Hello Everyone! I hope last week was Awesome! To kick off another week of awesome, this is The WOW! – The Workout of the Week for the week of 4/1/19, from GoodAttitudeFood.com. This is “The Kung Fu Moves in The Basement Workout”.
This week I am trying a modified Tai Chi workout, a Resistance Band FIIT Tabata Burner (RBFTB), and will include a spin bike video to ride along with.
Before we get into a workout, I want to talk about one of the most important things I have ever learned.
That is: HOW TO SET GOALS.
Goal Setting
That’s right Goal setting!
I don’t mean the kind of goal like “one day I want to be a billionaire”.
That’s not a real goal.
The kind of goal setting I am talking about requires a little more action than just putting a grandiose wish out there into the universe. Dreaming is great. But a dream without action is just a dream.
A GOAL is an action item.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
SMART Goals are what we are after, my friends! The kind of goals that hold meaning. The kind of goals that will build confidence and allow a person to achieve
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Timebound
Insta
I recently opened an Instagram for GoodAttitudeFood.com – shameless plug, FOLLOW ME :).
One awesome person who connected with me on Insta asked me about what started my entrepreneurial spirit. My answer was (more or less) that many events lead me on my path.
Learning to set goals is actually the answer. That’s what changed things.
I have always had a strong work ethic, I just never knew how to work for my own goals. I have always been a dreamer, but never had a way to turn dreams into something more.
Goal Setting is a way to take dreams and make them into reality.
How I Learned Goal Setting
Learning how to set SMART Goals was pivotal.
When I returned to school the very first class I took was called Thought Patterns For A Successful Career. I don’t even think it was a full credit course. It’s more of an onboarding thing. It worked for me though! It featured a video series by the late Lou Tice, of the Pacific Institute. Lou Tice reminded me of a Football Coach I had and I connected with the videos. He talked about Norman Vincent Peale, Author of The Power of Positive Thinking, one of my favorite books. The video series in that class was my first experience with positive motivational media – outside of a printed book.
The tools in this class started me on a path that changed my whole life!
The class was about goal setting, changing your picture, and about developing a growth mindset.
I spent six years in college, earned two degrees, and somehow I pulled off honors… “Summa Cum Laude”
**Open my diploma, in the NAU Parking lot… “Summa Cum Laude” printed on it… I look around confused — Who me??? – Ok, Thanks! … are you sure there wasn’t a mistake? *start walking back in to ask** STOPS – Dude, SHUT UP AND RUN BEFORE THEY TAKE IT BACK YOU FOOL! — Hahaha, Sorry, I digress… #impostersyndrome!
In all the hours of class, books, (online) lectures; In all the research papers, weekly discussion posts, and case studies; the single most important thing I learned was GOAL SETTING.
Aaand I learned it right there in the FIRST class of my college experience… Fast forward SIX YEARS and (semi-)Massive student loan debts later… that’s another story, “getting out of the belly of the whale” maybe… 🙂
How Does This Work in Real Life?
I adapted the SMART goal setting technique to use at work. And I tie the techniques into what I am trying to create with GoodAttitudeFood.com. I use it to keep my projects in line with what I need to achieve.
My goal setting now is harder. In college, classes come with a syllabus. You get a “roadmap”. Most everything is planned out for you. Follow the syllabus and you will be in position to pass the class.
Out here in the real world, there is no road map. There is no syllabus. There is no path to follow.
I have had some failures. Some that caused me to rethink everything in my life. Life isn’t a set path. Learning to go with the flow, let go of expectations, and how to be mindful is one of the next lessons, in progress … I think. Life isn’t a fairy tale and the truth is that no amount of goal setting will mean success all the time.
Having the goal of learning from failure needs to be incorporated in every goal.
Any goal can fail or succeed. A lesson can be found in both outcomes. Set big goals and get big gains! You can’t fail, you can only learn what works and what doesn’t work.
Create Your Own Road Map
I am still testing my theory of how this will work in the real world.
With
Set the BHAG, then break it down. What steps can be taken to achieve the goal?
After breaking down the BHAG, forget about that big goal for a while and focus on the breakdown.
Chunk the big goals down into LPSAGs – Little Puny Specifically Aligned Goals.
For example – to become a Certified Trainer I have gotten my CPR certification, have enrolled in the certification program, have been studying for six weeks, and I will continue to set weekly study goals until I take the exam. Then after the trainer cert, it’s back to class for the nutrition certification.
Right now I am using the same methods I did when I was in school, as I study for certification.
Use LPSAGs to get those BHAGs.
LPSAGs are daily, weekly, or monthly goals. These are action items that line up with bigger goals.
Achieving LPSAGs provides an added benefit of positive reinforcement. My amateur psychology studies tell me that positive reinforcement is a way to modify behavior. Positive reinforcement can rewire your brain!
Sometimes you just have to get some momentum. LPSAGs are a way to get started.
That’s my goal setting technique – Using LPSAGs to get my BHAGs.
The Music
The music this week is from one of my favorite music channels Epic Music World. The mix this week is EPIC – Check it – The Way of The Samurai
On To The Kung Fu Moves!!
**Always do a warm-up before a workout. I do the Dynamic Warm-up Video from FightTips.com before EVERY Workout.
I have been watching Tai Chi videos on YouTube like a mad-man. Master Wong is probably my favorite. Jake Mace has some really good instructional videos too. I even went through this workout, which got weird … the coughing, face patting, and eye-rolling were a little strange to find in a workout, but hey, “when in Rome”.
Try hard to develop good form. Don’t do more than you can do. Take it SLOW.
I am taking some of these basic moves and trying to master them.
Sooo, my plan to do that is to adapt them into an interval workout structure that should help me build up strength and better learn to control my movements.
I am also adding two outside elements. #1, my Meister brand weighted gloves. #2, Dynamic Resistance – DDPY Style – Who YOU FLEXIN on? – No one sir, this is dynamic resistance #FLEX. By the way, check out DDPY! AWESOME!
Freestyle Intervals With Dynamic Resistance
Set the interval timer for 10 X 30×30. Practicing some basic moves while wearing gloves (if you have them), and use dynamic resistance. Every 30 seconds cycle into a different Tai Chi style move. Use FIIT Principles.
FIIT = Flow Intensity Interval Training – 85% max intensity – *of perceived exertion of dynamic resistance*. Flex at 85% while doing the moves for 30 seconds. Then only flex at 65% max intensity the next 30 seconds. Then repeat. Find the “Flow”. That’s FIIT. *
Make sure to focus on slow, controlled movements and breathing. Some people call Tai Chi “moving meditation”. After adding dynamic resistance, I gotta call it “Kung Fu Power Yoga!”. Whatever you call it, control is the key.
Recap the routine:
10 minutes, 20 moves, 30 seconds each, 85% max “flex” for 30, 65% max “flex” for 30, wearing Meister weighted gloves and controlling the breath and movements. Interval timer set to 10 X 30×30. Maybe crank up that Way of The Samurai Mix …
RBFTB – Resistance Band Flow Intensity Interval Training Tabata Burner – “rub-fuh-tub” Sets
The next round is a “Resistance Band FIIT Tabata Burner”, or just “RBFTB” sets.
My Flexible Sport resistance band set is awesome, cost only $20, and can provide all I need a great work out. For these sets, I anchor to my bike. You could anchor in a doorway, to your couch, or any other heavy object.
I set my resistance timer to 24 x 20X10. You could set it to 8 x 24X10 – a classic Tabata interval – and then repeat for three rounds. No more than a minute break between rounds. I like to just burn through with no break – That’s why I call them “Tabata Burners”!
FIIT Principles – 85% max for the 20 seconds, full rest for the 10 seconds.
Here is the set: work during the twenty second interval
- Standing Bench Press
- Pull Backs (reverse action of bench press)
- Butterflies
- Reverse Butterflies
- Big Rights (holding both
band handles in right) - Big Lefts (both handles in left)
- 1-2 punches – jab-cross non-stop!
- Upper-cuts – 5-6 – non-stop!
Do three Tabata sets, either 24 total intervals straight through, or split it into 3 rounds of 8 intervals – a classic Tabata set.
The Bike Video!
To round off the work this week I am doing this quick spin video. This is a great, quick routine from the masters of online cycling content – GCN. Doing GCN videos were my first weight loss LPSAGs. Back then I was OVER 240 LBS! I was about “A-Buck-58” (158lbs) this morning. GCN videos helped change my fitness life! Show them some love!
Have an AWESOME Week!
There you have it, my friends! The WOW, the workout of the week, for the week of April 1st, 2019. This has been “The Kung Fu Moves in the Basement Workout”. Of course, I am doing these moves in the basement, hence the title. Thank You SO much for reading! Thank you to all the awesome content providers!
If you have never tried goal setting, please try it. Use LPSAGs to chase your BHAGS! It’s like taking action on and owning your dreams! I say set big goals because succeed or fail, as long as you learn from it, you win. Be happy and healthy my friends! Maybe try some Tai Chi, because heroes in this story do Kung Fu! Whatever happens in your story, be the hero in it!
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