the more i do this the more it seems that communication is a greater issue than knowledge.  the mechanics of change are relatively simple: expose. adapt. refine. making a body change is just a matter of pressure and time – the problem starts with identifying which changes you want to make, are compounded by deciphering which exposures will cause the desired adaption, and then on top of it all we have to convince the individual (our self or others) to apply the correct pressure for the correct amount of time… its easy to see how the whole system can break down.

i have said it before – ultimately i believe training is about control. it is about facing the facts about where we are today and making the decision to become something different. it is an exercise in problem solving. in directed growth. the mental parallels are hard to avoid – so much so that i generally think of our process as a mental one with physical side effects. workouts are prescriptions of sorts – meant to add certain elements to an individuals stress profile – their bodies “to do” list – and coupled with appropriate recovery we begin to shape the athlete.  to become sculptors of sorts, adding and subtracting as we see fit – working raw material into something closer to the agent we wish to be.

the key here is the idea of prescribed stress. this is where modern times has actually made the communication part more difficult – we are so used to broadcast media. the same information for everybody – and if we were all starting from the same place than maybe that would be useful, but most of us have history. we have injuries and imbalances and all sorts of emotional hangups about food and failure and countless other things. i heard a very intelligent coach claiming that goblet squats are useless – and for certain athletes i can see his point – but the problem is he wasn’t speaking to just certain athletes, or at least more than just those athletes were listening. the simplest rule – the prime directive: find the problem – fix the problem. the tool isn’t the important part, the weight isn’t even the important part – the signal is. the why. our goal is change. is movement. broadcast communication fails because we don’t know the listener – we cant see where they are or where they want to go. in the most basic of terms, without that knowledge we have no relevance.

there is so much going on, our bodies have so many avenues of adaption – muscular strength, technical form, CNS recruitment, general acceptance of risk… for most of us we are constantly adjusting multiple variables, clumsily nudging the dials hoping to accomplish a task – and it works. at first. when you are far enough from the goal movement in a generally better direction is perfectly acceptable, even necessary to understand the raw material with which you are working.  the thing is that along the way we tend to only see what we know to look for – we pick up bad habits to go with our progress, we develop wrong thinking and because “it worked for us before” we give it almost magical significance, when perhaps the fact that it worked for us before means that it will offer diminishing returns now, or even worse – hamper further progress.

intelligent work is about first exposing weakness. asking questions. it is about understanding why we did not go further. what was the lynchpin? what broke first? was i not strong enough? mental or physically? not flexible enough? mental or physically? did my technique fail? why? fatigue? concentration? stabilization?  it is why we focus so much on failure and on learning from it. our goal is often to isolate the worst moments – to hold that place – to make it clear on a cellular level what and where the weak link is, and to show our bodies how to deal with that fact. it is the same thing we as instructors try to offer to our students – to wade into that place with them – dark and uncomfortable and uncertain – to grab them by the hand, and to walk out together.

that part is where i see a lot of training advice fall down, because ultimately this is a social science – it is the art of manipulation. it is about sets and reps and stress and leverage, but it is also about trust and honesty, about friendship and leadership. about threats and promises and little white lies. it is about filters, and the responsibility that comes along with employing them. above all it is about not believing your own bullshit. the most difficult thing in the world is to convince someone of something that they have not experienced. my job as a trainer is to get to know a person, to understand what they have experienced, how they see the world – to extrapolate how that vision has shaped them, what mark it has left physically and psychologically, and to develop and execute a plan that will bring the client closer to their goal. to function this plan must move in stages, must start in some sort of familiar place – i have to adopt their language, reframe my plan as their own – convince them that they already agree with me. regardless of our age, we deal with new thing the way we always have – think of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. blind refusal, blind acceptance, challenge, and nuance. the thing is that social media filters and answer shopping allows individuals to exist as perpetual teenagers – after all, nuance is complicated, time consuming, and hard to sell. it is so much more desirable to accept pre-packaged solutions, and there is no shortage of those, and if one doesn’t work I’m sure there is another waiting on the shelves. the reason i am trying to explain this is to accelerate peoples growth – most of the stages of learning are unavoidable, but a good teacher can provide the tools to minimize the damage and time wasted by some of these lessons. there is also the undeniable fact that i am using those same manipulation tools – that in essence, i am selling a competing product. manipulation is what i do, i will never lie about that – my goal is just to give those tools the proper respect, and to earn the trust i am given by providing results.

results. individual results. goal oriented results. whatever that goal may be. because in the grand scheme of things, the gym doesn’t matter. it is just a game. a tool. we can afford to fail a thousand times for each success. it is a science experiment. the accumulation of data. refinement of a system. we control the variables, we set up the pins and knock them down. add and subtract things. fine tune. edit. our brains love linear progress so that is what we give it. we add in variation to maintain engagement. medicine is only useful if we take it – so we filter and dissect and give ourselves tasks and information in digestible chunks. the right amount, in the right place, at the right time. flavored accordingly to get a desired response. to make it useful. because above all that is the measure. usefulness. function. the ability to employ the new information. to better achieve a task. this game is a microcosm. it teaches us about how we work and how we think. we learn which levers to pull – how to manipulate ourselves towards the ends we chose. but more importantly – through it all, through the diligence and attention, through the dedication and appropriate acceptance of stress – we learn how (and why) to change.

 

 

associations. reminders. measurements. motivation.
cultivate your environment. choose what to reinforce, and what to cut loose – decide who and what you want to be, and above all: take action.

we often rise to circumstance, but no good deed goes unpunished. the hope is to learn in the process, and fail better next time. a couple days ago a dear friend of mine and a coach at station515 had a confrontation with the outer limits of his physical ability, and the price that swimming in those waters demands – and while i don’t want to think of this as a “rite of passage” it certainly qualifies as a teachable moment.

many of us have experienced the edges of this, a hard workout that leaves you so sore the next day that you have to change your plans. a headache or nausea that lingers for a day, we used to jokingly refer to it as “flu like symptoms” – but there is a tipping point, a level where it is no longer funny and becomes a line of demarkation.

most people are not strong enough to hurt themselves. at least not at first. i don’t mean that they physically lack strength to cause injury, i mean that in the gym they will quit mentally long before they encounter any real physical danger. “hard” work is a constant negotiation, your body sends you signals, information about the cost of your actions and you have to convince yourself to keep carving away at that pound of flesh despite the consequences. in that situation, most people drop the knife at the first sight of blood – but as we train, as we learn to get comfortable with the pain, to manage those costs, we creep, inch by inch, into the deep end and one day we reach our toes down only to realize we cant reach bottom, we are in over our head.

this exhibits in a few ways – cramping, vomiting, blinding headaches, symptoms like food poisoning, burst blood vessels in the eyes and face. symptoms usually last from a couple days to a week – working out during this window is usually nearly impossible and certainly ill advised, but something happens during this forced downtime, something transforms. there is a realization; that every time you “went hard” before this you held back. you left something in the tank. as hard as you may have gone before you had never felt like this. it usually happens by accident, a change in circumstance or scenery – an adjustment or challenge momentarily shifts your self image and you fall victim to L’appel du vide, you gave in to the call of the void and this time nothing stopped you, no one protected you – and now the world looks different. shifted. it is like the your first true heartbreak – it can’t really be “sought out” and no one wants to wish it on someone else, but there is usefulness to be found in the darkness. the bone-deep realization that the world is a little less safe, that risk and consequences are visceral things, they have a taste and a sound and a cost that must be paid. more than that, there is now an understanding that you possess the ability to do real damage. you have earned a bit more responsibility and the freedom to do with it what you will. the safety is off and the gun is loaded, now it is up to you to hit your target and avoid shooting yourself in the process.

i don’t mean to romanticize this. anyone who has felt it or even witnessed the effects will tell you that it is far from flattering – but that does not mean it isn’t useful. it is a shift in perception. a changing of the rules. after someone goes through that fire it is now up to them to hold the reigns – because we do not get better by doing this – it is a tool with an extremely high cost, and one that does not get cheaper with frequent use. it is physically damaging and even from the most meat headed perspective, it benches you from meaningful training for at least a couple days. but after something like this we realize that we are responsible for these costs – and we can exercise judgement of when it is worth it. we are more capable of making that decision, of exerting our will. most of the time in the gym we chase numbers as reflections of our ability, moments like this are shifts in perception. they are lessons that once felt will never be forgotten. they replace fear and uncertainty with knowledge and a price tag. athletes i train don’t pull this pin in the gym, once they know what is possible it is reserved for when it really counts. gym rats are allowed to poke around its borders maybe once or twice a year, just to remind themselves what they are capable of. it is uncertain territory, and we as individuals need to balance risk and reward. it is a dark and expensive endeavor. it is a tool.

wield it wisely.

 

-the station.

“When in a fight to the death, one wants to employ all one’s weapons to the utmost. I must say that to die with one’s sword still sheathed is most regrettable.”

-Miyamoto Musashi

 

somedays i feel like the largest part of my work is cleaning up other peoples mess. trying to undo misconceptions about training and change in general – thinking about thinking, and thinking about thinking differently. because it seems that the hardest thing to convince people of is that things that are “true” now will not always be – things that were true, were useful and proper – are now the problem, the barrier to progress. many facts we speak of are based on common assumptions, unspoken variables that make it true right now – but only for a moment. the closer you examine these facts the more visible the framing becomes – caveats pop up and eventually there are so many disclaimers and modifiers that this fact is less like a hammer blow and more like a leaky bucket. in an attempt to be honest we end up sounding like bad politicians constantly back-tracking and hedging our bets. so maybe it is a time for a different tool.

i heard of a brief study about metaphor being more effective than facts in the pursuit of changing peoples minds.  it makes a lot of sense, framing new information as something old – accepted and unquestioned – of course it is easier to incorporate, but it goes deeper than that. metaphor can be used to turn a logical argument into an emotional one. metaphor can strip off the nuance and the circumstance of a scientific argument and turn it into a glaring, gut wrenching truth. now, this can be seen as dishonesty, as hackery and of politicking an otherwise constructive discussion – but when it comes down to it we sometimes have to make the choice between being honest and being useful.

 

that decision is a crossroads – make no bones about it. it can change a relationship, define it. it is dishonest and manipulative and often absolutely necessary. to take a fact, a dry piece of often unpleasant information and encapsulate it – turn it into something simple and stirring – something that slips past the logical filters and into our blood and our bones. the right metaphor can shift perception in an instant, can convince someone – erroneously or not – that they already agree with you, that they have all along. in general i abhor dishonesty and manipulation – but when it comes to change, to the gritty work of transforming myself and those who have entrusted me with their progression, i have found no greater lever. no sharper blade. wielded with responsibility and ruthless purpose it is possible to reshape ideas, to reframe vital changes and use our hatred of cognitive dissonance to help us shun habits that no longer serve us.

metaphor is simplification, it is emotional entrapment. it is imprecise, dishonest, and bloody useful.  it is a tool. a weapon. when you know where you are and where you wish to go it may be the bridge necessary to transform a fact you know into something you feel. something that elicits an emotional response, an automatic reaction. now – i am fully aware that i often implore individuals to avoid overly emotional reactions, to create space and act with a clear head – but if that is not a possibility than i will settle for the proper reaction for a less than ideal reason. simply stated, this is about progress, not perfection. about understanding the tools at your disposal and the costs associated with their use. this is about control. about taking responsibility, about recognizing where you are right now, and deciding that – from this moment forward – you will be something better.

 

it’s just training.

 

just exercise.

 

nothing more.

 

-the station

 

it is better to think of training more akin to directions than hard facts – up, down, left, right – they are relational pressures, they only make sense when you have a location and a goal – and if someone told you to turn right, go a mile, and turn left – you wouldn’t accuse them of being inconsistent. 

 

it may be my nature as a contrary sonofabitch, but the more convinced someone seems to be of their own ideas, the more i question their intelligence, or at least their motives.

see, there are a lot of things i don’t know, and the more i try and learn the more ignorant i feel. its like digging in dry sand –  advancing in depth just widens the scope, i find two new questions for each answer. but these millions of questions (and their answers) start to form a picture, the asking makes us prioritize, makes us look for connections, draw lines and shades of influence. it allows us to create a budget of sort, to learn balance and pressure, growth and sacrifice. we learn to own the causes and the effects, and to explore all the things we don’t know.

not knowing. accepting that you don’t know.  having a little fucking humility. not much gets my hackles up more than the dishonesty in the health and fitness community. 5 point lists and miracle cures – goddamned snake oil. some people are simply not cynical enough – its easy to forget that news is business and business exists to make a profit. not evil – just profit driven. understanding the motives behind those providing you information is vital – it gives you a filter to understand why they see the world the way they do – it allows you to take their opinion with the appropriate grain(s) of salt. a yoga instructor will tell you that flexibility will help you run faster, a strength coach will probably tell you it is gym work that is the key, and nutritionists will wonder about your macro consumption. one of my favorite quotes is “if all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail” – it is useful to try and identify and prepare for your biases – and when someone asks for your advice just fucking own them. save us all some time and be upfront – and if someone is not clear with their biases i assume they either are treating me like i am stupid enough not to see it, or worse yet – they don’t see it themselves.

i trust the careful, the honest, the interested. i trust the weary, the curious, the reflective. i am heartened by hearing uncertainty in someones voice – it means they haven’t made up their minds, that they are willing to embrace that things may not be as they imagine. ignorance is the starting point – accepting that there are more unknowns than knowns can keep us from from being trapped by sensationalism. it keeps us skeptical of people selling solutions, because i don’t trust guarantees. the only guarantee is that on a long enough time line the survival rate drops to zero – the only constant is change and the only certainty lies in hindsight (and even that is arguable). we have an idea, a picture of what happened, but only theories of why. change is complicated and messy and by nature unpredictable.

surety is most often a sign of having not considered the problem long enough. either that or deliberate dishonesty. plans are easy to sell, we all want to believe that a few simple steps will get us to – wherever. and at the beginning it may even be true. but answers need to breed more questions, plans need to evolve, be living breathing things –  any anyone who claims to be able to fix all your problems with their “plan” is probably mostly interested in helping themselves. they may have useful information but they also have an agenda. Be weary.

the difficult part is that almost anything works under certain circumstances. diet and exercise are messy sciences – there are so many variables, so many pathways for improvement – is someone faster because they built their aerobic base using long, slow distance work? or maybe it is because they have developed stronger legs? or maybe it’s because of the structural work that allows them to have better posture, and through that more efficient breathing? have they just become mentally tougher and are now willing to endure more discomfort? or is it because of an improvement of technique? the answer is yes. probably. whatever was the weakest link has improved. now, when someone is a beginner and all the above attributes are lacking, anything will work. it is the accumulation of all that builds the end result, separate revenue streams – multiple stocks in the same portfolio. having everything at 30% will yield the same results as having a couple topped out and a couple ignored – but the “plan” for those two individuals would look totally different. it is why we assess. why we think critically. we are always trying to identify the limiting factor – why didn’t I do better? what broke first – because that is what needs to be addressed. test drive – then tune up.

knowing all this still doesn’t help if you don’t know yourself. know where you are and where you want to go. know the requirements of success. know what you are good at, what you are bad at, and the cost of changing. some problems need a sledge hammer and some, a scalpel. generally speaking, the further from the goal the less specific a plan needs to be. it’s like carving stone – it starts with big hits and blunt tools, finer shapes beg for more precision, specific tools and more meticulous planning. geometric progression, ever smaller gains at ever increasing cost. time and energy are limited resources – understand which metrics are goals and which are simply shadows, steps along the way. give a thing the attention necessary – not less, but not more. and try to be honest – remember that most of us never need true refinement and will not benefit significantly from anything past the roughest of tools.

true plans are expensive because they have to take all of this into account. they have to be fed and nurtured with constant attention and new information. it is hard to pass on the promise of simple fixes, the idea that drinking coffee with butter in it or cutting out gluten will solve your life problems – we hear the stories of magical transformation and long for that simple answer – we may even convince ourselves that we too are afflicted, and can repent and be saved just as easily.

so don’t feed that part of yourself. protect your growth – recognize that everyone has an objective – and not all of them are benign. listen, learn, and filter. ask questions. a lot of questions. hard and unflattering questions. make art with science – shape yourself with that blend of curiosity and determination. pay attention to the true movers in your life, the factors that hold you back and launch you forward. trim and nurture in equal measure – it is your life, why would you not want to be in control? because thats what it boils down to. control. responsibility to ones self. cynical may not be the right word. critical. pragmatic. utilitarian. have an objective – mind your costs and find a way to balance your budget…

gather the right information, cultivate the proper attitude.

the rest is easy.

to work.

-the station.