneaky, innovative ways.
Read More...This year I did three things that made me reflect deeply on how I do, or do not implicitly trust myself. The first, I set up a fixed wheel on my bike. Stop laughing, I haven’t grown a beard…..damn, ok, hipster confirmed. All I heard was “don’t do it, you can’t control it, it’s a pain if you’re cycling with kids (I have two), you get the idea.
Read More...Starting a movement beats crossing things off your to-do list. Having a purpose beats motivation. Being of service beats doing a job and having a calling is better than having an interest (and especially if you never act on it). Movement, purpose, service and calling are heart centered and energize us more totally than having to grind through our daily issues with our thoughts as our primary resource.
Read More...Ok, I hope you haven’t actually been hit, I really do. Also I hope you haven’t had cause to hit anyone else. However, we are here today to discuss what we can do when “it hits the fan”. How do you respond when chaos rules, when the unexpected happens, when life throws a curve ball at you?
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Each week, we will be releasing a video based fitness challenge, for you to try out. This week Emily Schromm puts you through your paces for the 3rd Thursday Challenge!
Read More...You Are An Orchestra. “I can play all the right notes, they’re just in the wrong order…” Morcombe and Wise. “When you are exercising, moving, playing, consider that all of this is also skill development, which means practice and good repetition leads to mastery. By coordinating your movement rhythm with your breathing and your thinking, you’ll move with efficiency, grace and power; you’ll FLOW.” You’ve probably noticed that people who do things well make whatever they are doing look easy. Behold the Federer backhand, Messi’s movements on the field, the way Lindsey Vonn negotiates the mountains she skis. These people are movement symphonies and they’re tuned into the most efficient way of doing what they’re doing. Start by being mindful of your quality of exercise. It’s easy to start thinking you just need to “get through it”. Consider how you pick up the weight, how close your knee is to the ground when you lunge. In short, are you maximizing every exercise? Are you breathing through every repetition? Extreme flow. Consider the runner, who looks like his shorts are full of ants and he’s being chased by a mountain leopard, running for his life. See the bench-presser, squirming around like they’re wrestling John Cena? Now watch a top power lifter, confident set up, positive simple self-talk and breathing timed to perfection with the movement. That’s what we want to aim for. Feel the rhythm of your running steps. Allow your in and out breath to synch, repeating a phrase like “smooth, light” as you run… Bench Press this, squirmer. “Entrainment” means simply “the synchronization of organisms to an external rhythm.” Drop that one at your next dinner party. If we consider how music motivates us, it’s because we can find our rhythm in the music’s rhythm and our breathing can find it’s rhythm in those rhythms and then we can find words that describe that experience. Combine that with a runner’s high and you’re on your way. Your body loves rhythm and it’s designed to find it. Often, simply relaxing a bit, taking some pressure off, will allow better “entrainment.” Tai Chi, Yoga, dancing of nearly every kind, martial arts like Capoeira, Aikido, Judo and many more all ask us to loosen up (see second picture) find some rhythm and get into the “flow.” Here’s your second dinner party winner to drop: “Flow is the mental state of operation... Read more
Read More...“Everything Flows, Nothing Stands Still.” Heraclitus Recognise you are entering into a powerful cycle of change, literally remodelling yourself and use adaptation, progression and feedback to keep moving forwards. Dave is keen, very keen. He trains so hard that the following day he’s walking around like Robocop without his joints lubed. He’s pleased with himself and through his grimace tells everyone about it. They stare blankly at him, particularly his Mum, who worries. A lot. Each workout is part of a big picture, not the be all and end all in and of itself. Poor Dave. Dave’s effort is admirable but he’s got it wrong. What Dave’s actually doing is overwhelming his capacity to recover and adapt. It’s very difficult to actually change if your body is being pummelled daily like a rugby player or american footballer every time you go to the gym. Find the sweet spot where you are taxing yourself adequately, enough to trigger the responses you want, then recover properly. Heraclitus, a seriously clever Greek dude philosopher said “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and it’s not the same man.” Say what? This is truly a “movement mantra.” As we develop and absorb the stress of each session, we adapt and increase strength, skill, capacity and mental stamina so we tolerate more discomfort. We literally change and therefore our environment needs to change also. As you track your progress, appreciate that each session you successfully learn from and adapt to demands that each subsequent workout changes slightly also, a rep, a set, a new skill. Keep your eye on your mood, appetite, sleep and stress levels, for you. Keep an awareness of how your body feels day to day. Are you stiff and aching all the time? Is your energy level tanking in the day? Are you drooling onto your workstation half asleep by ten in the morning? Keep a log of feedback that should be showing some steady increases in energy, vibrancy and endurance. No athlete trains maximally every session. Keep track of your overall wellness level to determine how hard you push and pull from workout to workout, making sure there’s an overall progression. Poor poor Dave. Heraclitus wasn’t Roman but I bet Greece wasn’t built in a day either. The small gains are big if they stay. The... Read more
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If we can foresee even a glimpse of ourselves performing with excellence in an imagined future, then we will try to support that with more positive recollections from our past. It’s a cool loop.
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I am a sucker for the “A-Team”, “McGyver” and in general, tales of people surviving on minuscule islands in the middle of nowhere: “Castaway”, “The Count of Monte Christo”; you get my drift … ahem… Whether or not you could potentially find yourself in the position of needing to build a speedboat out of an ironing board and a blender (I know…quite the visual, isn’t it?), or engineering and building a two story bamboo shelter to keep your family safe until help arrives, there are a couple of skills that are really going to help you in your quest to become someone who can train anywhere with anything. Really.
Read More...We have had and always will have all the time there ever is.
Do me a favor. Close your eyes for just a second. Clear your mind. Now, visualize Hobbits – the cute little dudes with extremely large hairy feet. (I know, that wasn’t what you were expecting, but that’s why it’s a visualization exercise… Now back to our visualization.) Think about Frodo and Sam specifically. These are two guys who got the job done despite the odds. With hardly a plan, skills, or street smarts they set out to, and accomplished, what to most would seem impossible. How? Well, it seemed that they were brave, stubborn and most importantly, resourceful, present and focused on their goal. The Hobbits represent the archetypal mythical journey. Our individual journeys aren’t fantasy realm, but they can easily stay a fantasy, never leaving the house, never getting off the ground.
That's not what we're about is it?
I didn't think so. So come on, let's join ranks and start to move, let's get going and head towards the flaming realms of success.
Oh, and you might want to shave your feet...
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