The Actionaut

Or, more broadly speaking, are you a good student, disciple, pupil or any variation of the term? For someone who is only concerned with making a living out of providing a service, a good client can be summed up as someone who pays and stays. For someone truly invested in the work of others, clients results which leads to progress in all other areas of fitness and life, I believe that being a good student oneself leads to being a better coach. The relationship continues beyond the fiduciary aspect of the training.

WHAT MAKES A CLIENT A GOOD STUDENT?
I always like to stress that I provide clients with a service, but I am not at their service. This has nothing to do with power, rather commitment and accountability. I like to think of it in the following terms: my clients borrow my knowledge, catch a glimpse of the “members only” club, for an hour or so. That still doesn’t answer the question, however, just makes me look mean (but it’s for your own good. I set standards and expectations from clients and myself very high).
To paraphrase something I heard recently at a workshop for fighters, the defensive tactics teacher said the following at the beginning of the workshop: “a good student is like a dog; even when sleeping, ears are always up, alert and listening. A good student is like a hawk; always scanning, watching, observing and quickly grabbing what it’s after. A good student is like a stork; waiting patiently, sometimes on one leg, sometimes on the other, until it finds what it’s looking for. A good student should also be hungry, to avoid desire” (interpret the last one however you wish).

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
These two attributes are necessary and intrinsic aspects of learning and progressing. One may choose to get a book, DVD or watch a Youtube video. Inevitably, unless you record yourself on video, play it back and correct your form assuming you actually do that and possess the skills to rectify and understand what you did wrong, you will miss something, create an imbalance, miss an important point. That falls under the category of experience, which is essentially doing and you will NOT achieve your goals without it. Knowledge, however, you have to acquire from someone else, in person, directly because that person, that coach/trainer/teacher can find, tweak and improve what it is you need to accomplish, regardless of what it is you are learning.

BETTER STUDENT=BETTER COACH
I’d like to think that I’ve always been a good student. Attentive, disciplined, hard working. I constantly seek knowledge and am humble to recognize what I do not know. Sometimes, the humility comes from an ego-crushing injury, where you find yourself unable to perform at the level you targeted. This in turn becomes an opportunity to fine-tune your work.

RECENT EXAMPLE
I’ve been a martial arts veteran of 24 years in a variety of styles and hold 2 black belts. Yet, I recently learned of ways to refine my kicks, punches. I acquired the knowledge from 2 very learned people, and gained the experience by practicing. Some techniques did little, others did a whole lot! Not because some were better than other, but simply because I am an individual with my individual abilities and weaknesses. Recognizing that is what makes the work of a coach personal, in your training, in your relationship with your trainer and that cannot be acquired in a book or magazine.

Comments (0) Sep 20 2011

“Humpty dumpty sat on a wall…”, skip to “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again”.

First, those must be some awesome and dexterous horses, trying to piece together a busted egg-shell.

Second, the road to success is paved with good intentions, but the map may be off, or the directions, or you can find construction on the road which forces a detour.

As always, I draw these conclusions from both training and non-training experiences. Today’s entry comes from both based on yesterday with family in town and clients having specific needs. Too much to tell in a blog, too little time, so I’ll cut to the chase.

EVERYTHING MATTERS
I can be anal, specific, detail oriented even if I appear flexible. I’m flexible with the approach, and if I can get you from A to B, how I get there doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get there. And each step is clearly defined, every factor taken into consideration.

COMMUNICATE IT ALL
A change of plan, condition, mood, medication, shoes, meal or any other variable can single-handedly offset your course, like a snowball rolling down the hill, or dominoes. If you’re dealing with someone who is invested in you, trust them with empowering them with that knowledge. Being a professional means you know how to adapt and be discreet, factor in and deliver a better approach for the given situation.

Comments (0) Aug 10 2011

We don’t always know what’s best for everyone.

WHEN IGNORANCE IS BLISS:
A great pitfall for a trainer is to confuse what clients want and what clients need. When you’re just fresh off your cert’, ACE, NASM, ACSM, AFAA or any other nationally recognized brand, and your level of experience is low (in terms of paid client hours worked), it takes little more to a training session than just direct traffic from big body parts to smaller ones, tell folks “do your cardio”, all following a basic bodybuilding routine, whether the clients wants to gain mass, lose fat or “tone up”. I mean really, it’s all a variation of the same song and dance.

If you’re in it for the long haul, you start to become more knowledgeable, curious, educated and will invest a lot of time and money, which you recoup with greater results and client retention. And then, it happens…

WHEN IGNORANCE HURTS:
The aforementioned type of trainer, blissfully following a routine from a fitness mag, certified with just the basics and the knowledge of their own body and Myosplash or CreabombX super supps they ingest, will likely not correct your form, “stack fitness on top of dysfunction” (Gray Cook) and make you feel “hurter”, which in the language of the neophyte means “wow, this really works!”. To me, that one millimeter of imbalance is what makes the tower crumble later down the line. More often than not, I end up being the one to correct some other person’s work. I know tattoo artists don’t finish someone else’s tattoo, but I need to eat and if I can make your life better by moving better, I will.

WHEN KNOWLEDGE HELPS:
The trainer who invests into more education, training, research etc, will shine by comparison. It should be apparent at the first session already, with a good assessment of movement, abilities, form etc, as well as a progress map outlined for the client to follow. That type of trainer will justify your investment in the long haul.

WHEN KNOWLEDGE HINDERS:
Sometimes, trainers who know a lot become almost too rigid in their approach, by going into what Pavel calls “Paralysis by analysis”, wherein too much knowledge stops one from doing work and always be correcting. In other areas, this is a form of perfectionism which also leads to procrastination and lack of progress, like rewriting the first sentence of your Pulitzer prize winning article, thus never completing it.

WHEN TO STOP:
Sometimes, the client just wants to work out. So, sometimes, you let them. Yeah, you make sure there’s nothing wrong in the execution, allow the muscles to feel the pump, let them enjoy their process. You’re still getting them fitter and better, even if it strays from your adamantium-clad program design. The same goes for music. Sometimes, you need to sit down and listen to a piece, dissect it, appreciate its nuances and theme variations. Sometimes, you just need muzac in the background. Doesn’t make you a bad person. Makes you flexible and human.

Comments (0) May 09 2011

Everyone of my blood relatives is an artist of sorts and makes a living at it. My father is a musician, my mother paints, as does my grandmother, my younger brother does graphic work and music and my youngest brother directs music videos and is a visual effects director on movies and such. I used to joke around that the only arts I practice are “martial”. While that may be true, not until I starting reading LINCHPIN by Seth Godin did I realize I was a little off on that comment

LINCHPIN VS COG
Having been recently unceremoniously terminated from a corporate training facility who shall not remain nameless, Gold’s Gym Venice, for the unscrupulous bullshit reason of violation of their terms of employment, where a part-timer like myself is apparently not allowed to make a living in their chosen profession with private “non-Mecca” clients, I realized this was a really good thing (the getting fired thing).
Corporations are built to amass a fortune at the expense of others. If it can be standardized, put in a manual, outsourced, exploited and replaced easily, it will be the way. Gold’s in Venice has a slew of independent trainers that were grandfathered in when the Mecca went corporate, and only a dozen staff trainers. The staff trainers have a huge cut taken out of their pay, which makes them all unhappy and eager to train outside or leave. Such is the business model for corporations: high turnover so you don’t need to give raises or incentives, milk people for as much as possible and get rid of people like me who actually have a business mind and realize they don’t need to be there. With such a model, there is little difference between a mediocre and a great trainer. The great trainer only yields a slightly bigger profit, but if they’re anything like myself, voicing your opinion and knowing what’s out there, outside of the gym, it creates conflict. A mediocre employee by comparison will abide like a beaten dog and if no longer useful, will get terminated.
In my case, if they’d let me march by the beat of my drum, they could have continued to profit. But I would then be dying inside and the flame that fuels my passion for my work would soon extinguish.

TRAINING AS AN ART
Pavel Tsatsouline uses the expression “paralysis by analysis”, whereby people who rely solely on their academic knowledge, test-tube vacuum mentality miss the big “human” picture and become cogs in a mechanism themselves. While I recognize the importance of education, knowledge and experience, the artistry involved in creating and developing a program that’s suitable for the client’s needs and wants is intrinsic to a good trainer. There are many ways to skin a cat. There are many ways to burn fat, put on muscle, sim down, improve time for a race. Not everything is cookie-cutter. Not every disease is treated the same by a doctor. A good doctor recognizes and acknowledges many factors and variables. There is an art to that. Same with the software engineer who will design an interface that’s pleasant and gets the job done. When you become an artist, as Seth Godin often mentions (and I paraphrase), you become indispensable, unique. Sure, a client can find another trainer, but it will not be a trainer like you. Go to Equinox and you can switch trainers any time because they force clients and trainers into a set design. Put it in a manual, abide and comply and voilà. Do yourself a favor: if that’s what you want, save some cash and buy a fitness magazine instead.

I am going to end this blog with a “status update” I posted on Facebook recently, because it sums up what I am talking about:
A great trainer doesn’t just spew knowledge and science and rehash it. It takes a certain artistry to put together, cue and build that is not taught academically. It’s a balance of knowledge, education and unquenchable thirst for self-improvement that relays the passion coaches have for what they do. It IS art.

In the meantime, get the book I am referring to here. Easy read, great motivation. I’ll keep you posted of what it inspired me to do, redoubling my fire to expand my passion into other areas and share my knowledge and philosophy!

Comments (0) Mar 31 2011

Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure and honor to spend 75 minutes stretching with the amazing Pavel Tsatsouline.

I was starting to feel a little tight, my sympathetic system going into overload. Training hard, though never to failure, training smart and marking milestones with bad-ass races or other PR goals achieved succesfully are especially gratifying when you achieve them when you’re not 100%. Who is ever at 100% anyway, right?

The Warrior Diet provided me with tremendous energy and stimulation of the autonomous nervous system and the fight or flight syndrome kicked hormones into full gear to my advantage. But one must come down from that cloud, especially when you lack sleep consistently (cue feeding cries/requests from our beautiful baby boy…).

I had the mobility, the range of motion, but somehow, my muscles felt hard, too hard, always ready. Some people like that look, but yeah, that’s not so good for you ultimately. Enter Pavel and a conversation we had over coffee and he offered for us to meet to address these issues.

So yesterday, we met in the “secret” studio at Gold’s Gym Venice and off we go into stretching land.

OMFG!!! I understood SOO much better some of what I read in his books, and going in-depth into the stretching process, I was able to do things I haven’t done in aeons, like practically fold myself in half, increase my splits and lengthen my spine, calves, hammies by measurable inches!! I felt elated afterwards. Call me sick, but it’s like that feeling you get after some bedroom activities: rested but tired, worked out but energized. There was a definite release and management of my hormones that was much needed. I was sleepy for the rest of the day, and that alone eliminated extra toxins that a clean diet, an infra-red sauna session and a massage (that felt more like a punishment, btw) combined couldn’t release!

What I understood (I knew it, and like anyone, didn’t always apply it):
-Wait out the tension. It may not feel good as you do it, but picture the cross-bridging and the fibers slowly moving and lengthening. Soon enough the pain goes away. Breathe passively, let go and find yourself going deeper into the stretch.
-Settle into the stretch: wiggle your butt, legs, torso, rolling a bit. It buys you a few millimeters and actually loosens you up.
-Visualize pulling your limbs out of their sockets, lengthen your spine “up and over” (your knees for instance), pull your head from its crown.
-Breathe: into the tight area, and exhale out of that area. Seriously! Try it. Sounds weird but works!
-Zip up your muscles, tense them up, hold till it shakes a bit and passively release.
-Do not confuse range of motion with flexibility. They are 2 separate things, even if they work great together!

And the last thing I understood, endorse, practice and wholeheartedly recommend:
-Get a coach!

I am a coach, spend thousands of hours and dollars to learn, apply and pass on what I know and STILL continue to learn and get coached! Why? Because you are not always the best judge of your own abilities and we ALL need accountability! Be humble, save up and hire a coach. If you can’t quite afford, it’s even MORE of a reason because you KNOW you will make sure you apply what you invest. Everything you want is outside of your comfort zone. EVERYTHING!

Comments (0) Dec 23 2010

The link for the video below shows highlights of my instructing fellow “Primal Movers” on the art of natural movement patterns, reverse engineering your drills, all in beautiful, sunny Ventura, CA, this past April, at the inaugural Primalcon, an event organized by Mark Sission from Mark’s Daily Apple. Check out his site for great tips on healthy eating, picking the right supplements and a general sharing of philosophy on being healthy humans

Philippe at Primalcon

Comments (0) Aug 08 2010

The brain is the largest organ for perception, and the main one because it also contains the subconscious and the conscious. Change your perception, you can change the way you value something, for instance how you view your fitness progress or how you value investing in a training program with, say ME

Neurolinguistic programming patterns are nothing new. Advertisers, teachers, hypnotists, motivational speakers, sales people us some form of it to help you perceive value in a product you want, but may object to get out of fear (am I going to get my money’s worth?)

The concept of psycho-cybernetics is clearly illustrated in the video below. Watch it and map out your success. Don’t watch it and you’re faced with the poor choice to stay in the hole and not crawl out, or you can decide to spend 10 minutes of your time for something worthy, rather than a Facebook update, or chain spam email. I’ve even filtered the most important part for you, as this is a 4-part series, which you can choose to watch at your leisure later. This one has got what you need, as do I!

Invest in yourself, your health.

I’m even going to offer you something I’ve never offered before: a MONEY BACK guarantee.
Seriously, folks you have nothing to lose. If you follow my program, you will get results and your investment is backed by a guarantee even the Federal Government cannot offer!

If you landed on this post because of my email newsletter, you understand already quite well what’s at stake.

I hope to hear from you sooner than later!

Comments (0) Mar 16 2010

Today, as I was thinking of the theme for my next series of “pillar” articles (translation: procrastinating with writer’s block and “blog mastermind” homework), I redirected my attention to a home project instead.

A good blogger is supposed to publish content daily, or almost. Since there are so many of us out there, I didn’t want to spam the Web with extra stuff just for the sake of blogging. But, like Archimedes dropping his soap, or an apple falling on Newton’s head, I had my own “Eureka!” moment! Stay with me, it’ll make sense and relate to fitness quite obviously!

How lack of focus can take you off track:
In preparation for the arrival of our first baby in May, my wife and I are finally getting some grown-up furniture and organizing the place we moved into 16 months ago. Today, I started to build our new bedroom furniture. Towards the end, upon screwing in the back panel of a dresser, I realized the top panel was facing the wrong way. At first, like any red-blooded male, I was going to jam the sucker in, figuring all “ready to assemble” furniture is cockeyed anyway. The mistake occurred when I looked at my watch and was going to beat the 90 minute mark some other guy had as his record (based on his review of the dresser online, which took him 2-3 hours alone, 90 minutes with his wife’s help). My focus shifted to the record time, instead of the work. Well, undoing my work and fixing it took an extra 30 minutes. And, there was no way around it, I HAD to step backwards.

How it obviously relates to fitness:
Most guys don’t follow directions. Once we’re on a roll, we keep at it. Had I looked carefully at the pictures in the manual, I would have avoided the error. Also, the manual advises you to read it cover to cover before assembling (something I venture to say no one does). And once you screw it up, you could keep things the way they are. The dresser would probably hold. Until it decides to collapse from the load it’s meant to carry because of the “misalignment”. Even the instruction were missing some information I had to figure out for myself (using this thing called common sense). The lack of concentration caused an error in judgment, leading to misalignment, at which point I had two choices: work with the jammed panel, like a jammed vertebra or pulled muscle, or go back, fix the issue even if it slowed me down, until everything was corrected in the “body” the the dresser I built.

Moral of the story:
Follow instructions before starting a program. Make sure your head is in it for the right reasons (here, to build a dresser, not beat some other guy’s record for assembling one!). Even instructions from a book are not 100% reliable. I’m no furniture builder, but I am a great trainer. Wanna get fit? Get a trainer, even if only to get you going. We’re not a luxury. We’re here to help so you don’t end up having to backtrack and waste time.

Comments (3) Jan 11 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

I’ve been reading this book by Dale Carnegie called How To Win Friends and Influence People.

I brought it with me to Kauai as leisure and education reading and instantly, I saw how I can apply it and share it with others, regardless of your profession. Just as I posted in a newsletter a couple of years back (which I will update here at some point), I will list some of the principles taught by Canegie and apply them to fitness (as a coach or as a client/practitioner) and let you apply it to your life. It’s a fun exercise for the brain and may affect your mindset positively too

How to Handle People:
1) Don’t criticize, condemn or complain: when you see a display of bad form, focus on what’s done correctly, praise it and adjust. If someone trains in a style that isn’t what you learned or believe is not beneficial (RKC vs Xfit “swing”, Muay Thai vs. Taekwondo, whatever your personal view…), praise the differences, don’t bash them.
2) Give Honest and Sincere Appreciation: don’t give lip service or patronize. Flattery is not always honest. It seems like you have a motive. Appreciation is genuine, subtle, understated.
3) Arouse in the other person an eager want: actions are better performed when they come from within oneself. Don’t tell somebody what to do. Instead, present the action and its benefits in a light that makes the other person want to do it. I recall offering the option to perform an exercise with a heavier weight, knowing my client was capable, but didn’t push her, having done a great workout already. Letting her decide at that point to “go for it”, having instilled confidence in her, made her enjoy the drill immensely more and she left with a feeling of accomplishment.

How to Make People Like You:
1) Become genuinely interested in other people: learn their likes. Ask them about them, and they’ll open up and talk. My job as a coach is not about me, it’s about changing something for the better in my clients. I’m not there to brag about my skills, I’m there to see what they are like and how my skills can benefit them, not me.
2) Smile: change the world one smile at a time. A secret to longer life (certainly a pleasant one). The neurolinguistic programming of smiling directly affects your output. Smile when on the phone, people perceive it. Do it now and see how it feels
3) Remember people’s name: it’s the sweetest sound in any language. It engages you and connects you to them, strengthens your bond.
4) Be a good listener: encourage others to talk about themselves. Goes with #1 above. The greatest conversations are usually one way, when you ask about something the other person is excited about and just take it all in. I know it works when done to me (I can talk about my job for hours!!)
5) Talk in terms of the other person’s interests: here also, don’t push your POV, but maybe include it and connect it to their needs. I had people afraid of working with kettlebells who became addicts after I showed them how beneficial they are.
6) Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely: talk to people about them, and they will listen for hours. Each client you work with should enrich your life as much as you improve theirs.

Remember also, we’re wrong more often than we’re right. We don’t have all the answers and even when we think we do, we should let others the right to have their opinion. Let them explain it, don’t antagonize them. Who here likes to be embarrassed by being proven wrong? I’ve done it myself where I knew I was right, but made the other person feel small and chipped at their dignity. Let people come to their conclusions, and you may turn them around, especially if you appreciate their thought process and recognize their individual knowledge. Educate, don’t admonish!

More “Carnegie Fitness” in a later blog! Then, Miyamoto Musashi’s 9 Principles reviewed!

Comments (4) Jan 05 2010