It's New Year's Eve and we're not only about to start a new year but a new decade. Plus it's 2020. Very few people were around for 1919 and fewer still will be here for 2121. So this is a special one. Many will be looking to start anew. This might be wiping the slate clean and getting a fresh start. It's like making your bed and cleaning your room. You feel a sense of accomplishment and want to keep it up as long as you can. I'm sure this is how many feel with their health and fitness as we prepare for a new year. And if we flashed forward 12 months to this time next year I can tell you right now, without any doubt, whether you will be successful or not. And I know this because of one thing. And that one thing is your habits. Let me share a quick story about habits with you. It involves our 4 year old daughter Vangie. Every since Vangie was old enough to communicate with us I've said the same thing to her at dinner time. I ask her: 'Vangie, do you want to say grace?' Similar to our family...holding hands and praying before we eat. Sometimes she rolls her eyes. Other times she'll ask why we have to? And on occasion she'll just start eating. But even if she's reluctant to do so she'll always lead our family in grace. She'll add her own version every now and again as well. We'll usually hold hands as we pray but she may mix it up and cross her arms to the opposite sides and want the other family members to do the same. She's also be known to link with the person beside her with knuckles and finish the amen...

If you know me you know I like speed. I enjoy finding new and better ways to help our athletes produce force at a higher rate. This helps them have more success in their sport and can extend careers when others might be losing a step.But as much as I'm an advocate of training to improve speed I will often start slowly with a new client. In fact you might hear the coaches at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc use expressions like:'Speed hides need'or'Nobody cares how fast you can do it wrong'or'We're going to start slow in order to go fast'or'Anyone can whip a rented mule. We're here to train thoroughbreds'[caption id="attachment_5434" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Are you training to be sore, sweaty and out of breath?Unfortunately though for a number of coaches there is a pressure to start at the end. They feel that their clients need to be sore, sweaty and out of breath at the end of every session. And should someone end up puking during a training session, which is then acknowledged with pats on the back and rounds of encouragement and praise. The following day is spent recounting the story around the water cooler at work while struggling to make it down a flight of stairs.No one should want or have to experience that. Instead we should be helping people become stronger, leaner, fitter and happier versions of themselves.And not only can this take time it should take time.Rush the promise and you end up short-changing yourself on the results that could be achieved.Don't believe me?Check out the following research studies that prove the point that you are better off to take the moderate rather than the extreme path to success.Study #1The first study had six males perform 5 sets of eccentric biceps curls at 110% of their 1 rep...

We are creatures of habit. There are certain things we do routinely, or ritualistically, in our lives. I'm sure we all do certain things every morning as we start our day. And we do them the same way. For me, it would be waking up in the morning and going to the bathroom. And unfortunately, I'm on my phone for the first part of the day. I say unfortunately because this usually involves checking social media to see what everyone else in my circle of 'friends' ate for their last meal. Or to check in for any potential spoilers in the shows we watch. Obviously I don't need to be doing these things every morning when I wake. And I should add a new ritual to break this habit. Another example of a daily routine can involve the commute in to work. Have you ever been deep in thought about something and driven right past where you need to turn? And when you finally snap out of your day dream you realize you've driven well past your exit. But habits can be positive and helpful. They can help us conserve energy. We don't have to work too hard for something to comes to us automatically. They can help us reduce brain fatigue. It does't take a lot of focus or attention to brush our teeth in the morning. [caption id="attachment_5304" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Steve Jobs over the years. Could this fashion ensemble be the reason for the iphone? They can help reduce stress. When  things are straightforward and easy for us to do we can relax a bit. Think back to the last time you had to try something new. It was a little more stressful, wasn't it? They help us quickly complete a task. If we don't something many times before...

What is the hardest part of being healthy? Is it the training? The dedication to eating healthy foods? Is it getting enough quality sleep every night? Depending on what your weakest link is will in part determine what is the hardest for you. If you struggle with cravings maybe healthy eating will be your biggest challenge. If you have injuries and joint pain maybe finding pain-free exercise is the hardest part for you. And with shift work it could be that getting into a fitness routine when you are up at night and sleeping during the day might be the toughest part. Regardless of what is the hardest part for you there is one thing that is common to everyone. And that is simply getting started. [caption id="attachment_5002" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inertia can make getting started the hardest. Overcoming the inertia to go from doing nothing to doing something is harder than Turkish get ups, sled pushes and burpies. It's harder than eating a kale salad with no dressing. And it's harder than drinking plain branch chain amino acids. (which taste pretty awful btw) In other words going from zero to one can be the hardest thing. Think about it. Once you've done something once you have that experience to draw upon. You know what to expect. You know how hard it will be. And you know that you've survived it in the past and can do it again. And that makes going from one to two much easier than zero to one. [caption id="attachment_5003" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The longer we put off some action, the harder it can be to take action. If you're a procrastinator you know how true this is. You can find any reason or excuse to get out of doing whatever you're supposed to do. And putting it off to the...