Ten Health Tips

By: Brandon Conner

1. Keep workouts short and intense. Think quality, over quantity. Interval work and circuit work, with compound movements.
2. Consume real foods, not boxes and/or bags. Stick to perimeter of the grocery store. When possible, eat Paleo – meat, veggies, nuts & seeds, some fruit, and a little starch.
3. Work on your weaknesses. When it comes to well-rounded fitness, there is infinitely more benefit in developing competency in your weaknesses, than perfecting your strengths.
4. Get creative with your training sessions. Mix it up! Having a competent coach to program your day-to-day training can be the next step in achieving your fitness goals.
5. Mechanics-Consistency-Intensity. Make sure that you are working with a coach who will keep you to this progression in your training; developing good movement and proper mechanics, becoming consistent with those said mechanics, and then ramping up the intensity that movement can be performed at.
6. Don’t underestimate the importance of a good night sleep. This is especially important when you’re training hard. The harder you’re pushing your conditioning work, or the heavier you’re going on your strength work, the more you should strive for a full 8 hours (or even 9, if possible) of sleep a night. I know this isn’t possible for everyone, but before spending $100 on some new fancy supplement, try to figure out a way to get an extra 30-45 minutes of sleep a night. You will get 10 times more benefit, than any legal supplementation could dream of giving you. So, get in bed a little earlier and see some extra gainz.
7. When ramping up intensity of training, err on the side of eating too much, rather than not enough. Your body needs to recover, and properly fueling it to do so is important. Work with your coach on a nutrition plan to dial in your macros (protein, fat, & carbohydrate). This can help take your training to the next level.
8. When it comes to fitness, don’t be afraid to get outside of your comfort zone and try new things. If you’ve never been rock climbing, go learn. Haven’t done the Olympic lifts before? Find a competent coach and learn how. Kettlebells are foreign to you? Get someone to teach you all the different ways to swing them. Never done gymnastics work on the bars and rings? Pursue gaining some ability there, as well. Become a jack of all trades when it comes to your physical abilities. The fittest athlete is the most well-rounded athlete.
9. In your attempt to become a well-rounded athlete, don’t underestimate the importance of getting stronger. There are 10 physical skills (endurance, stamina, power, speed, flexibility, balance, accuracy, agility, coordination, & STRENGTH). The nine all rely, to some degree or another, on strength.  So get stronger. Do heavy squats, presses, and pulls, of all varieties, on a regular basis. Stick with a coach who is good at programming strength cycles. This can help increase both your strength, as well as your overall fitness.
10. Be consistent! This is the main thing. Whether your stuck at home or you have to train early, or you forgot your shoes… Find a way to make it work! Do push-ups and sit-ups in your living room if you have to, and save those back squats for tomorrow. Just get in the habit of sticking to your training schedule as close as possible; despite how you feel, and the results will come.