Daily Good Moodivation #19 - Dream Big, then Chunk it Down

Do you dream big? Do you ever have moments of clarity, inspiration, and motivation towards some long-term vision, goal, or idea? Do you start to get really excited about the achievement of that thing, only to end up getting lost in the minutiae; all the little details and next steps required to accomplish what you are dreaming about, dragging you to a halt?

These are the common roadblocks we face to our ultimate success. Everyone deals with these same problems, and it is one of the reasons many of us lose sight of our goals. It all depends on how you 'structure' your dream to make it a reality.

Chunking it down is a concept I've used with great success for a couple years now. Personally, I've found it to be my most effective means to achieving goals I had originally thought were unobtainable. The concept is simple.

Draw an outline of the ultimate goal you want to achieve, and put a realistic timeline on it. Put this goal/ idea/ concept/ achievement/ dream whatever it is on the far left side of a sheet of paper, then just above it, write the amount of time you anticipate before it is obtained. Now you will begin chunking that objective down on the sheet of paper, in backwards chronological order. The key is to use progressively smaller steps that carry you towards it's achievement.

Create a reverse goal-timeline brainstorming outline. A perfect example of this is laying a sheet of paper wide left to right, and dividing it into 4 equal sections. On the far left, write at the top of the column with YEARLY, second to left write at the top MONTHLY, second to the right top with WEEKLY, and the far right column top it with DAILY.

Now in the far left column you obviously write what the final achievement is, whether it be get a job promotion, buy a house, save $20,000, lose 20 pounds, create side revenue stream... Whatever it is, you want to have it by the time one year is up. Next, in the monthly column, you will determine one or two steps towards that goal would look like. For saving $20,000, perhaps you want to put away $300 from each paycheck as well as create a monthly budget to reduce expenses. That is listed under monthly objectives. For the third column, weekly - you may list "eat out only once; cook at home for the week; no expensive nights out", all steps that incrementally add up towards your yearly goal on the left. For the final column, under daily - what will you do TODAY that is going to help you carry forward towards that achievement? Some ideas could be "pack a lunch to work", "determine monthly living expenses", "create excel spreadsheet with budget ideas".

The important thing here is to work backwards from what the ultimate goal is and chunk it down into realistic actions that can be accomplished each chronological step. Once you have done this, you must execute.

Now that you have your goal outline it is very important to reference this routinely and remind yourself of why you started in the first place. The last important piece of advice I can give to you in this regard is that when you are developing these yearly goals and objectives, it will serve you well to include in your journal or in a document somewhere, how you feel when you achieve the goal and why it is important to you. Answering these questions will make these achievements more real to you. Really try to envision the feelings you have when accomplishing one of your objectives as well as the importance of that thing.

Visualization will also remain a key factor in the achievement of anything great, so the more vividly you can see yourself achieving X, Y, or Z, the more likely your subconscious mind will work with you towards achieving it.

Remember - you all possess an infinite potential to become who you truly are meant to be. And who you are truly meant to be is seen in your brief moments of inspiration, motivation, and fiery passion. Those moments are fleeting connections with your true self, the higher purpose of our being, Do not let those slip away. Dream big and chunk it down so you can continue to feed the inspiration of the soul. 

Grant's Training - 'Strength' Microcycle Week 2

Monday 9/15  
Gym - Overall Strength
Recovery - Restorative Yoga

Tuesday 9/16 
Gym - Alactic Power
Recovery - Healing Yoga

Wednesday 9/17 
Gym - Aerobic Power
Recovery - Easy bike ride

Thursday 9/18 
Cardio - AM Bike Ride
Gym - OFF
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga and easy bike ride

Friday 9/19 
Cardio - AM Bike ride
Gym - CP Battery
Recovery - Power Yoga and easy bike ride

Saturday 9/13
Cardio - Bike Ride
Gym - OFF
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga

Sunday 9/14 - TBD

Monday's Training 9/15"Overall Strength"

AM BWT - 180.4 lb

Warm-up) Clean + Push Press:
165#/3+3, 185/3+3, 205/3+3
rest 2 minutes

A1) Clean:
225/2, 245/1, 225/3, 245/2, 255/1
rest 2 minutes
A2) DB Press:
70#/6 reps x 5 sets

rest 2 minutes

B1) Back Squat:
330#/5, 360/3, 375/1
335/5, 360/3, 380/1 
rest 2 minutes

B2) Wtd. Pull-up:
+15#/6, +20/6, +25/5
+30/5, +35/4, +45/4
rest 2 minutes

Tuesday's Training 9/16"Alactic Power"

AM BWT - 180.2 lb

A) Snatch (from floor):
(60/3)2, (70/3)2, 75/3, 80/3, 85/3

5 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:
A) TnG Snatch Pull:
110/5, 120/5, 120/5, 120/5, 120/5

B) Prowler Sprint:
50kg /5 , 5, 5, 5, 5

4 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:C) 5 Hang Power Snatch
60kg (warm-up), 65, 70, 70, 70

D) 100m incline run (on treadmill, incline 15, speed 12) 

Wednesday's Training 9/17"Aerobic Power"

AM BWT - 179.8 lb

A) Clean Deadlift + Clean Pull + Clean (from blocks, above knee):
70/1+2+3, 80/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3

B) Clean (from blocks, above knee):
100/2, 110/2, 120/2, 125/2

C) 3 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:
1 Power Clean @ 165#
3 Push Press @ 165#
5 Front Squat @ 165#
30m Farmer's Walk @ 70#
*Completed 3 circuits per round... on round 3, in the 2nd circuit hurt back right rib on front squat and experienced pain - had to shut it down and could not complete. 

C) 10 Min AMRAP 
1 deficit HSPU
3 strict pull-ups
5 T2B
100m fast jog (speed 10 on treadmill)
*Completed 7 complete circuits with almost zero rest between any exercise.

Thursday's Training 9/18"RELAX RECOVER AND PREPARE FOR TOMORROW!!!"

Friday's Training 9/19"CP Battery"

AM BW - 180.2 lb

A) Find Press 1RM in 10 minutes from bar:

Bar/20 reps, 95#/5, 115/3, 135/2, 155/1, 165/1, 175/1

B) EMOM for 20 minutes:
Evens - Clean Deadlift @ 170 kg x 2 reps

Odds - Push Press (from rack) @ 215# x 2 reps

C) AFAP - 50 Pull-ups for time 
Each break perform 3 deficit HSPU
Completed in 7:30, PR - 16, 9, 7, 7, 6, 4, 1

Nutrition #10 - Ten things I've learned over the years

So I am sitting here reflecting on some of the most recent knowledge I've acquired over the past couple years. It has been a wild and productive journey in terms of health and fitness for me, and over the past one to two years have really been revolutionary in terms of things I've learned, research I've read, and various tools and techniques I've added to my arsenal to improve performance.

The biggest thing I've learned is obviously the diet impacts EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING - every aspect of your life can be improved by optimizing your diet. Period. You are what you eat. You also have one body - so start feeding your body the necessary nutrients to build a fortress meant to stand strong against ailments, disease, and the hardships of life.

Anyways - read on for my top ten most recent tips on nutrition, in no particular order.

#1 - Insulin manipulation is the key to fat loss.
What I mean by that - timing of carbohydrates is important for body composition. Studies show that working out while insulin is high will prevent fatty acid breakdown and mobilization. If your goal is to lose fat, exercise in a fasted state, or at least a very low insulin state. Consume your carbohydrates post workout or in the evening. No, they will not be stored as fat if you eat them at night, provided you are not consuming an excess of calories daily. They are more likely to be shunted towards your depleted muscle cells.

#2 - Fat is the best source of energy.
Consuming a diet with moderate to high fat content will keep your very energized, alert, and satiated through the day. Healthy fats like avocados, medium chain triglycerides such as coconut oil, omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA found in wild seafood, saturated fats in red meat and butter (NOT margarine!) will provide with long burning energy and keep you going all day long. Fat as fuel is the most 'metabolically benign' substance to burn in the body. It has 9 calories per gram, making it more energy dense than the 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates, and can be readily use for energy without going through multiple pathways. I recommend a diet of around 50% calories by fat.

#3 - Plant based foods should make up the bulk of your diet.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are literally detoxifying agents by themselves, and are comparatively some of the most nutritionally dense substances on the planets. The vitamin, mineral, phytonutrient, and antioxidant capabilities of these sources make them a no brainer to include in your diet. Many studies have shown how they can lower all variety of stress related diseases, inflammatory diseases, anti-aging benefits, and other major benefits. They will keep you energized, keep your skin clear, your body functions operating smoothly, your digestion optimal, and the immune system ramped up. I recommend a green smoothie per day, and also some sort of vegetable with every meal. In terms of starch, if you are active, you should be eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, beets, yucca, tarro, and other starchy root vegetables as these are the best sources of glucose for your diet. Try to limit your fruit consumption to one or two servings a day, simply because of the higher sugar content in most fruit, and consume glucose based fruits.

#4 - Fasting as very effective for fat loss,
Especially when combined with fasted training. A very effective means to strip fat off your body, try to condense your 'feeding window' to a 6 to 8 hour period, and fast for the other 16 to 18 hours of the day. My favorite schedule was to eat from 1 PM to 7 PM, and doing some form of exercise at 7 or 8 AM, after 12 hours of fasting. Research has shown that lipolysis (fat breakdown) is ramped up around this mark and peaks somewhere around 16 hours. This also makes it much easier to follow a reduced calorie diet, since it will be more difficult to cram your daily allotment of food into such a small window.

#5 - The gut health and microbiome influence everything
Optimize your digestion, and you will feel 1000% better. We literally have more bacteria cells in our body than human cells - it is not an exaggeration to say that they control much of how we feel, look, and act. So many studies have shown how gut bacteria influence things like insulin and hormone levels which are major players in how you feel and perform. Having a dis-regulated gut can mean you are lacking absorption of key nutrients, producing and releasing low levels of neurotransmitters or hormones, simply not breaking down food properly, or experiencing fatigue, bloating, depression, mood swings, or other ailments. Again - optimize your digestion, and you will drastically improve your quality of life. I suggest reducing or completely eliminating food that wrecks your digestive health, such as alcohol, sugar, some artificial sugars, conventionally raised meat, vegetable seed oils, and refined grains (especially wheat). At the same time, ramp up your consumption of food to feed your 'good' gut bacteria. They feed on soluble fiber, and you want plenty of that from plant food such as sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and some fruit. Include fermented foods to increase the count of beneficial bacteria; high quality plain yogurt (no sugar added!), sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir should be consumed as often as you enjoy. You will also benefit from the inclusion of some insoluble fiber from things like leafy green vegetables, which is essentially the cellulose in these plants - this cannot be broken down the body since we do not possess the enzyme cellulase. This will act as bulk to move stuff through the digestive tract and draw water to the intestines. Finally, a form of third fiber known as resistant starch is excellent food for the good bacteria and many report great improvements by including this in their diet - try including stuff such as green bananas (slice them and freeze them while still as green as possible then use them in smoothies), cooked then cooled potatoes, or cooked then cooled rice. This is a long tip but I believe this is the key to overall health, and we will find more and more emerging research on the influence of the gut microbiome on human epigenetics and other key factors to human health. 

#6 - Control you eating habits. 
By having scheduled meal times and preparing consistent meals, you are much less likely to snack. You will also become great at preparing certain meals and enjoy them more! This is an easy tip to follow that many people forget about or fail to utilize. Often times the snacking is what throws us over our maintenance calories for the day, leading to unwanted fat gain, lethargy, or blood sugar spikes. Avoid that by forcing yourself to eat at specific times throughout the day. This also has a huge benefit to regulate your circadian rhythm, making it easier to wake and sleep with the natural rhythm of the sun. You will see an increase in productivity, more stable energy, less hunger pangs and random cravings, and better sleep by following routine eating patterns. Start out by having three square meals a day at specific times, with roughly the same calorie content and macronutrient breakdown, and include at most one healthy snack if necessary.

#7 - Gluten should be avoided. 
The more we learn about the way gluten is broken down (or not broken down!) in the body, the more we should opt to avoid it. The fact of the matter is - gluten is a protein found in wheat and other agriculture crops such as barley, rye, and millet which contains what are known as lectins. Lectins are not broken down in the digestive tract and pass through the intestines binding to receptors in the intestinal wall to 'fool' the body into allowing them into the blood. All of a sudden we have a a permeable gut with 'foreign invaders' floating in our bloodstream, and we produce anti-bodies to eliminate them, causing a cascade of autoimmune responses. It is no wonder that celiac patients have a directly correlated increase in autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or MS. It is theorized that these lectins play a role is plant survival in order to improve chances of germination, especially after being consumed by predators. In this way, the germ of the grain can survive intact through the digestion process and be eliminated somewhere else in the world. Mother nature is smart... and scary! Anyways, to make a long tip short - because of these various properties on gluten and of how it interacts in the body, we tend to feel better when we avoid it. Less inflammation, better digestion, better mood, and a variety of other benefits have been reported by people who consume zero gluten.

#8 - A food journal is the best way to determine what works for you and what doesn't work for you. 
Logging how you feel after eating X, Y, or Z and comparing that to A, B, or C will do wonders if how you build your own personalized diet. This is why I do not write 'meal plans' for people - each personal has very individual differences. Based on how your genes express themselves, we may respond differently to different food sources. The standard chicken, broccoli, rice cutting diet is unconventional, lacks adequate vitamins and minerals, and is sub-optimal. You can also determine what I call the 'minimum effective dose' of carbohydrate intake for muscle gains and fat loss. For active individuals, there is such thing as too many carbohydrates, and there is such thing as too few carbohydrates. You must find your 'minimum effective dose' to make the BEST gains. I recommend tracking food intake in a journal such as sparkpeople.com for calorie content, as well as the ability to put in notes, or one such as cronometer.com which enables you to break macro and micronutrient contents of foods. Be sure to log things such as energy, mood, sleep, digestion, gas, bloating, cramps, strength, stamina.... Anything you can think of, since bad or reactive foods are likely to affect all of these!

#9 - Breakfast may or may not be important
A high protein, high fat breakfast will keep you strong, healthy, and happy all day. Skipping breakfast will keep your mind sharp, burn fat, and make you more productive. Having carbs with breakfast will slow you down, make you tired mid-day, and make you fat and weak. A bit of an exaggeration on the last part in terms of making you fat and weak, but carbs should be entirely avoiding in the beginning of the day. This ties back to the insulin manipulation point number one. Skip your bowl of oatmeal and have four whole eggs with sliced avocado and a bit of salsa or hot sauce instead. And please don't have toast with that!

#10 - Maximize your sleep quality
By reducing consumption hours before bed. I personally fast after 4:30 PM so it is at least 5 hours between my last meal and bedtime. Having low blood sugar and digestion activity promotes a very restful and deep sleep, as well as an easy rise out of bed. Experiment for a couple nights with no food several hours before sleep, and then throw in one night of a decent sized meal within an hour of bed. Gauge how you feel. Another slack hack I have used which can be included in this tip, is having 2-3 tsp of raw honey immediately before sleep. This will help level of liver glycogen and blood sugar. Many people awake in the middle of the night because of these dropping, so the honey will prevent that from happening. Sleep is the most critical component of recovery. Get it right and you will feel 1000% better.


Hopefully these tips provide some insight to your current state, and enable you to make some changes to improve your health. You control the ability to empower yourself and your life. Your health is your utmost priority. Once you perform optimally, you won't want to perform any other way. I encourage you - at some point, stick to a period of time where you are doing everything right. Record how you feel. Then go back to the lifestyle you had beforehand, and record any changes. You won't want to revert to old ways. Good luck to you and your journey.

Daily Good Moodivation #18 - Build Your Momentum with Small Wins

Do you ever wonder how you can more readily take steps towards some big goal you have? Everyone dreams big to a certain extent. It is what we do with those big dreams that make the difference in the world. By reverse engineering these dreams, we can work backward from them and provide a series of small wins that contribute to the momentum needed to succeed in our bigger goals.

This is an easy concept I love to talk about because it has so much of a positive impact when you really apply it in your life.

When we think of great achievements, sometimes we wonder how anyone ever accomplished such a feat. All we see is the accumulation of great ideas, consistent work, and a very long series of small successes that added up to be something massive.

That is what is important to realize - it is all the little things that add up to make something great.

Rome wasn't built in a day.
A strong, lean body takes years to fully sculpt.
Successful businesses very rarely show a profit early on...

Anything worthwhile is going to take time and energy to create. And it is this time and energy that makes the accomplishment so much more gratifying. Anyone who has ever put in the work to achieve something understands this paradigm.

So that leads me to discussing this idea of building your momentum with small wins. Very easy to follow.

First, determine what it is that you want. The ultimate picture. What does it look like? How do you feel when you have it? Visualize this, and paint this image as vividly as possible in your mind. From there, backtrack. What kind of things are required before your reach that pinnacle of achievement? Perhaps you have to build a relationship with someone who is in the field you want to get into. Maybe you need to join a club, or read a book, or take a class.

Think back on other big accomplishments you've had in your life and compare those timelines and events to the reverse engineering you will be doing here. Use a similar pattern or approach based on what you've done in the past.

Once you've got the major accomplishment broken down into smaller segments that lead up to the goal, it is time to break down further into a daily objectives list.

What is one thing you can do every day that will take you anywhere closer to the ultimate goal? 

Write that on a sticky note. Put it somewhere where you will see it daily, and remind yourself of it. Maybe your ultimate goal is to start a company, and you've decided the first thing you should do is read a book on opening a business. Read 20 pages daily. Maybe you want to lose fat and gain lean muscle mass, your reminders could be to remain disciplined on diet and stay consistent on your gym routine.

Whatever it is, remind yourself on a daily basis that there is at least one thing you can do to carry you towards your destination.

Now you have daily steps outlined. The last thing you should do is create positive habits which feed indirectly into the primary goal we identified. Remember - small wins = big successes. Your brain works in strange ways, any small achievement creates a stronger likelihood to remain disciplined for the more difficult tasks.

A good example of this is how people feel so great for the day after going for a short jog or having some sort of exercise early in the morning. This enables them to be higher achievers for that day, simply because they've unlocked their mind's potential for tackling more. All of a sudden, the problems and issues of the day become a bit less difficult due to the priming of their brain early on - accomplishing a small win in the early hours of rising.

Use various positive and motivating habits that are basically mindless and very easy to do such as brushing your teeth first thing upon rising, making the bed, laying out clothes for the day, or getting on the ground and banging out a set of push-ups. Anything to make you feel more accomplished, and the more of it the better.

Try to add value anywhere you can to your morning. Things like journaling about how you envision your day to go, you might find this adds incredible direction and momentum into your efforts. Smiling early on and simply reminding yourself to be thankful for what you have, enables you to embrace what you've got and stokes the fire within.

As you begin to do this more and more often, celebrate these small successes and remind yourself how every little thing is adding up to fill your sail with a powerful wind. Soon your ship will be cruising along with incredible momentum, and as you outline your daily objectives and envision your goals you are no longer doubtful of your ability - you are filled with a mounting passion for life and achievement. The mountains that seemed too far away and too tall to climb will be exciting challenges to face when you realize that the climbing gear is within your being and all you need to do is start pulling yourself up one small step at a time.

Good luck on your journey. Happy Monday everyone!

Grant's Training - 'Strength' Microcycle Week 1

Monday 9/8  
Cardio - AM Bike ride
Gym - Overall Strength
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga and Restorative Yoga

Tuesday 9/9 
Cardio - AM Bike ride
Gym - Alactic Power
Recovery - Healing Yoga

Wednesday 9/10 
Gym - Aerobic Power
Recovery - Level 2 Yoga and easy bike ride

Thursday 9/11 
Gym - OFF
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga and easy bike ride

Friday 9/12 
Cardio - AM Bike ride
Gym - CP Battery
Recovery - Power Yoga and easy bike ride

Saturday 9/13 - TBD
Sunday 9/14 - TBD


Monday's Training 9/8
"Overall Strength"

AM BWT - 187.2 lb

A) Clean + Push Press + Power Jerk:
175#/4+2+2, 190/4+2+2, 205/3+1+2, 220/2+1 push press
195/4+2+2, 210/3+1+2, 225/2 cleans only
rest 3 minutes

B1) Back Squat:
330#/5, 345/4, 360/3
335/5, 350/4, 365/2 (fail 3rd rep)
rest 2 minutes

B2) Wtd. Pull-up:
+10#/5, +15/5, +20/5
+25/3, +35/3, +35/3
rest 2 minutes

Tuesday's Training 9/9
"Alactic Power"

AM BWT - 184.2 lb

8 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:

A) 5 Hang Power Snatch
60k/5, 60k/5, 62.5k/5, 62.5k/5, 65k/5, 65k/5, 70k/5, 70k/5

B) 100m incline run (on treadmill, incline 15, speed 12) 

Wednesday's Training 9/10
"Aerobic Power"

AM BWT - 184.6 lb

A) Clean Deadlift + Clean Pull + Clean (from blocks, above knee):
70/1+2+3, 80/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3

B) Clean (from blocks, above knee):
100/2, 110/2, 120/2

C) 5 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:
1 deficit HSPU
3 strict pull-ups
5 T2B
100m fast jog (speed 10 on treadmill)

Completed 3 complete circuits each 3 minute round for a total of 15 circuits in 30 minutes.

Thursday's Training 9/10
"RELAX RECOVER AND PREPARE FOR TOMORROW!!!"


Friday's Training 9/12
"CP Battery"

A) EMOM for 10 minutes:
Power Clean+ Push Press (2+2)
95k/2+2 for ten sets 

B) AFAP - 50 TnG Deadlifts for time @ 315#
Each break perform 3 deficit HSPU
Completed in 8:15, PR