Cleverness

a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. 

Sun Tzu- The Art of War

A clever fighter is a talented fighter, one who was born for the fight.  This fight may be anything, in the context of the text it was the warrior against an enemy, but in modern times it may still be this but it can also be applied to what you do for training.  

Each of us bears our own strengths and weaknesses.  In our strengths we may be thought of as "clever" and in our weaknesses, much less so.  The winning in our strength comes from being able to do it with ease.  

Strategically and tactically, what we do must become natural to us.  If you want to become stronger, you must have the technique to the point to where you no longer think about it.  If you want to become faster, your stride must become greater and your breathing more rhythmical so that you may become faster. 

Cleverness is the ability to be smarter than what you are fighting against.  Most of us, in training, are against inanimate objects and therefore our plan may dictate the terms of our cleverness.  Do not let things get in your way.  Become clever, and greater than your foe, and you'll keep winning. 

Securing yourself against defeat

Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. 
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In lifting, cardio, fighting, whatever....we have the power to conquer the exercises at hand.  Sour security to conquer is in us, by training hard and consistently.  The effort required of us in training allows for us to win out, not to be defeated by the task at hand.  

Usually, when I attempt a max effort lift or a run to achieve a specific time is when I discover whether or not I was adequately prepared and strategic with my training.  Recently it was a run that I attempted, and won out on, that tested me and my training.  


I used to run a lot, but in recent years I've been slack because it just hasn't been fun until very recently.  Since May, I've been doing a lot more running, largely due to the dad bod and the 232lbs I was up to.  Now I'm back down into the 2-teens and only recently I ran a sub-eight minute mile.  Barely, but still made it.  

Spending so much time lifting, I forgot how it was to conquer a cardio goal.  It was awesome. However, it was also very, very hard.  I could've easily not have made it, due to the wind, heat, whatever.  But I came in at 7:59 for a mile, the 2nd following it was above 10 minutes.  

To push myself to that point was wonderful, but hard.  I trained and trained, without knowing if I'd be successful or not, but won out in the end.  I secured myself from defeat, but wasn't certain about defeating the run.  

Train hard, train smart, train consistently and you'll be ready for any "enemy" that comes your way.  

Breaking the resistance without fighting

 supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Many of my previous posts involved weightlifting or some other type of exercise related to it.  Today's I'd like to go into a little more about the other stuff that I do, kickboxing.  I have classes that I teach that I strategize with "fitness first."  Considering that it's at a general fitness center (wellness center), this concept makes sense.  The next strategy is for those within to learn how to defend themselves.

Defense also requires that you do not fear your attacker.  Often, it's the mere presence of an attacker that may make the difference in how the fight is fought.  It not only is physical warfare, but psychological too.  If you have lost psychologically, then you will have lost physically.

Unless you're in an elite level, fighting for millions of dollars, you really don't know what you're up against should you ever come to blows with someone.  The reason is that you haven't watched any film of your opponent, or strategize against them.  In life and death, the only strategy is overwhelming force.  Without it, you may lose.  With it, you may project an image of strength, confidence, and determination.   You may still lose, but you put up a fight.

The best fights are the ones we don't fight.  The ones that our mere presence changes it all.  The most well trained fighters and warriors in the world know this.  They avoid the fight, but if the fight is brought to them they unleash a terror that is unlike any other.  This is the way of the warrior.  

Let your great object be victory

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. 
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

While being educated in how to perform, program, and implement exercises for specific goals, we had to do one assignment that involved annual training plans.  Now, these training plans aren't the most in-depth plans, but nevertheless, they exist.  As a trainer, especially in that I work with the public rather than athletes as much of my education set the stage for, I generally don't work with annual plans.  In fact, many of the plans that I have to implement are much, much, shorter since many people don't particularly like to have long term plans.  

Much of the time, the goal for many of my clients and class participants is to look better naked.  Seriously.  Think about your fitness goals, many start out with wanting to look better and they generally progress to something else, such as being stronger or having broader shoulders or a bigger butt, whatever.  Many of these goals are accomplish-able through continuous changing of plans, rather than sticking with lengthier campaigns.  When I say campaign, I really refer to those long term training plans that I was taught how to do.  


I had shown, in one of my video posts, one of the programs that I will implement with some individuals.  This particular program that I highlighted has the benefit of being able to be implemented short term, so 4-8 weeks, or long term >12 weeks.  It depends then on distribution and selection of exercises.  So this campaign may be costly when implemented at length, or it can be an asset, depends on the goal.  

When deciding on a program, decide on your goals first.  As long as you're making strides towards your goal, then don't modify the program, at least too much.  If you feel as if you're inching a long and see no progress then modify the program to re-stimulate gains.  Now, I'm sure that I have colleagues that would disagree with my approach, and for an athlete that is more than accurate, but I don't work with athletes, generally.  

So set your sight on your goals and the programs will follow.  

Being acquainted with the evils of war.

 It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. 
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

If you've followed my blog for awhile then you know my perpetual war on the "dad bod."  There are many reasons behind this war and it's many battles, but I assure you, I'm very acquainted with my enemy.  With this war, I'm also familiar with how to fight it, complete with the successes and losses.  

Even with the knowledge that I have pertaining to exercise and nutrition, sometimes it's hard to wage the battles necessary to win the war.  So for those of you who remain in a constant struggle with your weight understand this, I do and many other fitness professionals do too.  The major difference is in the knowledge that we have.  I know how to teach an individual how to do something, I can hold you accountable for your actions, and I can reach out to the network that I have created to help you achieve your goals. 

Those are what I bring to the table as a fitness professional.  On the other hand, holding myself accountable is something much more difficult.  Having the knowledge is an asset, as I don't have to go look for things to guide me, what I generally need more than anything is someone to give me shit when I do or don't do something I'm supposed to.

Regarding Sun Tzu's quote from his text, I fight the war on an ongoing basis, and thus I know better than many how to fight it.  I empathize with my clients going through the same fight, as opposed to someone who has never had to undertake the fight.  I value my empathy and use it to help guide my coaching.  The war is ongoing and I'm still learning how to fight it better.  

All warfare is based on deception.

The title for this post has been taken from "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese general.  This text can be applied near universally to all aspects of our lives.  I chose to open my series on fitness, nutrition and how it can be related with the opening quote.

Deception is a tricky thing, obviously.  With regards to fitness & nutrition, everything can be deceptive.  We are led to believe that running (fitness) or kale (nutrition) is the key to successful body composition and health.  This is deceiving because they are in fact, healthy options, but nevertheless they're options only.  I know many who hate running and are very fit people.  I personally hate kale and I'm really not that unhealthy.

The industry thrives on deception, on making things larger than they appear (or smaller).  Go back several decades and the thoughts on women and weight training would get you laughed at, now it's recommended
and encouraged to prevent osteoporosis.  At the advent of weight training machines, they were promoted as superior to free weights such as barbells and dumbbells.  However, you look at any program that any athlete trains in, at least the good ones, they use free weights to train.

When we engage in fitness, regardless of the format, we are deceiving our bodies....or at least our minds are.  We convince ourselves that it is the right thing to do, sometimes we are right, and others we aren't.  The right answer is everything is beneficial in some capacity.  Weights make us stronger, running improves our bone density and cardiovascular fitness, fighting sports make sure we realize that we are not invincible.

We are at war with our health, our media for projecting their thoughts into it, and our way of life.  Each deceives us in its own way, some of which may be beneficial in the long term, others are much more flash than substance.  The more you learn about what you can do the better your lives will be.