Most of you know my dad, Larry Howald. He’s the guy you hear on the radio for Howald Heating and Air. He’s the guy that helped make our space so great. He’s the guy that never complains and always has a smile on his face.

My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2005. It’s a shitty disease and watching it progress is heartbreaking. Why am I telling you all of this? I’m telling you this because despite everything he has gone through and continues to go through, he never makes excuses. Exercise is key to living a longer and healthier life. Period. Exercise shouldn’t be something that you “feel” like doing. Exercise is absolutely essential to living longer with less complications. I think a lot of us take our health for granted. I think a lot of us say we’re going to make health a priority and when it becomes challenging, we quit. I know it’s not always easy to find the motivation but I encourage you to stop talking about it and be about it.

If you tell me you’re going to start eating healthy and will log your food every day, actually do it. If you say you’re going to make it to the gym three times a week, show me. It’s easy to feel sorry for ourselves when the going gets tough, but then I think of people like my dad. He has trouble walking and STILL workouts daily without complaining. He’s the busiest guy I know and is probably more tired than any of us, and STILL comes to the gym.

For 2018, if nothing else, I want you to TRY to do better. I want you to be honest with yourself when it comes to your excuses, attitudes, effort, and commitment. Ultimately, the choice is yours. We do our very best to guide and motivate our members, but when it comes down to it, you are the ones that live with the choices you make every day.

Here are excuses I want you to get rid of for 2018:

1) “I don’t have enough time.”

• You do. You know you do. A 30 minute workout takes up 2% of your day. Don’t ask yourself how much time you’re going to waste by working out a few times a week. Ask yourself how much of your life you’re going to waste by being unfit and overweight.

2) “I’m tired.”

• Your mind, when it comes to exercise is like a spoiled child. Don’t give in! It’s difficult but not impossible. If you miss one session, you’re more likely to miss the next one. This is when it’s important to “Show up” on the days you don’t want to.

3) “I have no motivation.”

• It’s not about motivation, it’s about discipline. 9/10 I don’t feel like it but I do it any way. Again, this choice may be difficult but not impossible.

4) “I don’t have anyone to train with.”

• That’s bologna! We have an AMAZING community of people here! Talk to your peers in class! Get to know each other!

5) “I’m not fit enough to be there.”

• That’s the whole point in joining! I understand it can be intimidating when you first start, but everyone here was also a beginner once. We are not your average globo gym. We care about you and our members care about you! Make it part of your routine. It’s the most important part.

On the days you don’t feel motivated to make the healthier choice, even when you promised you would, do it because you said you would. When you want to complain about your effort during a workout or skipping the gym again because you didn’t feel like going, remember that you GET to exercise. You GET to do this. Be the BEST you can be this year and show me that you’re going to do it.

“By enthusiasm one acquired unimaginable strength.” Rig Veda

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Whether you’re new to the fitness game altogether or getting back on the train after a time away, WELCOME TO THE PARTY! We’re so glad you’re here (and, no, it’s not just the endorphins talking).

It can be overwhelming to know where and how to start on the road to your best, fittest life, but that’s where we come in! We work with dozens of new members each month, and have compiled some of our favorite – and most effective – tips for how to make your transition the smoothest it can be.

You Need to Know:

1. Your “why”, “what” and “how”.

Why now? What is your motivation for starting/continuing/changing your health and wellness routine? It’s crucial to identify your motivators so that on the days you don’t feel like showing up, you have a gentle reminder as to why you should. Once you identify your why, it’s much easier to figure out what your goals are and how you’ll achieve them.

2. That you can’t outwork a bad diet.

As much as we want to think working out gives us a free pass to eat whatever we want, it doesn’t. In fact, it means exactly the opposite: The way you eat should improve in order to fuel your new fitness and wellness regimen! Making healthy choices doesn’t have to be complicated, and it really focuses around one, main idea: Eat Whole Foods And Log Everything.

If you are eating real, nutrient-dense foods (think about shopping the outer perimeter of the grocery store) and tracking the food that you’re eating for general portion control awareness, you are doing exactly what you need to do. Lots of people find it’s helpful to have specific macro nutrient goals to work towards (and the F5 Method can help you with that!), but if you’re just starting off, keep it simple. Eat Whole Foods and Log Everything.

3. Your limits.

If you’re just starting a workout routine, know your limits! Don’t push yourself too hard too quickly and run the risk of injury. Consider attending classes 3 times/week for the first month or so to give your body time to adjust to the new intensity and training style. It can also be HOT during workouts, so knowing when you need to take a water break or a quick breather during the workout is important – and very normal!

4. Mastering the basics is the most important.

Don’t worry about adding weight to your goblet squat until you can master the air squat. It can be easy to feel pressured to “outperform” others around you, but if you can’t confidently – and SAFELY- perform a movement without weight, there is no way you should be adding additional load. The same applies to all other body weight and barbell movements!

5. Not every workout is going to be your best workout.

This can be the hardest pill to swallow for a lot of people. Most days, you’ll come into the gym and be ready to crush the workout. But other times, you’ll be tired/sore/stressed out, and it may not be the day for you to PR your front squat or crush that Tabata.

The good news? It happens to everyone. Regardless of how long you’ve been coming to the gym, some days just won’t be your best. As long as you show up and give your best effort, you’ll win the day.

6. That consistency is more important than intensity to start.

When we’re building healthy habits, the most important thing to focus on at first is just that: making them habits! When we create habits, consistency is king. Find consistency in your attendance, movement (quality over quantity!!), and eating. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to up the intensity, fine tune the minor details, and be even more of a total bad ass.

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Now before we get too cocky, assured of our superior fitness because of our 300+ Clean and Jerk, let’s be honest… Everyone has weaknesses. Some of them are minor and will only crop up when something goes wrong and others are so glaring that it completely wrecks your attempts at improvement. Regardless of which end of the spectrum, your weakness exists and it is holding you back. You can deny all you want but it is the truth.

Don’t be ashamed of your weaknesses. I’ve been fortunate to work with thousands of individuals over the years and I can tell you with certainty that everyone has weaknesses. We’re all in the same boat on this one. Admit you are imperfect and commit to the process of improvement. Everything is a process, nothing just happens. It isn’t always easy but you have to put in the work every single day.
We are a work in progress and that is a universal truth of life. Every day is a challenge, but the process of determined self-improvement changes you.

It’s easy to blame something other than yourself. To sidestep weaknesses and try to find a way around them. To make excuses for not putting real effort to make the change. And when someone else IS making changes and seeing success, it’s easy to distance yourself from that by saying things like, “they’re just gifted” and my personal favorite, “my body isn’t built to move like they do.” It’s mind boggling self-sabotage.

It’s easy to make excuses. However, I have seen a great number of people make incredible changes and those numbers far outweigh the likelihood of their success being attributed to any factor other than DETERMINATION. Even the most gifted have good days and bad weeks. Everyone struggles through periods and only experience success when they remain determined and laser focused on their goals. A good coach can help guide you, a great coach can give you accurate advice and experience to help you, but ultimately not even the best coach can do it for you.

Be determined and be successful.

By,
Jeff Edwards National Coach USAW, CF- L2
Head Coach BRFC

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BRX is our general fitness program with the goal of improving body composition, cardiovascular fitness, and strength to levels necessary to live a healthy active life.

The program is broken into 3 segments, varied daily in length and composition, to focus on burning fat, building lean muscle, and improving cardiovascular fitness. Burn, Build, Breathe. These are the critical components of any fitness routine if the goal is not only looking better but also being more capable and healthy throughout our lives.

The goal of our Crossfit program is similar, however the main difference lies in the application of maximal efforts. Both improve cardiovascular capacity, both will burn fat, and both will make you stronger. Crossfit will push the strength and movement intensity to higher levels than BRX, which produces exceptional capacity in that area. However, this isn’t strictly necessary to maximize health nor fitness in the real world outside of sport or personal interests.

Why should someone choose BRX over Crossfit, in my view most people should do a little of both.

However, there is another tool to maximize your workout routine. Do things you enjoy. Every workout might not be enjoyable, but you should workout regularly in a style you enjoy. Many people really enjoy the BRX style of exercise and the improvements they have seen. Many people really enjoy Crossfit style training, and have made significant improvements from those classes. Both will get you in great shape, each will challenge you with a wide variety of whole body exercises, improve musculature and performance, and both will give you a heart pounding body sweating intense workout.

BRX was designed to be a fitness program for an active healthy life. Crossfit was designed for elite fitness. Either will prepare you for any adventure!

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We will continue to serve our community and provide you with the best training, facility, and experience possible. We will continue to spread our message of fitness, love, inclusion, and positive change. We will not support that which seeks to divide or diminish members of our community. It’s time we take our own path.

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The best place to start would be why do we use cycles. I’ve heard, “Why do I have to cycle? I’m not training for the games.” Easy answer is because a solid training program shouldn’t only be used by competitive level athletes. To use a haphazard approach is leaving money on the table. Controlling the program with planned variation at intervals where the adaptation (improvement) from the stimulus (training) diminishes is the best plan for building better fitness for both the short term and long term (fastest gains in shortest period of time, sustainable for months/years). Using Wendler’s 5-3-1, the Hatch Squat Program, or Starting Strength’s 3×5’s as the strength portion of your workout is not a cycle, it’s a novelty. The entire program should be structured within a cycle to work towards a common goal, conditioning and accessory work included. This is true for beginners and advanced athletes.

What this cycle is all about:

Building strength is a structural and neurological change, the wrench in the gears is that the rate of change varies for different tissues. Neurological changes can happen very quickly, muscle growth and repair is a fairly quick process. However, connective tissue is not. We have to account for the increase in muscular strength and the disproportionate strength increase of the supporting connective tissue. Without taking that into account and halting a strength biased program at the right time, increased risk of injury is a danger. Without planning ahead of time for the varying needs of the system (your body) you’re leaving too many variables and hoping for the best. God speed crash test dummy.

The fun part is in the details. The seemingly inconspicuous aspects of the program are where the magic is. Increasing strength increases absolute force production, greater force production allows us to do cooler things: strict pull-ups, handstand push-ups, higher jumps etc. If you combine force and speed, NOW you’ve got a great combination.

Power is the name of the game. Whether it’s football or Crossfit, the more powerful athlete will win. Transitioning from a strength based cycle to a volume cycle doesn’t mean no more heavy weights, as you probably noticed. What it means is changing how we use the weight to affect the system. In this cycle we use the weight to increase power production, meaning we want to use heavy weights and move them faster. This has many benefits to performance, including increasing maximal force production (stronger), but the sneaky detail that is easy to overlook is the benefit to connective tissue which responds well to high volume work at moderate to heavy weight.

Exactly what this cycle is all about. Allowing the connective tissue to get stronger to match muscular strength and increasing power output are key components of this cycle, and necessitate varying cycles whether you are a beginner looking to get stronger and faster or a competitive level athlete hoping to compete with the best.

Enjoy this cycle, I’ve had many a chuckle while writing it out.

– Coach

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Goal setting is a critically important part of achieving success both inside and outside of the gym. Anyone can set a goal, but not everyone will work towards achieving it, let alone actually achieve it. When you have a community like Team BRFC, impossible is nothing!

Community is a crucial part of achieving any S.M.A.R.T. goal.

What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal?

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-Bound

At the beginning of every month, the Goal Board is wiped clean so that you can put up the new month’s S.M.A.R.T. goal. Anyone can write a SMART goal, but not everyone will achieve them. Community will help.

Community keeps you motivated. And when motivation wanes, community keeps you disciplined.

You see other people working on their goals, and you want to do the same. Maybe they share the same goals as you and you are extrinsically motivated to achieve them. (Competitive? Set a goal for yourself to achieve your goal first!)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at a workout and thought “UGH. I DON’T WANNA.” Motivation is fleeting, but discipline is where your goals are achieved. That text from a friend asking if you’re coming to the 4:30 class, or the gentle nudge from your coach to put 10 more pounds on the bar and give that PR a shot might be exactly what you need.

Connection

We are social creatures and we crave human connection. Share a goal with someone, create a connection. When everyone is working towards goals, whether that’s a common goal or individual goals, your friends can become your family.

Accountability

Accountabilibuddies are an AMAZING tool in goal achievement. Whether it is a Coach or another member, pick someone to hold you accountable to your practice/tracking/good habits. We all need a gentle reminder – or swift kick in the rear- every now and then.
F5 Coaches are your built-in accountabilibuddies. BRFC coaches are your built-in accountabilibuddies. Your class BFF can be too.

But, what if I don’t need an accountability buddy?

Just because you’ve set a S.M.A.R.T. goal doesn’t mean you need to actually tell someone about your goal. If you find yourself more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated, then keep it to yourself. But don’t forget you can lean on the community for advice or emotional support. Use that competitive mindset we mentioned earlier to reach your goal before someone else reaches theirs.

The post I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends: Goal Setting and Community appeared first on Broad Ripple Fit Club.

Here are five reasons why goal setting will improve your focus:

1. Goals trigger behavior.

Having a clear, compelling goal mobilizes your focus toward actionable behavior. In other words, goal setting should motivate you. Let’s assume, for example, that John Doe has a goal of saving money to purchase a new car. You ask him what type of car he wants and he replies, “Anything that runs.” Do you think that motivates John? Probably not. The problem here is that the end state isn’t clear. Conversely, if John Doe’s goal was more specific, such as “Save $10,000 by December to purchase an end of year deal on a new Tesla,” now he has something to aspire for; he has a mental cue that triggers his focus and motivates him to begin saving.

2. Goals guide your focus.

When you set a goal you naturally direct your attention toward a next step and, as a result, lead yourself in the right direction which forces your actions—your behaviors—to follow. It’s a cheesy saying but I’ll say it anyway: whatever the mind believes, the body achieves. The body follows the mind.

3. Goals sustain momentum.

Seeing progress is addicting. No seriously, it’s literally addicting because of the dopamine released in your brain after attaining a reward. Just as a snowball grows in size as it’s rolled down a hill, momentum works the same way. Just think of the last time you were really “in the groove” where you said to yourself, “I’m on a roll!” That’s momentum. Whatever you were doing you probably didn’t want to stop because you were what Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi called flow, which is the optimal state of mental performance.

4. Goals align your focus.

Goal setting helps you align focus with behavior because you get feedback on your progress. The actions you take—or avoid—offer clues about your values, beliefs, challenges, strengths and weaknesses which allow you to course correct as necessary and reset your goal achievement strategy (and subsequently, your focus).

5. Goal setting promotes self-mastery.

Perhaps the most important reason why goals work is because they build character. Actually, achieving goals builds character. While the process of goal setting is important because it helps unearth and identify what’s truly important to you, pursuing your goals is the real money-maker (literally and figuratively) because it builds self-efficacy; it develops yourself as the type of person who can achieve goals.

*Article from Forbes.com

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The squat has been called the king of exercises and for good reason. Nothing provides a more powerful stimulus to promote increased strength and athleticism than the squat. It’s adjustable from assisted body weight squats up to 1000lb monsters squats. Want more noticeable glutes? Squat. Want to run faster? Squat. Want to bike longer? Squat. Want to punch harder? Squat. It’s nearly universal. Everything is improved by becoming a better squatter.

But how do you squat correctly? I’m sure you’ve seen all kinds of squats, wide stance, narrow stance, high squats, back rounded squats, and hopefully a few good squats. What makes a good squat?

4 points are the criteria by which we can judge a good squat and a poor squat. We focus on these points both for safety and applying what we gain from squatting towards any task. Squatting only to improve your squat is not our primary goal. We want to use the squat as a tool to improve our health, appearance, and physical ability.

The 4 points of a perfect squat:

A flat back squat is a solid squat.

1: Back remains neutral and aligned with the hips.

The back is a weird snake of a joint. Highly mobile and sometimes difficult to accurately gauge how its moving without being able to see it, it’s common for spinal alignment to falter in movements. Maintaining a strong spine and hip alignment improves back health, improves movement efficiency, and our capacity to do things safely. The squat can help us learn how to maintain this control, and strengthen our ability to do so against a variety of forces. We know many people who have had reduced back pain from squatting correctly.

Knee align with toes

2: The legs line up with the feet.

At the bottom of the squat, the legs must be in line with the feet. “But I’ve heard your feet should be straight forward in a squat”. Creating torsion on a knee joint isn’t something I recommend for the fitness enthusiast or health conscious person. For reduced wear and tear on connective tissue (which heals more slowly than muscle) I recommend ensuring as little torsion on hinge joints like ankles and knees as possible. Strengthening good alignment improves our joints stability and improves their function. Strong joints, strong body.

3: Squat Deep.

So long as it doesn’t affect points 1 or 2. I’ve seen people squat so deep their back completely bends over like a slinky, this is not a deep squat it’s a bad squat. Depth should be the fullest range of motion you can achieve without pain or loss off control. Why this deep? Muscles adapt to the range of motion through which they are trained. The greater the range of motion, the more muscle fibers are engaged and the more likely the adaptation will be useful to other non squat specific tasks. The more muscle we involve in a movement, the greater the training effect and the greater our progress.

4: Control remains consistent throughout.

Control as an essential element in all movement, as it applies to the squat we look at both speed of movement and balance. Let’s address speed first. The descent shouldn’t plummet to the ground like a meteor hurtling towards earth, that’s called crashing and it’s not the best way to keep your joints intact or move weights. Imagine your muscles are like rubber bands stretching as you descend until they’re wound up so tight they spring into action to drive you back up to the top. This controlled descent isn’t necessarily slow, but there’s a deliberate tempo to it. This is a good sign we’re using our muscles to both support the joints and maximizing their engagement and effect in our movement.

Balance is the second piece in consistent control. Throughout heavy squatting the pressure on our feet should be focused like a bullseye on the middle of your foot near your arches. Not only does this maximize our efficiency in squatting, but provides us some wiggle room if the squat gets squirrely under a heavy load or fatigue during a challenging training session. It sounds simple, but it can be quite challenging to feel this and control it during strenuous squatting.

The 4 point squat is a challenge. Powerlifting legend Ed Coan has squatted 1019lbs, nearly 5 times his body weight, and is worth listening to especially regarding how to squat. His advice, perfect your technique and treat the light weights like they’re heavy. To squat well, or do anything well, you have to treat the little stuff like it matters because it does when we want to succeed or excel. Put in the effort, treat the light weights like you would the heavy weights, and master the 4 points and you’ll see why the squat is the king of exercises.

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1. Despite all fears and doubts, walk through our doors.

2. Despite hesitations and the unknown, sign up for our Best Beginner Program.

3. Show up to all Best Beginner classes.

4. Keep showing up to class every single week. No matter what, NEVER stop showing up to class.

Lance is one amazing guy and he’s one of our favorite examples. He hadn’t done CrossFit style workouts before, he didn’t know anyone, and he was nervous.

You know what Lance kept doing EVERY SINGLE WEEK? He kept coming to class. He showed up for himself and it’s made a HUGE difference since he joined our community in October!

Be like Lance! Take control over your health. Take control over your life! We only get one!

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