Hey Everyone,

Hope you guys are having a great Sunday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I’m back from vacation and ready to have a great last quarter of the year with you all.

Today, I want to talk a little more about the training philosophy at OwnPace athletics and why we do all the things we do during a training session.

Of course, I know everyone has his or her own goals, some same, some different. But whatever your goal is, the primary way to accomplish it is to create a stimulus that causes the specific adaptation you desire. For example, if you want to lose weight, what are the things you need to do to make that happen? or if you want to "tone" what are the things you need to do to make your body adapt to that.

I have a 3 step approach I call the “What, Why and How Logic”. I use this approach because it simplifies the process to the goal and removes all the guesswork. It gives you a very direct roadmap and most importantly it allows you to assess when you are doing something that does not take you closer to your goal.

Quick example: anyone who has trained with me in person and gone through my consultation & assessment knows exactly how we came up with your training program.  We talk about WHAT you want to accomplish and WHY and then we take measurements and perform certain tests that show me HOW best to get there for YOUR specific needs.

Lets take a closer look at the What, Why and How Logic.

The WHAT is your goal, what you want to accomplish. For example, weight loss, flexibility, muscle gain, endurance, athletic performance etc.

The WHY is a little more complex but very important. The why is why you want to accomplish this goal in the first place. This is a little more complex because we always have a surface why, a reason we tell others and ourselves. The problem with this surface why is it’s often not strong enough. As we all know the process to achieving your goal can be very difficult and requires you to make certain sacrifices. So if you don’t have a strong enough WHY that helps guide your decisions, it might be very challenging to achieve your goals. Your intrinsic WHY is what stops you from eating that extra donut, pizza, wing, candy or having that extra drink. If you don’t have a good enough reason WHY, there is nothing stopping you from making choices that will hinder your goals.

The HOW is the path. The HOW is what exactly you have to do to get to your goals. This will vary for each person. My number one rule for this phase is doing what you enjoy. For example if you hate to run but love to play soccer, then play soccer. Find training that you enjoy because that will increase your chances of sticking to it.

Fitness is about finding the perfect mix. I believe everyone can improve with the right workouts. Find the right mix of training and nutrition. It's all about finding the right balance.