Cardio for Mental toughness

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Cardio for mental toughness. Long cardio sessions seem to be the best vector for building mental toughness within the confines of fitness. Many other things build mental toughness as well, but I am only speaking to voluntary physical activities to build the mind. It’s really hard to do it any other way, sure you can put yourself through grueling CrossFit and weight training workouts and it definitely helps build the mind, but you can be as tough as you want to be and once you hit muscular failure no amount of mental toughness is going to help. You have to stop, rest, and wait to recover in order to pick the weight back up. However, long running, rowing, cycling, or a combination of these can really put you through the ringer, because you can always take one more step, or pedal a little faster, or one more pull on the rower, but how bad can you make it hurt, and how long are you willing to deal with the pain. Of course there are levels to this and proper ways to train. It is idiotic to think that you can sit on a rower and jack your heart rate to its max level and hold it there for an hour, that is just not possible no matter how high your pain tolerance is. However, you can try to vary paces within varied time domains and increase your ability to perform these monostructural movements, and it’s going to hurt, so do you have the mind set to push when your legs and lungs are screaming at you?

I had two different instructors back in my military days they gave me two different pieces of advice that I still think about when I am training.

“Your hardest thing, is my hardest thing”
Point being here, and let’s keep it geared toward fitness, that no matter what level of fitness you are at, if you are pushing yourself it feels the same regardless of what your fitness level is at, the only thing that is different is what you are able to accomplish.

“You are not bad at it, you are just untrained.”
I love this one, I hate so bad when somebody just says,“I can’t do that.” It’s like, have you ever tried to do it? How much time have you dedicated to it? If you are watching somebody do pull ups, and you say I can’t do that, how much time have you dedicated to building the strength or losing the weight in order to be able to accomplish it. If that answer is zero time, it’s just a matter of being untrained, of course you can do it you just have to work on it.

The workout today is Murph, this is a classic Crossfit, hero workout:
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
(You can break up the pull ups, pushups, and air squats any way you want)

It Has Been a While

  So first, I want to say, i miss writing these. I have no idea if I helped anyone or if anybody read these, but I will say it helped me express thoughts and feelings I was having in the moment, and if somebody could get something useful out of that, all the better.

  Not long after my last blog that I wrote 2 and a half years ago we had a family tragedy. My eldest son suffered from a brain tumor that ruptured and unfortunately took his life. He was a 15 year old young man, and was the best son anyone could ask for. Since then it’s been a journey of picking up the pieces, and trying to move forward.

  This brings me to my point of this blog. I had to figure out quickly after his passing how to get on with life, and i had to come up with an answer quickly, i had a wife and 2 other children that relied on me and looked to me for strength. So, as hard as it was I picked myself up, and started moving forward. Not forgetting my son, but remembering that life continues to move and I still have family that needs me.

  My 2 other children couldn’t see me fall apart. They couldn’t lose their brother and their father. They needed guidance and help in moving forward. As a family, we bound together and continued to live, remembering that one of the most key attributes to being successful is being tough, and this event really tested my toughness.

  Life will beat you to death, literally. Stay focused on the things that you love and that make you happy. Try to be a good person and stick to your guns.

I don’t know if this is the correct blog to do this but fitness has always helped put things in perspective, so I am going to keep posting a workout every time. Do this one in silence, no headphones or music, let your mind think and wonder.

10 sets:

5 bench press at moderate weight.  

5 pull ups

Rest 3 minutes

4 sets:

15 push ups

10 barbell rows

Rest 3 minutes

20 minutes of cardio

 

Fitness on the Go

Fitness On The Go. If you are constantly on the go it’s hard to keep your fitness on track. I have trouble keeping a regular schedule myself, but I am here to tell you, with a little thought you can make it work. Spring and summer time is a very busy time for my family and I. My wife and I both work full time jobs, and my wife commutes over an hour 1 way, with that we have 3 kids that all play competitive baseball, and softball, We have 2 sons and a daughter. We live out in the sticks and many of our games and tournaments are at least an hour away usually 2 hours, and some even multistate involving some fairly long travel days and either KOA or hotel living for the weekend.
With so much going on and being out of town so much it makes it hard to stay on a good fitness routine, so if you struggle with this too let me layout what helps me. First, try to plan ahead with game or event times if you can and decide early when you are going to get your fitness in. I personally like to do it before everyone starts the day. So for example, if we have the early game which usually starts at 8 or 9 I am up around 4:30-5:00. I usually pack a 53lbs kettlebell with me as well, it’s only one piece of equipment but it is so versatile that I never run out of things to do. I can do squats, presses, lunges, windmills, swings, whatever I feel like getting after that day. Second, I usually always start out with a run, I like doing this because it gives me some time just for myself before the day turns chaotic, and it also allows me to see the place I am visiting, nothing to crazy, I usually find a road or trail and run out 10-15 minutes and turn around and go back. After that I am usually warmed up and wide awake for some kettlebell or body weight movements. Third, I don’t usually get wrapped up in how long I work out for, (in general I don’t worry about how long I work out though) have a plan or at least a general outline of what you want to accomplish, get it done, and move on with your day. Lastly, I avoid too much alcohol, there is a bit of a culture that I have noticed going to these things where all the parents like to get together and have big dinners and drink, and I am not knocking it at all, it can be fun to relax and hang out, but most of the time in turns in to a lot of drinks and very late nights and that part I am not in to. It makes me not want to get up and accomplish the things that I know make me a better person. Sure, I don’t mind having a drink or 2 once in a while, but I do not let it interfere with the things I want to accomplish.

So, in the spirit of this post here is a workout I did a couple of weekends ago that you can try the next time you are in one of these situations.

2 mile run
10 Rounds
10 kettlebell swings
15 Push ups
20 Air squats
5 minute cool down walk.
Have Fun and get after it.

Fitness

Fitness. Its kind of a weird word, is it the gym goer that hits chest every day and looks huge, or is it the marathon runner that runs for hours every day. Maybe the gymnast, or the powerlifter, Strongman, Crossfitter, or decathalete. At one point or another if you have done any of these things at a higher level somebody has told you that you are fit. However, can all of those people be fit? Or are some more fit than others. The marathon runner is going to say that the Strongman is not very fit because they have no endurance, and on the flip the marathon runner can’t even pick up their own body weight the strongman would say. These are general statements, but there is some severe declines when anybody body gets sucked into one exercise discipline. Crossfit has put a label on fitness and claim they are looking for the fittest person, and personally I find that they are at the very least the closest to looking for fitness, but is that sustainable over time.
I am going to break down my hair brain thoughts on fitness, if you are a normal person, looking into trying to be fit, build some muscle and cardiovascular endurance, and get healthier.
If you have no idea what you are doing and you have a crossfit gym near you, go see them, in general if you are looking for general health and fitness and don’t know where to start this is a good place. Please! Really look into the trainers, make sure they are truly trying to do a good job and teach the basics. These gyms are preprogrammed for you, so you don’t have to worry about coming up with a workout, and if the trainers are good you will learn good proper technique

Become proficient at moving your own body, a good starting point with fitness is just starting to move around. You could never pick up a weight and be incredibly fit by doing body weight movements ( I have talked about these before but I want this to stand alone) like Pushups, pull ups, Air Squats, Run, hike, jump, sit ups, burpees and so on.

Consistency and Intensity (something else I talk about way to much). These are really probably the 2 most important factors that you have 100% control over. The consistency is going to vary a bit depending on the person, but I would say at least 3 days a week, where you are doing something much more intense than normal daily output. The intensity portion is just as important, working out should be pretty uncomfortable for most of the time you are in the gym, so toughen up I promise you will be fine.

Mixed it up. If you want real fitness, you should try and be good at a variety of physical aspects, which is why I say crossfit is a good place to start even though they do fall short in a few aspects (That’s just my opinion). Lift weights for all muscles head to toe, so for lord sake please work your legs. Squats, lunges, deadlifts to name a few. Yeah you get sore, keep going, you will be fine. Also, do all sorts of pressing movements, overhead, bench, incline for example. Pulling movements are next, pull ups, rows, cleans are all great. Run, jump, swim, row, and bike, cardiovascular fitness coupled with strength is the ultimate in making your holes in your fitness smaller.

Last. Try new things and find things you are bad at, gives you a bigger pool to realize where your fitness truly is, and gives you a better understanding of your weaknesses.

Mental Genetics

Mental genetics. Whenever you talk about working out, the idea of genetics always come up, and anybody with rudimentary knowledge of any type of physical activity knows that genetics play a huge part in your ability to do physical things. I am 5’9” and 170 pounds, I have small hands and thin bones, I am probably not walking on a football field and dominating against anybody, no matter how hard I work on speed, strength, and agility if I was to go up against any average division 1 football player. One thing that we don’t talk about much is mental genetics. If our physicality is based on genetics why wouldn’t our mental capacity be based on genetics, I think we all agree that our IQ his highly based on genetics, but what about our ability to push through pain, or be positive in the face of adversity, to stay cool under pressure. I think all of these things, while can be honed through “practice” are highly based on our genetics. However there is a caveat to this, like physical exercise, you can harden your mind as well through practice.
I know that I really have to work on not getting negative when things don’t go my way, and I have thought many times, I wonder how much of that is just my genetics. I work on it, I have put myself in uncomfortable or demanding situations voluntary many times in my life and this experience allows me to find pitfalls in my thinking and try to change so this can be worked on in order to become better in these situations. I also think about the ability to push through physical adversity, I know for a fact that peoples thresholds with pain tolerance vary widely, you can see it in certain people. I also know from personal experience that you can learn to push your body when it is extremely uncomfortable, and increase your ability to endure physically uncomfortable situations, it’s the saying “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” It does raise the question though, how much of it is nature vs. nurture, some people grow up in terrible circumstances and this makes them vary mentally strong, others never get the chance and they fold under the pressure.
Regardless of which it is for any of us, I think learning how to be resilient both physically and mentally is an attribute. In a day and age where we are rewarded to be mentally weak and blaming our issues on our environment, I say choose another path of learning to deal with your own problems and being open and honest with yourself about your ability to handle your own shit. Everybody goes through things, but mental toughness is a good thing.

Here is a workout that is a bit of a mental grind (remember to warm up properly)


1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Back squats at a light weight (I used 135)
:20 second plank between squats sets

Rest 3:00


20-16-12-8-4
Dumbbell lunges ( I used 40 lbs DB’s)
Decline sit ups

Rest 2:00

100 air squats

Workout hard today, even if you only have 20-30 minutes. Here is a good leg workout to get you going for the day. Make sure you warm up properly and are fully ready to move before beginning this. Hit this fast and with a purpose, limit your rest and really elevate that heart rate.

6 Rounds
5 front Squats at a moderate to light weight
10 incline sit ups

Rest 3 minutes

10 minutes of as many rounds and reps as possible
10 push ups
10 sit ups
10 air squats

Rest 3 minutes

5 Sets
20 Dumbbell lunges
:30 second plank

Serve

Serve in some way. The 2 of us that are here at CJ are both veterans of the United States Marine Corps, and I think I speak for my partner when I say that we are both very proud to be part of that community and gravitate toward veteran culture. One of the biggest things we do is listen to podcast’s that are for and/or produced by veterans, and I just wanted to take this chance to tell you to go listen to the latest episode of “Cleared Hot” with guest Bill Anthes. This podcast is created and produced by a former Navy Seal, Andy Stumpf. Regardless of your Veteran status or however you feel about the military I feel like it is a great listen to get perspective on the Value of mental health, and service. The service he talks about doesn’t necessarily have to do with the military, just service of any kind. Anyway, I enjoyed it and if you are looking for a great listen and a new perspective on how to enrich your life go check it out.

Here is a good workout to try:


5 Sets
10 Bench press at a moderate weight
Max weighted pull ups
Rest 2:00 between each set
Pick 5 weights for the pull ups on each set and decrease each round. (My weights were 35,20,25,20,15)

Rest 3:00

10 sets
5 strict handstand pushups ( you can substitute regular pushups if you can’t do these)
30 Double unders, or 60 single under jump ropes if you can’t do double unders

Rest 3:00

5 Sets
6 single arm shoulder press on each arm
20 dumbbell curls

Self Reliance

Be Self-Reliant. I think this is one of the biggest successes one can work towards and it is always an ongoing process, and this rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to. It’s as simple as being able to get yourself up, make a living (however you decide to do that), pay for or acquire (in an ethical manner) the things you need to survive and do it day in and day out. This can turn in to somebody ending up on the TV show Alone, and being able to live by yourself in the harshest places in the world with very little supplies for months at a time. Maybe even a better phrase of it is “Personal Sovereignty.”

As usual I try to tie these conversations back to health and fitness in some way. Fitness is a great way to gain personal sovereignty, if you do not have to rely on anybody to do basic chores, have a good ability to fight off general sickness, such as colds and Flu, and can move a long distance with ease this is a good indication that you have a good level of self-reliance. There is, however, a few other things that fall into this equation in my opinion, mental toughness, discipline, and curiosity are among them.

So, train, someway, to gain more self-reliance and personal sovereignty, workout so you could accomplish any task without the help of others, and try to learn new skills. I am not diminishing the need for help from others at times, in this day and age life can get complicated, and we all need that from time to time, I am just talking about a progressive movement towards a person’s ability to do more and more on your own.
Here is a workout to start helping you move towards more personal self-reliance:

5 Rounds:
10 Front Squats
10 Toes to Bar
Run 400 meters

Rest 3:00 minutes

Reps- 20-18-26-14-12-10
One legged squats (if you can’t do these do air squats)
:40 second plank

Rest 3:00

20 Minutes of cardio



Dealing with loss

Dealing with losing. Losing hurts, sometimes a lot, recently I went through a loss in my professional career, not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it hurt. I was told I was getting a promotion, and I was asked not to discuss it at work because there was still some I’s and T’s that needed to be dotted and crossed. I told my wife, but other than that I kept it to myself like I was asked. A few days later I was asked to come to the boss’s office, I was sure this was where they were going to officially congratulate me on my new gig. Needless to say that is not what happened, I was told that they were very sorry, but they had messed up on the scoring system and I did not, in fact come in the highest rated and it was a mistake. I was gutted, I am not going to lie, but I tried to keep my best game face on, I said that it was an unfortunate situation and walked out. I gave myself a half an hour to fill shitty about it, I went for a walk and complained to myself. Here is the thing, mistakes happen, everybody makes them, I like my boss and it wasn’t malicious in anyway, they felt bad. Who knows what this will lead in to, I hope something even better, so I will keep my head down and grind through, maybe something better will come along. It is not the end of the world, I still have my job and my health, a great family and a good support system. 

My advice is to really feel the emotions you are having, it is okay to feel a certain way, but before you say something or react, try to understand the bigger picture before you blow your lid. Give yourself a moment to think about it, and then press on. Because in the end all we can do is keep moving forward.

Instead I will blow off some steam by hitting the gym, so like always give this gym workout a shot.

3 sets of overhead press (superset this with 8 pull ups between sets)

Pick a medium weight and go until failure (my weights were 135lbs for 11, 115lbs for 10, 95lbs for 14)

Drop 15%-20% and repeat, 

Repeat this 1 more time

4 Sets incline bench press (superset this with 8 pull ups)

Reps – 5-4-3-2 at a moderate to heavy weight (my weight was 185lbs)

5 sets of flat bench press (superset with 8 pull ups)

10-8-6-4-2 at a light weight (my weight was 155lbs)

Burnout

Control burnout. Burn out is a real thing and it can get to any of us, so I wanted to share a couple of tips that help me with controlling burnout.
First, usually when I start to get burnt out its not one thing, I don’t just get sick of the gym or working on a certain project. Instead it is usually a combination of things that start to get to me. So, what helps me in this situation is to prioritize and make sure I find time to set aside for myself to do whatever I want to do, or just time to relax. In this situation it is simply me just planning ahead a bit, if I don’t do this everything feels dire, I forget things or feel like everything is a rush, and I can let myself get overwhelmed. However, if I plan it out it never seems as daunting of a task. Work backwards when you are planning things out, and start with your end goal, then work and prioritize backwards step by step in order to achieve it. This step by step backwards planning ensures that by the time you get to the end of your planning your task is accomplished.

One other thing that always helps me, is that, whatever series of tasks you have, start on the longest or the most difficult first. You never want to, but if you can knock out your most difficult task first, for me at least, it gives a sense of confidence and motivation because the hard part is already done. Now things don’t seem as daunting and the thing you have been stressing about the most is already complete.

Another kind of burn out many of us suffer from is burnout from exercise. You start slacking because you are repeating many of the same versions of workout, day after day and week after week. It starts getting a little more difficult to drag yourself in to the gym and hit the workout with any sort of enthusiasm, and at this point you are losing momentum. So here is a simple and easy way to fix this problem. Mix it up, change your goals up and find something else in the gym to focus on. If you have been doing the same weight training program for so many years, start focusing on your cardio, and focus on your 5K time. Tell yourself that you are going to dedicate the next 1-3 months on cutting time off of that. This can give you enough break to become enthusiastic about our weight training program again and you can get back to doing that. This will turn you in to a much more well-rounded athlete as well.

I know this is short and it is a bit of an oversimplification on burnout, there maybe other things going in your life that are out of your control, but that is for another blog. We had a good saying in the Marine Corps. “Prioritize and execute” and its such a good way to get things done especially when you feel overwhelmed.
Get after it!

Shoulder Press:
5 Sets:
8-10 Reps
Superset Pull ups or lat pull downs in between for max reps

Rest 2 minutes

30 incline Bench press
Find a weight you can do 10- 12 times and try to get these 30 reps in as little time as possible

Rest 2 minutes:

4 Sets
25 push ups
30 DB curls

This workout should only take 25-30 minutes
Hit it hard and push the pace