In a saturated industry, severely lacking of much original thinking, but more so, even the questioning of ideas is rare. It’s an industry where not only the general population, but coaches as well, are following the advice from the person on social media with the most followers. The person holding ‘authority’ in the space. Yet this person is not the most educated, or even most experienced, but the person who is intelligent enough to capitalise on their athletic build (some this may be good genetics but most have worked hard for this so take no credit away), good understanding of marketing, social proof, camera angles, consumer psychology, and often the ability to do really cool, eye catching circus stuff.

My thoughts on these coaches, they are great for motivation/inspiration but not for too much else.

The flipside of the coin, is the performance/athlete coaches. In this industry, everyone wants to train athletes. If I had $10 for every time I have had a coach tell me how sick and tired they are of training ‘ordinary people’ (not my words) I would be a very wealthy man!

Coaches have this obsession with training athletes, and by athletes, I mean professional ‘full time’ athletes (football, rugby, soccer, mma, netball, etc). This makes sense from a coaching standpoint. Coaching athletes is easier in the sense that most athletes will do exactly what you say, they will be on time or early, never miss a training session, train with no complaints, track everything you ask – nutrition, sleep, steps, why? They are extrinsically motivated; they will do whatever it takes to win. (Extrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise. This type of motivation arises from outside the individual, as opposed to intrinsic motivation, which originates inside of the individual.) On top of this, athlete programming can appear to be quite fun. Plyometric work, sprints, grueling conditioning routines. Social media will often show coaches working with professional athletes doing all kinds of crazy/impressive athlete feats.

This trickles down to a coach (generally much less educated) programming box jumps and sprints for Jessica - Mother of 2 - 12 weeks’ post-partum. Garry – 45 years old, with stage 2 hypertension (Very high blood Pressure) doing a tabata set on his 3rd training session. Or the coach who saw that social media fitness guru’s 12 week challenge, prescribing 1200 calories per day and training 5x HIIT sessions per week, who then prescribes the same to every client they train.

Now, the point of this post, isn’t to bash anyone or shame coaches – everyone is doing the best they can with the resources they have available. My goal, is to give understanding that social media is not the place you should be searching for health and fitness information. Heck, I’ve seen doctors and dieticians (who should be the authority) prescribing terrible advice on 60 minutes. There are many snake oil salesmen out there, this makes finding the right information on social media, or even via a google search like finding a needle in a haystack for trainers, let alone the client with no understanding of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or programing. Put it this way, it has taken me roughly 10 years’ continual education, seeking out and learning from the best in the industry, sifting through the bullshit to know what works for the everyday person, the crazy thing is, there are many, many levels to this and I’m still going.

So, what works?

The frustrating response is – it depends. There are many factors that as a coach, me and my team take on board, we don’t prescribe cookie cutter programs because this is so individual.

Age.Training age / experience.Gender.Diet.Sleep.Lifestyle stress (away from training).Goals.

All of the factors listed above are taken into consideration, then we aim to keep things as simple as possible simple:

Compliance - Adherence – Consistency

Sometimes, the best practices shown to produce the best results don’t always work for the individual. This is why we need to take a very individual and personal approach to training. Keep the friction low, work on the simple stuff rather than BIG/SCARY changes.

What is optimal for training?

Training consistency – Minimum of 3x per week 45-60 minute training sessions (mixture of resistant and aerobic training)Having a coach who understands how to do a movement screening, will help set the foundations. Programming movements/exercises that work for you and will provide training safety and longevity is incredibly important.Most people will benefit greatly from doing a solid 3-6 week block of aerobic exercise when they first commence a training regime. 2-3x per week, 30+ minutes of low intensity, cardiovascular exercise maintaining a heart rate of 130-150BPM (Give or take).Enjoyment! This will keep you adhering to training.Pushing to a point of discomfort that will illicit an adaptation. If you don’t stress your body, you’re wasting your time &/or money.General Activity – Don’t train for 40 minutes and then sit on your butt for the rest of the day! Get up and move around often throughout the day.What can we do to help mitigate stress? 20-minute walk ‘outdoors’. You will feel better, sleep better, better mental health, more energy expenditure.

What is optimal for nutrition?

Energy Balance (Calories) This involves tracking food in a way that works for you.

-Cronometer / Myfitness pal.

-Writing down in a diary.

-Taking photos.

-Weighing food.

-Precision nutrition model.

(Unless this is taken care of, you will likely not get optimal results)

Macronutrient Ratios – Protein #1

Most people under eat protein. Whether you’re trying to lose fat or gain muscle, studies show protein to be the most beneficial macronutrient for body composition change.

High carb/low fat or High fat/Low carb?

Know your preference. Do you prefer yogurts, butters, cheeses, are you more of a sweat tooth, or do you like a bit of both? Neither is better or worse, it’s more important to choose foods you can adhere to.

Tracking progress.

Regular weight in, measurements, photos. Assessing of goals, strength / fitness. Daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly. Just understand what the path to success looks like. Understand there will be many days when you jump on the scales after what seemed to be the perfect week, yet the numbers aren’t what you want or expected to see. Understanding that there are so many factors that influence the numbers shown on the scales. Such as hormones, mineral intake, inflammation, time of day, time of month and more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Use a method that works best for you to track your food.Make sure you hit your daily protein intake (1.6-2.2g per KG of bodyweight)Do a form of training that you ENJOY. (CrossFit, Martial Arts, Running, Resistance Training – whatever you enjoy and can stick to over a long period of time)General Activity – MOVE often throughout the day. This is where a FITBIT, or activity/step tracking app can come in handy – 7200 steps per day MINIMUM.Mitigate stress – This could be an outdoors walk, punching and kicking things (preferably focus pads or a bag opposed to a wall or person – that might get you in trouble) box breathing drills, meditation, yoga, reading. Really whatever works for you!Environment. Place yourself in an environment that supports you, and your goals.

I think it’s fitting to sign off with my best piece of advice for those struggling out there. Studies have shown, having a coach to hold you accountable, or even training with a friend GREATLY improves compliance, adherence & consistency, which really is everything, even if training is sub-optimal, yet you are still turning up week after week, month after month you will most likely still get some great results.

When we think of Martial Arts, usually what comes to mind is self defence, UFC, or people in funny outfits hugging one another(we like to call it wrestling). However, Martial Arts is so much more than a physical sport, that involves lifesaving self defence techniques. Along with all of the physical benifits martial arts offers, there is so much more important values and traits ingrained through Martial Arts, you will learn respect, discipline, self confidence and how to overcome insecurities just to name a few. Below are our reasons to why every child should train Martial Arts.

DISCIPLINE.

Many aspects in life require something incredibly overlooked, and that is discipline, If you get up early every day to train, well thats discipline. If you get up early maybe once, twice a week, but have every intention to do 5x per week, well you probably lack discipline.

All martial artists are ingrained with a disciplined, an often unwavering mindset to stick to a goal or task at hand. For parents, enrolling your child into a martial art in order to work on their discipline is a fantastic idea, but it isn’t just important for children to stay out of trouble, or to respect mum and dad. More importantly its going to be the cornerstone for most if not all lifestyle choices as teenagers and adults.

The discipline to get up early train for training or work.

The discipline to get the work done (School, university, work)

The discipline to stick to the goals we set goals.

The discipline to steer clear of, or fight addiction of any kind later in life.

The discipline to control your thoughts, and emotions.

RESPECT

In martial arts we learn and teach mutual respect.”treat others how you would like them to treat you.”

As a student, you must show respect to a coach, to receive respect in return.

As a Coach you must show respect to a student, to receive respect in return.

Be kind, courteous, and thoughtful to others.

Also respect for ones self. Most Martial arts schools will have a strict policy on uniform, and uniform cleanliness and personal hygiene. If your uniform is ‘dirty’ you can’t train.

This isn’t only about keeping the gym clean and looking professional, it is more importantly teaching students to have respect in themselves and their appearance.

CONFIDENCE

Martial arts is a form of self expression, whether or not you agree or not with combat sports, martial artists are expressing their creativity through combative movements. Learning how to express yourself, defend yourself and control your thoughts, feelings & emotions it really empowers an individual to be confident in their own skin, and confident in their ability and mindset.

HABITS

If martial arts does nothing else, it builds habit and routine. Classes are structured and follow a strict routine, i guarantee any coach has had a day where they have changed something up in the warm-up (deliberately or not), or missed a step and a student will pick them up on it right away!

Discipline and habits go hand in hand, we need discipline in order to ingrain a habit.

GOAL SETTING - PERSEVERANCE

Every Martial Arts student from day 1 dreams of getting their black belt. For some Martial Arts, it is a lifelong journey that can take upwards of 10 years of discipline, & routine training in order to achieve the incredibly prestigious goal of earning a black belt. In Martial Arts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu only around 5% of those who start the journey, actually make it to black belt, this is a testament to how tough the journey really is. The real reward isn’t the destination of black belt, or the martial arts/self defence knowledge gained, but the life skills and character building that has happened as a result through persevering the long arduous journey.

New Years comes around all too quickly, a time of year that is generally associated with fireworks, music festivals and a killer headache January 1st that last about as long as some of our New Years resolutions!

Every year we see resolutions, and goals come and go in a very fleeting manner, 'Lose Weight' 'Join the gym' 'Quit smoking' 'Drink less' 'Spend more time with family' 'Get that promotion' 'Manage debt' 'Be nicer to others', not many of these will make it through the month of January unfortunately....But wait

There is HOPE

You need a plan!

1 PLAN.

Failure to plan = Planning to fail.

Break your goals up into 1 month / 3 month / 6 month and 12 month segments. Be as specific as possible, and write down HOW you are going to achieve these goals and why!

2 VISUALIZE.

We need to remind ourselves daily exactly what it is that we are trying to achieve, something to motivate and drive us towards our goals!

My favourite strategy is to create a goals + vision board. Once you have done this, hang it in a place that you will be able see on a daily basis (home or work). Not only will this help you visualise your goals as a real thing, but it will also remind you everyday what needs to be done!

For myself I use the following GOAL headers:

LIFESTYLE + FAMILY

HEALTH

CAREER

FINANCIAL

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

TRAVEL

For each of these categories, have a 1, 3, 6 & 12 month goal.

3 SET GOOD HABITS.

If your goal is to improve your fitness, 'tone' up and lose some body fat, then make sure your lifestyle is supporting that. "We are what we do, not what we say we'll do." This may sound incredibly obvious, but its crazy how often we sabotage our own efforts.

Think about your morning routine. What do you do? How could you improve it to not only make your day more productive, but set the tone for a positive day?

I have found that my worst days are the ones that start off with me pressing snooze, rushing around, and being unorganised. Instead, set the alarm 5-10 minutes earlier than usual, before anything else, make your bed! Such a good routine to create. Then take a few minutes to look at your goals, & think about what you can do today to work towards achieving this.

4 SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE, SUPPORTING PEOPLE.

"YOU ARE THE SUM OF YOUR FIVE CLOSEST FRIENDS"

If there's ever a quote I truly believe, this is it! Surround yourself with people who will lift you up, not put you down. Far too often I see people fail at their health and fitness goals because they are told by friends and family that they won't stick to it, or can't do it.

BULLSHIT, you don't need that kind of negativity in your life, so limit the time spent around those people.

Instead, spend time around people that you admire for their positivity or success. You may not realise it, but these people have a profound effect on your beliefs and actions!

Example: If you wanted to open a business, then you should spend as much time around as many successful business owners as you can!

5 CHANGE YOUR MIND.

Believe it or not, your mindset is the first, and most important aspect of yourself that you need to change in order to succeed. Everything in your life is a perfect match to your beliefs and expectations about yourself and the world.

Take ownership of your situations, good or bad.

When things go wrong, its my fault. When they go right, its also my fault!

Choose a positive and optimistic outlook, one in which you believe in yourself and your value.

Forget about the past failures, we make mistakes, it's happened, and trust me, it will happen again, what's important is how we learn from these failures and continue to move forward!

The way we think, the language we use and how we talk about our goals has a very powerful influence on our actions - I CAN, & I WILL SUCCEED. Not, I want, I hope, or I'll try.

6 IF YOU CAN'T HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE, FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN!

Accountability requires discipline, unfortunately, discipline is something that we lack in a generation of instant gratification. If you know, you have ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE when it comes to disciple and accountability, find or hire someone to help!

It could be a friend, a family member, or even a coach, regardless of your goal, there is always some kind of 'Coach, Mentor or Support group' that can help:

Fitness - Personal Trainer

Business - Business Coach

Savings - Financial Advisor

Addiction - Support groups

Nutrition - Nutritionist / Dietitian / Personal Trainer

Now I never said achieving your goal is going to be easy, but here are 6 LIFEHACKS that you can implement into your life to make achieving your goals a lot easier! PLAN - VISUALISE - SET HABITS - SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVITY - MINDSET - ACCOUNTABILITY

Now go and do something AWESOME! Craig Harvey

Instagram - coach_craigharvey