Now that I have finished my 28 Day Challenge, I have decided to undertake another fitness goal that is way outside my comfort zone.

All throughout my adolescent athletic career, lifting was one of the weakest of my many undertakings.  I was never excited about lifting and only did it under pressure from my various coaches.  Even when I did enter the weight room, it was never consistent and sporadic at best.

The main reason it never stuck was because at that point in time (1991-1994) lifting was done with the “muscle isolation” technique.  A majority of exercises that were utilized focused on a single joint movement to isolate a specific muscle (think arm curls and leg curls).  I think the theory behind it was that the more attention given to a specific muscle made it grow stronger, faster.  Now, I am not a lifting expert, so it could have been partially true because some of my peers had great success with it.

The problem I had with it, was that it consumed a lot of time to work in this focus.  It would require me to lift 4-5 times a week for nearly 2 hours each day (8-10 hours a week in the gym?).  I really did not want to spend that much time in the gym so I opted not to. Well that led to me being uncomfortable in the gym even to this day.

A little over a year ago I ran into a great friend and a highly motivating person.  His name is Dickie White and he owns Ironworks Gym in Binghamton, NY. I met him when I began training Mixed Martial Arts at CNYMMA since they share the same facility.

Dickie is a highly educated individual in developing huge amounts of strength. Plus the beauty thing is he practices what he preaches, as he has dominated his first 3 amateur fights in MMA by ending the bouts all within the first round.  He knows what he is talking about, not just because he read a book, but because he trains his own body, as well as the bodies of many very successful wrestlers from the junior high school level all the way up to the collegiate and U.S. Olympic and World team levels.  He has also developed a few programs that can be purchased and used on your own if you cannot get a chance to train with him personally. One program in particular was developed with Tamden “The Barn Cat” McCrory who fought and dominated in UFC 96 and is currently staging a comeback.  As a matter of fact I promote one of his products on the greatnessinsideout Resources Page.  (Check it out!)

Now that we have Dickie’s background out of the way (which is quite extensive), I want to talk about the program he has developed for me.  I am a pretty busy person who has limited time (I am a husband and the father of 3 children), and limited patience as well.  I like things to move along quickly and really need to move along efficiently or I get impatient. The program Dickie developed consists of lifting 2 days a week, and each day has between 6-7 exercises that work out the ENTIRE body, and get this, it only takes an hour to complete!  Talk about quick and effective, right up my ally!  So how is this possible? How can you get a total body workout with only 2 hours of weekly gym time and be ready for a POWER LIFTING COMPETITION in only 14 weeks?

The answer is extremely simple.  It’s called multi-joint exercises that utilize very heavy lifting.  The old paradigm of muscle isolation and a lot of reps are over.  Dickie explained to me that lifting something very heavy even just one time is the equivalent of lifting lighter stuff 3-5 times (even more efficient, awesome!).  Weight is the key, more so than the quantity of repetitions.  Of course the technique has to be correct as well so I don’t risk injury.

Some of the tools of the trade consist of sandbags, medicine balls, atlas stones, and even chains and giant rubber bands!  Add to that the flipping of giant tractor tires and it is quickly apparent that this style is totally outside the realm of what most deem “normal” weight training.  Some of the old fashioned exercises are still highly effective like bench presses, squats, and dead lifts and really are still the staple of this type of training.

I would like everyone to follow me over the next 14 weeks as I will be posting my progress on here weekly (including pics).  Also check out Dickie’s programs and buy them, or if you live near Binghamton, NY, schedule some time to talk with him (you can reach him here).  Most of all, create a goal that is WAY outside your comfort zone, something that scares the hell out of you and then do it.  Also read my article on the power of Habit Forming and you will thank me later.

Please comment on your comfort zone goal below or “Like” my Facebook page and tell the community what your going to accomplish this year and then DO IT!

Thanks,

Gerry

Websters definition of a belief: A state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. Our personal beliefs, both powering and dis-empowering, are based on our personal references or life experiences.  All throughout our lives, we experience first hand, many things that our subconscious files away for later reference.  The problem is we do not control “what” is referenced because we may not be aware of or even in control of “what”.  We go through life experiencing hap-hazard references that may not be how we intended them to be interpreted.  All these little references begin to build one large belief and we hope it will empower us.  These types of references are know as first-hand because you experience them yourself.

A second type of reference that adds to a “belief” are second-hand references.  These you may get from reading books, surfing the web, watching TV, or listening to friends.  Once again if we are not careful we can pick up negative references from outside sources that can lead to dis-empowering beliefs.  In the book, “Choices and Illusions: How did I get where I am, and how do I get where I want to be?” by Eldon Taylor, he tells a story about a female Eagle named Nina who as a chick fell from her nest and wandered into a chicken coupe.  She was adopted by an older Hen and learned the ways of the chickens.  She learned how to scratch the earth, dig for grubs and be a good overall chicken.    Through second-hand references she believed she was a chicken even though she did not “feel” like one.  She often wondered why she could not lay eggs and all the other hens consoled her and told her, “in time Nina your body will catch up, you just needed to try harder; after all your biological mother failed you and didn’t teach you how to be a chicken”, and “that it wasn’t her fault”.  So overtime she developed many references that created a deep belief that she was a chicken and she went through life not knowing her true potential she possessed as an Eagle.  One day a male eagle spotted Nina and descended on the chicken yard and cornered Nina.  Trapped by the male eagle, Nina crouched down in fear, almost paralyzed by her expectation.  The male eagle asked “What are you doing here? Your an Eagle, you should be soaring through the sky on great adventures, not nesting with chickens.”  Nina being a smart “chicken” had an idea and said to the eagle, “If I am an Eagle that can soar through the sky, and do amazing things, then you’re not going to hurt me?”.  ”No” said the male Eagle, “of course not – what nonsense is that?”.  ”Well, then,” Nina confidently added, “show me. Step aside so I could leave if I choose to.”  The male Eagle stepped aside and Nina seized the opportunity and made best of her plan and ran straight for the chicken house.  Once inside she told the chickens how she outsmarted the dumb old Eagle.  They all laughed and rewarded her with chicken appreciation, “You’re such a smart chicken Nina!”  You have probably figured out the point of the story that second-hand references can be very dangerous and dis-empowering when enough of them create a great belief.

The third type of reference are imagined-references.  These references do not actually happen, they are created in your mind through your thoughts.  Since you sub-conscious mind cannot distinguish between imaginary and reality, if you think something enough it can start to become true as a reference.  In his book “The winning mind set” by Kevin Seaman, he makes reference to Roger Bannister who was the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes.  At the time many deemed it impossible, but Roger Bannister used imagined-references to help achieve his goal.  He would put a piece of paper in his running shoes with 3:58 written on it.  Since he had zero first-hand references to his goal, since he had never done it, and since no one else had ever done it, he had zero second-hand references.  He was left with his imagination, and once again our subconscious mind does not know the difference between real or imagined, he started to build up enough references that he “knew” he could beat the record.  He pursued his goal in small bites by shaving seconds of the clock on each run.  He would tell himself, “If I can run the mile in 3 minutes 59 seconds, I know I can do it in 3 minutes 58 seconds, after all its only one second.”  You can see the power of imagined-references and how your imagination can aid in building your belief system.

Next, lets talk about how to control, change, and create the belief system that will help achieve your goals, rather than hinder them.  Tony Robbins compares beliefs to a table.  A table without legs is basically a piece of wood on the floor and is the equivalent of an opinion.  If you add legs to it, it becomes a useful, sturdy piece of furniture and thus a belief.  Think of your beliefs as the top of the table and all your references as the table legs.  The more references you have, the more legs your table has, thus making it more sturdy and harder to collapse.  Since our beliefs can be powering or dis-empowering, when they have many “legs” they become unwavering and this can be bad news for negative beliefs that we would like to change.  Luckily there is a way, that is simple to comprehend, but it will take some work to succeed.

Here are the steps to changing you belief system to align with achieving your goals.

1. Become aware of your belief system. You need to figure out what beliefs are hindering yourself first.  This may sound obvious but many beliefs go unnoticed or can be conflicting in nature.  This will almost always sabotage your goals.  If you have ever attempted to achieve a goal and given up on it, you need to go back and think about “why”.  Ask yourself why you gave up on it.  Was it too hard?  Did you think you weren’t good enough?  Imagine yourself at the very moment you gave up and recall what you said to yourself.  What dialogue did you use that triggered the give up mentality.  The answer you uncover is the negative belief that you must demolish in order to change for the better.
2. Start to challenge the references to the belief. Do you find yourself saying “I can’t!”, or “I’m not good enough; tall enough; strong enough; fast enough; etc?”, or “That doesn’t happen to people like me.”?  These are references to an overall dis-belief in yourself.  It’s time to challenge those reference.  By asking questions about each reference and then writing your answer down, you will create skepticism in that reference.  For example, ask the question, “What part of this action can’t I do and why?  Is it really the whole action I can’t do or just a specific part?  Is it the unfamiliar that is scaring me?”  As you keep asking these types of questions the truth will soon surface and pinpoint the truth to the negative references.  Once the pinpoint has been made, often it ends up being very minuscule and very manageable.  The key is to wheedle it down to its smallest part.
3. Find the bright spots and give them power. Determine if there are any empowering first or second-hand references and reinforce them.  (I use the term “bright spots” quite often because of the extremely positive visual it paints in my head.)  Reinforcement is done by also asking the right questions and writing them down.  Asking such questions as, “Have I ever accomplished something similar before, and if yes, how did I handle it?”, or, “What was my most amazing accomplishment, and how did I go about doing it?”.  People tend to focus more on the negatives in life rather than the positives.  This forces you to think about the positives and with practice will get easier.
4. Imagine the results of giving in to dis-empowering beliefs. This step will take some forward thinking by imagining what you will feel like if you decide to give in to you negative beliefs.  Close your eyes and really focus on what you will look like, how you will feel, and what you will think about yourself if you give in to you negative self.  A majority of people do not forward think about their lives as negative, because it is painful.  We leave it up to chance and hope our lives will be enjoyable.  For the most part it is, but everyone has at least one dream that if isn’t accomplished creates pain.  It’s called the “shoulda, woulda, coulda’s” and everyone has at least one.  The forward thinking will create pain, hopefully enough pain that it will force yourself to take action, to confront your fears and push through to victory.
5. Visualize success in your future. Since your subconscious cannot distinguish between imagination and reality, visualize major success by pushing your imagined self closer and closer to victory.  Since we know that first hand references (our experiences) support our beliefs, which dictate our view of what we can effectively do, and the results of what we do create more personal first-hand references, wouldn’t it make sense to “think” about “doing” and “achieving” more “results” to create imagined-references.  After all imagined-references create table legs too.

There you go, a five step process to changing your hindering beliefs.  Once again these are simple methods, but they are not effective without work and action.  Without action, you only have knowledge, and knowledge without action results in everything staying the same.  So get up, get a pen, and sit down in a comfy chair and get to work, and you will thank me.

I believe that more top level athletes have some form of fear of failure.  In my opinion the athletes with the highest goals, highest standards, and highest expectations of themselves usually suffer from fear of failure the most.  These people usually tend to think in a pain avoidance mindset rather than a seek pleasure mindset.

I believe this is what I suffer from.  Last week during training I was struggling with some techniques and getting frustrated with myself.  My coach told me my technique was looking good and that I was just a perfectionist.  Then it dawned on me that I have had very high standards for myself my entire life, couple that with the pressure of everyone else expecting myself to perform at peak levels every time, it’s no wonder I developed a fear of failure.

I sit here writing this article slight anxiety has built up within me.  I have a sense of fear that this article will fail, and I can hear my inner voice warning me to not screw this up.  The fear that people who read this will find it to be garbage is stressful to me.  This exact scenario is played out during competitions.  Luckily I have a moderate level of mental toughness and I can usually push past the fear during competition.  Looking back at all my previous competitions I think the fear of failure has hindered me from competing at my highest level.

I am in the progress of incorporating a couple of Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques that I have learned reading Anthony Robbins’ “Unlimited Power”.

1. Determine the behavior you would like to change. (Fear of Failure)
2. Determine the external environmental trigger.  What is in the environment that triggers the undesired behavior? (The stress of competition)
3. Determine what internal modality is triggered?  Do you see a picture? (visual modality)  Do you hear a voice? (auditory modality)  Do you feel something? (kinesthetic modality) (I would visualize a compilation of past competitions where I lost.)
4. Determine what your overall reaction is to the aforementioned modality.  (I would create poisonous negative self-talk that would spawn greater fear, thus creating a downward spiral type loop, ultimately leading to what I feared most-failing.)

After all these discoveries are written down, we need to find a way to reframe our internal reaction to the external trigger.  What that means is that when the external trigger is present we want our internal reaction to be reframed to something that will result in a positive internal trigger.  So next we need to have a state of mind that will reframe our internal beliefs.

1. Determine what mind set we need to achieve in order to succeed at changing our behavior.  (Mine would be a high level of confidence in my abilities to compete and win)
2. Remember an experience from our past when we were in that desired mind-set and determine what type of internal reaction that was experienced and what exactly that experience was.  (Mine was the Empire State games when I took the Bronze medal in freestyle wrestling and I had a kinesthetic reaction of an unusual sense of calm, and confidence)
3. Then determine your overall reaction of how you felt, and what actions you took toward the external trigger.  (I performed at my highest level ever and had the most fun ever in my wrestling career)

Now you should have a written list of both the behavior you want to change and the behavior would like to replace it with.

Now the next steps are very simple, but they will be challenging. Every time you experience the external trigger, you need to acknowledge it and stop the internal modality reaction.  You will literally have to say “STOP” in your own head.  Next replace the initial modality reaction with the “good” reaction and keep running through you head all that is associated with that good modality.  This will change you overall reaction to the desired behavior.  These last steps can also be done without the external trigger being present.  Since our brains cannot tell the difference between real and imaginary, you can practice alone by yourself.  Imagine the external trigger, which will begin your old patterns.  At that point say “STOP” and start the new pattern.  Do this 20-30 times in a row every day for a month and I bet you will see amazing results.

This will not happen overnight and it is not easy to accomplish (but nothing worthwhile is ever easy right?), but with enough practice you will soon atrophy your old behavior and you will have reconditioned your mind.

O.k., here we go, our first story…

About 5 weeks ago I got an Email on my Facebook page.  This person had introduced themselves as the program director at CNYMMA, a mixed martial arts school.  A while back I had befriended them on Facebook and discussed the possibility of trying them out.  Like most people I procrastinated and said, “I’ll call them tomorrow”, and everyday it was always “tomorrow”.

The new program director was different.  I was at work when she called, and I recognized the number, so I answered. (Which anyone who knows me personally, I don’t answer my phone too much.)  I can’t explain why, but I did.  She introduced herself and the first thing she asked was “What are your goals?”.  I have never had anyone ask me that question.  I was kind of caught off guard, and had to take a minute to think.  I then realized that even though I had goals, they really weren’t concrete.  I had to actually think about it, rather than rattle them off quickly.

So, after some thought, I explained my goals to her.  She didn’t waste anytime and asked when I wanted to take my free introductory class.  Once again, she caught me off guard, and I had to think quickly.  So I answered “whenever, anytime after 4pm” (that’s what time I leave work), and at that moment I was committed, there was no backing out now, I was stuck.  So, she quickly came back with, “How about tonight at 6:45?”  Boy this girl was good!  Caught off guard again.  So of course, now freshly committed, I said “Sure.”

6:30pm that night I arrived at the gym with a thousand things racing through my mind.  The thought of just ditching the whole idea came to mind quite a few times.  I was extremely nervous, and my confidence level was in the basement.  I walked in and introduced myself, and we went into her office.  We began to talk about my background, my family, my dreams, my fears and just about everything in between.  It was great to be able to talk with someone about myself, and have them get excited for me.

She began to explain the history of CNYMMA, and what their mission was.  They are committed to setting and achieving goals.  They believe in setting a huge goal, and breaking it down into little weekly goals.  As well as setting goals they encourage tracking them as well.  I felt in good hands, and the excitement was building, until she threw me to the wolves….

Practice started, and I fell in line (in the back of the room of course).  We warmed up, the typical stuff, and stretched.  Then we partnered up and the instructor began showing us some punching combos.  WHOLLY COW, me eyes got as big as the sun.  “How am I gonna do this?”, I thought to myself.  Well, I had a partner with some experience and I caught on pretty quickly.  All in all the night was a success, and I signed on right on the spot.

5 weeks later, and I have set a major goal for next summer of competing in my first full contact fight.  This long term goal has spawned many smaller sub-goals as well.  Diet change, mental conditioning, weight training, goal tracking.  These are things I have never considered before, and they are very empowering.

So the moral to this story is basically, when you want to try something, don’t give it too much thought.  Our minds have a way of talking us out of things.  It does this to keep us safe, because the “unknown” is inherently dangerous to us.  Also, if you want to make a change, you need to “clear the path”, and make the transition smooth and unobstructed.  This excellent book by the Heath Brothers explains how to make change easier.

The program director, made my decisions easy, because she cleared the path.  She forced me to commit, and didn’t accept any “I will need to think about it” answers.  But you don’t need someone to make you commit.  Think about a change you want to make, or something you want to try, and determine the next action, do it, and take the baby steps to get there.  Don’t think about details, you can figure those out along the way.  Just keep the big picture in mind and live big.

thanks,

Gerry