I have been looking forward to this upcoming weekend for months.  It is the 15th running of the Pike’s Peek 10k.  It’s a race I’ve been training to participate in for months.  I will be going for my 10k personal record and plan to leave nothing out on the course.

The reason I’m telling you this is because I want to share with you some of the strategies that I’ve used to stay focused and persevere through injury and illness during my training program.

I’ve often discussed in the past the importance of 3 key factors in achieving your fitness goals.  Nutrition, exercise and mindset are certainly vital elements to success in any fitness or weight loss program.  But today, I’d like to talk about the importance of the intangible elements that are critical to succeeding in ANY of life’s endeavors, but specifically to achieving your personal fitness, weight and athletic goals.

These factors include goal setting, vision, determination, perseverance and discipline. Though these are only words, living by them is what will ultimately determine whether you live your dream and accomplish your goals or stand on the sideline wondering – “What if?”

I’d like to share with you some insight from one of our trainers, Chad Ciri, who recently competed in the Crossfit sectional competition in Northern Virginia, the first step in his journey to qualify for the Crossfit games in California.

“It has been my goal to qualify for the 2011 Crossfit games for the last 2 years, which is one of the most highly regarded strength and conditioning competitions for some of the best athletes in the world!”

“As I entered the competition this year, I wasn’t really expecting to qualify for the next step toward the games for 2010, rather, I was there to discover how much more work I needed to accomplish my goal of reaching the 2011 competition.  It was a stepping stone towards my ultimate goal.”

“To make a long story short, I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. I originally felt frustrated by this and my journey to even qualify for the 2011 games seemed that much more daunting. For days, I thought about abandoning my goal of continuing to train for 2011. Then I realized, I had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I was out there giving it everything I had, and at the end of the day, I hung in there with some of the best athletes on the east coast. ”

“Though I may not be proud to share the outcome of this competition with my clients or to a huge list of strangers for that matter, I am proud to say that I left it all out on the table. I have to remind myself of why I signed on the dotted line in the first place to enter the competition. And mainly, for me, it was so I didn’t have to sit on the sidelines and wonder “What If”. I learned more about where I stood in comparison to the competition, and now I can formulate a better action plan of how to qualify next year.This must be my mindset if I’m going to ever achieve greatness.”
- Chad Ciri

This is something that I think everyone needs to keep in mind as they pursue their own personal fitness goals. Sure, not everyone is pursuing exercise competitively, but everyone is chasing a dream of their own.  Their best possible body, a goal weight, a certain fitness feat.  At the end of the day, if you can look at yourself in the mirror and honestly say that you’ve given it everything you have, you WILL get to your goal in time.

What we may perceive as failure is seldom accurate.  Instead, each time we miss a goal, we discover one more opportunity to improve and reformulate our path to success.

I was discussing goals and success with my good friend Steve Hefferon and he said something that really stuck with me.  He said… “In any room full of people, the most successful person is also the person who has had the most failures”.  This couldn’t be truer.  Only through failing do you learn and realize what you have to do to get it right next time.  This is perseverance.

One of my new favorite authors, Steve Chandler who runs www.clubfearless.net shared a very good Michael Jordan quote on this aspect the other day…

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
I’ve lost more than 300 games.  Twenty-six times I’ve
been trusted to take the game-winning shot, and missed.
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. . . and
that’s why I succeed.”

- Michael Jordan

The last few months of my training for this race have not been without bumps in the road that I could’ve easily let stop the momentum I was building in my training.  I had to sit on the sidelines for 4 out of the 12 weeks at different times with a bulged disc in my back, a nasty sore throat, and then a cold.  I also twisted my knee in a near mountain biking crash just last week.  Most would take just one of those as excuse enough to stop their momentum.  I won’t.  My goal is clear.  I will be out there giving it my all.

Will you take on that same attitude for your goals? I sure hope so.

Never give up.  No matter what seems to be impeding your success.  Analyze where you went wrong in your previous approach, make corrections, and there’s nothing that can stop you.

Be Fearless,

Dennys Passeto

PS: If you want to participate in the 10k this Sunday, you can find out more about the race here http://pikespeek10k.com.  I’ll be the guy running with the Achieve Fitness shirt hoping to finish in under 46 minutes.

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by Chad Ciri

The Crossfit prescription is simple, and involves “constantly varied, functional movements performed at a high intensity.” The Crossfit method of training prepares trainees for any physical contingency. Simply put, Crossfit’s primary objective is to increase work capacity. In essence, Crossfit’s specialty is achieving ANY desired fitness result through constant variation of physical training.

The core Crossfit movements are all “functional”, that is, they are universal motor recruitment patterns that duplicate movements that are applicable to the real world. They are performed in a wave that recruit muscle fibers from core to extremity. No aspect of functional movements is truly more important, regardless of your fitness goals, than their capacity to move large loads over long distances, and to do so quickly.  These variables (load, distance, and speed) qualify functional movements for the production of high power or intensity.

The Crossfit method of achieving fitness varies greatly from traditional strength and conditioning programs. Typically, fitness and health professionals will prescribe slow, isolated movements such as bicep curls, calf raises, leg extensions and lateral shoulder raises, etc followed by 20 – 30 minutes of traditional “cardio” performed on the treadmill, arc trainer or stationary bike.

Crossfit works exclusively with compound (multi-joint) movements and shorter, high intensity cardiovascular sessions. Leg extensions are replaced with squats, curls are replaced with pull-ups, and so on. Why? Because, simply put, this type of training has proven to be drastically more effective at achieving nearly any desired fitness result, including weight loss, toning, increased endurance,etc.

There’s a distinct benefit to this type of training (other than its results) in terms of efficiency. Busy professionals, parents, students or anyone else who has limited time to exercise because of life’s other demands can use this form of training very effectively without dedicating more than a few hours a week to their workouts.

To demonstrate this, here’s a video of one of Crossfit’s signature workouts called “Fran.” As you’ll see in the video, the athletes complete the entire workout in less than 3 minutes. While it takes a high level of fitness to be able to perform this workout in such a short time, even the most deconditioned people would likely be able to complete a scaled version of this in 15 minutes or less! Check it out:

The “Fran”

This approach of focusing on compound, functional movements and high intensity anaerobic cardio sessions has been scientifically proven to elicit greater fitness gains, even among elite athletic training programs (including military and police personnel, firefighters and any sports requiring complete physical prowess).

Crossfit looks at fitness as physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains. They are cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

The view of their fitness model is that fitness is about performing well at any and every imaginable task. In practice, this would encourage you to separate yourself from any set notions of of sets, rest periods, order of exercises, and routines. Nature frequently provides endless unforeseeable challenges! The only way to prepare for that is to keep the training stimulus broad and constantly varied.

Now, this may seem a little intense for some people,  so don’t be surprised if you find yourself asking: “What if I don’t  want to be an athlete, I just want to be healthy?” Let’s take a look at what defines health. Health has several measurable parameters, including blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rate, metabolism, body fat, etc. The good news is that the Crossfit method will help you improve each and every one of these parameters. Furthermore, by focusing on performing functional movements at high intensity, you will be better prepared (and therefore “healthier”) to take on any task that requires you to be fit or healthy.

Probably the most unique benefit of a Crossfit training regimen is its ability to improve anaerobic function. It develops competency and training in each of the three metabolic pathways- the phosphagen, the glycolytic, and the oxidative pathways. The first two (the phosphagen and glycolytic) are anaerobic pathways, that is, they are accessed without the presence of air. They are challenged through short, powerful bursts of speed and intensity in exercises like sprinting, powerlifting, rowing, etc. The oxidative pathway is aerobic (accessed with the presence of air) and can be engaged through low power activities like distance running, biking, etc. Both forms of training benefit cardiovascular function and decrease body fat – all good baby!!

However,people who engage in activities where the majority of their efforts are spent in the aerobic zone will experience decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed and power. In addition, aerobic activity has a pronounced tendency to decrease anaerobic capacity. Unfortunately, many traditional weight loss programs over emphasize this type of training.

On the other hand, anaerobic activity has proven to be unique in its ability to improve overall strength, speed, power and muscle mass, or at least the maintaining of lean muscle.  In fact, anaerobic exercise is far superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss, contrary to popular belief.

Good news! Crossfit has tested its methods on people from all fitness levels and has proven to be effective for the sedentary, the deconditioned, the overweight, and the elderly.

While every person’s  goals and needs will vary greatly, the program will work with anyone! This can be done by scaling the load, the rep counts, the range of motion and the intensity level. You can duplicate the exact same movements that are prescribed in a Crossfit regimen and use them to get results without drastically changing the program. Remember that using something even as complex as an Olympic lift will duplicate critical motor recruitment patterns that are used in real world movements, therefore will help you comfortably perfect human movement!

If you think this is too over the top for you or if you feel like you may never be able to achieve a high level of fitness, have a look at this video. All the women in this video trained hard to get to this level, but it shows you what you can achieve when you dedicate yourself to fitness!

‘The Women of Crossfit’

We currently have trainers who are certified Crossfit instructors, so if you’re interested in taking on a new physical challenge and getting some truly amazing results, we have the resources to help you using this style of training! Also, don’t forget that we are offering Gift Certificates for our personal training services in any amount for the holidays. If you’re still stuck on gift ideas, why not give the gift of health to your loved ones! Call Mike at 888-872-7961 ext. 1 by December 19th to make sure you have your gift certificate by Christmas!

And Be sure to leave your comments about the videos and any questions you might have below.

Helping You Reach New Heights,

The Achieve Fitness Team

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