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.  

No benefit to prolonged warfare....

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare
- Sun Tzu

Strength training is boring.  The act of becoming stronger takes time, energy, and determination but nevertheless is still boring.  On the other hand, this boring can be super effective at getting you strong.  However at some point, you will not receive any benefits to the program as your body will have outlasted it's adaptability (for now).  

For the most part, strength training is a war.  It's a war against your body.  It's a war against gravity and usually a heavy-ass thing being pulled down by it's forces.  Strength gains can be fast or can be slow, not unlike gaining ground in actual warfare.  Sometimes you reach an area of which you gain nor lose ground, sort of like "digging in the trenches."

Over time, this "digging" leads to a retreat.  It's not to say that you are over-trained, just overreached for a period.  This can ultimately diminish your return and no benefit takes place.  Failure to change the plan or to rest can result in no more gains and just wasting your time.  

Often it's the cycling of different programs and plans that will lead to the largest gains and the fewest failures.  Sometimes it's the exact same lifts as a prior plan, but it's the organizational change that makes the difference.  In all fairness, the main lifts such as the deadlift, the squat, the bench press, the overhead press, and hell, even the pull-up are all the best things out there.  If you can do well in all of these, you're strong in general.  

Strength gains are made by manipulating the sets/reps/weight, and consistently pursuing greater and greater workloads.  They're gained by being patient and hanging on just long enough for it to become ineffective.  Too long and it's a failure and no benefit.  The war is then lost.  

Attack him where he is unprepared

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. 
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

When you think about working out and many of the gains that you'll receive, either through strength, growth, or weight lost, we need to keep our bodies in a state of confusion and unpreparedness.  The more efficient you are in something, the less effective it will be to achieve the desired result, especially when it comes to body modification, less so strength changes.  

Go to any gym and you'll see people mindlessly doing the same thing over and over again.  It's not difficult to see why, it's what they know.  It also minimizes the soreness and pain that come with change.  Change isn't easy, but it's necessary to improve.  

The changes don't need to be large to be effective.  If you're lifting 20lbs weights for 10 reps, do 12, or go up to 25.  If you're running a 10 min mile, do a 9:55 min mile.  None of these changes are large, but they can have a profound impact especially when you do it over and over again.  

Your body is a constantly changing machine.  With each day/week/month/year there is something different about it as you put food in, movement out, and bear all of the emotional burdens that come with life.  Your body can be prepared for anything and will adapt to do so.  Hit it when it's not ready.  

Upcoming series'

One of my OCD tendencies is that I like to do things in series, if I am fortunate enough to do so.  With that, I've decided that in the next several weeks you'll be seeing three different series being played out here.  I've actually begun one of them already and have the next two scheduled to begin next week.

The first is the "Art of War" series.  This uses concepts from Sun Tzu's classic text in a fitness and nutrition context.  This book is often cited in virtually everything from literal warfare to business methodology.

Next is my online training series.  This is more of an instructional piece showing you what I do for online training and how it's accessible for everyone.

Finally is an interview series.  I'll be sharing the success story of one of my clients which will hopefully inspire you.

This all begins this upcoming week.  I hope you enjoy.