Categoriescoaching Motivational psychology

Disfluency and Why It Can Help You Reach Your Fitness Goals

In the Spring of ’96 I made my first collegiate start as a pitcher. I was playing for Onondaga Community College out of Syracuse, NY, and we were down in Florida for our annual Spring Training trip.

Can you find me?

Not only was it the first time I saw green grass in several months (winters in Central NY are long and brutal), but it was my first trip to Florida, which meant it was also my first time seeing palm trees.1

We arrived in West Palm Beach to play West Palm Beach Community College. On the bus ride from our hotel to the field I was fidgeting, listening to my Discman – remember those? – probably Wu-Tang Clan or Tribe Called Quest, and trying everything I could to take my mind off of destroying the back of my pants.

It was my first collegiate game, my first start, so of course I was nervous.

And if that wasn’t enough, I heard inklings from some of the players and coaches that 8 of the 9 players in the line-up for WPBCC were drafted out of high-school in the previous year’s MLB draft.

Okay, now I was really nervous.

I took a few deep breaths, said a few words of encouragement to myself2, and proceeded to do my normal pre-game ritual of stretches, long-toss, and warm-up.

And then it was game time.

1st Batter: ground ball out.

“Whatever, this is easy.”

2nd Batter: strike out.

“MLB prospect my ass.”

3rd Batter: walk

“Okay, you can’t win them all.”

4th Batter: 0-2 count, I threw a hanging curveball, and I think the ball is due to pass Neptune’s orbit any day now.

 

If my memory serves me, I lasted four innings, and we ended up losing that game 12-4. Or 72-4. I don’t remember all the details.

Whatever the score ended up being it stands to reason I didn’t do well.

That said, it was a learning experience:

1) Don’t throw hanging curveballs on an 0-2 count to arguably the team’s best hitter.

2) Even though I was nervous heading into that game, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad bit smug. I mean, I was an All-League selection in high-school, twice! I got this.

Um, no.

My first college game served as a wake-up call for me, and provided the slap in the face I needed to respect that anything can be a lesson you can learn from. And it’s how you observe, reflect, digest, and use those lessons moving forward that will make all the difference in the world. It’s how you prevent history from repeating itself.

While I didn’t realize it at the time I was using a form of DISFLUENCY to my advantage.

In his book Smarter, Faster, Better, Charles Duhigg, discusses this phenomenon:

“The people who are the most successful at learning – those who are able to digest the data surrounding them, who absorb insights embedded in their experiences and take advantage of information flowing past – are the ones who know how to use disfluency to their advantage. They transform what life throws at them, rather than just taking it as it comes. They know the best lessons are those that force us to do something and to manipulate something.”

In other words: people who are actively “disfluent” take data and transform it into experiments whenever they can.

Taking an example from the book, Duhigg references a study performed in 2014 at UCLA which examined the relationship between learning and disfluency by looking at the difference between students who took notes with their laptop and those students who took notes the old fashioned way.

By putting pen or pencil to paper.

As Duhigg states:

“Recording a speaker’s comments via longhand is both harder and less efficient than typing on a keyboard. Fingers cramp. Writing is slower than typing, and so you can’t record as many words.”

In not so many words, students who use laptops put forth less effort and can “collect” twice as many notes as their pen holding counterparts.3

“Writing is more disfluent than typing, because it requires more labor and captures fewer verbatim phrases.”

Common sense would make us assume that the students who took notes with their laptops – and thus, collected twice as many words – would score better on tests and be able to recite more of what the lecturer said.

Of course, you would be 100% incorrect in assuming this.

Don’t worry, if it’s any consolation, when I first heard Eminem I thought to myself “no way this guy lasts.”

There was also a time I thought Mariah Carey and I were soul mates.

Shows how much I know.

What the researches found was that, time and time again, those students who wrote their notes down out-performed laptop users on test scores of the lecturer’s content.

What Does This Have To Do With Your Health and Fitness Goals?

When we bump uglies with new information, and want to learn from it, we should force ourselves to do something with the data.

NOTE: it’s not physically possible to “bump uglies” with information. It’s just a metaphor. Don’t be weird. Unless, you know, you’re part of The Matrix or something and you actually can do it.

If so, we need to hang out.

To quote Duhigg one more time:

“It’s not enough for your bathroom scale to send you daily updates to an app on your phone. If you want to lose weight, force yourself to plot those measurements on graph paper and you’ll be more likely to choose a salad over a hamburger for lunch.”

Likewise, those people who take the time to track their training sessions – recording exercises done, sets, reps, and total weight lifted – tend to stay more consistent and make better progress than those who don’t

Too, when it comes to honing technique on any given exercise, reading other coach’s insights and perspectives on it is great. You may learn a new cue or subtle tweak that resonates.

However, I’d argue it’s those people who take a more laborous approach, take the time to record their lifts with a camera, and analyze their lifts that end up hitting their goals quicker and with more efficiency and precision.

Disfluency. Use it.

Categoriescoaching psychology rant

How to Press the Reset Button on Your Health and Fitness Goals

If you’re like a lot of people, back on December 31, 2015 you vowed to make some changes in your life. You were going to quit smoking, drink more water, read more, spend more time with family, start a new hobby, stop watching porn1, or any number of equally nobel and novel things.

It’s likely, however, you (probably) made the decision to start exercising more or eating healthier.

“Tomorrow,” you thought to yourself, “January 1, 2016 starts a new day, a new year, a new me. For real this time.”

NO, for real, real.

And then January 2nd came (0r maybe you lasted a week, or hell, a month!) and inevitably, as is the case every year, you got hit with another case of the Eff Its.

As in, “fuck it, I’m out.”

Lets Hit the Reset Button

This is the part where I’m supposed to sit here and type comfy words like “develop a support network” or “find a workout with a buddy/friend” or “it’s okay,” or “don’t worry, you’ll get em next year, tiger!”

I’m not going to to that.

You’re a grown up, it’s time to act like one.

The onus is on YOU to make the change.

I’ll grant you you can find inspiration via an article you read, or an audiobook you listened to, and sometimes that’s what we need to hit that tipping point and push us into action.

But it’s still on you to start. To make things happen. To break the inertia of ineptitude.

You can read, renew your subscription to Audible.com, and re-watch all the same motivational workout videos on YouTube you want (and I’d encourage you to do so)…but it doesn’t mean anything unless you put things into action.

People speculate too much.

Since when do we have to “research” everything. I don’t need an article to tell me that sticking my finger in an electrical socket will hurt or that eating something that’s gluten-free will taste like sawdust dipped in anthrax.

Maybe that’s a dumb analogy, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation with someone about their health and fitness and come to find out…they’re really, really well-read.

They’ve read everything. They’re bookshelf would give the Health and Fitness section of Barnes & Nobles a run for its money.

Yet, they’re stuck, incapable of taking that first step; seemingly paralyzed by too much information.

Do you (we) really need a book or article or any sense of confirmation to tell us to just, you know, “show up?”

Come on. Grow up.

You have to take that first step, keep trudging forward, and then, I’d argue, learn to respect the process and not so much the outcome.

April 21, 2016

^^^ That’s today’s date as I type these words. Chances are, like many others, you fell off the New Year’s bandwagon a looooong time ago.

That “promise” you made yourself to get to the gym 3x per week, or to start training for a 5K, or to start cooking more meals at home instead of eating out?

Long gone.

So lets do something about it. Lets pony up. Lets hit the reset button.

Because, 1) why 2) the 3) fuck 4) not?

I get it: Me being all RAH-RAH telling everyone to “shut up and do the work” isn’t going to solve anything. It won’t help.

And quite frankly, isn’t in my nature anyways.

So, here are some options to ponder:

1) Shut Up, Stop Making Excuses.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.2

2) Choice Is a Powerful Commodity

People don’t like being told what to do.3

You’re no different.

This is why marrying yourself to one ideology, or book, or person can sometimes be an epic failure. Because what works (or worked) for them, may not apply to you.

If you read a book about yoga and how it’s going to solve all the world’s problems from global warming to your waistline, yet you fucking hate yoga, what’s the likelihood it’s going to work?

For the record: you can switch out the word yoga with powerlifting, CrossFit, pilates, bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, kettlebells, or naked hula-hooping, I don’t care.

I find a lot of success with my own clients the more I give them a choice. Rather than me barking orders, I give them a sense of autonomy and it makes the experience more enjoyable.

Give yourself some choices. You don’t have to go to the gym to perform heavy squats or deadlifts. I think it’s pretty baller if you do, but you don’t have to.

Instead, maybe you want to head to the local football field and perform some 60 yd tempo runs. Or maybe summon your inner-Dan John and perform a day where you do nothing but carry variations and sled drags.

 

Heck, maybe it’s just a matter of going for a nice, leisurely walk. Exercise is exercise.  Give youself some choices. Whatever you need to do in order to put momentum in your favor…..DO IT.

3) Stretch Your Goals

I’m currently reading Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg and one of the things he hammers home throughout the book is the notion of stretch goals.

Stretch goals, in short, are goals that force people to commit to ambitious, seemingly out-of-reach objectives which can then spark outsized jumps in innovation, productivity, and progress.

Duhigg uses several examples in his book such as GE CEO, Jack Welch, setting the bar for the company to reduce manufacturing defects on airplane engines from 25% reduction to a 70% reduction; and to do it within three years.

This, of course, was seen as “ridiculous” by managers.

But they got it done.

And while he wasn’t used an example in this book, Steve Jobs was also notorious for pushing his employees to the point where things seemed impossible.

Helping turn Apple back around into one of the most respectable companies in the world? What’s next…1000 songs in your pocket?

Oh, wait.

The point is: sometimes we undershoot our goals, and the concept of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timeline), while admirable and tested, isn’t enough.

We need stretch goals. Goals that seem unattainable.

Telling yourself that you want to try to hit the gym 2x per week is fine, but telling yourself “I want to hit the gym 5x per week so that I can rub it in my ex’s face (and possibly bang their best friend)” is even better.

“I want to learn to squat better” is cool. But setting a stretch goal for yourself and signing up for your first powerlifting meet at the end of the year is going to light a fire under your ass. It’ll get you out of your comfort zone and give you a sense of purpose and intent in your training.

You’re going to be more likely to kick-ass and take names. Shooting for the stars, may in fact, be exactly what you need.

I want to fight Jason Bourne. There, I said it…….;o)

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/15/16

FINALLY…I weekend of no travel.

Not that I’m complaining. I actually like to travel and enjoy the opportunities I get to visit various cities and towns, meet new people, and catch up with old friends/colleagues.

It’s just, you know, sometimes you feel like you’ve been run over by a Mack truck.

So I’m really looking forward to a weekend home with my wife and enjoying the beautiful weather we’re expecting to have in Boston.

After that, though, it’s game on:

PHILADELPHIA – Sunday, April 24th @ War Horse Barbell

KANSAS CITY – April 29-30th, The Fitness Summit

In addition to Dean Somerset and I taking our Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop to both PRAGUE (Czech Republic) and OSLO (Norway) in May.

It’s going to be a whirlwind to say the least for the next several weeks, but, again, nothing t0 complain about.

I mean, I’m going to freakin Europe!

Without further ado, lets get to this week’s list.

Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business – Charles Duhigg

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Duhigg’s first book, The Power of Habit, so it wasn’t a hard sell for me to swipe this book off the bookshelf when I saw it a few weeks ago.

We all know someone in our lives who can seemingly juggle responsibilities of work and home life, yet still have time to coach three different youth teams, read poetry to orphans, and still workout 5x per week.

It’s nuts. How do they have the time to do it?

Read the book….;o)

10 Random Thoughts on Fitness Industry Success – Eric Cressey

Eric first spoke on the Perform Better Tour when he was 25.

Unreal.

Another fun fact about Eric: when he and I lived together, while I’d be in the living room watching Lord of the Rings for the 47th time, he’d be in his room writing Maximal Strength.

The man had unparalleled work ethic even then.

This was an awesome read by Eric, and something I hope the bulk of fitness pros reading take the time to read themselves.

Deadlifts: Which Type is Best For You? – Mike Robertson

I posted a video on my IG account a few weeks ago of a woman I had just started working with – literally, it was her first session with me – and I was able to get her to deadlift from the floor without any pain for the first time in years.

I had her perform a modified sumo-stance deadlift.

She crushed it. It looked good, it was pain-free, and I was able to show her SUCCESS on day #1. Win-win-win.

Of course, several coaches chimed in questioning my coaching abilities because I didn’t have her perform a conventional deadlift. Apparently they deemed me an inferior coach because of it.

It’s the internet. It’s to be expected.

Anyways, this is why I LOVED this article by Mike. Not everyone HAS to deadlift conventionally, and not everyone HAS to deadlift from the floor.

At the end of the day: any competent coach will understand that the BEST approach is one that’s best suited for the individual, and not to stoke his or her’s ego.