Workout log 8/29/16 and why learning how to accept failure fosters mental toughness and growth.

Today's workout was full body. It felt awesome to squat heavy and then finish up with some unconventional GPP training using a sledgehammer, tire, and sandbag.

I've put together a co-Brick by Brick Fitness/ Peak S&C Spartan race team, and we are about 4 weeks out! I'm very excited to be doing my first Spartan race. The whole purpose of a race like this, no matter what brand it is, is to test your mental toughness and ability to get through whatever is thrown at you. I love the idea of being pushed to my limits, physically and mentally, and this is such a great way to test it out.

I think it is important in life to do stuff that challenges you. If you walk through life with everything given to you, or always taking the easy path, you will never realize your fullest potential. I've been lucky that all of my clients love being pushed (even if they didn't think so at first!) Being uncomfortable and purposely putting yourself in situations that make you not feel, "warm and cozy" are how you grow and develop an iron mindset. Once you start to get a stronger mental game, everything else seems easier. You no longer fear what you don't know, and you believe that you can do whatever your mind wants!

I think the biggest challenge when trying to gain mental toughness is getting over the fear of failure. Failure is a part of life and it's one of the best ways of growing. If you just accomplish everything you set out to do, you're not setting big enough goals. Overcoming failures, picking yourself up, and still moving forward is how you get stronger.

Think of a time when you failed at something, if you're still bitter about it, try taking some lessons from it. How could you have been better? Did you train enough for it? Did you set yourself up to be successful? Use failures to better yourself, not to destroy you. Once you learn that it's okay to fail as long as you're continuing to grow, learn, and better yourself, you will have a mind that nothing can stop.

Get after it.

-Nick

8/24/16 Birthday Lift and why basic outdoor chores can be GREAT exercises!

Yesterday was my birthday and my friend came worked out with me. I always love planning a big workout on my birthday, it's a great way to work off my birthday dinner. We started off with some benching and rowing, then a circuit of lower body and core. The last circuit was a combination of full body GPP work. We used sledgehammers, wheelbarrows, tires, sleds, and sandbags.

With all the "new" techniques and fitness tricks out there, sometimes the best workouts are made up of just simple outdoor chores. Doing yard work involving digging, chopping, carrying can work the lower body, upper body, core and overall work capacity. I like to implement these kinds of movements into my client's workouts and my own. Filling a wheelbarrow and running with it, slamming a sledgehammer on a tire, or dragging a sled are great ways to push the limit of your mental toughness and endurance. These are also exercises you can do at home if you have some basic yard equipment.

There is no need for fancy tricks and tools to get a good workout. Pick some stuff up, move it, push it, drag it, hit it, and carry it...just work hard.

Get after it!

-Nick

How to Life Plan, Goal Set, and Keep Yourself Moving Forward: Consistent Progression

When you are traveling to a new place, you get directions, use a GPS, or have someone guide you. Why is that so many people try and travel through their life without the same techniques? How can you possibly expect to end up where you want to be without a road map?

I'm a big proponent for life planning, goal setting, and writing stuff down. I think the majority of people have an idea of where they want to "end up," but why would you try and get there without a plan? Now, if your plan/goal/dream is to live an unstructured life then by all means, do it! But, if you have set goals or moments you want to hit in your life, I think it is absolutely necessary to have some kind of program to follow.

If this is your first time writing out a life plan, it can be pretty daunting. It's a lot of self reflection, and I think a good place to start is by writing down your, "Essential List." Write, "What is important to me?" and then narrow it down to less than 10 items. These are the most important things in your life, and everything you do, from work to play, should fit within them.

Obviously, things change and come up. Being flexible is important to a successful life. By having these items written down and acknowledging them, you are able to make quick and decisive decisions when something big happens. As long as you make sure whatever you choose fits within your, "Essential List" you know you'll still be on the right path towards your dreams and goals.

There are different ways to create a life plan, a helpful tip is to split your life into at least these 4 categories: physical, mental, financial, and spiritual. You can put in whatever categories you would like, and some will be more important to you than others.

Make sure you're actually recording this either electronically or on paper. Personally, I like to write mine on paper, something about taking the time to actually write things out makes me think a little slower, and really decide on what I want to say.

When writing out goals, I like the follow the S.M.A.R.T goal setting technique.  I also like to make weekly, months, yearly, and of course life goals. Your goals should scare you a bit. There's no sense in making easily attainable goals. Challenge is good.

I always start with my physical goals, I think that has become a habit for me since my first goals I ever recorded were from my bodybuilding days. This isn't just weight loss or gain goals, it could also be about drinking more water, or less processed food or sugar, or getting ready for an event or race; whatever you want! Once I settle on my physical goals, I move to financial ones. Plan out how much you want to have saved, what debts paid off, and any big purchases you have in mind for the coming years. Next is the mental goals and plans. This could include goals for how many or what kind of books you want to read, daily or weekly meditation, or dedicating time in the day to self betterment practices such as life planning. Lastly, there are spiritual goals to plan out. These could be whatever personal beliefs you would like to practice, but record how you will go about that and how often.

Continue to reflect on your goals daily, or at least weekly. Make goals for goals if that helps you stay on track, and make sure all of your goals fit within your, "Essential List." By doing this, you keep yourself in check to make sure you're moving forward. Being at a standstill in life is just as bad as moving backwards. It doesn't matter how quickly you are moving, just as long as you continue to grow. By having a life plan, but staying flexible, you are set up to achieve more, worry less, and have a great life!

-Nick 

Lower Body 8/17/16, how to aggressively roll out your calves, and how to have a GREAT squat!

I was so excited for squats today! I haven't had a good lower body lift in over a week due to vacation, but I finally got one in today! My calves were incredibly tight so I started by rolling them out on a LAX ball and also rolling them out using a barbell.

To do this:

• I put a bar in a low placement on a rack
• Laid down below the bar
• Put a leg up on the bar
• Moved my leg all around trying to break up the knots 

It was one of the roughest way I've worked on my calves, but it definitely helped!

I only went to 275 on squats, and unfortunately, that felt pretty heavy. I added some core in between the sets of squats. I then went into a circuit of heavy RDLs, single leg squats with a med ball, KB swings, and goblet squats. I loved this circuit, it kept my heart rate up, and the blood pumping in my legs!

To go along with yesterday's Technique Tuesday post about how to bodyweight squat, here are my most common cues for getting my clients into a proper squat position.

• Feet just outside shoulder width
• Toes pointed as straight as possible (0-15 degrees)
• Lock your core in (sternum to belly button)
• Screw your feet into the ground (externally rotating your hips)
• Push your butt back, drive your knees out towards pinky toes
• Try to get to at least parallel
• Drive up from the middle/heel of your foot

Congrats you just had a great squat!

 Check out the Technique Tuesday video below and make sure you Like us on Facebook to stay up to date on all the videos and tips by Brick by Brick Fitness!


Thanks for reading and happy squatting!

-Nick

Upper Body 8/15 and why occasional breaks from lifting are helpful to avoid burnout

Last week I was on vacation with my family. I decided to take the whole week of from training and just focus on hanging out with my family and relaxing. I rode a few miles a day on a bike and hiked, but besides that I didn't do any lifting or exercising. In the past, when I would have take a week of I would stress about how I need to get back into a gym. When I would finally get back, the stress from worrying about how I was going to perform would ruin my workout. This time I got back into the gym with eagerness, but was stress-free and had a fantastic workout.

Your body needs to time recharge and relax. By taking a few days off, you come back fresh and ready to absolutely kill it in the gym. I had begun to lose some motivation for my own training before my trip, when I got back I was ready to start lifting again and pushing towards my personal goals. Burnout is a very real thing in sports, lifting, and life. Sometimes you need to take a step back, appreciate what you've done, reassess what you're doing, and then get after it. Signs of burnout can include: lack of motivation, loss of strength, tiredness, anxiety, etc. If you are starting to feel that way about your training, then relax, take a deep breath, a few days off, and get after it again. You've got to keep your mind happy as well as your body, and the deeper you push yourself through a burnout phase, the deeper you have to climb out.

So keep your body happy, your mind happy, and your training happy: take a break, it's okay!

-Nick

Quick Full Body Workout 8/4/16 and why you should train no matter how much time you have.

Yesterday's workout was only about 30 minutes. I had not planned on working out, but a fellow trainer was there and she convinced me to get to it, and I'm glad she did! The workout was very straight forward. I did not go heavy on the barbell squats, but I did on the step ups. I very rarely do step ups, but I think I will start doing them more often from now on. I loved the quad and glute activation I got from them.

No matter how much time you have, try and get some physical workout in. Even if it's just a few sprints for 5 minutes, or a set of Tabatas. You will feel 100X better than you did before and you for sure accomplished something that day. Time should never be an excuse, you can get plenty done in a 20-30 minute workout. Try and get a long workout in, but if you seem to always have the excuse that you don't have time, then find a small chance in the day to do SOMETHING physical...you'll thank me later.

-Nick

Full Body 8/1 and Why You Need to do the Movements You Hate

Today was a fun full body workout. I lifted this morning with a fellow trainer at Peak named Arkeif; he's an awesome guy and a great trainer! I took advantage of having no clients this morning and got my lift out of the way. I started with rack position kettlebell squats, which I love. They really force you to brace your core to stay upright in the bottom position. All the circuits except the last one had some sort of power or core movement in it. The core is something that can NOT be neglected. Check out my Facebook page to see my Core 101 series and learn more about the parts of your core and how to train it.

In circuit 3, we did my least favorite exercise: walking lunges. I don't know why I hate lunges, but I dread doing them. Even coaches have movements they do not love. The thing is, lunges are such a great exercise! Obviously it develops strength in the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, but it also works the core. Anytime you are in a split stance your core is firing to keep you upright; add a weight and now it's being lit up! The other great thing about lunges is there are so many variations: static lunges (split squats), dynamic lunges, walking lunges, rear foot elevated, jump lunges, and then there are lunges in other directions. You can also load yourself a bunch of different ways. Today I used a barbell, which really brought me back to my bodybuilding roots. So remember, the movements you hate the most, are probably the ones that are the most important. So put your head down and do them anyways.

Thanks for reading!

-Nick