Maximise the Power of your Day: design a winnable strategy for your habits.
James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) and Andrew Huberman (neuroscientist and podcaster) deserve the highest accolades for their work guiding us all to be the best version of ourselves with the least friction. Why?
Do I worry about my 1RM Deadlift the most? Not anymore. Do I worry about the grammar in my newsletter writing? I probably should but I don’t. So do I worry about how much to charge for a BLACK Tier membership. Nope. So if it isn’t athletic, content shipping, or membership fees (all have drained significant brain space in the past 10 years!) what keeps me awake?
Simple. I worry when the last time will be that I bounce my daughters on my knee. Or how quickly the time will arrive that I stop being cool (stopping snorting), idolised (seriously shhh), and unequivocally adored. I can buy anything else, I can replace anything else, I can probably expect to care very little about anything else. But not spending as much time with my daughters now and making sure that I am in peak condition to chase and play with them dwarfs my business fears.
Importantly however there is another reason I don’t worry about my Deadlift, newsletters, or business tactics. Because far more clever minds than mine (read aforementioned James and Andrew - to name but two), teach how to build frictionless growth focused habits that we would be foolish to disregard. I don’t lose sleep over my athletic goals or business tactics because we spend upfront time sharpening the axe with detailed strategy and then allow our strong habits time to compound.
No one else cares if you have created an environment for nutritional success or not. And no one else will lose sleep over your investment ratios. But you should. You should spend enough time now to create winnable circumstances, automatic contributions, and rapid onboarding for everyday activities that make you a better version of yourself and utilise lessons from the findings of experts.
So what can you structure most effectively from these great teachers?
Gamify your goals. Commit to 6 daily habits. Big or small they must all stretch you forward enough to deserve a self gratifying check on the fridge each night. (Ie brushing your teeth if you are older than 3 doesn’t get you a sticker - sorry). Write all 6 on a whiteboard and celebrate achieving 4 or more. Some days you will be perfect but some time life gets in the way. Avoid chastising yourself for grabbing a snack and ‘losing a point’ and instead celebrate successfully turning off your screens 30 minutes before your bedtime *hypothetical goals, enter your own 6.
Flip the friction switch. Make your new habit easy and the one you want to break hard (we all do this the wrong way round!). Stick a password limit on your Youtube screentime each day or cut up some vegetables on a Sunday and leave them as ready made snacks in the fridge. It doesn’t matter to me but if you find yourself slipping into your old ways too easily, create an obstacle (home delivery avoids the snack aisle!) and butter the success runway.
Find an accountability partner. Ok this one is more from our very own habit guru and Senior Coach Danny Atamu but without someone to hold you accountable, to celebrate with, and to remind you of why you started in the first place you are 100% less likely to achieve. Big statement but anyone who achieves long term health success with us has has the support of a spouse, best friend, child, or coach. Life is tempting and hard, why make your own bags heavier when you can share the burden.
Why Saying 'no' Matters in Your Gym Programme Too.
Throwing 10 exercises onto a whiteboard is easy. Effective gym programmes exclude more than they include.
Throwing 10 exercises onto a whiteboard is easy. Effective gym programmes exclude more than they include.
If Instabook is a social distraction and your colleague bothering you is a work distraction, then bicep curls and tricep kickbacks are the gym version of a complete waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, they have a place (if the uplighting is good and your beau is watching), but honestly, who has the time to waste 30 mins of their day on an exercise that garners 1% results?
Knowing what exercises to exclude from your strength training is the science. Afterall, no one has reinvented heavy things that I know of, and for the vast majority of us balancing a joyfully packed life requires effective use of our time and the biggest bang for buck exercises.
Of course some goals are highly bespoke, as are some athletes. If you are rehabbing or disabled then tailoring your prescription is important and this is where experts must guide you. And of course your intensity (loading) is dependent upon your expertise. For the most part however the human body is designed to move and load through three planes and full ranges of motion. So before you add in the isolated single joint fillers that are the gym version of celery, throw some better nutrients into your programme and make the most of the rare time you spend prioritising your own needs.
Squat: Utilise a Goblet hold to learn the pattern before progressing to Back Squats
Hinge: Your hips will thank you for RDL’s, Bridges, and Deadlifts
Lunge: Split Squats are a staple and challenge your stability with Forward Lunging
Pull: Work up to a Pull Up with assisted Lat Pull downs or a loaded Row
Push: Nothing beats a well executed push up. Brush your elbows past your rib cage
Rotate: Woodchop loading progresses effectively into landmine rotations
Walk: Engage your grip and shoulders with a heavy carry. Dumbbells work well.
None of the above is new and we will take no credit for any of their inventions. Rather, the skill of an effective programme is deciding what you leave at the door and how to best use your 18-25 sets of work today. Side note; if your programme is taking you longer than 45 minutes to complete and you are not a pro athlete, something is wrong. Set your alarm and get to work with effective loading not stocking fillers.
In the video below, Tom talks about the science behind our programming at Pinnacle. And why causing fatigue is easy, but creating adaptation on the least amount of work requires science.
What are your thoughts on programming? We’d love to hear from you. Comment on the section below!
Have you been profiled recently?
If your coach isn’t profiling you frequently then you are paying for a companion - get an iPod, they are cheaper and less condescending.
Valid and reliable data is precisely how we move forward in every aspect of our lives. As S&C coaches we hypothesise, we intervene, we scrutinise (more often than not we prove ourselves wrong over time as science and technology improves), and then we start again with a more educated base.
“If your coach isn’t profiling you frequently then you are paying for a companion - get an iPod, they are cheaper and less condescending.”
Valid and reliable data is precisely how we move forward in every aspect of our lives. As S&C coaches we hypothesise, we intervene, we scrutinise (more often than not we prove ourselves wrong over time as science and technology improves), and then we start again with a more educated base. And yet here we are, in an age when the scientific method is forgotten or untaught in schools, or simply ignored because it conflicts with our opinion. When did we become apathetic to fact and prefer shouting louder than the person next to us? When did a photo of a bicep or an up lighting bulb convince us that we were getting fitter? Note to all coaches out there, if you can’t define Valid or Reliable then you need to buy a book. Ahh SPSS.
I am a proud scientist and strong advocate that evidence and facts speak louder than dogma, especially when it comes to physical health and wellness. “If we have data, let’s look at the data. If all we have are opinions then let’s go with mine”. Our hope must be that Jim Barksdale’s words apply to dinner table debate but not the application of science in a fitness world. You telling yourself (or worse, me telling you so you consume more services) that you have lost weight should not be an opinion. ‘Think’ you are getting stronger? Nothing to think about, either you are or you are not.
A simple cyclical process that we teach for our coaches to understand coaching responsibilities
Opinions are everywhere and rarely do our lives revert to black and white evidence. I am grateful that my living and reputation depends on facts and my career journey will be rewarded by education and results instead of publicity spin. If I am worth my salary then you will be achieving your goals. Strip the noise, the marketing, and the filtered before and after photos away and regardless of your goal you should frequently be rewarding your grind with evidenced progress and scientific adaptation.
I am not being seasonally inconsiderate, ’tis the season to be jolly’ and I was. MY body composition goals waited until Jan, not because I am lazy (although I am), but because I refuse to chastise myself over the mince pies and Christmas cake I adore. However I am fully transparent to the hard work I will lose by avoiding the gym in favour of a buffet, and how much more work I will have to do in January. The FACT will is that I gained weight and lost Aerobic fitness. And I dare say a lot of us did so at least there is solidarity in Christmas gluttony. Denying it to yourself or others is futile. You need the humility (and evidence) to change from.
As 2023 starts and all of our athlete members get back under the bar across our multiple facilities and our endurance athletes return to the ergs, we will not be embarrassed or offended by the data. We will be informed. Are you afraid to check your bank balance because you think you have spent too much? Then I guess you are also avoiding the gym "until you are fit enough” too. Note, money and fitness don’t arrive by accident. Educate yourself with data and make sure your coach is doing so too.
So how do we approach January with our paying member athletes across the UK and Asia? We lead informative profiling sessions, communicate what is expected, and educate that testing data is not to show you how unfit you are, quite the opposite. Profiling informs our programming for your benefit. If your coach isn’t profiling you then you are paying for a companion - get an iPod, they are cheaper and less condescending. If you are serious about your health investment then demand you are profiled. Importantly if your goal is body composition then pay for a DEXA, your intermittent paleo keto plant based diet deserves more than 5 skin clips by your PT behind a curtain.
Scientific method improves our industry. Are we all using it informatively?
Tom is the CEO and Head of Strength & Conditioning at Pinnacle Performance. He now leads a team of full time coaches having spent his coaching career with professional athletes from World Cup Cricketer’s and Footballers, to Sprinters and Triathletes.