• Are Your Goals Mutually Exclusive?

    edited by Alexander Becker

    What are your training objectives? The question highlights the problem. The next one is harder: What is your training objective?

    You want peak performance, beauty, aesthetic body composition with minimal fat and maximum muscle, superior mental sharpness, raw strength and endurance and speed. Overall health and longevity. Me too.

    While those objectives aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, by trying to achieve all these goals simultaneously, you will end up achieving nothing more than average, lowest common demoninator results inspired by too broad objectives and lack of priority.

    Peak performance in what activity exactly? Minimal fat and maximum muscle mass, an ideal for looks, may not be the best foundation for raw strength; more overall mass and, yes, bodyfat, will yield more strength.

    So at the very high end of the scale -- and we're talking about nothing else here -- it is less fat vs. more strength.

    Endurance and speed? Choose one. The two are completely different animals. After establishing a foundation training both endurance and speed you must decide which one to pursue even further.

    Aesthetic and healthy? Sure it's possible but it quickly becomes a compromise; there are various tricks involving water and salt for example that will make you look even better yet, from the perspective of best health and longevity you'll want to leave the tricks alone and eat in moderation, light and balanced.

    Again, the high end decision, even leaner, -- mind you, this is true perfectionism -- is between extreme beauty vs. optimum health.

    Set priorities and determine the pros and cons of the goals in the big picture. You can always have it all today and pay later, the question is: Is it worth it?

    What about drugs? What exactly do you want and how bad? Certain drugs will make you look better in the short term. Certain other drugs will increase you concentration and decrease your need for sleep while making you more alert -- for a short time. If it's necessary, make a decision.

    The more clear your priorities are, the more mutually exclusive the various objectives become. You're not going to be #1 in every game. On the other hand, you can be #1 in any game.

    Choose your game, pay the price, and win.

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  • The Wall Chair: Mental Toughness vs. Physical Endurance

    edited by Alexander Becker

    A simple, yet effective exercise: The wall chair.

    Stand with your back against a wall and feet shoulder-width apart. Slide down into a crouch with knees bent to about 90 degrees. Hold as long as you can.

    On the first day, try to hold the position as long as you think you can endure. On the second day, increase the time by five seconds, on the third day, increase by another five seconds. Do this for about a week.

    Leon

    Now, what do you think do you work on during that week? You surely train your quadriceps, but most of the exercising is improving mental toughness. Would you expect to double your physical endurance in such a short time?

    It’s the double benefit of training body and mind through continuously pushing beyond the limits that makes endurance exercises so valuable.

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