This was given to me before I went into the Navy as a pre-boot camp preparatory training program. While I had no desire to ever try out for BUD/S, it was (and still is) one of the best workout programs I have ever done.
SUGGESTED STUDENT PREPARATION
The following workouts are designed for two categories of people:
Category I are those future BUD/S students that have never or have
not recently been on a routine PT program. Category II is designed
for high school and college athletes that have had a routine PT
program. Usually athletes in sports that require a high level of
cardiovascular activity are in Category II. Swimming, running, and
wrestling are good examples of such sports.
WORKOUT FOR CATEGORY I
RUNNING: The majority of the physical activities you will be
required to perform during your six months of training at BUD/S will
involve running. The intense amount of running can lead to overstress
injuries of the lower extremities in trainees who arrive not
physically prepared to handle the activities. Swimming, bicycling,
and lifting weights will prepare you for some of the activities at
BUD/S, but ONLY running can prepare your lower extremities for the
majority of the activities. You should also run in boots to prepare
your legs for the everyday running in boots at BUD/S.
The goal of the category I student is to work up to 16 miles per
week of running. After you have achieved that goal, then and only
then should you continue on to the category II goal of 30 miles per
week. Let me remind you that category I is a nine week buildup
program. Follow the workout as best you can and you will be amazed at
the progress you will make.
RUNNING SCHEDULE I
WEEKS #1, 2: 2 miles/day, 8:30 pace, MWF (6 miles/week)
WEEK #3: No running. High risk of stress fractures.
WEEK #4: 3 miles/day, MWF (9 miles/week)
WEEKS #5, 6: 2/3/4/2 miles, M/T/R/F (11 miles/week)
WEEKS #7, 8: 3/4/5/2 miles, M/T/R/F (16 miles/week)
WEEK #9: same as weeks 7 & 8 (16 miles/week)
Physical Training Schedule I
(Mon/Wed/Fri)
SETS OF REPETITIONS
WEEK 1: 4 X 15 PUSHUPS
4 X 20 SITUPS
3 X 3 PULLUPS
WEEK 2: 5 X 20 PUSHUPS
5 X 20 SITUPS
3 x 3 PULLUPS
WEEK 3, 4: 5 X 25 PUSHUPS
5 x 25 SITUPS
3 x 4 PULLUPSWEEK 5, 6: 6 X 25 PUSHUPS
6 X 25 SITUPS
2 X 8 PULLUPS
WEEK 7, 8: 6 X 30 PUSHUPS
6 X 30 SITUPS
2 X 10 PULLUPS
WEEK #9: 6 X 30 PUSHUPS
6 X 30 SITUPS
3 X 10 PULLUPS
* Note: For best results, alternate exercises. Do a set of
pushups, then a set of situps, followed by a set of pullups,
immediately with no rest.
Swimming Schedule I
(sidestroke with no fins 4-5 days per week)
WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 15 min.
WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 20 min.
WEEKS #5, 6: Swim continuously for 25 min.
WEEKS #7, 8: Swim continuously for 30 min.
WEEK #9: Swim continuously for 35 min.
* Note: If you have no access to a pool, ride a bicycle for twice
as long as you would swim. If you do have access to a pool, swim
every day available. Four to five days a week and 200 meters in one
session is your initial workup goal. Also, you want to develop your
sidestroke on both the left and the right side. Try to swim 50 meters
in one minute or less.
Workout For Category II
Category II is a more intense workout designed for those who have
been involved with a routine PT schedule or those who have completed
the requirements of category I. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WORKOUT
SCHEDULE UNLESS YOU CAN COMPLETE THE WEEK #9 LEVEL OF CATEGORY I
WORKOUTS.
Running Schedule II
(M/T/R/F/S) TOTAL
WEEKS #1, 2: (3/5/4/5/2) miles 19 miles/week
WEEKS #3, 4: (4/5/6/4/3) miles 22 miles/week
WEEK #5: (5/5/6/4/4) miles 24 miles/week
WEEK #6: (5/6/6/6/4) miles 27 miles/week
WEEK #7: (6/6/6/6/6) miles 30 miles/week
*Note: For weeks #8-9 and beyond, it is not necessary to increase
the distance of the runs; work on the speed of your 6-mile runs and
try to get them down to 7:30 per mile or lower. If you wish to
increase the distance of your runs, do it gradually: no more than one
mile per day increase for every week beyond week #9.
PT Schedule II
(M/W/F)
WEEKS 1, 2: 6 x 30 PUSHUPS
6 x 35 SITUPS
3 x 10 PULLUPS
3 x 20 DIPS
WEEKS 3, 4: 10 x 20 PUSHUPS
10 x 25 SITUPS
4 x 10 PULLUPS
10 x 15 DIPS
WEEKS 5: 15 x 20 PUSHUPS
15 x 25 SITUPS
4 x 12 PULLUPS
15 x 15 DIPS
WEEKS 6: 20 x 20 PUSHUPS
20 x 25 SITUPS
5 x 12 PULLUPS
20 x 15 DIPS
These workouts are designed for long-distance muscle endurance.
Muscle fatigue will gradually take a longer and longer time to
develop doing high repetition workouts. For best results, alternate
exercises each set, in order to rest that muscle group for a short
time. The above exercises can get a bit boring after awhile. Here are
some more workouts you can use to break up the monotony.
PYRAMID WORKOUTS
You can do this with any exercise. The object is to slowly build
up to a goal, then build back down to the beginning of the workout.
For instance, pullups, situps, pushups, and dips can be alternated as
in the above workouts, but this time choose a number to be your goal
and build up to that number. Each number counts as a set. Work your
way up and down the pyramid. For example, say your goal is R5″,
# OF REPETITIONS
PULLUPS: 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1
PUSHUPS: 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 (2x #pullups)
SITUPS: 3,6,9,2,15,12,9,6,3 (3x #pullups)
DIPS: same as pushups.
Swimming Workouts II
(4-5 days/week)
WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 35 min.
WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 45 min. with fins.
WEEK #5: Swim continuously for 60 min. with fins.
WEER #6: Swim continuously for 75 min. with fins.
*Note: At first, to reduce initial stress on your foot muscles
when starting with fins, alternate swimming 1000 meters with fins and
1000 meters without them. Your goal should be to swim 50 meters in 45
seconds or less.
Stretch PT
Since Mon/Wed/Fri are devoted to PT, it is wise to devote at least
20 minutes on Tue/Thu/Sat to stretching. You should always stretch
for at least 15 minutes before any workout; however, just stretching
the previously worked muscles will make you more flexible and less
likely to get injured. A good way to start stretching is to start at
the top and go to the bottom. Stretch to tightness, not to pain; hold
for 10-15 seconds. DO NOT BOUNCE. Stretch every muscle in your body
from the neck to the calves, concentrating on your thighs hamstrings,
chest, back, and shoulders.
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is extremely important now and especially when
you arrive at BUD/S. You must make sure you receive the necessary
nutrients to obtain maximum performance output during exercise and to
promote muscle/tissue growth and repair. The proper diet provides all
the nutrients for the body’s needs and supplies energy for exercise.
It also promotes growth and repair of tissue and regulates the body
processes. The best source of energy for the BUD/S student is
carbohydrates. The best source of complex carbohydrates are potatoes,
pasta, rice; fruits, and vegetables. These types of foods are your
best sources of energy.
Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are the three energy nutrients.
All three can provide energy, but carbohydrate is the preferred
source of energy for physical activity. It takes at least 20 hours
after exhaustive exercis to completely restore muscle energy,
provided 600 grams of carbohydrates are consumed per day. During
successive days of heavy training, like you will experience at BUD/S,
energy stores prior to each training session become progressively
lower. This is a situation in which a high carbohydrate diet can help
maintain your energy.
The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex
carbohydrate foods that include bread, crackers, cereal, beans, peas,
starchy vegetables, and other whole grain or enriched grain products.
Fruits are also loaded with carbohydrates. During training, more than
four servings of these food groups should be consumed daily.
Water is the most important nutrient you can put in your body. You
should be consuming up to four quarts of water daily. It is very easy
to become dehydrated at BUD/S; so it is extremely important to
hydrate yourself. Drink water before you get thirsty!!! Substances
such as alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco increase your body’s need for
water, So, if you are going to drink, do so in moderation! Too much
of these substances will definitely harm your body and hinder your
performance. Supplemental intake of vitamins, as well, has not been
proven to be beneficial. If you are eating a well balanced diet,
there is no need to take vitamins.
TRAINING TABLE CONCEPT
NUTRIENT INTAKE
Carbohydrates 50-70% of calories
Protein 10-15% of calories
Fats 20-30% of calories
Do you owe back taxes to the IRS? If so, get your $697 in FREE tax services today!
What follows is the infamous 9 Week pre-BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school) workout program. This is the workout program given to many Navy recruits as a motivational tool while they are waiting to leave for basic training. This also includes the follow-on workout program to help get individuals that want to be SEALs physically prepared for the grueling demands of BUD/S training.
Note: This material is about 15 years old, from when I entered the Navy. It may have drastically changed since then, and is presented for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before starting any exercise program.
SUGGESTED STUDENT PREPARATION
The following workouts are designed for two categories of people:
Category I are those future BUD/S students that have never or have
not recently been on a routine PT program. Category II is designed
for high school and college athletes that have had a routine PT
program. Usually athletes in sports that require a high level of
cardiovascular activity are in Category II. Swimming, running, and
wrestling are good examples of such sports.
WORKOUT FOR CATEGORY I
RUNNING: The majority of the physical activities you will be
required to perform during your six months of training at BUD/S will
involve running. The intense amount of running can lead to overstress
injuries of the lower extremities in trainees who arrive not
physically prepared to handle the activities. Swimming, bicycling,
and lifting weights will prepare you for some of the activities at
BUD/S, but ONLY running can prepare your lower extremities for the
majority of the activities. You should also run in boots to prepare
your legs for the everyday running in boots at BUD/S.
The goal of the category I student is to work up to 16 miles per
week of running. After you have achieved that goal, then and only
then should you continue on to the category II goal of 30 miles per
week. Let me remind you that category I is a nine week buildup
program. Follow the workout as best you can and you will be amazed at
the progress you will make.
RUNNING SCHEDULE I
WEEKS #1, 2: 2 miles/day, 8:30 pace, MWF (6 miles/week)
WEEK #3: No running. High risk of stress fractures.
WEEK #4: 3 miles/day, MWF (9 miles/week)
WEEKS #5, 6: 2/3/4/2 miles, M/T/R/F (11 miles/week)
WEEKS #7, 8: 3/4/5/2 miles, M/T/R/F (16 miles/week)
WEEK #9: same as weeks 7 & 8 (16 miles/week)
Physical Training Schedule I
(Mon/Wed/Fri)
SETS OF REPETITIONS
WEEK 1: 4 X 15 PUSHUPS
4 X 20 SITUPS
3 X 3 PULLUPS
WEEK 2: 5 X 20 PUSHUPS
5 X 20 SITUPS
3 x 3 PULLUPS
WEEK 3, 4: 5 X 25 PUSHUPS
5 x 25 SITUPS
3 x 4 PULLUPSWEEK 5, 6: 6 X 25 PUSHUPS
6 X 25 SITUPS
2 X 8 PULLUPS
WEEK 7, 8: 6 X 30 PUSHUPS
6 X 30 SITUPS
2 X 10 PULLUPS
WEEK #9: 6 X 30 PUSHUPS
6 X 30 SITUPS
3 X 10 PULLUPS
* Note: For best results, alternate exercises. Do a set of
pushups, then a set of situps, followed by a set of pullups,
immediately with no rest.
Swimming Schedule I
(sidestroke with no fins 4-5 days per week)
WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 15 min.
WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 20 min.
WEEKS #5, 6: Swim continuously for 25 min.
WEEKS #7, 8: Swim continuously for 30 min.
WEEK #9: Swim continuously for 35 min.
* Note: If you have no access to a pool, ride a bicycle for twice
as long as you would swim. If you do have access to a pool, swim
every day available. Four to five days a week and 200 meters in one
session is your initial workup goal. Also, you want to develop your
sidestroke on both the left and the right side. Try to swim 50 meters
in one minute or less.
Workout For Category II
Category II is a more intense workout designed for those who have
been involved with a routine PT schedule or those who have completed
the requirements of category I. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WORKOUT
SCHEDULE UNLESS YOU CAN COMPLETE THE WEEK #9 LEVEL OF CATEGORY I
WORKOUTS.
Running Schedule II
(M/T/R/F/S) TOTAL
WEEKS #1, 2: (3/5/4/5/2) miles 19 miles/week
WEEKS #3, 4: (4/5/6/4/3) miles 22 miles/week
WEEK #5: (5/5/6/4/4) miles 24 miles/week
WEEK #6: (5/6/6/6/4) miles 27 miles/week
WEEK #7: (6/6/6/6/6) miles 30 miles/week
*Note: For weeks #8-9 and beyond, it is not necessary to increase
the distance of the runs; work on the speed of your 6-mile runs and
try to get them down to 7:30 per mile or lower. If you wish to
increase the distance of your runs, do it gradually: no more than one
mile per day increase for every week beyond week #9.
PT Schedule II
(M/W/F)
WEEKS 1, 2: 6 x 30 PUSHUPS
6 x 35 SITUPS
3 x 10 PULLUPS
3 x 20 DIPS
WEEKS 3, 4: 10 x 20 PUSHUPS
10 x 25 SITUPS
4 x 10 PULLUPS
10 x 15 DIPS
WEEKS 5: 15 x 20 PUSHUPS
15 x 25 SITUPS
4 x 12 PULLUPS
15 x 15 DIPS
WEEKS 6: 20 x 20 PUSHUPS
20 x 25 SITUPS
5 x 12 PULLUPS
20 x 15 DIPS
These workouts are designed for long-distance muscle endurance.
Muscle fatigue will gradually take a longer and longer time to
develop doing high repetition workouts. For best results, alternate
exercises each set, in order to rest that muscle group for a short
time. The above exercises can get a bit boring after awhile. Here are
some more workouts you can use to break up the monotony.
PYRAMID WORKOUTS
You can do this with any exercise. The object is to slowly build
up to a goal, then build back down to the beginning of the workout.
For instance, pullups, situps, pushups, and dips can be alternated as
in the above workouts, but this time choose a number to be your goal
and build up to that number. Each number counts as a set. Work your
way up and down the pyramid. For example, say your goal is R5″,
# OF REPETITIONS
PULLUPS: 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1
PUSHUPS: 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 (2x #pullups)
SITUPS: 3,6,9,2,15,12,9,6,3 (3x #pullups)
DIPS: same as pushups.
Swimming Workouts II
(4-5 days/week)
WEEKS #1, 2: Swim continuously for 35 min.
WEEKS #3, 4: Swim continuously for 45 min. with fins.
WEEK #5: Swim continuously for 60 min. with fins.
WEER #6: Swim continuously for 75 min. with fins.
*Note: At first, to reduce initial stress on your foot muscles
when starting with fins, alternate swimming 1000 meters with fins and
1000 meters without them. Your goal should be to swim 50 meters in 45
seconds or less.
Stretch PT
Since Mon/Wed/Fri are devoted to PT, it is wise to devote at least
20 minutes on Tue/Thu/Sat to stretching. You should always stretch
for at least 15 minutes before any workout; however, just stretching
the previously worked muscles will make you more flexible and less
likely to get injured. A good way to start stretching is to start at
the top and go to the bottom. Stretch to tightness, not to pain; hold
for 10-15 seconds. DO NOT BOUNCE. Stretch every muscle in your body
from the neck to the calves, concentrating on your thighs hamstrings,
chest, back, and shoulders.
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is extremely important now and especially when
you arrive at BUD/S. You must make sure you receive the necessary
nutrients to obtain maximum performance output during exercise and to
promote muscle/tissue growth and repair. The proper diet provides all
the nutrients for the body’s needs and supplies energy for exercise.
It also promotes growth and repair of tissue and regulates the body
processes. The best source of energy for the BUD/S student is
carbohydrates. The best source of complex carbohydrates are potatoes,
pasta, rice; fruits, and vegetables. These types of foods are your
best sources of energy.
Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are the three energy nutrients.
All three can provide energy, but carbohydrate is the preferred
source of energy for physical activity. It takes at least 20 hours
after exhaustive exercis to completely restore muscle energy,
provided 600 grams of carbohydrates are consumed per day. During
successive days of heavy training, like you will experience at BUD/S,
energy stores prior to each training session become progressively
lower. This is a situation in which a high carbohydrate diet can help
maintain your energy.
The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex
carbohydrate foods that include bread, crackers, cereal, beans, peas,
starchy vegetables, and other whole grain or enriched grain products.
Fruits are also loaded with carbohydrates. During training, more than
four servings of these food groups should be consumed daily.
Water is the most important nutrient you can put in your body. You
should be consuming up to four quarts of water daily. It is very easy
to become dehydrated at BUD/S; so it is extremely important to
hydrate yourself. Drink water before you get thirsty!!! Substances
such as alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco increase your body’s need for
water, So, if you are going to drink, do so in moderation! Too much
of these substances will definitely harm your body and hinder your
performance. Supplemental intake of vitamins, as well, has not been
proven to be beneficial. If you are eating a well balanced diet,
there is no need to take vitamins.
TRAINING TABLE CONCEPT
NUTRIENT INTAKE
Carbohydrates 50-70% of calories
Protein 10-15% of calories
Fats 20-30% of calories
Do you owe back taxes to the IRS? If so, get your $697 in FREE tax services today!
OK, so my slow carb diet phase right at the end of December lasted precisely 4 days. But…but…but….this time will be different, I swear!
Yeah, I’ve said that a billion times, but I’m still at 225 pounds for a reason. The only way I’m going to pull this off is to wrap it up in one of my not-quite-infamous 30 day personal challenges. So, it starts…today, Monday, January 31, 2011.
“4 Hour Body” is the follow up book to author Tim Ferriss’ “Four Hour Workweek”, the tenets of which are central to my own experiments in lifestyle design and business building. “Four Hour Body” (4HB) is all about “hacking” the human body — finding the shortest path to desired results, often outside of mainstream medical science.
There are three basic aspects of 4HB I’m going to try following for the 30 days:
1. Slow Carb Diet — this is a low-GI diet that eliminates most processed foods, all simple sugars in any form (including fruit), boosts protein uptake, and replaces simple carbs with SLOW carbs, which generally means legumes. I’m not particularly a bean fan, and even less so of lentils, but I found a way to stomach it all when I did it for a few days last month.
2. Occam’s Protocol — this is the exercise component, and consists of single-set-to-failure compound exercises done with significant rest periods between workouts (as in, days and days and days, even a week). Each workout consists of only TWO exercises, and the A/B workouts are alternated. For the machine option I’ll be doing, workout A is close grip pulldowns and machine shoulder press, 7 reps at a 5/5 count at a weight that will induce failure, and workout B is the incline bench press and leg press, 7 and 10 reps respectively, also to failure with appropriate weight. Yep, each workout is like 15 minutes or less, and that’s the point: You build muscle when resting, not when lifting. Going to failure is supposed to induce massive gains in people with little or no weight experience. I just calendared out the workouts for the month of February, and it shows me making 8 trips to the gym, for literally a total of 4 hours in the month. This is where the title of the book comes from.
3. Polyphasic sleep — I started on a polyphasic sleep cycle at the beginning of the month, but it drifted into a weird free-running sleep thing with absolutely no schedule. I am going to try and get back into the sleep system, which involves a core sleep of 3 or 4 hours every night, plus 2 or 3 naps during the day. In all reality, I’ll probably do 3 hours at night, one nap around 10am, another nap around 2 or 3 pm, and another nap at 9pm. That schedule works well with my skating and business schedules.
I’m also about 6 weeks into my effort to “lifehack” the USFS Moves in the Field tests. I’m focusing nearly all my on-ice time on MITF, and am simultaneously working on skill sets from pre-pre, preliminary, and pre-Juv all at the same time. I could probably pass pre-pre at this point, and expect I could pass preliminary (barely) in a few weeks if I tried. The theory behind this hack attempt is that while the MITF tests are supposed to build upon each other, the reality is that they don’t build on skills in a linear fashion. Instead, the Moves tests have on-ice skills that overlap between levels and can be trained together. For example, both preliminary and pre-Juv have extensive 3-turn requirements, and both pre-pre and prelim have almost similar spiral requirements. The strategy is to train them together, and actually make the more advanced skill test-ready and, by default, the lower level skill becomes test-worthy with it. Part of the hack, and the part that purists will scoff at, is also that each element has a primary and perhaps secondary focus, which as a judge are the primary things we are told to look at it. The Move can pass without fully mastering the element, as long as the focii are properly addressed, the general requirements of the move are met, and there are no serious errors. For example, on the spirals, I just have to DO them on the proper edge, leg above hip height, and held for the proper length of time — they don’t need to grace of a ballet dancer to pass (and they won’t!!!).
So here we go. I’ll be posting a lot of this stuff on twitter, and I’ll add my twitter feed to the right side of the blog.
Do you owe back taxes to the IRS? If so, get your $697 in FREE tax services today!
“Success” is a multi-million dollar industry in the United States, and it’s starting to grow in other countries, also. Success and performance coaching, life coaching, books, the seminar circuit, all of these things are growing at a fast rate around the world.
Success is an interesting topic, because it means something different to everybody. To a lot of people, it may be entirely financial in nature. For others, it has to do with sports or fitness. For some people, success is all about being the best parent they can possibly be. There are probably an endless number of angles from which to approach the topic of success.
For purposes of this post, I will be approaching the subject of success from the angle of performance. The reason that I personally approach the success topic from this angle is because of how I think. As an analytical type person, I look for ways to objectively measure and track just about everything. For me, success needs to be measurable, in much the same way as goal setting and achievement does. In many ways, I equate goal achievement to success, and this implies having some performance metric.
The frame of reference from which I evaluate performance and success is applicable to the areas of my own life that I consider important. These arenas include business, sports, exploration, travel, and lifestyle design. Most of my beliefs surrounding the success topic come directly from real estate investing gurus, sales trainers, and athletic performance coaches.
In terms of establishing peak performance, we first need to define what we’re talking about. In many areas of life, the bottom line “thing” that we’re actually discussing, even if we don’t want to admit it in polite conversation, is this: We want to WIN. This is the harsh reality of success in SOME endeavors: For us to succeed, other people have to fail. This isn’t necessarily true in everything. Achieving a net worth of $1 million dollars does not preclude anybody else from achieving the same thing. My personal goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest motorcycle ride through a tunnel of fire, however, DOES require winning: I have to displace somebody else’s victory, there is simply no other way for me to achieve that particular success.
We live in a society where beating other people has become looked down upon. But let’s face it: We all think it, and we’re just human. Competition isn’t a bad thing, it’s what make us improve as a civilization, I think. A huge, dramatic example: I personally believe that the big banks that made bad mortgage decisions, the auto makers that over extended themselves….They should ALL have gone out of business. We the taxpayer should be bolstering them up. They should have been allowed to FAIL. Yes, fail. As in the opposite of success. Why? Because they made poor business decisions and should suffer the consequences. Those automakers (such as Ford, domestically) that did not make the same mistakes…they succeeded on their own merits. They WON, the others LOST. That’s just the way it is. The losers should not have been rewarded for LOSING. It’s just business, and bad business models should not be allowed to continue operating, because guess what? They just keep on losing. All Congress did was delay the inevitable. Same with the banks. Same with homeowners that can’t afford their mortgage. Foreclose, and be done with it. It’s how we will move on from the recession: We have to hit bottom before we can recover. It’s just the way it is. Prolonging the pain doesn’t prevent it from bottoming out. With failure comes improvement.
A famous quote goes like this: “There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.” I don’t know who said it, but my guess is motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Regardless, the saying is true. If you don’t win, tweak things until you do.
“Winning” also implies that you have to define what exactly success IS. Does “winning” mean that I beat the Guinness record (currently 200 feet) by just one foot? For me, that’s not good enough. For this particular endeavor, I need to blow the current record out of the water in order for me, personally, to consider it a victory (my goal is 400 feet, doubling the world record).
By the same token, how am I going to measure my success in my chosen athletic discipline? I have realistic expectations of what I can achieve in the world of ice skating, given the age at which I started. However, my end goal for my own on-ice performance is fairly audacious under the circumstances: To pass all necessary formal tests required to compete in the ice dance discipline at Sectionals. That’s one step below the U.S. National Championships. That requires I make it all the way through Novice, since I’m over 18. If you’re outside the sport, you obviously don’t understand what achieving this entails. If you’re a figure skater, judge, or coach reading this, you know exactly what I’m talking about: Going from no-test through Novice moves, pre-silver dances, and novice free dance. Doing all that in 18 months? I’m insane to even think it’s possible, by most measures. Well, I have Christopher Darling to thank for thinking it’s possible: He passed moves and freestyle all the way through intermediate in 12 months, starting from zero skating experience. Booyah.
Achieving these kinds of successes, winning, require a specific attitude. This attitude is discussed by Dr. Keith Bell in his book “Winning Isn’t Normal”. A succinct summary of this attitude is available in a popular essay excerpted from the book, which you can read here. It’s a popularly quoted essay, but it is so because it’s true. The key quote, I think is this: “Winning is unusual. And as such, it requires unusual action.”
Winning, success, requires peak performance, and peak performance requires unusual action. Success requires “doing the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.” Success requires MASSIVE ACTION. Yes, I’m quoting cliches from the motivational industry, but they’re TRUE. Peak performance requires giving it your all, anything less and you’re cheating yourself.
Winning doesn’t need to be a negative thing. It’s a good thing. You’re achieving a goal, a dream. But, you also have to put it into perspective. Winning means being your best, not beating others for the sake of beating others. Winning is about achieving excellence, rather than settling for being mediocre. Winning requires an intense calm overcoming the fear of failure (which is often the biggest thing that holds people back). Your attitude needs to be one of KNOWING you can win, rather than thinking you HAVE to win. Winning requires the right attitude, the right skills, the right thoughts, the right feelings, and the right actions. There is no getting around any of these ideas.
Success also requires planning. As in written planning. Goals must be written down, they must be defined, and must be measurable, and they must have a deadline. This is the whole “failing to plan is planning to fail” thing. With a goal comes a plan, something you can visualize, something you can latch onto in a physical, real way. Having a plan that you can stick to keeps you on the right track, keeps you from getting distracted, and negates the effect of negative people and influences in your life.
Since winning is unusual, and takes unusual action, you have to become a peak performer. Being a peak performer requires an attitude of just taking action rather than just sitting idly by. Peak performance requires having a plan, and executing the plan: That really is the bottom line to establishing peak performance. You need to be an inherent self-starter, and be able to focus. With success and peak performance is going to come change and negative reactions from other people – you have to be able to deal with these things.
When it comes to financial success in particular, your family and friends will try to hold you back. They will resist the changes you are trying to make for yourself. You’ll hear a lot of “you can’t do that” or “that’s a horrible business idea” and “nobody’s done that before” if you’re starting a new business. There will always be barriers to achieving peak performance. Age, finances, weight, education, credit score, negative people, “the man”, the economy, competition, etc. These are all barriers to peak performance and success, but they are all just barriers, not things that are impossible to overcome.
Going from your current state of affairs to something you want to achieve requires a critical action plan. This critical action plan should be based on best practices that have been established by others that have achieved success within the arena you are looking at. In other words, these days there is no need to re-invent the wheel. Chances are, somebody has either done it already or done something pretty similar. The Critical Action Plan is tweaked based on feedback and results.
Everybody has certain potential. Some of this potential is instinctive or genetic, some of it is learned. To achieve success requires performance and execution, and the barriers mentioned earlier are what stand in the way of that success. How do you overcome these barriers? It’s pretty simple: Adopt the Critical Action Plan you need to get there, and adopt the HABEs (Habits, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Expectations) required to stick to that action plan and overcome those barriers.
Peak performance is achievable through specific steps, or processes. I’m big into the use of checklists for doing just about anything, it’s a habit I picked up from the nuclear Navy, where everything has a checklist for safety reasons. Processes create results, and with feedback (sometimes through coaching), those processes are improved to yield peak performance.
Success really is a never ending feedback loop: You execute a process, see what works and what didn’t, and improve it to yield greater performance. Right there, that’s the key statement of this entire post. That is the secret to achieving success in a nutshell. Notice that it requires ACTION. Without action, there is no performance, there is no success, there is no winning.
As mentioned earlier, we have a tremendous advantage in doing almost ANYTHING we want to succeed at. That advantage is the fact that we can learn from others whom have done it, have tried to do it, or have done or tried something similar. Starting a business? Adapt a blueprint (that “critical action plan”) developed by countless other successful business people. Want to get a degree so you can get a better paying job? Follow a study system developed by somebody else, there are plenty of such published systems. Want to win an Olympic gold medal in a sport? Since it’s been done, there are plenty of blueprints to follow for that, too. Want to lose 30 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle? There are plenty of proven systems (action plans!) for achieving that…you just need to PICK ONE and follow it religiously.
Success isn’t easy, but it’s simple. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, winning can be incredibly difficult. However, the process for achieving success in any endeavor can be broken down, simplified, and turned into monthly, weekly, daily, even hourly steps that are SIMPLE to work on.
Success is up to you. Success is a decision you are capable of making for yourself. But, nobody can do it for you. You have to set the goal, create the definition by which you will measure success, and create or adapt a process, an action plan, to achieve it, and actually DO the steps in that action plan in order to win.
There it is. I probably just saved you thousands of dollars on books, tapes, and seminars, and countless hours of reading and listening. Success really is simple. Just define your goal, and create a checklist of the steps required to get there. The bigger the goal, the more steps it’ll require, but the beauty is that you can break big things down into smaller things with this process. Use this system, stick to it, and take the actions defined in your plan, and you WILL be successful.
Do you owe back taxes to the IRS? If so, get your $697 in FREE tax services today!
About two years ago, I first read Tim Ferriss’s blog post titled How To Lose 20 lbs of Fat in 30 Days Without Doing Any Exercise. I tried following it for a few days, and fell off the wagon right away.
Currently, I fluctuate between 215 and 220 lbs from a peak of almost 260 about 3 years ago, but I want to lose another 50. “The 4-Hour Body” arrived a couple days ago, and the above referenced blog post was essentially pages 70-75 of the book. I don’t know, maybe I just needed to see it print to get sufficient motivation.
The past couple weeks I’ve been doing a somewhat unhealthy binge-and-starve sort of thing, on an unplanned rotation, but roughly fasting one day out of three. I’m sure it has contributed to my generally feeling like crap and my sleep cycles being demolished, but it has taken off 8 or 10 pounds. This has been in conjunction with increased ice time and hitting weights a few days per week, also without much of a plan.
In short, the slow carb diet relies on replacing high calorie, low nutrient foods from the sugar and starch families with “slow carb” fuels, mostly beans. The diet allows very little variety in the foods consumed, and consists of four meals daily that each consists of a high quality protein, a legume, and vegetables. The diet restricts all dairy except eggs, puts lentils and spinach on a special podium, and blacklists fruit, due to the sugar content.
I am having to adapt this meal plan to my somewhat unconventional living lifestyle, as I lack a traditional kitchen and the ability refrigerate anything. Essentially, I live what might be traditionally called a backpacker’s lifestyle. I shop for groceries extremely frequently (2-3x per week), and eat out more than most people.
I will probably be consuming more canned tuna than Tim would suggest, and will also be consuming a substantial amount of turkey jerky and beef jerky. Most of the broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, and green beans will be either fresh or canned, not frozen.
I was happy to discover that cold bean-and-tuna salad recipes are quite abundant, and I think that basic concept will form the basis for most of my meals. Fortunately, eggs, beans, and mixed veggies also tend to go well mixed together, and salsa and spices are permitted for flavoring.
Here is what I’m planning for tomorrow, after a quick trip to the grocery store a little bit ago:
Meal 1: 2 oz beef jerky, half can of green beans, half can of pinto beans
Meal 2: Two hard boiled eggs, the other half cans of green and pinto beans
Meal 3: Most likely a restaurant meal of a chicken salad
Meal 4: Tuna/pinto bean/spinach cold salad
Meals are roughly four hours apart, so there is no need for snacking and you don’t really get hungry on this sort of schedule. This is also not a restricted diet in regards to quantities — there is no calorie counting, only portion suggestions.
A critical part of the Slow Carb Diet is a once weekly binge day. This has become common on a lot of published book diets, as the free day allows you to have an outlet for cravings. On your free day, you can pig out on whatever you want. For me, I have the feeling that’s going to end up being primarily a gallon of Mountain Dew, since I can’t have any during the week.
I’ll write frequent updates regarding the progress on this, and I’ll do a formal weigh-in tomorrow.
Do you owe back taxes to the IRS? If so, get your $697 in FREE tax services today!