Having a consistent morning routine is one way to improve your productivity. My morning routine is specific to my intention for my physical, spiritual and mental training to help win the day. Meditation, movement and apple cider vinegar w\ lemon prepare myself for my training session at 6 am. This is what works for me and the intentions that i have set. Morning routines need to be specific to your intention, however the key to building a lasting morning routine is consistency. Be consistent with the time you wake up, the hierarchy of events and the time you leave the house.

Structured, planned movement creates an adaption that the body most overcome to become stronger, faster and increase one’s endurance. In order to recover from this adaption a period of rest or active recovery will allow the muscle fibers to repair themselves. Active recovery can be as simple as taking one day off for each three days of training and going for a bike ride, run, walk or yoga session to engage the body in some low-impact movement. Another strategy, would to be to leverage a deload week in one’s training cycle and reduce the training load by 30-40%.

This past Tuesday, I took a day of active recovery and did a Korkoro Yoga flow from the Unbeatable Mind Team. The focus was on slow, intentional movement to open the hips and shoulders – all areas that I had trained pretty hard over the last few days. My intention was to breathe fresh oxygen into these sore muscle groups while under load\tension and accelerate the recovery process. A few side benefits of the breath work and intention can help reduce one’s stress levels and reduce overall fatigue.

Play around with your active recovery days to see what works best for you, what you enjoy and what activities your body responds too.

You will be challenged, probed, tested and be told that you do not deserve it – fuck that! If you can visualize yourself finishing that Beast, cleaning #185 or getting that shiny new object then you are worth it. The obstacles you face are just part of the test to see if you will #HoldTheLine.

Great WOD this morning at CNP.

12 minute EMOM

• 5 dB hang clean & jerks each side
• 30 second handstand hold
• 30 sec ring dip hold

13 Minute AMRAP

• 7 Push Press @ 95
• 7 Toes to Bar
• 7 Bent Over Rows @ 95
• 7 Front Squats @ 95

accumulate 5 minutes hanging from pull-up rig

#RoadtoTahoe

My favorite training day with the community at CNP!

9 Minute AMRAP

• 9 Deadlifts @ 185
• 12 Push-ups
• 15 24″ Box Jumps

16 Minute EMOM

• Odd 4-5 Squat Cleans
• Even Double Unders for 30 Seconds

Core Work – 3 Rounds Not For Time

• 10 Ring Walkouts
• 20 Russian Twists
• 30 V-Ups
• 10 Reverse Extensions

Time to meal prep, get prepared for the week ahead and hit that recovery.

Time to get some trail work in with Tahoe six week’s away. First time at Daisy Trail in Anthem. Got a good six miles round trip with the vest. Will be back again!!

I recently completed a thirty day nutritional challenge and was very pleased with the results. The challenge had the participants establish a baseline at the start of the program that included weight, body measurements and a fitness test WOD. We ate only real food, cut out the dairy and anything that came from a can or box. The challenge had us looking at our sleep patterns and targeted 7+ hours each night to allow the body to recover. I dropped 15 pounds and 47 seconds off of the fitness retest WOD.

Baseline WOD for time:

4 Rounds

• 12 Hang Cleans @ 95lbs
• 12 Burpees
• 12 Pull-ups

Finished in 9:10 on the retest.

I have built solid momentum in my training through the accountability of the challenge and the accomplishments revealed in the results of my retest.

I hope to share with you my continued results and journey over the next few months while tackling a few Spartan Beasts and a Ragnar Relay in November.

I love me some rest days but I often find myself wondering if the bumper plates miss me like I miss them. The plan was to sleep in til 6 am but that did not happen and found myself tossing and turning for most of the early morning hours. I still need to stick to my plan to win the day, regardless. That means sticking to the meal plan, getting purposeful movement and not allowing myself to succumb to comfort through some sugary treat. I started the day with some box breathing and then right into Tuesday’s ROMWOD followed up with a good walk. I felt the effects of not hitting my sleep target but buy keeping true to the rest of my routine I was able to keep my focus and stay on target.

Motivation quotes are great and then embed the quote on a picture of an athlete going HAM – instant success, right?

This blog is going to run counter to any of the current get fit/skinny/healthy fad programs of the day. This is a personal tracker (read accountability) for my journey as I prepare for a couple of Spartan Beasts and a Ragnar Relay. We put in hard work everyday, eat clean and #chasewellness in every pursuit.

Yesterday’s WOD was a good test.

8 minute EMOM

• 10 KB DL (2 * 53)
• 30 Double Unders

15 Minute Metcon

27, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3

• Thrusters @ 75 lbs
• Push-Ups/Barbell Row (Alternated rounds to get a pull into the WOD)

Finisher

• Strict Pull Ups 4 * 8

In the evening, I followed up with a nice ROMWOD session and some meditation.