Category: Personal

  • The Culture Around You

    The other day my friend Nick Lynch and his family stopped over. Most of my friends are into fitness, so it was no surprise the portable pull up came up from the basement and Nick was showing me his progress on muscle ups. But it wasn’t just us enjoying the pull up bar: Which gets…

  • Focus

    When I was taking training from Steve Maxwell, he had me email my training goals. This I did and then he designed a program to help me meet them. Simple enough. But what I vividly remember is sneaking in a workout with a friend that had nothing to do with my goals. He berated me…

  • Kids: They Know

    I was talking to Nick Lynch the other day. He was asking a hockey coach about his game face – staying calm during a sports event. The coach said he learned the skill from his daughter – his daughter wouldn’t want to be around him when he watched the games because she could sense his…

  • Meditation – What’s Worked for Me

    For many people, meditation conjures up tranquil images of someone, usually an attractive female, sitting in full lotus. It’s something that other people do, it’s esoteric, and hey, who has the time to actually do it. Someone once commented on an article I had posted on Facebook about doing nothing—just sitting there. She was frazzled,…

  • Reflections on Being a Dad for a Little Over a Year

    The last year has brought with it unfathomable change. You just can’t know what having a kid will do to your routine, to your sleep, to your relationship with your wife, to your entire life until you actually have a kid. Kids change everything. They change things even when they are in the womb. There…

  • The Benefit of Keeping a Journal

    20 years now—that’s how long I’ve been keeping a journal. I can tell you what I did on this day (or close to it) 20 years ago. Some of this stuff is nonsense. But some of it is incredibly instructive. A journal lets you utter some of the thoughts you can’t say to other people.…

  • Overcome Negative Body Consciousness By Understanding Your Body Type

    When busy chasing societal body image goals, it is tempting to forget your body type and damage your body and mind. What’s your body type, you ask? Well, I frequently think of William Sheldon’s body types (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph) and the body types from Ayurveda (vata, pitta, and kappa) when answering this question.

  • In the morning I wake up and…

    Fill in the blank? What do you do? The morning is an interesting time. I remember when I was laid off from work and decided to use my mornings to read positive literature. 20 days later I was contacted for a job (I had been unemployed for months). Now I will exercise or write in…

  • The Morning Recharge

    A great way to get energized immediately in the morning is to develop a morning recharge. Something that gets you going for the day. Something physical that gets you moving. In fact, your morning recharge can lead right into your exercise, and then your exercise for the day is accomplished. Here are some things I…

  • Under the weather (getting sick)

    I had a great run. Over a year without getting sick. I’d gotten run down, sure, but nothing lasting over a day. Then four weeks ago, I got sick. I had been run down and working hard and working out hard. Foolishly, I exercised even though I noticed I was run down and then my…