7 Lessons from 2015
1. No Movement = No Nutrition
I’ve trained consistently since 2010 but work has also meant a lot of sitting. I’ve slept on a soft mattress almost all my life, I’ve worn soft shoes on mostly flat land / surfaces most of it too. I knew that stuff mattered, but not that much right? That changed this year.
2. Travel + consistency are a big challenge
My training suffered from 5 months on the road in 2015. I will make a bigger effort to avoid this in the future and have decreased my travel plans in 2016 to make it my strongest year yet.
3. Community is the key
Seeing realMovement coaches doing all sorts of amazing things in the gym and stepping up there influence on the world by opening gyms and getting active on social media. The influence we’re able to have is huge. We’ve scratched the surface, lots more to come! Inversely social isolation is the biggest risk factor for all illness.
4. Aim higher
RealMovement coaches achieved some big stuff in 2015, we need to go further. Seeing huge squats and cleans from Ben Thompson, a one-arm chin-up from Nathan Gould at 83kg with little training, Michael Lane went from no overhead squat to a 100kg snatch and Mitch Pike from no handstands to nailing an L-sit to Handstand was inspirational. We can all do a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.
Setting lifetime goals for movement and global impact have me buzzing everyday about the future I've created.
5. Lifelong Learning
I’ve done more and more teaching over recent years. Along the way I slowed down my learning. Learning was what had allowed me to teach, now I wasn’t doing much of it. I did the 67 steps from Tai Lopez, well most of them, but more importantly I read a lot of books during that time and got excited about staying a student for the rest of this lifetime. This has influenced my brother and lots of the coaches I work with to pride themselves on their reading. This is the way it should be!
6. Be the Sun
If I don’t shine there isn’t much point anyone coming to grow around me. In 2015 I had more issues with seasonal allergies than I’d had for a while. Even following a clean diet for me isn’t enough when spring / summer time comes around. I hate taking medications and therefore have days where I’m not at my best. I don’t want to miss days like this in 2016 and will do whatever is required to overcome these issues which I seem to have to relearn to solve every couple of years!
7. Frequency Dogma Is Broken
I deadlifted everyday for a month in Costa Rica and added 30kg to my deadlift to hit a new PB of 211kg in 2015. I broke the rules and won as a result. I also learned about Squat holidays and one-day squat cure’s from Wolfgang Unsöld, a student of Charles Poliquin in Germany. Squatting high volume 3 times a day for 6 days is becoming the new benchmark in punishing the body into performance.
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