Envision yourself at the playground as a 10 year old playing tag. You are IT! There are two kids out there that you know you can handle and run down with ease. The problem is that they take off in opposite directions. You have a choice to make: chase both, chase one, or chase the other. As long as you choose one or the other, you are in good shape. If you decide to chase both (which I am not even sure is possible) you don't stand a chance of tagging one "IT". This is your brain when you multitask.
Pubilius Syrus was born in 46 BC. He is quoted as saying, "To do two things at once is to do neither". These words still ring true today. The average human brain goes through 4,000 words per day. It is no wonder that we try to multitask and attempt to do more than one thing at a time. The problem is that there is only so much brain capability. If you divide it between two tasks, all you end up doing is giving yourself an opportunity to screw up two things at once! This is not to say that we can't do two things at the same time. After all, we can all walk and chew bubble gum (at least I hope we all can). What it does say is that we cannot focus on two things at once.
The brain focuses on one task at a time. When you multitask, your brain switches back and forth between one and the other. It takes time and energy to start and restart a task so when the switching between tasks occurs, loose ends pile up. Researchers estimate that we lose up to 28% of an average workday to multitasking ineffectiveness. So how do you fix it? Live by the Three P's: Purpose, Priority, and Productivity: Identify your purpose at home, school, work, etc; Prioritize what you have to; and then put all your attention on getting things done one at a time. Until you get one thing done, everything else is a distraction!
Happy Halloween everyone!
Chris Fluck
Friday, October 31, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Keystone Habits
"All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits."
These words were spoken in 1908 and over one hundred years later, still ring true today. Habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort and look for shortcuts. The habits we develop never really disappear. They are encoded into our brains, and that’s a huge advantage for us, because it would be awful if we had to relearn how to drive every time we got behind the wheel of our car. Unfortunately, the brain can’t tell the difference between good and bad habits, and if you have a bad one (which we all do), it is always there lurking! BUT, fortunately for us, there is an answer to this problem. It is the introduction of new habits. If we learn to create new routines that overpower the old behaviors, we can force those bad tendencies into the background!
The best way to replace habits is through the use of keystone habits. This term was introduced to me by author Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit. So what are keystone habits? They are "small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of life". These small changes create small wins for the individual. A keystone habit is the drop of water that ripples through the surrounding area. It provides a system that changes unproductive habits and drives new and improved habits into other areas of life!Humans are creatures of habit, automatically repeating past behavior with little regard to current goals. Every habit, no matter how complex or difficult it may be to overcome, is completely malleable. The most addicted alcoholics can become sober. The most dysfunctional companies can transform themselves. A high school dropout can become a successful manager. To modify a habit, you must decide to change it. You must consciously accept the hard work that is behavior modification. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work!
Monday, September 29, 2014
The Brickhouse!
Hey everyone! It has been a few weeks in the making but starting October 5th, I will be opening my very own personal training and sports performance training center. I have been getting some FAQ and will address them now! The facility is located on 378 in an old brick building (address is listed below). I will be offering personal training, adult group training, and strength & conditioning group classes for the local athletes! More information will be coming shortly!
Below I have attached a flyer for the launching of the strength & conditioning sessions!
Strength and Conditioning Sessions
Athletes ages 7 and up!
Where: The
Brickhouse
Address:
3765
Old Philadelphia Pike Bethlehem, PA 18015
What: FREE one-hour training sessions
When: October 7th and October 9th from 7:00
pm- 8:00 pm
Athletes Will Learn
- How to improve their body
control and awareness!
- Multi-directional movement
training to improve overall athletic ability!
- How to train for explosive
athletic movements!
- The basic strength training
exercises geared towards improving strength!
- Sport Specific Conditioning!
Thanks for the support and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Chris Fluck
Sunday, July 20, 2014
My Fitness Pet Peeves
Alright everyone, it is time for me to vent a little bit. After spending the past few years in the fitness industry I have seen a lot of questionable things. Things that, at times, make me wonder "where the heck did they come up with that?" With that being said, I have come up with three of the biggest pet peeves of mine (believe me, there is more but I want to keep this short and sweet).
Pet Peeve #1: Females training differently than males. Most females I come across want some workouts that are designed for women. I am not exactly sure what that means. If an exercise is good for a male, how could it be bad for a female? I understand that there are some body composition differences between the sexes but if your overall goal is fat loss, which is most often the case, than the training program shouldn't differ all that much. There is one difference that I have come across that involves stubborn areas of body fat with women. For that, if the goal is to get really lean, they have to do a little more cardiovascular work. I am not talking about long, slow bouts of endurance training or step aerobics, I am talking about some high intensity cardiovascular training. At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to presentation of material. There is a perception that women and men need to train differently. The perception comes from women not wanting to build muscle. A stronger muscle is a tenser muscle. A tenser muscle is smaller in size as it is more compact. A more compact muscle is occupies less space which means you will shrink down a bit. Too much muscle is a good thing!
Pet Peeve #2: The relationship between exercise frequency and results (or lack thereof). Everyone works out for their own reasons, whether it be for improved health or they just want to look and feel better. Two common ways to address this is through diet and exercise. Talking about diet is sometimes like talking about politics or religion at a dinner party. You might not always get an audience willing to take your advice or there are some people who just lie. With that being said, I am going to focus on exercise here, and how frequent you do it. This should not come as a surprise to anyone but working out 2-3 days a week just isn't going to get it done. If your mission is to improve health, you have to be more active than that. It does not matter how hard you work on those three days, it is not enough. If you aren't getting the results you'd like, then increasing the workout frequency throughout the week is the next step. Unfortunately, people choose to undereat rather than adding a day or two or three of exercise into their routine. So instead of cutting more calories, get outside, get out of breath and break a little sweat!
Pet Peeve #3: "Only If It Helps" Principle. This one is motivated by the individual who stands on a BOSU ball, on one leg, and does overhead triceps extensions with an 8 pound dumbbell. What are you really getting out of that? You're not overloading the muscle because the weight is too light. Are you improving balance? Maybe, but do you really have to stand on one leg on a BOSU ball? You can get some good balance work in without the use of props and putting yourself at risk for potential injury. So I get back to the principle itself: Only If It Helps. When choosing an exercise, pick one that is helping you reach your goals. It should have a purpose. It should not put you at risk for injury. Don't do something because you think it "looks cool". Train with a purpose, dont train to look cool.
End of rant.
Chris Fluck
Pet Peeve #1: Females training differently than males. Most females I come across want some workouts that are designed for women. I am not exactly sure what that means. If an exercise is good for a male, how could it be bad for a female? I understand that there are some body composition differences between the sexes but if your overall goal is fat loss, which is most often the case, than the training program shouldn't differ all that much. There is one difference that I have come across that involves stubborn areas of body fat with women. For that, if the goal is to get really lean, they have to do a little more cardiovascular work. I am not talking about long, slow bouts of endurance training or step aerobics, I am talking about some high intensity cardiovascular training. At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to presentation of material. There is a perception that women and men need to train differently. The perception comes from women not wanting to build muscle. A stronger muscle is a tenser muscle. A tenser muscle is smaller in size as it is more compact. A more compact muscle is occupies less space which means you will shrink down a bit. Too much muscle is a good thing!
Pet Peeve #2: The relationship between exercise frequency and results (or lack thereof). Everyone works out for their own reasons, whether it be for improved health or they just want to look and feel better. Two common ways to address this is through diet and exercise. Talking about diet is sometimes like talking about politics or religion at a dinner party. You might not always get an audience willing to take your advice or there are some people who just lie. With that being said, I am going to focus on exercise here, and how frequent you do it. This should not come as a surprise to anyone but working out 2-3 days a week just isn't going to get it done. If your mission is to improve health, you have to be more active than that. It does not matter how hard you work on those three days, it is not enough. If you aren't getting the results you'd like, then increasing the workout frequency throughout the week is the next step. Unfortunately, people choose to undereat rather than adding a day or two or three of exercise into their routine. So instead of cutting more calories, get outside, get out of breath and break a little sweat!
Pet Peeve #3: "Only If It Helps" Principle. This one is motivated by the individual who stands on a BOSU ball, on one leg, and does overhead triceps extensions with an 8 pound dumbbell. What are you really getting out of that? You're not overloading the muscle because the weight is too light. Are you improving balance? Maybe, but do you really have to stand on one leg on a BOSU ball? You can get some good balance work in without the use of props and putting yourself at risk for potential injury. So I get back to the principle itself: Only If It Helps. When choosing an exercise, pick one that is helping you reach your goals. It should have a purpose. It should not put you at risk for injury. Don't do something because you think it "looks cool". Train with a purpose, dont train to look cool.
End of rant.
Chris Fluck
Sunday, June 29, 2014
My Heart Hurts
A few months ago I made a rare visit to the doctor. I was having pains in my chest and weird "tremors" in my heart some nights before I fell asleep. I knew something was up and decided to finally figure out what it was. As it turns out, my blood pressure on that day was 153/91 (normal is considered to be 120/80) and also had an abnormally elevated heart rate. I was in a state of hypertension. For a 28 year old who works out 4-6 times a week and eats moderately healthy, something did not make sense. The doctor was not all that worried, told me to relax more, take up meditation or try some yoga. I guess his thinking was that stress puts the tension in hypertension.
In America, high blood pressure is the second greatest health threat. One in three United States adults have high blood pressure and nearly one-third of that group did not know they had it. The cause of this could be a wide variety of things. For me, I decided to take a proactive approach. I cut back on some responsibilities (working over 41 hours in a week raises the risk of hypertension by 15%), swapped out caffeineted coffee for hibiscus tea, and made an effort to sleep better. I was hoping this would do the trick and it did help eleviate some of the pains in my chest. Unfortunately, it had little effect on the blood pressure numbers. I then began researching the topic further in an effort to "cure" my little problem. One reoccuring theme in all the research revolved around your diet. A large number of those who are insulin resistant also have high blood pressure. Insulin resistance is attributable to a high sugar, high grain diet combined with low levels of exercise. I figured I already had the exercise thing covered so I made the next step and cut bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, and rice from the diet. The effect it had on my blood pressure numbers was astonishing. The first number was reduced by 20 points and the second number came down 14 points. For six weeks, I would say that is a pretty damn good reduction! I am going to keep at it with the diet and make an effort to reduce some sugars and figure out a way to include some form of medication into my daily routine. I will be sure to keep you posted!
For those suffering from high blood pressure, prescription drugs are rarely the best option. A large percentage of us can normalize blood pressure through lifestyle modifications. The first step in an effort to normalize your blood pressure is to eliminate the non-essentials: limit alcohol consumption, get rid of the pack of smokes, and cut back on the caffeine. The next thing you need to do is to include physical activity into your every day life. This is one of the most potent ways to decrease your blood pressure and alleviate some of the daily stressors life throws at us. Lastly, I highly recommend cutting or limiting all forms of sugar and grains. There is an endless amount of information out there in regards to the negative effects that grains and sugars have on your brain and body. You would be doing yourself a huge favor by cutting them out. Remember, the fate of your health is largely in your hands!
Chris Fluck
In America, high blood pressure is the second greatest health threat. One in three United States adults have high blood pressure and nearly one-third of that group did not know they had it. The cause of this could be a wide variety of things. For me, I decided to take a proactive approach. I cut back on some responsibilities (working over 41 hours in a week raises the risk of hypertension by 15%), swapped out caffeineted coffee for hibiscus tea, and made an effort to sleep better. I was hoping this would do the trick and it did help eleviate some of the pains in my chest. Unfortunately, it had little effect on the blood pressure numbers. I then began researching the topic further in an effort to "cure" my little problem. One reoccuring theme in all the research revolved around your diet. A large number of those who are insulin resistant also have high blood pressure. Insulin resistance is attributable to a high sugar, high grain diet combined with low levels of exercise. I figured I already had the exercise thing covered so I made the next step and cut bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, and rice from the diet. The effect it had on my blood pressure numbers was astonishing. The first number was reduced by 20 points and the second number came down 14 points. For six weeks, I would say that is a pretty damn good reduction! I am going to keep at it with the diet and make an effort to reduce some sugars and figure out a way to include some form of medication into my daily routine. I will be sure to keep you posted!
For those suffering from high blood pressure, prescription drugs are rarely the best option. A large percentage of us can normalize blood pressure through lifestyle modifications. The first step in an effort to normalize your blood pressure is to eliminate the non-essentials: limit alcohol consumption, get rid of the pack of smokes, and cut back on the caffeine. The next thing you need to do is to include physical activity into your every day life. This is one of the most potent ways to decrease your blood pressure and alleviate some of the daily stressors life throws at us. Lastly, I highly recommend cutting or limiting all forms of sugar and grains. There is an endless amount of information out there in regards to the negative effects that grains and sugars have on your brain and body. You would be doing yourself a huge favor by cutting them out. Remember, the fate of your health is largely in your hands!
Chris Fluck
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Don't Be That Person
All over the area schools are no longer in session and the summer has begun for most children. Growing up, this meant putting in tons of miles on a bicycle, pickup basketball games, hanging around the pool and playing a little sandlot football. All of these activities were unstructured and fun. As I look around now, I don't see this stuff anymore. Just this past weekend I was at the park and saw a game of baseball being played by 9-10 year olds. These kids were on travel teams and paid a nice little price to be a part of the team. Now, I am not around little league ball parks all that often but in this particular game, the amount of walks and errors was the most I have ever seen. And these kids parents paid for this club and were getting "elite" coaching. I could not believe it. So, instead of letting these kids enjoy their summer, they are playing 3-4 games on a Saturday on a team that doesn't look like they practice all that much. The worst part of it all was that these teams were the "B" teams. So I learned this week that there is elite travel "B" teams for 9 and 10 year olds.
In order for any child to pursue achievement in an activity, there needs to be ownership, enjoyment and motivation. And the motivation doesn't come from giving your child a few dollars for every hit or strikeout, the motivation has to come from within. This motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from completing a task. Going to practice and playing one sport all year round is not going to get it done for most kids. They need to play. They need to get the enjoyment out of playing an unstructured game with their buddies and not have to worry about a coach or parent giving them that look that they did something wrong.
Within the past 15-20 years, the spectrum of youth athletics has changed. Gone are the days of the three sport athlete, a species that is now almost extinct. A new species has evolved known as the specialist. This specialist plays on every AAU or travel team, focuses on one sport only, and gets private training for their given sport. They often excel at a young age, but over time, they get passed by. They get passed by the individual who played all kinds of sports growing up. They didn't spend their younger years going to boring practices and playing in a pointless weekend tournament. They developed their game in an unstructured setting with their friends. They learned how to pass, defend, or juke out the competition on their own. And most importantly, they wanted to do it and had fun every step of the way! So here is my call to all the parents: let your kid enjoy their summer this year. Take a break from the travel teams, let them go to the park, have some fun, and learn some new skills while playing something different. Afterall, our body and brains are built to grow through a variety of activities.
Chris Fluck
In order for any child to pursue achievement in an activity, there needs to be ownership, enjoyment and motivation. And the motivation doesn't come from giving your child a few dollars for every hit or strikeout, the motivation has to come from within. This motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from completing a task. Going to practice and playing one sport all year round is not going to get it done for most kids. They need to play. They need to get the enjoyment out of playing an unstructured game with their buddies and not have to worry about a coach or parent giving them that look that they did something wrong.
Within the past 15-20 years, the spectrum of youth athletics has changed. Gone are the days of the three sport athlete, a species that is now almost extinct. A new species has evolved known as the specialist. This specialist plays on every AAU or travel team, focuses on one sport only, and gets private training for their given sport. They often excel at a young age, but over time, they get passed by. They get passed by the individual who played all kinds of sports growing up. They didn't spend their younger years going to boring practices and playing in a pointless weekend tournament. They developed their game in an unstructured setting with their friends. They learned how to pass, defend, or juke out the competition on their own. And most importantly, they wanted to do it and had fun every step of the way! So here is my call to all the parents: let your kid enjoy their summer this year. Take a break from the travel teams, let them go to the park, have some fun, and learn some new skills while playing something different. Afterall, our body and brains are built to grow through a variety of activities.
Chris Fluck
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Not All Fatigue is Created Equal
As I sit back and watch "Vince Lombardi: A Football Life" on the NFL Network I am reminded of a quote often attributed to him: "Fatigue makes cowards of us all". Now you don't have to agree with the quote (I think it is a bit harsh) to read this piece, but I want you to understand that fatigue has serious effects on the body and we should not take these warning signs lightly!
There are two common types of fatigue: central fatigue and peripheral fatigue. Central fatigue is associated with the Central Nervous System (CNS) and is a decrease in performance due to fatigue of movements. When stress on the CNS accumulates, there is an impairment of nerve impulses and the recruitment of motor neurons. You see this type of fatigue with powerlifters who do not adhere to a proper plan. The continually train heavy and eventually, their CNS can't take the amount of stress that is put on it. As a result, they experience a drop in maximal strength (a nightmare to a powerlifter), joint and tendon soreness, trouble sleeping, decreases appetite, and decreased immunity. On the other hand, peripheral fatigue occurs at the muscle cell level. Simply put, the muscle is too fatigued to function properly. The CNS will send the signal to fire or excite the muscle but it will not fire. You see this when runners collapse as their legs can no longer withstand the stress put on them (think lactic acid built up in the legs and you can no longer hold yourself up).
Any time an individual trains or competes, there is an overload placed on the body. The body is built to adapt to the stressors placed on it, and in most cases, our body can handle it. BUT, there are those individuals who continually ask more and more out of there body. By doing so, they begin to experience a dip in performance or mood. This is called overreaching. With this, the trainee will begin to show signs of an overtrained state. With proper recovery, this state will come to an end and you will be back to "normal". Now, if your body continues to be in this overreached state, a more serious issue arises: overtraining. The time it takes an overtrained person to recover far exceeds the time it takes the trainee who has over-reached. Taking a day or two off can be all you need to avoid the issue of overtraining.
Now to the tough part, how do we avoid all of this? This is easier said than it is done. Good recovery, regardless of what happens to the body, will be able to return to baseline within a day or two. I remember hearing a Strength and Conditioning Coach say "there is no such thing as overtraining, just under eating". With that being said, post-workout meals play a huge role in recovery. It is important to consume calories within the first 30-45 minutes post-workout. This will replenish the energy you just used during exercise. Depending on the intensity of your workout, you should eat again 1-2 hours after your initial post-workout meal. After that, consuming some form of energy every 2-3 hours would be a good idea to ensure recovery. Don't use this an excuse to overeat, just listen to your body and if you are hungry, then eat! The next area to improve is in your mind. Tolerance to fatigue can indeed be trained and often times, your mind will tell you to stop before your body has to. Athletes tend to have a higher threshold than the general population, so if you are new to exercise, make an effort to improve your mental makeup. When you get to that point where you feel like you can't go on, just hang on and push through for a few more reps or a few more seconds. And last, but not least, sleep. Sleep is the foundation of recovery. If you are struggling in the area of sleep, there are three quick fixes that work: cut caffeine, go to bed at the same time every night, and exercise daily! Recover is vital if you want to live a healthy lifestyle.
I hope you are all staying cool and enjoying this weather!
Chris Fluck
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