Odd Implements and Country Strong

If you’ve ever known a farmer or someone who does manual labor, you know they can move anything, at any angle.  They have what you call country strength. Training with odd objects can help you take your gym strength to country strength.

  • Sandbags, tires, logs and rocks can all be lifted and moved outside of the normal movement patterns you use in the gym.

  • Shouldering and pressing, lunging, and bear hug/Zercher carries are some of my favorite movements with odd implements.

  • A good way to introduce this type of training is to add 1 or 2 movements to the end of your normal workout.

    • Try bear hugging a heavy medicine ball and go for a walk.  Give it a couple of weeks and you may be surprised to see how strong your core feels.


Stay (Country) Strong,
Scott

Adjusting To The Darker Months, One Day At A Time

Adjusting To The Darker Months, One Day At A Time

At the stroke of midnight on November 4th, the clock on most of your “smart” devices immediately fell back one hour without any effort on your part. Your body, however, did not synchronize with the recent time change quite as seamlessly. The internal clock within the human body does not reprogram itself very quickly; implying that the time shift in the fall and the spring can influence your performance (and furthermore, your health) in unexpected ways.

Off-Season Bike Training: What It Should Look Like and Why It’s So Important

Off-Season Bike Training: What It Should Look Like and Why It’s So Important

In any form of training, there are many reasons using a periodized approach to the year in focus is essential for developing a well-rounded athlete. Using an Annual Training Plan provides a means to periodize and structure purposeful, and quality approaches to every “block” of the year. Whether you are a runner, cyclist, skier, or a jack-of-all trades in mountain sports, periodization allows each phase of the year to have a focus for improvement in a specific area, but not all areas of improvement need to be sport-specific

Forming New Habits: Ritual/Repeat and Simple/Sustainable

Forming New Habits: Ritual/Repeat and Simple/Sustainable

Microchange is more simple and sustainable than macrochange - however, it is often overlooked. Why distinguish between the two, is not all change the same? Yes, and no. A focused athlete who idealizes the accomplishment of competition or setting new personal bests is putting themself through a long-term process of physical change. However, there are smaller, "microchanges" that often go overlooked. These small, sustainable, and impactful rituals could help encourage the larger "macrochange"

The Small Difference That Can Make All The Difference

The Small Difference That Can Make All The Difference

One of my personal favorite success stories within my coaching career came a few years ago.  A local marathon runner had hired me to help him Boston Qualify at an upcoming race. Now this wasn’t his first rodeo.  He was a seasoned athlete having 17 years of running under his belt. He had completed over 20 marathons and had come so close to Boston Qualifying but had never quite been able to hit the mark.

Adventures in Missing the Point

Adventures in Missing the Point

This is a piece depicting how clients can “miss the point”. Clients state their goals, wishes, or desired outcomes, but do not realize that reaching those goals requires consistent practice of smaller items. The idea that needs to be conveyed is that improvement is a practice and a process. It's not something you do twice a week, but something you do every day. A paradigm shift from goals being abstract to PRACTICE ORIENTED SKILLS is the catalyst for behavior change. Much of the inspiration for this comes from the book, Talent Code by Dan Coyle. 

Two Layering Methods for Cold Weather Training

Two Layering Methods for Cold Weather Training

Training outdoors throughout the winter can be a challenge to our mental and physical capacity on many levels. The days are shorter. Our bodies crave the long sunny days of spring and summer. Finding the motivation to get outdoors on dark winter days is hard enough. Add in the temperature factor and many of us retreat to the indoor life of treadmills and trainers. Would you spend more time outside if you could prepare your body for the extremes of winter?

Nutrition Periodization

Nutrition Periodization

Athletes will spend months preparing for their event(s). But what is often missed is the nutrition program that goes alongside their training. I am here to say don’t wait until the week or even day before your event to try and hone in on your nutrition. It is important to create an overall nutrition plan that begins the first day of training and continues well after completion of your last event. This concept is called Nutrition Periodization.

The Ins and Outs of Flying with a Bike: Part 2

The Ins and Outs of Flying with a Bike: Part 2

You probably read our previous post on which airline to fly and what Now that you’ve booked a flight, have your trip itinerary dialed, and you are ready for adventure by bike, here are the necessary steps you should take to make sure your bicycle arrives to your destination in one piece!

The Ins and Outs of Flying with a Bike: Part 1

The Ins and Outs of Flying with a Bike: Part 1

Since I was 14, I’ve been traveling with a bicycle almost every time I leave home. A bike is a means to explore, exercise, and interact with a new place in a more vivid and intimate way. And as of the past 3 years, the bike has been the sole purpose of my travel. However, until I moved West, I had only flown with a bicycle three times…

Fitness vs Fatigue

Fitness vs Fatigue

More and more, I see athletes schedule training sessions every day of the week.  I don’t know if it’s just because they can’t sit still, they are worried about losing fitness, or for many of us exercise has become a way of escaping the stress of everyday life, but this practice is likely leading to a decrease in your performance.  

Choosing your “A” Race

Choosing your “A” Race

Whether you are new to the sport or well immersed into the scene, most of us like to test our fitness against a distance or course.  When an athlete asks for my opinion on which races they should sign up for throughout the year, my suggestion is to start with their “A” race and work backwards from there.  An “A” race is your most important race of the year and the one that you want to show up to the start line in the best shape possible for.

Stress-Training Continuum

Stress-Training Continuum

As I have been perusing training websites lately, overtraining seems to be a hot topic.  I know it’s hard to believe but the internet has wildly different opinions on the subject.  Several authors argue that there is no such thing as overtraining, only under recovery. Some argue that overtraining is a badge of honor.  So, what is the truth?

Mental Fortitude

Mental Fortitude

Mental fortitude is built on many qualities, for me, the most essential being passion, the source of my emotions and drive.  Discovering goals to direct my passions toward enables focus and commitment.  They provide fuel to overcome obstacles and hardship.  I strive to understand the factors that enhance my passions and those that diminish them.  I channel my thoughts and actions toward the positive and away from the negative.

One Thing That Most New Runners Do Wrong. Why Running Slow Makes You Faster

One Thing That Most New Runners Do Wrong. Why Running Slow Makes You Faster

Look, I get it.  Running slow makes you faster?  It sounds counterintuitive, which is why most novice runners go too hard/too fast/too soon.  I seems logical to think that the harder I run, the faster i’ll get. And so it goes, we want to finish every run gasping for air to make us feel “like we got a workout”.  

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