About

Principles

I operate my training programs based on a few key principles.

Devotion; not duty

One thing I can do for you is to help you build a health identity. I can go into that a lot more when we meet, but that identity will make everything easier, not just in whatever goal you are setting, but in your entire fitness, health and life journey. Here is an example. A large part of my health identity as I shared above is being a runner. I don’t “have” to go out on runs. I don’t dread going out on runs. I go out on runs, because I am a runner. But it wasn’t always this way. It started as a habit that I had to reinforce week after week, because I felt there were health benefits in running. But month after month and year after year running started to establish itself as part of my self identity. Now my need to run is deep. It is profound. It has become a devotion, not a duty. Devotion is an intrinsic motivation. It is something we want to do. It is a love. Duty is an extrinsic motivation. It is something we feel obligated to do. It is a requirement. Turning the work you need to do in order to reach your goal state into a devotion makes it infinitely easier and we can do that by building up a certain health identity.

Perseverance; not pain

Look I actually like the pain and invite you to crawl right up inside it, feel it in your muscles, in your lungs, in the beating of your heart as you sprint the last 100 meters. It makes me feel alive and young. But that being said, it isn’t necessary. What is necessary is consistency. Your goals probably require a significant temporal commitment and to be consistent for the long term we have to create something you want to do day in and day out, month in and month out, year after year. The program should be built around what you love and what gets you going as much as around what your end goals are. In that way it will require your perseverance, but it will not require your pain.

Slow; but inevitable

Many goals will be about changing your body on the organ level or even sometimes on the cellular level. That kind of change is so profound it has to be slow by nature. The Monarch lifespan as a butterfly is on average 2-5 weeks (setting aside the migratory generation).  It takes 1-2 weeks for a Monarch butterfly to go through the final stage of its metamorphosis and emerge from its chrysalis.  However, during the larva/caterpillar stage of around 10-14 days it is going through a number of changes that lay the foundation for its final metamorphosis.  So effectively, it takes about half the lifetime of the butterfly for it to even become the butterfly.  While in the chrysalis the Monarch caterpillar’s body is almost completely broken down (literally digested) and reassembled into a butterfly.  At the end the entire digestive system, muscles, heart, and nervous system of the caterpillar are brand new.  A Monarch butterfly is not a Monarch caterpillar that grew wings and antennas.  It has become something completely different.  Some goals may take many years, and maybe, just as the Monarch butterfly, appreciable quantities of your entire life. That is slow, but I assure you that much like the metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly, if you give it the time, it is also inevitable.

Hidden; but profound

Related to the above point, when you are changing on such a fundamental level, much like the Monarch butterfly, you have a lot of preparatory work to do. Some may need to get their metabolic health in order. Others may need to build a basic level of aerobic capacity. Others may just need to learn some technique on different lifts and about the basics of protein metabolism. But in all cases there will be a stage of change that is almost completely hidden. But it is perhaps the most profound change that will happen in your journey and if you pay close attention you’ll start to notice it. So sometimes when the going is slow and you are frustrated with your progress, focus less on the lack of outward change and more on the profound changes happening within your body as you get ready for outward change.

It’s the journey

Many of you won’t believe me now when I say this, so just park this page in your bookmarks for a few years from now when you are standing on that high mountain top or at that finish line or holding that trophy or on that stage looking your best in those tight ass posing shorts or playing with that great grandchild at the park, because by then you will have realized that as great as the triumph feels, it was the journey that really mattered. It was the dust, sweat and sometimes blood that marred your body after the long runs or rides. It was the PRs you put up month after month under the iron bar. It was the fists that you bumped and the backs that you slapped in the shared camaraderie of effort. It was the great vault of blue under which you strived day in and day out. It was the butterflies in your stomach at the starting line of competition and the sheer elation at the end of a valiant effort, no matter whether that effort ended in victory or defeat. At the end of it all, it was the journey that changed you in a lasting and meaningful way. It was the journey that mattered.

Flexible Approach

I do an initial set of free training sessions after which I will prepare an initial program for you targeted to your level, likes, dislikes and goals. All for free. After that, I am open to training you at my gym, at your gym, at your home, at my home or remotely. Or you can just go off and try working on your own with that initial program. I can be as hands on or as hands off as you like. You want someone to go on a run with you? I’m down. You want someone to spend an hour giving you a masterclass in proteins and branch chain amino acids? I can do that too. You want someone to review your diet and give you an idea of where you might make improvements? Got it. In a word, I am flexible.