I've been in the strength and conditioning industry for over 20 years. And on average I'll meet with 20-30 people per month to learn about their goals, to explain how we would help them achieve their goals and ultimately to see if working together would be a fit. When we take some time to identify goals we will hear the following: * Improved sports...

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...

We're a week into 2019. And how is it going for you so far? Are you someone that makes resolutions? When you mention new year's resolutions you get a variety of responses.'I don't make them''I already have my goals figured out''Not really'It's surprising how setting goals at this time of year generates a negative response. Maybe it's due to the fact that a number of will fail in their attempt to achieve. Maybe it's because if you're not a goal oriented person it's hard to connect and relate to the number of people that are. Maybe it could be that if the individual has tried before, and failed, they are reluctant to try again.Regardless the reason to not making a resolution or goal at this time of year I'm OK with it. And maybe this has to do with a part of my definition of success is to fail faster. I'd rather find out the efforts that don't lead to success, sooner, and get on to success sooner as well.So for the sake of this post let's assume we are the type of people that sets goals or resolutions. And let's also assume that 2019 hasn't started out on the right foot. That's not an unreasonable scenario as we know most won't achieve their goal.But that's not entirely true. When we say most won't achieve their goal we usually mean this on the first attempt. But how often do we get things right the first time in life? How often do we have to try again, change our approach, ask for help or whatever else before success happens?With that in mind below are 5 things that can derail a health and fitness goal. And with each there are some solutions to spin this challenge into an opportunity. And then use this opportunity to help you...

A number of years ago I remember attending a conference and the presenter asked everyone to imagine two scenarios. The goal was to make your way across a crowded room that you had been in before to the opposite side exit. The first scenario involved staring down at your toes and not lifting your head to see where you were. In the second scenario you could look up and ahead as far as you could see. Obviously the  second scenario would work better. You could plan your route more effectively. You could anticipate bottlenecks. You could side-step groups of people standing around and not moving. You could take larger steps and proceed more quickly. And the whole time you could keep your eyes on the end goal. And you'd have an idea of how you were progressing and how soon you'd arrive at your destination. With the other scenario you wouldn't be able to take as direct a path. You might end up trapped behind a group of people or at a dead end. You would have to walk more slowly and cautiously. You might be surprised if someone stepped into your path forcing you to stop or adopt a new course. In the end getting to your final destination would be more stressful, would take require more resources in the form of time and energy. Not a fun way to travel for sure. Consider using the same analogy to your health and fitness. Do you stare at the ground and have no idea what is coming up on the horizon? Or are you looking ahead to plan and anticipate your strategies? Let's look at a few examples to see how looking ahead can help you get a better result. SleepDo you have a set time to go to bed? Do...

There's an expression we'll commonly use at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc that goes 'It's simple but not easy'. What we mean is that healthy living involves a simple plan but following the plan isn't always easy.Get eight hours of sleep per night. Drink water. Eat protein and veggies. Move your body, preferably with resistance.That's not very complicated. Every 5 year old would understand this prescription. Yet most adults struggle with doing these things.And we know they struggle because each year they put on more weight. They become more diseased and injured.So where is the breakdown? We have a simple plan. We understand the plan. Yet we fail to achieve the goal at the end.Why does this happen?Why is that by the first week of January 27% of people abandon their new year's resolutions. Why is thatjust over half of people make it to the one month mark?Well there are a number of things that come to mind.But here are 5 reasons why you might not be satisfied with the results.1.You do it for the wrong reasonsWhen you decide to make a change you need to do this for the right reasons. This means it has to be your choice and not due to outside pressures.Consider a dad that is trying to quit smoking. And the family is hounding him to give up this bad habit. They do things to 'help' like hiding his cigarettes or lighters. They make jokes about smokers and how awful their teeth look and breath smell. They complain constantly about this habit and nag dad about giving it up.Obviously this won't work.Dad will recognize this outside pressure and won't like it. He may get annoyed when his smokes are hidden on him. And he won't feel in control of the process but instead may feel restricted and bound by someone...

Almost on a daily basis I'll cross paths with an acquaintance that knows what I do for a living. And without any prompting on my end I begin hearing about their plans to take care of their health & fitness. I mean I could be coming out of the movies and see someone and ask how they're doing? And maybe it's a natural response for them to try to relate to my domain. And I hear about how things will change once something else happens. What is the something else? It might be a change in seasons. It might be when the kids go back to school. It could be that there is a move or transition going on at work. Or could it be that they have something else going on their life that is taking up more of their time and attention. And so they are waiting for a return to normal. And sometimes they are waiting for perfect. What I mean by perfect is that they are waiting for all the conditions to come together and the stars to align better they take action. Unfortunately this never happens. And days become weeks which become months and a couple of extra pounds have become an extra 8-10 pounds. It's almost like waiting for the perfect time to have a baby. For Alexandra and I it took a while. And then one day I came to find out we would be parents. Best day ever! And it couldn't have been planned. Here's another example related to exercise. Last weekend I didn't have any plans for a ride. Which is unusual. So I fired out a few quick texts on Friday night and made plans to ride to Crystal with my friend Mike. I didn't have the best sleep on Friday....

This is the time of year when everyone wants to set goals. We turn over the calendar for a new year and instinctually feel compelled to identify some area of our lives where we would like to see improvement.Personally I don't set new year's resolutions. And the reason is that I have goals, targets and things I would like to achieve already planned out for the entire year. I know what the goals are for our business. I know where we want to go with our conference. And I know what I want to achieve with my fitness training. If I were to add anything it might be some goals for trips and family experiences.So when January 1 comes around it's no different for me than February 1, March 1 or any other day of the year. I am constantly planning out what we want to accomplish, setting out to execute this plan and then reviewing how we did.But I recognize for many this is not the case. A new year is an opportunity for a fresh start. This is where we can make good on all our hopes and dreams and realize our potential.And since health and fitness is tied in with many resolutions at this time of year I find it interesting the answers people will give to the question 'What has contributed to your current state of health?'. For example, if someone is 50 lbs overweight, or has low back pain or cannot walk a flight of stairs, I'd like to know what their thoughts are on how things got to be so bad.Answers to this question may include:* 'My nutrition was really poor'* 'I didn't have time'* 'I have low iron' (or testosterone, or a thyroid condition, or...)* 'My training partner moved away' (or coach, or trainer...

When was the last time you achieved something substantial with your fitness training? For example, when was the last time you set out to compete in a race and succeeded? Or you put your mind to losing the extra 20 lbs you've been carrying around? Or you made an effort to address the knee pain that's been holding you back from skiing and other activities?For most people this is an ongoing cycle of disappointment when it comes to training. And unfortunately for these same people there are a number of reasons (cough, cough excuses) why success was not realized.'I ran out of my supplements during the training phase''My training partner quit on me''I got really busy (at home, work, in general)''I wasn't sure what to do and how to do it'This last weekend Okanagan Peak Performance Inc was proud to host the 3rd Annual Okanagan Strength & Conditioning Conference. Speakers and attendees came to Kelowna for 3 days of learning, networking and professional development. And from one speaker to the next there was a theme that kept popping up. And this theme had to do with how you approach a goal or task.[caption id="attachment_4286" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Plan the hunt. Do the hunt. Review the hunt.For example when Dr. Stephen Norris, vice-president of Winsport Canada, spoke he talked about the importance of having a plan, executing the plan and then reviewing the plan. And when noted-strength coach Dan John spoke he compared the concept to hunting. He said you need to plan the hunt, then do the hunt and finally evaluate the hunt.Below I'll break down in more detail what each of the presenters was getting at and how to apply it to your own situation.Step 1 - Have a PlanThe sad truth is that most people that approach tasks in life...

Remember back when you were in school? Maybe you're still in school and this is very familiar. But for those of us that aren't going to school anymore we'll have particular memories.Sometimes they are good memories of teachers that helped us get to the next level and develop. We probably did better in their classes and worked a little harder. And maybe we had some smart friends to do some group study sessions with to help us along.The point is when we have success in school, or in many other things for that matter, there is often someone else we can look to who helped us. With school this would have been a teacher, a tutor or a friend.But the cool thing is that this applies to all areas of your life. Think about it.When I think back to when I made the best gains in the gym it was when I had a training partner. But not just any training partner. It had to be someone who was equally committed. Someone who shared similar goals. And most importantly someone who was a step ahead of where I was. Someone who could show me the ropes and help me get to where I wanted to be.This is very similar to the saying that your income is related to the five people closest to you. That's not the exact expression but it's something along those lines anyways.And it applies to your health and fitness as well.We could hang with these 5 guys...or...with these 6 people.Most likely the second group is going to be a better influence. They will probably get more sleep. They will probably train more frequently and more intensely. They will make better nutritional choices. And they probably won't smoke and drink.Of course these are all generalizations.Fit people stay up too late....

The other night I was enjoying a little down time with the family. And so we decided to see what movies were stored on the pvr. After scanning the list we decided upon 'Invictus'. Have you seen this show? If you haven't you should check it out. It's set in the early 90's after Mandela is freed from jail and then becomes president of South Africa. Facing a number of domestic issues to resolve, Mandela turns to the captain of the national rugby team to inspire South Africa at the 95 World Cup of Rugby.At one point Mandela sits down with Pienaar, the captain of the National Rugby team, to discuss leadership. He asks the rugby player about how he gets the most out of his team. He says:'But how do we get them to be better then they think they CAN be? That is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us? I sometimes think it is by using the work of others. 'This is a powerful way of thinking.How do we get others, or even ourselves, to exceed our expectations?What makes us strive for more in spite of obstacles or setbacks?What causes us to continue on when others not only don't support you but may ridicule you for even trying?I believe it has to do with setting up the right environment.This includes your family, your friends and your coworkers and anyone else you interact with. Because we can be inspired by their actions.And these actions can fuel and motivate us to greatness.Consider the story of Zach Krych.Zach who?Exactly. Not really a household name is he?But that's what's great about this story.You see Zach is a 27 year old Olympic weighlifter from Minnesota...

If you're serious about your health and performance than you want to know that you're doing the best you can with your efforts. And if you're not where you'd like to be weight-wise, performance-wise or in terms of your rehab than there are probably some things you could be doing a better job of. And if you are having some success in these areas than you are probably motivated to see what else you could do to ramp up your results even more.I'll be honest...I know I could do more personally. A while back I stated some of my goals. A few of them included hitting targeted strength measures, improved fitness levels and a specific scale weight.And while I'm on track to hit my goals I know I could be further along. I know I maybe under-estimated myself by selecting goals I knew I had a pretty good chance of attaining.There's not a problem in doing that. But we want to make sure we are giving our best effort and setting new goals if necessary.So while I'll probably wait until I realize the current goals I've set  until I pick new ones there are a few things I know I can improve on until then. With that in mind here are 5 Things I Can Do Better to Improve My Health & Performance.1. Improved sleep - I need 8 hours of sleep a night. Not 8 hours of bedtime on my computer, reading or doing sudoku puzzles but 8 actual hours of sleep. I need to make sure that I get as many of these 8 before midnight as possible. And I need to make sure to be as consistent with my time to bed and time to rise as  possible.2. More soft tissue work - Every workout should begin with some foam...

Hi there: Hope you're having a great week and are accomplishing all of your health, fitness and performance goals. One of my favourite ways to relax and unwind is to go the movies. Last night my wife and I check out 'Due Date'.  Think of it as an updated version of 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'. Anyways, it was good for a laugh. Never underestimate the value of relaxing and having a good time as it relates to your body's ability to regenerate and recover.But enough about relaxing and movies because it's Wednesday and that means it's time for a nutritional tip. Over the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with how many calories my body is burning. Knowing this informating allows me to be not only more specific with my training but also more specific with my meals.I now know how many calories I should have at each meal. And how often I should eat in order to put on 10 lbs of muscle. So with that being said check out the following video where I show you a sample healthy snack and a great online nutritional resource for looking up your favourite foods.Here's the link for the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomdVRRzzzsLet me know what your favourite snack is. And have you used this online resource before?Your coach,Chris                                                                                                                                                                                                    okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'