Keep It Simple, Stupid
Do You Have Shitty Values?
The book I just finished reading, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson is truly one of the best books I have ever read.
Between the author’s writing style and the lack of fluff and bullshit in this book I can honestly say that this one is a must read.
In one of the chapters he discusses the importance of suffering, and how your personal values dictate your level of suffering.
We all have problems and based on our values and metrics of a good life and happiness, some of us will never truly be happy if we do not shift our thinking and values.
I want to share with you guys some of what the author describes as “shitty values”.
He states that these common values can “create really poor problems for people, problems that can hardly be solved”.
Shitty value #1: Pleasure
He talks about how pleasure is great, but to ask any drug addict about their never ending pursuit of pleasure, adulterer who shattered her family and lost her children or a man who nearly eats himself to death if pleasure helped them “solve” their problems.
“Pleasure is a false god. Research shows that people who focus their energy on superficial pleasures end up more anxious, more emotionally unstable, and more depressed.”
“Pleasure is not the cause of happiness; rather, it is the effect.”
Shitty value # 2: Material status
Here he discusses how so many people measure self-worth by how much money they make or the car they drive. “However, research has shown that once someone can provide for basic physical needs (food, shelter and so on), the correlation between happiness and worldly success quickly approaches zero”.
In the long run, are all of those extra hours of work for another 10 or 20 grand in replace of quality time with friends, family and experiences going to be worth it to you if you already have everything you need?
Odds are, the answer is no.
Shitty value #3: Always being right
“People who see themselves as always right about everything prevent themselves from learning from their mistakes. They lack the ability to take on new perspectives and empathize with others. They close themselves off to new and important information.”
You are not always right. You can’t always be right. Accept that. Learn from your fuck-ups. Open your mind to how others may feel. This new found open-mindedness will put you in a state of constant learning and growth.
Shitty value # 4: Staying positive
Shit happens. When it does, you feel shitty. Pretending that you don’t feel shitty is a form of denial.
It’s important to accept how you truly feel, and deal with it in a healthy way. Don’t just brush the pile of shit under the rug, put a smile on your face and pretend that it doesn’t smell like shit in your living room.
“Denying negative emotions leads to experiencing deeper and more prolonged negative emotions and to emotional dysfunction. Constant positivity is a form of avoidance, not a valid solution to life’s problems. Problems which, by the way, if you are choosing the right values and metrics, should be invigorating you and motivating you.”
At the end of the day, we all need to accept that life is not perfect and we will all have problems. However, based on your values and metrics, good values, like being reality-based, will lead to good problems that are regularly solved. Bad values lead to worse problems that are much harder to solve.
The choice is yours.
These days, it gets harder and harder to keep your shit together. Between commercials you see on TV and all of the bullshit you see on social media, it can become very easy to fall into a depression.
If you constantly spend your time looking at someone else’s life that appears to be “great” (which deep down you know is bullshit), and compare your problematic life to their seemingly “problem-less” life, you could feel like shit.
But you have to know that things aren’t always how they seem.
You are not the only one with problems and with the right shift of your thinking you too can start living a good fucking life.
Like Freud said, “One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
I really hope this helps and you guys take a second to grab a copy of this awesome book.
Until next time…keep moving forward.
Unf*ck Yourself
You are fucked.
Conditioned to believe all of the bullshit you have been hearing since birth.
Go to school, accumulate a fuck load of debt, get a job you hate, pay taxes, get married, raise a family, retire and die.
Conditioned to believe that conformity is necessary.
Don’t worry about your true thoughts and views on the world, simply just agree and shake your head like a schmuck because you don’t want to hurt anyone else’s feelings.
Too tired to go to the gym? Forget it! Stay home, have some toaster strudels and watch reality T.V! Definitely a better option.
Or better yet, watch the news!
Let them pump toxic bullshit into your brain and use scare tactics to get you tuned into their network longer.
Fill your subconscious up with all kinds of positive information, like the old lady that got mugged in an alley, or the family of 5 that was murdered by some lunatic.
Who needs to read self-help books?! Spend your time watching Teen Mom instead.
Hang around people who doubt you, criticize you and hold you back.
Let this go on for years and years and end up like the majority of our society. Weak, unhealthy, overweight, depressed, scared and in debt.
Have shitty relationships, shitty energy, shitty sex, a shitty physique and a shitty outlook on life.
Seems shitty.
It is.
That is the life of someone who is fucked, and unfortunately that is a lot of the people you know, maybe even you.
I know this because I too was fucked at one point.
Most of my childhood involved fighting, screaming, crying, lies and drugs in my home life.
I didn’t realize how effected I was by this until my early twenties.
In my teens I thought it was just the norm. Don’t get me wrong, I knew that my family was a little more fucked up than my friend’s, but I never realized the toll it was taking on me.
When I was 15 I had my first panic attack.
Aside from the anxiety I was depressed and loaded with all types of fear, which led to me becoming super angry.
And my anger only added to the excessive violence that went on in my house.
My lifestyle consisted of plenty of alcohol and late nights. I literally would go to bed around 5am and not wake up until sometime around 3pm.
I felt like I had nothing to live for, no purpose and truly didn’t care. I was unhappy and heading nowhere fast.
As I mentioned before, I was fucked.
I thought about getting my life together, but just felt like I couldn’t.
I was lazy and couldn’t imagine the hard work it would take to change.
I was working as a strength coach and really enjoyed helping people get better, but I just didn’t have any sense of direction or ever put any thought into what my true purpose was, or who I was for that matter.
My life at home was very dark and I was consumed by the drugs and violence that was constantly going down.
There were nights I would be woken up by screaming and fighting only to find myself right in the middle of it.
I might as well have been the one doing drugs, since my life was revolving around them.
However, in early 2008 a few of my buddies wanted to try a new diet and get super lean for the first time. This was something new for me so I decided to give it shot. So, I wrote us up a few diets based on what I was learning at the facility where I was working.
Once we started, I was more committed to that diet than I was to anything else in my entire life.
Something clicked. I was learning discipline and my mindset began to change.
I didn’t even think about cheating or missing a meal. I was like a robot on a mission.
Of course after that 16 week run we all got super shredded and felt great, but that isn’t what’s most important.
I was changing from the inside out.
Suddenly I wasn’t so focused on what was going on at home. I wasn’t drinking much at all, I was going to bed earlier, studying training and nutrition, watching less T.V and spending more time with my friends who had the same goals.
As a result, I had more energy, more confidence, more strength, looked better, felt better, had better relationships, less stress, less anxiety and cared more about other people.
Which led me to realize what my true mission and purpose in life is…to help people, in any way that I can.
Sounds cliché, I know, but it’s true.
But that’s the reason why I am writing this post, and all posts I write. Because I know there are a lot of you that are going through some shit.
And whatever your shit is I want you to know that there is a way out. No matter how bad it is.
You too can get Unfucked!
To go back to my story, 2008 was a turning point for me.
What I learned was that when you set a goal that is difficult to accomplish, surround yourself with the right people, change your attitude and work your fucking ass off, life tends to be viewed differently.
The positivity from the people you surround yourself with will rub off on you. The discipline you develop will carry over into every aspect of your life and you realize that no matter how far away a goal may seem from the point you are at right now, it is possible to achieve it.
As years passed I continued to develop better habits. I have read tons of books and applied so much of the information I have learned to my own life.
If you asked me to read a book in 2007 I would have probably regurgitated the 16 beers and 22 White Castles I ate the night before, just before passing out in my own vomit.
The information I have gathered and applied over the years led me to starting my own business, walking away from jobs I didn’t enjoy, traveling, investing hard earned cash, managing money, helping other peopleand taking plenty of personal risks.
I am at a point where I have created boundaries with toxic people, including my own family members.
I can truly say that I am happy, and love the way my life is turning out.
I don’t say that to brag by any means. I say that to try and help you see that change is possible.
I am a living, breathing example of change and you can ask anyone who knows me.
But if you keep eating like shit, surrounding yourself with negative people, ignoring your emotions and consuming yourself with the news and mindless T.V, your subconscious mind will absorb all of that crap.
And change will get further and further away.
However, if you want something bad enough and align your daily habits with your goals, your life WILL change.
Here is a list of the daily habits and rituals that have helped me in my own life.
– Get 7-9 hours of sleep
– Wake up by 6 A.M.
– Meditate first thing in the morning for 10-20 minutes
– Walk for 15-20 minutes while listening to a podcast or something motivational
– Read my goals out loud
– Journal for 5 minutes
– Read for 15-30 minutes
I make sure I get all of that in BEFORE even considering looking at my phone. No texts, no emails, no social media, nothing! All that will do is force you to become REACTIVE instead of PROACTIVE.
When you do that you start your day on someone else’s terms instead of your own.
I cannot stress enough how important that is.
DO NOT let someone else dictate YOUR day.
When you do that, they will end up dictating your life.
I hope that my story can help inspire you to start reaching for bigger things and living the life you were meant to live.
Take action and stay focused! If you just START, even if it doesn’t seem like the right time, and stay CONSISTENT your life WILL change.
If you need any help at all with getting started, please shoot me an email at info@tutelatraining.com.
I would love to share any advice I may have.
Until then ladies and gentlemen, UNfuck yourself.
GROW FASTER USING ECCENTRICS & ISOMETRICS
You sought out a mentor, learned to move properly, followed a well thought out program, progressed on big compound lifts and ate right.
You bought a one-way ticket on the Gain Train and your results have been fantastic thus far.
But after some time, the Gain Train comes to a screeching halt!
Fuck.
You hit a plateau. They suck, but they happen. If they didn’t we would all be 260 lbs. with 4% body fat.
Genetics play a huge roll in this.
But if you are a hard gainer like me, then have no fear. There is a solution to smash through plateaus. And that solution is…
Variety.
Yes, variety is the key to smashing through your physique and performance plateaus. And the problem is not many people use enough of it.
The first way to utilize different variety in your program is by simply taking advantage of the 3 types of muscular contractions.
They are, the eccentric, concentric and isometric contractions.
Most people solely focus on the concentric phase of the lift, without placing any emphasis on the other two contractions. This will only lead to muscular imbalances and an increased risk of injury.
With that said, let’s take a quick look at each different type of contraction and their roll in muscular development.
Concentric Contraction
This is the phase of the lift where the muscle is shortening. For instance, during a bench press the concentric phase of the prime movers of the lift is the way up.
Eccentric Contraction
The eccentric phase of a particular lift is the phase where the muscle is lengthening. Let’s use a squat for example. The eccentric phase of a squat is the way down.
However if you are performing some type of pulldown variation, the eccentric phase would be during the way up.
Isometric Contraction
An isometric contraction is a static contraction, or where the muscle is not being lengthened nor shortened. For example, if you were to take a pause halfway through a DB curl and hold it for a certain amount of time, that contraction is isometric.
As I mentioned earlier, the common public gym goer pays no mind to either eccentric or isometric contractions. Typically you will see them performing a lift with a weight that is way too heavy, slamming down on their chest with zero control.
If you are looking to break through plateaus and really elicit a growth response, then you have to pay close attention to the eccentric phase of the lift.
For example on a normal lift without a prescribed tempo, the eccentric phase should last about 2 full seconds. When you control a weight in this manner you will be training the muscle both concentrically and eccentrically.
The concentric phase however will typically be done as fast as possible, unless of course there is a prescribed tempo here as well.
So on a normal tempo bench press it should take you about 2 seconds to bring the bar to your chest and about 1 second (if the weight is submaximal) to lock out the bar. That goes for most exercises that aren’t Olympic lifts but that’s a completely different animal.
That’s the first step in focusing on the eccentric phase.
Now, to take it a step further you can apply specific tempos to your program. For example you may prescribe a chin-up with a 5 second eccentric phase counting 1 one-thousand, 2 one-thousand, 3 one-thousand, 4 one-thousand, 5 one-thousand during the eccentric phase (way down here). Keep in mind this will make the exercise significantly more difficult so be wise on your weight selection if you will be using a loaded movement.
As far as isometrics go, you can prescribe a specific rep tempo here as well. For example you can take a pause at the bottom of a bench press for a 1 one-thousand count and explode up.
You can also combine an eccentric tempo along with an iso-hold to really get a bang for your buck.
Now I do not recommend using specific tempos all the time. I like to use them every couple of training cycles for a new stimulus. However, for 99% of typical exercises you should absolutely have AT LEAST a 2 second eccentric phase to be sure you are training the muscle eccentrically as well for optimal growth and performance all the time.
If you are an athlete or strength coach then I highly recommend the book Triphasic Training by Cal Dietz and Ben Peterson to look way further into this topic.
If you are just a guy or gal just looking to pack on some more muscle and strength and help bullet proof yourself from injury then what the hell are you waiting for?!
Get in the gym and start applying these principles ASAP.
Once you do you will begin to smash through the plateaus that have been limiting you.
We all hit them and yes they can be frustrating. But all you need to do is step back and take a smarter approach to growing through them.
Train hard, TTS Nation!
Here’s to a stronger you!
EAT TO COMPLETE
We will be writing about a variety of informative topics to help you achieve your health, weight management, and fitness goals. Be sure to check back often and let us know if there’s a specific topic you’d like for us to include. Here are some of the topics we will be covering – hope you’ll enjoy it!
- Expert Advice,
- Health & Fitness,
- Motivations,
- News & Events,
- Nutrition Tips & Strategies,
- Recommended Books,
- Supplements,
- Weight Loss Strategies,
- Workouts & more!
12 Tips to Become a Better You
As Christmas approaches, I am sitting here at the local coffee shop trying to think of what to write to you guys, the TTS nation.
Earlier I planned on writing you about training during the holiday season, and how to stay consistent during this hectic time of year.
But all that keeps popping into my head is how truly grateful I am.
How grateful I am that I can reach all of you with one click, and that you guys actually care enough about what I have to say that you subscribed to this list in the first place.
I am truly honored and humbled that you give me the opportunity to share my life’s purpose and passion with you a couple of times a week.
I sit back and think about how far TTS has come, and how all of you made that possible.
When I first opened Tutela Training Systems in Clark I created our mission statement. That is, to educate, motivate and inspire everyone to become the best version of themselves, mentally and physically.
It doesn’t matter if you are a raw beginner, experienced lifter, athlete, male or female, I do my very best to help give every single one of you all that I have to give.
To help guide you on your path.
I speak primarily from my own experiences, and give you guys the advice that was once given to me and applied on myself.
Through trial and error, I have learned so much, not only about training and nutrition, but self-development and life as well.
I have taken classes, seminars, workshops, invested in coaching and read countless books on all of the above topics.
Some of the information has been LIFE CHANGING for me, and I hope that you begin to apply the information that I constantly preach to your own life, because I can tell you from experience how well it has worked for me.
So as a thank you during this holiday season, I want to give you all some advice that can change your life TODAY, in whatever area you feel needs some improvement.
Here we go…
1. Set goals and write them down: If you are serious about a goal, write it down. That alone takes it from just a thought to a reality. READ YOUR GOALS EVERYDAY to remind yourself of what you want. Most people forget which is why they fail.
2. Write out an action plan: Setting a goal is great, however most people don’t have a clue on how to attain it. Beneath the goals you write down, write out a clear step by step action plan on how to achieve them. This gives you clear cut actionable steps that you can take each day that will bring you closer to your goal.
3. Wake up early: Waking up just 15 minutes earlier each day gives you an extra 105 minutes per week, 420 minutes per month and 5,460 minutes per year that you can put towards your goal. That could be applied to any goal you may have. Most people say they don’t have time to …fill in the blank. MAKE THE FUCKING TIME. You want to make more money, change careers, get fit, have better relationships, wake up earlier and work on it.
4. Have a daily ritual: Having a morning routine is something that has changed my life. It has given me the time I need to work on myself and get better, as well as get more work done for my business. On a typical day, my morning ritual goes like this.
6am: wake, bathroom routine.
6:15am-6:30am: meditate
6:30am- 7am: Read
7am: Read goals and action plan for the day
7:05am-7:25am: Walk and listen to educational podcasts or something motivational
7:25am- 8:10am: Write, design programs, design diets, finish any work
8:10am- 8:25am: Breakfast
8:25am: Read passages from Bruce Lee
8:30am: Leave for work and continue listening to podcast
Now your routine does not have to be 2.5 hours right away. You can start with just 15 minutes, but I will bet that you will start getting up earlier and earlier once you see the impact this makes on your life.
5. Do not check any texts, social media or email until you finish your morning routine: Most people are reactive instead of proactive. You are forced to react to your phone or laptop before you can take action on your own life. This is something that has freed up a tremendous amount of my time and allows me to get so much more done.
6. Be completely present: We have a limited time on this earth. This day and age we are constantly distracted. When you are with your family or friends, out to dinner with someone, at an event or just having a conversation, TURN YOUR FUCKING PHONE OFF. I cannot stand when I am trying to talk to someone and they are lost in their fantasy football score. Get the most out of the time you have on this planet and start to focus on the relationships you have with those around you. Talk to people, and truly listen to them. Don’t live distracted. You never know what you are going to miss.
7. Read every day: They say the difference between you today and you five years from now is the people you meet and the books you read. I am far from perfect but I strive to get better every day. If you want to change your life you have to dedicate time to reading books that can help you.
8. Make training and good nutrition a priority: I believe that if you truly want the most of your life you need to consistently train and eat well. How can you be your best if you have no energy and no confidence? Not to mention increase your chances of living longer and feeling better. Eating real food and hard training will make you better all around. Period.
9. Sleep: If you are not getting adequate sleep each night you won’t have the energy to dominate your life. Sleep 7-9 hours every night.
10. Time block: When you block out your day and focus solely on what you have scheduled for yourself it is much easier to get stuff done. Set time aside for your most meaningful work of the day and eliminate all other distractions. Also don’t forget time for the stuff you enjoy. Hanging with friends and family, playing an instrument, practicing a martial art or sport… It’s important to set time aside for fun. If you are all work and no play you will never be truly happy and burn out fast.
11. Focus on your one big thing for the day: So many people fall into the trap of trying to multitask, thinking they will get more work done. When you try to multitask you end up just being busy and not producing any quality work. When you work off of your time block and focus on your one big thing, instead of many lesser important things, you will get more done in way less time. Trust me, this was an absolute game changer in my life and has helped me in more ways than one. I highly recommend the book “The One Thing” by Gary Keller to help you with this.
12. Work harder than everyone else and create freedom: In order to achieve the things you want you have to execute. And that doesn’t mean just going through the motions. If you want to be great at something, or have great results, you have to work like someone that is possessed. How you do anything is how you’ll do everything, so if you approach something half-assed you can certainly expect half-assed results in other areas of your life as well. I will say with confidence that if I fail at something, it is never due to a lack of effort. Failure is a part of your journey, but when you do fail you must reflect on why. If you realize you could have worked just a little bit harder, make sure that never fucking happens again. When you work your ass off and focus on your one big thing for the day, you will create freedom for yourself that you have been looking for all along.
Take the time to read this post more than once. I know some of the things on here seem overly simple, but that’s just it. We tend to overlook the beauty of simplicity and try to overcomplicate everything. These simple tips are absolutely life changing, and I have spent many hours (and dollars) studying and practicing them.
Don’t be the one to miss out on your true potential because you didn’t take the time to execute. Apply yourself and unleash the greatness living inside. You owe it to yourself and the others around you.
Again, I thank every single one of you that takes the time to read, share and most of all, apply the information I share with you. I promise that I will continue to do my very best and give you everything I got in 2017 to help you take your health, fitness and life to the next level.
I wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday season.
Thanks for reading!
F*ck Your Age
On December 17th 2016, Bernard Hopkins will be fighting one last time to finish out an incredible boxing career.
If you don’t know his story, I recommend you check it out.
In a nut shell, he came from nothing, always got into trouble, ended up in prison and after spending quite some time in jail, he decided he would never go back.
Boxing was his way out.
This month his storybook career comes to a close.
But here is the inspiring part… Not only did Bernard Hopkins make something of himself… Not only did he change his mindset to find a way out of prison and become a boxing legend…
But he will now be fighting his final bout… at the age of 51.
FIFTY ONE!
Look around at most people you know in their 50’s.
How many of them tell you “I’m too old to workout”?
How many of them tell you “Once you get to be my age you won’t care about the gym anymore”?
Hell, I hear that from guys in their 30’s!
And I cringe every time I do.
Guys that are only 35 years old say that they “don’t have time to train”.
You don’t have time to train?
So your health, longevity, vitality, energy, wellness, mobility, strength and appearance mean nothing to you?
What kind of example does that set for your children and others around you?
You have to understand that if you don’t take care of yourself physically, you will never become the best version of yourself mentally.
Guys like Bernard Hopkins prove that age is truly just a number, as long as you take care of your body and continue to work on yourself throughout your life.
Your health needs to be prioritized, so stop making excuses about your age and start putting in the work.
Now, you might say “well, Bernard Hopkins is a professional fighter, he’s an outlier”. Maybe you have a point. But what about the “normal” people I have worked with over the years that drastically improved their lives that were well into their 40’s, 50’s and even 60’s?
Guys like Paul Kaplan who at 49 years old, lost 100 lbs, packed on more lean muscle than he’s ever had in his life and has 10 x’s more energy than any twenty year old I have ever met.
Or women like Maureen Melody that started training for the first time in her mid-fifties and lost 45 lbs. of fat, drastically improved her blood work and felt better than she ever had in her life.
Come into my gym and these people will tell you first-hand how training improved their lives.
It is sad to see that as most people age, they stop caring about themselves. In so many ways, they stop living.
Diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and medication has become the norm, combined with a laundry list of other issues.
That is not the way life is meant to be!
Invest the time and money into yourself, so you can do the things you want to do in your life. Do not just work, retire and die! Stay active, eat well, and enjoy your life as you age.
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold are both around 70 years old.
Both guys still train and look better than guys over half their age.
When you are that age would you rather be fit, traveling the world and playing with your grandchildren, or lying in bed shoveling pills down your throat?
Sickness and medication do not have to be your destiny.
Common does not mean normal, so do not accept illness as something that is completely out of your control. Obviously there are things people are faced with that could not be avoided.
However there are many cases where illness and disease could have been prevented, so stack the odds in your favor.
You get one life. One shot to become the person you want to be. And you can become that person at any age. I don’t care if you are already in your 70’s, it is never too late to reinvent yourself.
And that begins with changing your mindset.
Accepting that you are responsible for your outcome and that no matter how beat up you are you can always change.
Hopefully if you are reading this you are just as inspired by Bernard Hopkins as I am and realize that if he is 51 years old and still competing at the highest level possible, against guys a fraction of his age, then you can get to the gym for a few hours a week.
Stay active, stay strong and control your destiny.
I’ll catch you guys next week.