Life Mastery leads to....

Motivation and enthusiasm is at an all time high right now.  I have been reading, writing and making moves.  JLEvision has lifted off and I am inspired to give you the best content I can to help you reach your goals.  What about for you?  How has the first 2 weeks of the New Year gone for you?  Today, I talk about becoming a student of life.  This is something that has really hit me the past couple years and I want to share some valuable insights with you….

Life mastery is not living some perfect and fairytale life.  Bumps will be in the road.  Challenging times will arise.  But striving for this mastery of life has many benefits that will guide us to awesome living. 

Life Mastery leads to…

Happiness: Without this, nothing else matters.  No money, fancy cars, or big houses can make you happy.  You might be thinking, “Shoot, if someone gave me $1 million, I would be very happy”.  Yes, you are probably right.  You would be happy for a little while.  But if you are not happy right now, in this moment, then eventually that “money happiness” will wear off.  Happiness must come from within and striving for this “happy place” is so critical to wake up each day ready. 

Health: We need to be healthy, fit and strong to live at ultimate levels.  If you are overweight, underweight, sick or lack energy, you are simply falling short to your ultimate best you.  Healthy living is balanced living.  Creating physical, mental and spiritual health is important to gain this sense of balance.  Take the time to exercise, as this will pump endorphins into your bloodstream giving you the sense of confidence and esteem.  Spend time reading, praying or whatever works for you to grow your spirit.  The human spirit is one of the strongest forms of mankind.  And work on your mental conditioning.  Drive positive thoughts into your brain and limit the negative thinking.  Powerful things happen when optimism is on your side. 

Relationships:  There is nothing better than a great friend and relationship.  The people in my life have helped shape me into the man I am.  Vice versa, the wrong relationships/people in your life can suffocate and “poison” your life.  “You are the direct reflection of the top 5 people you spend the most time with,” says Jim Rohn.  Look around you; you are just like the people you are always with.  Make the change if needed.  Deeply cherish the awesome people in your life and never take for granted your relationships. 

Resilience: Obstacles are destined to be in our path.  Becoming a student of life will grow and produce resilience.  We need this spirit for the though times that life bring.  As I was running 300 miles, I came to the conclusion that determination is stronger than weakness.  Finding this deep determination in the toughest of times will force us to grow and expand into stronger and more resilient individuals.

Discipline:  Daily discipline might be the most important ingredient to living an awesome life.  Without discipline, the goals do not get achieved and your life becomes mediocre.  This habit of discipline will get you up in the morning for that early workout, force you to write in your journal and mold your mind to believe ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. 

Passion:  Having this intense enthusiasm towards life, your family and friends, your job, your health, your faith…basically anything that you come across, will give you an excitement to LIVE LIFE to the fullest.  There is no other way.  Enjoy the journey of life.  Take on the obstacles.  Get from the day!  Live with passion.  This life mastery habit will be contagious and others will follow.  The world will be a better place when we are passionately moving towards a consistent goal.

Start now to become a student of life.  Start with a book.  Start with a walk around the block.  Start with a positive thought.  Your life is in your hands. 

Make today a little better than yesterday and don’t settle for mediocrity.  

I challenge you!!

GO LIKE MY FACEBOOK PAGE!

 

5 daily practices to give you awesome days

You need to take 10 minutes to read today’s blog.  Not only am I giving you 5 extremely important practices to add to your life but also I want to feed inspiration into your veins.  Inspiration is the fuel that wakes you up in the morning with a positive mindset.  It gets you to the gym when you “have other things to do”.  Inspiration drives motivation in to your brain, which then creates the action needed to accomplish your biggest goals.  Inspiration gives you the “hustle mentality” and as we know having extreme work ethic drives success.  We cannot get caught in living our life mediocre.  This leads to average relationships and financial health, inadequate physical and spiritual well being and subpar living.  We all have the opportunity to do big things and it takes personal responsibility to make this happen.  Stay away from excuses.  Stay away from pessimism.  Stay away from unhealthy ways.  Direct your attention to positivity.  Be accountable.  And be laser focused in becoming the best you can be.  Everyday counts, so start right now in readjusting your thoughts and ways.  Add the 5 practices below to your day starting today.  Don’t wait.  With everyday you wait, you waste opportunity.  Go for it now!  And watch your life take off!

5 Daily practices to give you awesome days:

1.     Workout.  Working out releases endorphins.  Secretion of endorphins leads to the feeling of euphoria or excitement.  If you want to succeed in life, you must be healthy.  Healthy doesn’t mean you have a 6-pack ripping through your shirt or bulging biceps.  Healthy means balance.  Healthy means you have freedom to move pain free and be active.  Being healthy means you do not have anything holding you back to achieve greatness.  This should be imbedded into your weekly schedule.  One hour a day is only 4% of your entire week.  We all can spend 4% of our week focused on our physical strength.  Our physical strength is directly related to our mental and spiritual well-being.  So if you want to reach your ultimate self, exercise is mandatory. 

2.     Read something motivational and inspiring.  Many people get up and immediately turn on the news or read the newspaper.  As keeping up on social and economic affairs is important, I do not recommend it be the first thing you do in the morning.  The morning is the perfect time to feed positive vibes into your brain and wake up that inner motivation.  This initial daily practice will build momentum for you to have not just good days but fantastic days.  Starting your day with an inspiring story or a motivating book will develop optimistic thinking.  As these positive thoughts are put into your mindset, positive action will ensue.  Positive action leads to the accomplishment of some ambitious goals.  Start with these guys: Jim Rohn, Robin Sharma, Brian Tracy and John Maxwell. 

3.     Focus on the positives.  “How’s your day going?”  “Well, just getting through another day”.  This might be the most negative view of life.  But yet, I hear this answer to that question so much.  Too many people just “get through the day” when there is so much we can get from the day.  Each day is not just “another day”.  If you live with this philosophy you are probably the one making excuses, blaming other people and not taking responsibility for your life.  Each day is full of opportunity, growth, wellness, motivation, relationships, perseverance, and so much more!  When you decide to direct your thoughts to this positive outlook, your days will improve.  You will hold yourself accountable to your goals.  You will start achieving those goals.  You will find resilience when times are tough.   This simple mindset shift can have a dramatic affect on your life. 

4.     Drink water.  Every single cell in our body needs water in order to absorb nutrients and expel waste products.  Headaches, poor energy levels, lack of focus and subpar performance are just a few side affects of dehydration.  Many people go through their day without drinking enough water.  This simple strategy can jumpstart your energy, improve your athletic performance and increase your cognitive function.  First thing in the morning, grab a glass of water instead of reaching for the juice or coffee.  Make sure you have a water bottle by your side the entire day.  You are more likely to drink water if it is in arms reach. 

5.     Inspire others.  If you can make this a daily practice you will completely change the community and world you live in.  Start with two people a day.  Do a good deed, buy them lunch or send them a positive story.  If you truly do this everyday, that equates to 14 people in a week or 728 people in a year.  You change the world you live in by inspiring others to be great.  The positive change one person can make can be remarkable.  It just takes daily action.  

It's time to do something about it!  Share with a friend if you enjoyed this blog.  

 

Big Things in 2014 - Action is required

We are 7 days into the New Year and motivation and energy should be high.  The New Year seems to revitalize people’s vitality and liveliness.  Goals are set, plans are created and the “plane is lifting off”.  What will you do differently this year to keep this way of life consistent? 

Too many times, people set limits on themselves.  Most of the time these limits are self-imposed and I am telling you now, you can break through those limits and accomplish big things in '14.  There will be major obstacles that will sit in your path in the upcoming year.  How you react and respond to these obstacles will define you as a person.  The worse thing you can do is quit, lie down and give up.  Do the opposite.  When these obstacles arise, get up, move forward and push harder.  Believe in your abilities, surround yourself with supportive people and find your inner determination.  This will take major ACTION. 

Be unique in '14.  Reinvent yourself.  Go against the grain.  Have the tough conversations.  Be passionate.  Be honest.  Show courage.  Inspire others.  Get super fit and healthy.  Eat the foods that will give you strength and stamina.  Get laser focused to make these things happen. 

This year, more than any other, go for the ultimate.  Do not give in to pessimistic people that will not support your goals.  Do not accept average.  Stay away from stagnation.  Find motivation in the toughest of times.  Push yourself harder than ever before.  Help others find inspiration.  The LIMITLESS mindset is in our control.  Constant ACTION will be needed for this to happen. 

As 2014 sits in front of us, it is completely up to YOU to do the things you aspire, reach the goals you set and push your comfort zone.  Go all in my friends!  Stay on track the entire year.  Simply, make it happen.  This will be a big year and big action will be required.  

Here are 4 daily tactics from Robin Sharma that I want to share with you:

Tactic #1: Do a Daily Goal Review. We live in a time of intense noise and distraction. It's just too easy to start off these first few weeks of this New Year being really really busy chasing the wrong things. So, my suggestion: every morning--while the rest of the world is asleep--take just 5 pure minutes to reread and then actually rewrite your top five 2014 goals. This will boost your focus dramatically and imprint them with total clarity on your subconscious mind.

Tactic #2: Go Complaint-Free. You empower everything you complain about. You strengthen the negative things you speak of. And you energize the problems you vocalize. To nail your 2014 goals, go on a 90 Day Complaint-Free Diet. Enough said.

Tactic #3: Clean All Messes. Masters of Goal Achievement are minimalists. They get that messes create distraction. And distraction reduces your power to achieve every goal you set. The messy office+the disorganized home+the dirty financial life+cluttered mind all weaken your ability to bring your natural laser-like focus to bear on your greatest desires.

Tactic #4: Become an Incrementalist. Bottom line: 5 little goals done a day lead to 1850 goals achieved by December 31, 2014. An awesome work and personal life is more about evolution than revolution. Get serious about the small wins. 

BIG THINGS IN '14!!

 

 If you enjoyed this blog, I ask you to please share to others.  The more people we can inspire, the better life is! 

 

Motivation

Motivation must first come from within

In all my experiences in the fitness industry, the #1 reason people quit an exercise program is from a lack of motivation.  Starting the program is the easy part.  Staying with it over the long haul is hard work.  See the thing is, people look for quick results.  They expect to see results in their fitness program in a few weeks.  I am going to tell you right now, this is not how it works.  The first few weeks is just breaking the ice.  Don’t think 3 weeks; think 3 years.  The individuals who are the most successful with their fitness programs are the ones who decide to make it a lifestyle habit.  Yes, this person still must overcome obstacles, plateaus and lack of motivation but when it’s a habit, they continue with their program and bust through their discouragement. 

According to Wikipedia, motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal.  Motivation to wake up in the morning to prepare a healthy breakfast must come from within.  Motivation to get to the gym when you have “other” things to do must come from within.  Motivation to choose healthy options when out to eat, must come from within.  You cannot look for other people to motivate you when you do not have the inner drive to do it yourself first.  You must take the first step.  Once you have generated this motivation, I am telling you, the possibilities are endless.  You can now use others to spark that flame, give you inspiration and then many things become possible. 

Let me be upfront with you right now.  Obstacles are bound to happen.  Let downs will be in our path.  There will be a time when results will be halted and how you handle this will determine who you are as a person.  Successful people, who are fit, healthy and live with motivation, are able to overcome roadblocks and become stronger because of it.  They don’t look at it as a setback or something that cannot be handled.  They focus on the next positive thing they can do.  Maybe it’s a minor change to the workout design.  Maybe it’s dialing in the nutrition plan for a few weeks.  Maybe it’s finding a great fitness coach to guide and push them past their plateau.  Whatever the missing puzzle piece might be, you have to stay motivated to continue moving forward and going after your goals.  The worse thing you can do is quit, lie down and settle.  Don’t let this happen. 

How you do anything is how you do everything.  If you are motivated in your fitness routine, you will be more likely to find motivation to be a better business individual and this motivation will spread to your family and friends.  Your motivation will become contagious and others will be inspired to follow in your footsteps.  What do you do to find this motivation?  Well first, you must decide that you are going to consciously work on your inner drive.  You are going to ignore negative thoughts that enter your head.  You are going to construct a strong belief system in yourself and in other people.  You are going to push yourself past your comfort zone.  You are going to set ambitious goals.  You are going to surround yourself with other motivated and positive people.  You are going to create a game plan to be successful.  All of these tools will aide in your motivation.  You just have to be committed to working on them daily, weekly and yearly.  Honestly, do it the rest of your life.  Not the next 2 weeks, THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

Go write out some goals, create a few action steps for those goals and START!  Nothing starts without the first step.  I encourage you to get motivated and go after that dream.  Don’t stop until you get there, because when you get there, you are going to be motivated to keep going!

Building The Functional Runner

(On Saturday, June 15^th, The Central Valley Running Seminar will be held in Visalia.  This workshop will be for runners, running coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists and anyone looking for cutting edge run training education.  Please call 334-8990 for more information.)  

Running is a primitive movement that many people can benefit from.  Unfortunately many people who enjoy running spend too much time recovering from injury and not enough time maximizing their performance.  Extrinsic factors that cause people to get injured and stop running might be improper shoes, increased volume too soon and random program design.  Intrinsic factors could be dysfunctional movement patterns, muscle imbalances, poor lifestyle habits, weight gain or poor running gait.  Running is a great activity to build aerobic capacity, stay lean and healthy and improve your mood.  But you shouldn’t just run to get fit.  Becoming the complete athlete will enable you to have longevity and excel in your running lifestyle.  If you are always injured, your training will be inconsistent.  When your training is inconsistent, progress will be halted.   To become a complete and functional runner, abide by the strategies below:

 

1.     Strengthen your core.  This is critical, as having a strong and stable core will create a more economical running stride.  Our core incorporates everything from our mid-thigh up to our rib cage.  Upper and lower body strength will be optimal when our core is strong.  When performing exercises for your core, don’t think sit-ups and twists.  These are old school movements that can actually harm your lower back.  Focus on stability movements like planks and side planks and carrying variations like farmer walks, suitcase walks and waiter walks.  Other core exercises like hip bridges, mini-band walks and birddogs will strengthen your hips and glutes to create this complete strength we are looking for.

Side Plank

Mini-band Walks

1-leg Hip Bridges

2.   Specific strength training.  Runners need single leg strength to improve balance, stability and proprioception.  Each foot strike during running sends 2-4 times your body weight worth of impact forces from your foot up through your body.  That is why it is so important to improve your lower body strength and stability so you can absorb these forces.  Single leg squats, single leg deadlifts, lunge variations and step-ups are all great strength movements to add to your routine.  Having adequate upper body strength will give you the ability to hold your form when running.  If your upper body breaks down, your technique will get sloppy, which then increases your chances of injury.  Simple bodyweight strength moves like push-ups, inverted rows and chin-ups can give you plenty of upper body strength that is needed for enhanced running.  

FE Split Squat

Single Led Deadlifts

3.     Think quality over quantity.  You need a base level of aerobic foundation to be a successful runner.  This takes months, sometimes years of consistent training to build.  But when you are constantly focused on running volume, overuse injury can quickly occur.  Instead, make your prime objective quality running miles and eliminate all junk mileage from your training program.  As an alternative, create a schedule where you have a goal every training session.  For example: Workout #1, 10 minute warm up, 15 minute tempo run, 5 minute race pace run, 10 minutes cool down.  Workout #2, 2 mile warm up, 6x400 yards on the track, 1 mile cool down.  Workout #3, 2 mile warm up, 8x1 minute pick ups at 5k race pace, 20 minutes endurance pace run.  This set up creates quality and focused running mileage, instead of just going out and slugging miles away.  Plus, it’s gives you more motivation knowing you have a plan of action every training session.  

      Example #1:

      50 minute LEVEL 2/3 run;
Start with easy (LEVEL 2) run the first 10-15 minutes. You will then perform 4x2 minute LEVEL 3 intervals/3 minute LEVEL 2 recover (remember LEVEL 3 is not all out; it's the pace right up from your long run race pace; HR is still controlled)
Finish with 10-15 minutes of endurance running

      Example #2:

      Treadmill workout; Start with 5-10 minutes of LEVEL 2 running; Then perform 5x30 second pick ups at 10k race pace to warm up

      Main set: 10x30 second at 5k race pace/30 second easy jog, 5x60 seconds at 5k race pace/30 second easy jog, 2x2 minutes at 5k race pace/30 seconds easy jog, 5x20 sprints/40 seconds walk; finish with 10 minute cool down jog

4.     Smart program design:  Random training might get you results in the short term but eventually this type of training will not be the solution to improved performance levels.  I see many recreational runners with no plan of action.  They wake up and say, “I feel like running 5 miles today”.  This unstructured plan will lead to frustration, as your performance will not improve.  Ideally you would want to build a long-term training plan that will progressively build your fitness as you prepare for your top race or event.  This structured plan will lie out specific training blocks during the weeks, months and even years of your preparation.  Along with this detailed plan, understanding proper volume loads will keep you moving forward.  You do not want to increase training volume (# of miles or # of hours) more than 10% each month of training.  For example, if month #1 you ran 50 miles, month #2 should be no more than 55 miles.  This is a conservative approach to building your mileage as your prepare for your big race.  Eventually your volume will reach its capacity so dropping mile volume and adding in intensity (speed work, hill training, etc) will give you more quality miles.  

(Notice this simple training template.  Volume slowly increases each week.)

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Stretch &	10x100	30' base run	20' tempo	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					40' long run
Stretch &	12x100	30' base run	4x30 sec. hills	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					45' long run
Stretch &	14x100	35' base run	25' tempo	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					55' long run
Stretch &	8x100	25' base run	5x30 sec. hills	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					35' long run
Stretch &	6x200	40'base run	30' tempo	Rest	1 hour 10 long run	Cross training
Strengthen
Stretch &	7x200	45' base run	6x30 sec. hills	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					1 hour 20 long run
Stretch &	8x200	50' base run	35' tempo	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					60' long run
Stretch &	8x100	30' base run	3x60 sec. hills	Rest		Cross training
Strengthen					1 hour 15 long run
Stretch &	4x400	50' base run	40' tempo	Rest	1 hour 30 long run, pushing the last 1/4	Cross training
Strengthen					pushing last 1/4
Stretch &	5x400	55' base run	4x60 sec. hills	Rest	1 hour long run, pushing the last 1/4	Cross training
Strengthen
Stretch & Strengthen	6x400	60' base run		Rest		OFF
			25' tempo		1 hour 20 long run, pushing last 1/4
Foam roll/stretch	4x200	OFF	running drills, 15 min. easy run	OFF	10-15 mins. of light running with some pick ups.	Trail of 2 Cities       Half Marathon

5.     Specific nutrition:  Nutrition is a component that is tough for people to stay on track with.  But it’s also the piece to the performance puzzle that can tremendously affect your body composition, physiology, recovery, oxygen uptake and energy.   It's a myth to think endurance athletes should be eating unlimited amounts of pastas, breads and other starchy grains.  As fueling the muscles with adequate carbohydrates is very important, knowing what foods to be consuming during the week is crucial.  In my opinion, the most important foods for endurance athletes are going to be dark, leafy green vegetables (kale, broccoli, red leaf lettuce, spinach) and dark fruit like blueberries and blackberries due to their power packed nutrient content.  These foods literally aid our body’s ability to transport oxygen to the working muscles and decrease inflammation in the body.  This literally improves performance.  Just like my advice for general nutrition, creating a healthy lifestyle is imperative for endurance athletes.  Once you start executing a healthy and consistent plan, nothing new needs to be added as your big race approaches.  Stick to what you have been doing and execute!

      Try this Kale/Blueberry Smoothie:

      Add these ingredients to a blender...

      1 Cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)

      1 cup of vanilla greek yogurt

      1 cup of Kale

      1/4 cup of flax seed

      1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds

      4 oz. of whole milk

      1 cup of ice

 

 

6.     It’s all about recovery!  Rest.  This four-letter word is often ignored and many endurance athletes suffer overuse injury or burnout due to their lack of rest and recovery.  As you train, build fitness and improve as a runner, you are constantly pushing the envelope to reach your individual goals.  During training the body breaks down and micro tears occur in the muscles.  If there is minimal awareness to recovery, many negative affects can happen.  Overuse injury, burnout, lack of motivation, chronic pain, vitamin/nutrient deficiency or decline in performance can all happen.  Add these recovery strategies to create a smarter program: active recovery weeks, rest days, cold therapy after intense training sessions, soft tissue and flexibility work, light training days following hard training days, consistent sleep habits, proper nutritional principles (see above) and massage.  

Ice Massage Therapy

 

Soft Tissue work with a Foam Roll

      

      Adding the strategies above will not only make you a better and more complete runner but you will improve your overall strength and athletic performance.  Sounds good right?  

      Now, let's get to work!

      If you have any questions regarding this article, feel free to email me at justinlevine03@hotmail.com. 

Proactive Strategies when Pain Happens

Many people experience pain.  Whether it’s from bad postural habits, prolonged sitting, overuse, disuse, poor movement, or a previous injury, pain symptoms can halt your progress in a fitness program.  As a fitness professional, it is out of my realm to diagnosis injury.  Let’s leave that up to a medical professional like a physical therapist or an orthopedic doctor.  But it is within my scope of practice to assist people manage specific pain sites.  In a perfect world, no one would get hurt and experience pain but when you push your body physically and athletically, things happen.  When pain arises, I believe taking a proactive approach to managing the situation.    

What do you do when red flags are brought to your attention?  Red flags can be slight discomfort, inflammation, a burning sensation, affected walking or running gait, sharp pain, or dull and achy pain.  Pay attention to these red flags because completely ignoring them will put you down a path to a serious injury that takes you out and stops your efforts of progressing forward.

Strategy #1: Once this “red flag” is introduced, first stop the activity that caused the trauma.  If running initiated the issue, stop running.  If throwing a baseball was the initial movement, don’t throw a baseball.  This is an important first step.  Many people “work through pain”.  They change their mechanics based on their discomfort so they can continue their activity.  This is called compensation and will affect other areas of the body.   Be disciplined when pain first arises.  Quickly managing the issue in the beginning stages can get you back to full potential with minimal time off.  

 

Strategy #2: Be a detective.  Start by answering a few questions. 

When did the pain first surface?  (Knowing the first occurrence is important to managing pain.  If you say, “well it’s been about 3 months”, you have waited too long and now the pain has probably turned into an injury that affects your day-to-day activity.  Always pay attention to your body and how it feels.)

Did I have a previous injury that could be related?  (Previous injury can predict a new injury.  If you have had shoulder problems in the past, elbow pain can occur later in your life.)

What has my training program been like the past few weeks?  (Are you randomly training without attention to proper progressions and overload?  If you are not building in a smart manner, pain can quickly show up due to overuse.)

Strategy #3: If it hurts, don’t do it.  Plain and simple right?  But many people skip this concept.  If you continue to work through pain, worse things will happen.  Take shin splints for example.  If you continue to run through this issue, eventually a stress fracture will happen.  Then you are in a walking boot, debilitated and out of action.  Be smart and disciplined to stop if needed.  Read this article by Mike Boyle about this strategy: http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1602.cfm.  

Strategy #4: Be proactive.  Again, don’t do the activity that is causing the pain.  But complete rest is not necessarily the answer either.  Our body is meant to move - blood flow is a good thing. Finding movements that can still strengthen the body without any pain is a remedy that can decrease your pain site and improve function and durability at the same time.  You will maintain fitness this way.  Example: If your knees hurt, you need to foam roll your quadriceps, IT band, hamstrings, calves and glutes.  You also need to strengthen your hips and the muscles of the glutes.  You can decrease inflammation by icing the affected areas.  Taking anti-inflammatory medications and complete rest might work in the short term but you didn’t handle the root of the problem, you just took away the symptom.  The pain will resurface.