For almost five years I've used this blog as a place to jot down some of the thoughts, rants and synaptic rumblings that I've had. Although I feel that the content I write may be "functional" in nature and provide some readers with food for thought, there's not much of it which is specifically fitness oriented. So I've made the decision to move my blog off of this page and give it a home elsewhere.  If you've enjoyed what's been posted here, you can continue to follow my ramblings here.

Or you can just read my new post "What's Your 'Eiffel Tower'?" and decide from there.

Thank you all for reading, following, sharing, and commenting at this location for the past 5 years and I hope to continue to engage with you at my blog's new home.

numerous records resulting from his prolific goal-scoring ability and physical play.  He played his last full NHL season at the age of 51 and his final shift in the professional ranks at the age of 69.

Aside from the records which he set and milestones achieved during his career, one bears his name and exemplifies his on-ice presence.  “The Gordie Howe Hat Trick” consists of a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game, .

“If you play a little rough,” he once said, “you get respect.  And with respect, you get just a little bit more space on the ice”

Now, I don't condone the violence that sometimes seems to infiltrate professional sports, and can overshadows the skill and sportsmanlike conduct that is meant to prevail (that's a topic for sports bloggers to argue), but in this case I look at the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” a bit more metaphorically:

A goal… the accomplishment of personal endeavours;

An assist… helping someone else achieve their endeavours in life;

A fight… that tough decision that takes you a bit out of your comfort zone and pushes your limits.  This isn’t necessarily of a physical nature.  It’s the stand against a perceived wrongdoing (whether it be to you or someone else), speaking your mind on a particular issue or joining a cause for what you feel is “a greater good”.

As we reflect and celebrate the achievements and life of Mr. Howe, think about a Gordie Howe Hat Trick -  “peaceful, beautiful and with no regrets!”

R.I.P.  Gordie

Mid sentence I stop... it's the end of a long training day: energy's down, and thought processes are slowing.  I've just caught myself complaining about the length of time that it takes the wreath laying procession at the Remembrance Day ceremony.

Embarrassed and saddened, I scoffed at my gripes and made note to my client that I have absolutely NOTHING to be moaning about and recalled the reality of what it is that we commemorate on November 11th.

This was just the reminder that I needed.  That gut check that MY life is pretty effin' cushy.  That my "bad days" and "trials" are fleeting moments.  My only struggle is to keep this reminder close to heart... not just today, November 11th but EVERY day!

All I can say is Thank You!

I got in a discussion with a client this morning which has sparked some synaptic firings that will end in me asking for YOUR FEEDBACK (so please e-mail me or post a comment below or on Facebook with your thoughts).

My conversation was about the prevalence of “shit” in the workplace.  Now, let me clarify that this was not pertaining to modern day personnel issues (that’s a topic for a whole other blog post), but to the incidence of candy, cake, cupcakes and other sweet goodies that are brought into our work environments. 

More and more I hear about the stuff that rolls through the door at peoples’ offices and as I sit here isolated in my little cave, my jaw hits the ground.   I hear the rationale behind bringing it in – leftovers from Little Johnny’s birthday party, Suzy in HR’s birthday, “Marcy was having a bad day yesterday so I thought some cupcakes would cheer her up”,  etc… then I wonder, if people can so readily consume that stuff and think that “a little treat” is okay once in a while… okay… everyday… okay, okay…. every time I walk by the tray on the table in the entranceway, what will the consumption be like if the “treats” are then deemed healthy.

Let’s take a quick break from that train of thought and look at what’s ahead of us.  Firstly there’s the devilishly sweet-friendly Halloween extravaganza in the month of October and half of November as we so conscientiously remove the candy from our house and take it to work – so sneaky!  That’s followed up by Thanksgiving feasts – “mmm, Aunt Jenny’s pecan pie is to DIE for” – you know that isn’t making it to work.  Then comes Christmas and the New Year – “I can’t wait to set those Resolutions, lose these few extra pounds and stop eating sugar”.  Oh, and if your birthday is stuck in the middle of all this, I hate to say it but you’re screwed!

All right, back to my synaptic firings.  Please don’t get me wrong, I think the act of workplace sharing and wanting to make co-workers happy is a wondrous thing and may create amazing cohesion in the workplace (it may also be related to those personnel issues mentioned above but we’ll let Suzy in HR take care of that after she snaps out of her sugar coma). 

Evidently, I don’t know about “the modern working environment” as I pretty much work alone, and I can only imagine how tough it would be to change this environment and acceptance within the workplace.   But no one ever said that change is easy!  We’ve managed to implement ‘Scent Free’ policies, nut and allergen policies and we’ve pushed smokers further and further away from the building.  So I wonder, why can't the same courtesies be applied with regards to food choices (sugar was just named above cigarettes and alcohol as the 'most addictive and dangerous substance' of our time). 

So I now ask for your help… how can the “crappy" treats be removed from workplace culture, the happiness and social dynamic brought about by sharing something “yummy” with others be maintained, and the consumption of low fat, gluten-free or organic snacks (all perceived as healthy) not go off-the-wall (and the calorie consumption exceed that previously consumed in unhealthy treats)?

(I am serious in asking for your thoughts as to what works/ might work, so please comment below, or on Facebook or drop me an e-mail with your thoughts.)

Last weekend, Nova Scotia experienced its first mud run/ obstacle race.  Mud Hero toted a 6km long run across diverse terrain, 16 obstacles along the way including walls to scale, slides and fireman’s poles to descend, beams and cargo nets to traverse, all covered with lots of mud… and let’s not forget that this all took place on a ski hill. 

In the past few years, obstacle racing has experienced a rate of growth that may be unprecedented in the history of participatory sports, and registration for this event was so popular that a second day of racing was created to meet the demand.

Their website states that:

“Mud Hero is the ultimate place to scale new summits. Conquer your fear of muck, madness and mayhem and embrace your love of friends, fitness and fun. Crush your inner wimp as you crank your adrenaline to push yourself and your fellow Heroes to the finish (without spilling over laughing).”

I, of course, was somewhat of a sceptic.  The first ever mud run… at a ski hill… it’s going to be a clusterf@#$. Parking.  Too many “keeners” jacked up on too much Redbull.  Absolute chaos with all the different starting "waves”.  Backlogs at the obstacles along the way.  It’s going to be a nightmare.  BOY WAS I WRONG!

EVERYTHING that I've heard following the event has been overwhelmingly positive.  I am thoroughly impressed, and tip my hat to the event organizers at Crazy Canuck Events.

As I listened to the recaps of last Saturday, I began to think of all the subtle life lessons that could be taken from this muddy, gritty experience:

Lesson 1
Sometimes life gets a little messy.  That's okay.  Make the most of it.  Don’t let a little muck get ya down.  Pulling through the other side of a mess it what growth and learning are all about.

Lesson 2
It’s not always the obstacles that are hard – sometimes it’s the journey in between.  I’m sure climbing over those walls was a son-of-a-gun, and sliding down the fireman’s pole was nerve-wracking for some... but I bet none of them compared to running up and down a ski hill. 

Lesson 3
The obstacles in our way may not be as tough as we envisioned… or how we view them from a distance.  We create visions of daunting obstacles and devastating obstructions along our journey and when we finally get there... they're actually not that bad.  Stay positive.

Lesson 4
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat”.  We often look at a situation and see two solutions: follow the masses and plow through it or avoid it all together.  Far too often we can tackle these situations with a little creativity (or craziness) - we can go over, go under, stray a little from the pack and create our own style or “hells yeah”, take the bull by the horns and plow on through – we don’t have to get stuck in the black-and-white.  Sometimes we can conquer a fear or prove that we’re a little stronger or better prepared than we thought by overcoming that barrier…

Lesson 5
… or sometimes going around is the wise decision.  Now, as much as I’m saying “buckle down and overcome”, there are times when the wise, excuse-free choice may simply be to circumvent an obstacle.  This might change our course a bit and may make our journey a bit longer, but the important thing is that we end up back on track headed forward in our journey.  Be honest with yourself when answering the question, “why can’t I do this?”

Lesson 6
Don’t be afraid to reach out for a helping hand – you might be surprised.  You’ll be shocked at the camaraderie that some of those seemingly super-serious, GoPro-sporting, Camelbak-toting, Vibrams-wearing super-studs (and I use that term in a gender-neutral manner) display.  Don't be afraid to ask for help (and don’t be afraid to be that person who glances over their shoulder to see if you can pull someone over when you reach the top).  Karma’s a son-of-a-gun!

Lesson 7
Sometimes all the mud won’t come clean and you’re left with a little reminder.  Despite how much you scrub or what chemicals you use, that nice white t-shirt is always gonna be a little off-white and the eyelets of your sneakers will always have a bit of mud caked in them as a permanent reminder of your journey.  It’s okay to wear those badges with pride – you were brave enough to step up to the start-line and to get a little dirty.

Lesson 8
The correlation between our efforts and the results attained is a valuable one.  The preparation that we put into something is pretty much guaranteed to be reflected in the outcome that we achieve. 

Lesson 9
It’s not always about speed (and those of you who know me, can attest to how tough that is for me to write).  The fastest competitors completed this event in a little over 33 minutes.  The slowest.... well .... who cares?  Not only were they brave enough to start, they were strong enough to finish – and who am I to talk, I didn’t even put my sneakers on!

To all those people who completed this event… Congratulations.  I'll see ya next year!

As with the rest of our lives, we often develop patterns and habits in our physical training routine (that’s right folks, I’m actually going to write about training).  Generally, working out with a specific goal in mind is tough.  It usually means that we’re focusing on improving things that we’ve outline as weaknesses (which means we’ve gone through the process of identifying these areas – critical self analysis can be shitty) and identified these as priorities.

Our human wiring predisposes us towards positive reinforcement – that is we are more inclined to repeat actions that elicits a favourable response – so we tend to opt for these behaviours (one of the reasons I suggest not using food as a reward).  So in our “workout world”, we tend to do the things that make us feel good – or make us feel like we’ve had a really great workout – these naturally become our preferences.

Now, here comes the part where I take back some of my previous words…

As part of the Resolution Roadtrip series that I wrote to kick off 2013, I wrote a blog on doing the things that you make you smile, and hopefully you’ve been able to accomplish that to date.  But with about 15% of 2013 behind us, it’s time to buckle down and get serious about the goals that we set (and refined) over the past 8 weeks.

So, don’t get me wrong, feeling great after a workout is motivating.  It increases the likelihood that we’ll come back and have another one.  That’s great if workout frequency is our goal (hopefully that habit has been established), but it’s time to bear down and focus on the priorities - why are we busting our butts in the gym.  It’s time to walk into the gym after a long day of work and say, “I’m gonna bust out that workout that kicks my ass and own it!  Why?  Because in order to achieve my goal, I have to!”

What do you want to achieve? 
What are you prepared to do to achieve it?

A few days ago, I shared a post from Ido Portal on my Facebook page (this guy has some pretty awesome philosophies on movement – and some pretty amazing ability).  In his post he talks about how we all “want” to achieve certain standards.  We want to lift heavier weights or perform certain movements proficiently, but he notes that so many of us haven’t accurately assessed the requirements necessary to achieve these standards.

Lou Holtz, a famous football coach from Notre Dame encouraged his players to ask themselves the question “What’s important now?” 25 times throughout the day as a means of keeping themselves focused on the task at hand – for them that task was winning the National Championship. 

What’s important for you? 
Right now? 
Tomorrow morning? 
Tomorrow at lunch time? 
When you lace up your sneakers?

** If you’re at the stage where you are just starting out – you might want to go back and read the Resolution Roadtrip, establish a starting point, develop your game-plan and bookmark this post for another month down the road after you’ve had a chance to play a while.

I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, in fact I’m not a huge fan of any Hallmark-exploited festivity – but I might as well use whatever opportunity I can to make a point.

I’m the last guy that anyone should turn to for relationship advice, but I have been in the fitness game for a while, and I realize that a romantic relationship(s) has a lot of close similarities to the relationship we have (or should have) with our own health and fitness.

1.       There has to be some commitment – one-night-stands tend to be unrewarding.  Making a healthy choice once in a while just doesn’t cut it.
2.       We seldom experience “love at first sight” - it usually takes a while to nurture the relationship;
3.       You have to respect your health.  It too can go “all crazy on your ass” if you don’t take care of it;
4.       Either relationship can elicit a heart-poundingly good time (both of which can improve health… wink)
5.       There are gonna be some ups and downs (no pun intended) – the key is working through them and coming out better off on other side;
6.       Things do get easier as you go along;
7.       Sometimes you need to spice things up a little;
8.       Worse case scenario for both… death.

… and a few differences between romantic relationships and our relationship with our health:

1.       Breaking up with your health is not an option (well I guess maybe it is but we typically call that something else);
2.       Your health won’t run a key down the side of your car or throw your shit on the front lawn when things go to hell;
3.       Diamonds, flowers and candy don’t help your health - the anatomical heart is not for sale (at least not legally);
4.       Your heart won’t be with anyone else – it’s yours for good so take care of it!

Well this is the final installment of my Resolution Road Trip, and today I’m going to be “that guy” to talk about the elephant in the room when it comes to goals and resolutions – failure.

You might remember the scene from G.I. Jane where Flea busts his knee in SERE training and Instructor Pyro asks him if he is hurt or injured.  Hurt means you walk it off and keep going, injured means that you give up and quit.

Well, I have a similar question when we lose sight of our goals, “Is it failure or is it a setback?”

Failure is simply a matter of perspective.  “One man’s failure is another man’s setback!”

A setback is the “hurt” of our road trip.  A point where we’ve veered off-course from our Plan of Action: you became distracted and goofed; your willpower was challenged and you succumbed to pressure; your schedule has become overwhelming and you’ve strayed from your PoA, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and forge forward to see a new day.

A failure indicates finality.  “I’m done, I’ve failed, and that’s that!”
 
A setback allows you to revisit The 7 Tips (they seem so official when I write that in capitals), maybe tweak your goals and re-work your PoA to something which is more manageable at this time.

A failure allows you bury your face in the pillow, only after taking your goals and PoA, balling it up and throwing it in the nearest garbage can along with the handful of Kleenex.

Suggestions for minimizing “setbacks”
Call these my “Bonus Tips” for success.

Be honest with yourself.  At numerous points along our road trip there were questions to ask ourselves, gut-checks to be had, and if at any one of these points we’ve been dishonest, then we’re fooling ourselves into believing that things are better than they are.  If things aren’t better… admit it and do something about it.  If these attempts don’t work… admit it and do something else.   If you’re struggling and you need help… then admit it and ask for help.  Things will not change if we don’t do something about it!   If we reach the point where we lack any forward momentum, then we’ve been tricking ourselves for a while thinking that things were going okay and we’d pull through it.  Be vigilant in looking at your progress, be honest.

Don’t worry about others.  I find that very frequently, when I talk to friends and clients about goals, objectives and their progress towards these there are a lot of references to what other people are doing or what presumably has worked for other people.  Who cares!?  Facebook statuses lie!  They’re not you.  They don’t have your life.  They don’t have your background.  Honestly, what they’re doing probably doesn’t even impact your life.  Concern yourself with your set of circumstances and the steps that you are taking (or not taking) to make that better!

No excuses.  YOU set a goal!  YOU developed a Plan of Action!  YOU were responsible for implementing these action steps!  The bottom line is that the onus lies with YOU to bring this to fruition (or at least to re-evaluate and make an adjustment so that YOU can).  And if things don’t go as planned, then YOU fell short of the expectations that YOU set for YOURSELF.  That’s the bottom line, so stand up, take responsibility, and move forward.

Suggestions for turning “failures” into “setbacks”
Remember, setbacks aren’t fun, but the important thing is that we keep moving forward and maintain some of that momentum, however little of it remains.

Try to find the positive and learn the lesson.  From every bump in the road there is the potential for a lesson to be learned.  What went wrong?  What were we doing right at the time of impact?  If the  bump is a repeat, how was our approach to it different than before and was this approach BETTER?

Tomorrow is a new day.  Despite setbacks today, tomorrow is a chance to start again with fresh outlooks, a modified game plan and renewed interest in success.  Don’t delay… don’t “wait ‘til Monday” to start.  Start tomorrow with a clear mind and ready to meet your challenge head-on.

No excuses.  Much like my “Bonus Tip for Success”, you can’t project sub-par performance elsewhere.  All of the reasons lie within.  Here’s a re-post of little video to put this in perspective.

Smile more!  That smile will help control your emotions.  It’ll keep things a little more positive and a little less glum.  It’ll keep the outside world (who are ready to make themselves feel better with someone else’s shortcomings) from fueling our feelings of failure or our instincts for excuses.

So as we proceed forward and begin to evaluate the “success” of our road trip, remember, having the courage to start is in itself triumphant.

Some say that if you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.  With life we innately accept some risk, and with risk comes a heightened potential for “failure”.  It’s how we recover from the “failures” that determines our success in life.

This wraps up Road Trip Resolution series with My7 Tips for Successful Resolutioning.  I hope that they have provided some thoughts towards making this year, and the ambitions that you have set out for yourselves a success.

If you’ve missed a blog or two, or want to recap I have provided links to them below:
Day 1: What Lies Ahead
Day 2: Hit the Gas! [Tip #1 Start Now]
Day 3: Directions [Tip #2 – Set Goals and Make a Plan]
Day 4: Smiles and Laughter [Tip #3 – Enjoy It]
Day 5: The Long Haul [Tip #4 – Think Long Term]
Day 6: That’s Better [Tip #5 – Don’t Think “Perfect” – Think “Better”]
Day 7: Pit Stop [Tip #6 – Rest and Relaxation]
Day 8:  9-1-1 [Tip #7 – Get Help]

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).