A New Year’s Message From Christopher

Can You See The Forest Through The Trees? Are You LIVING Your Purpose?

As 2009 closes, I find myself (like most people) reflecting on the past — the past year, the past decade . . . the course of my life so far.

It’s been an amazing journey, with this year being one of the best yet, filled with the laughter of my daughter and my newborn son, international travel, growing business, support from my wife, new relationships and incredible amounts of personal and professional growth.

And I just topped it all off as I was going through old personal files on my hard drive . . . and stumbled across the original copy of a letter I’d written to my family and friends as I was preparing to uproot my life by leaving the Twin Cities and moving to NYC:

. . . we’re on this planet to LIVE — to discover and to utilize to our fullest ability whatever gifts we’ve been given, so that we can live truly happy lives and contribute to the many lives we encounter. . .

I have been gifted opportunities to meet people and influence them through the world of personal training.  This career forces me to be the best I can be while allowing me the privilege to motivate and to teach by sharing my education and example with others.  My wish for you during this holiday season and for the rest of your life is as follows:

1.  Discover your purpose in life (or continue to develop that purpose if you’ve already successfully found it).
2.  Believe in that purpose.
3.  Face all your fears, take risks and don’t quit when pushing onward is difficult.
4.  Wake up every morning, thankful for another day, and LIVE each day so that you don’t wake up the next with regrets of not having accomplished what you desire.
5.  Strive for and achieve success!! (on your spiritual terms)

What struck me about this letter?  The message I delivered was a less refined, but very similar version of what I believe today.  It probably shouldn’t be surprising at all.  But when life is busy swirling around you, it’s easy to lose sight of your overall purpose and current place in life — akin to the phrase ‘you can’t see the forest through the trees.’

And it’s nice when we can be reminded of the path we’re on, and discover that we’ve managed to stay close to it, and cultivate it, for a prolonged period of time — especially when there’s growth and success attached to it!!

Have you taken the time to reflect on your purpose lately . . . or ever?  What drives you?  What do you want?  What does your heart tell you?

Now is as good a time as any to reflect on it, isn’t it? 

So, go do it . . . and then act!  And may those actions bring you fulfillment in 2010 and beyond!!

Happy New Year to you!  Thank you for all of your support!

Your Personal Trainer NYC

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Is Your Training Program Unrealistic? (Or Are You Just Unwilling?)

You can do anything you want, as long as you put your heart and mind into it . . . as long as your heart and mind wants to be in it!

It’s not uncommon to read interviews where a trainer suggests that people fail to accomplish optimal fitness because the training programs they’re being exposed to have unrealistic expectations and unrealistic time requirements.

Is the fitness program too demanding (or are you simply unwilling?)

They demand too much of a lifestyle change. . .

They require ‘radical’ change in diet. . .

They require too much time. . .

While this logic may resonate with you, I think it’s just another in a long list of excuses for not ‘living a healthy lifestyle’ or ‘taking the time to train’.

In fact, I don’t think the problem is a fitness program‘s unrealistic expectations or time constraints at all.

The problem . . . lies within you.

Worded better (and less harshly!) the problem is lack of a deeply-rooted desire to train and face a ‘fitness challenge’ that requires you to make significant changes to your life.

Think about that for a second . . .

In your time on the planet, what did you do when the path to your ‘dream job’ presented itself to you?

What did you do when you met your first ‘dream guy/girl’?

What did you do when you wanted to satisfy the desires of somebody you love?

Or when you had the opportunity to buy your first dream (insert object here)?

You did what you had to do in order to achieve, right?

No obstacle, no time constraint — nothing was going to stop you from doing what you wanted to do.

Pursuing your health and fitness is no different if you’re really serious about it!!

Don’t you think that you’d pursue it relentlessly if you knew that you not only needed it, but that you wanted it too?

Of course you would!

– You’d be open to altering your nutrition, especially if it was evident that ‘everything you’ve tried in the past’ had failed to work.

– You’d be open to altering your lifestyle, knowing that that way you are currently living isn’t cutting it.

– You’d make the time to put this high on your priority list because, frankly, very little would be more important than finding a way to make your health, and the quality of your life, better!

So, instead of looking for ‘fault’ in the programs that are out there, look within yourself first.

The ‘right’ training program — the world — is right in front of you, ready to deliver exactly what you want . . . as long as you’re open to receive it!

The question is, are you willing . . . and do you really want it?

If so, leap over the perceived obstacles in your mind, throw out all of your excuses, make your schedule work, and take action.

If others can find a way to make fitness work, you can too!

What do you have to lose?

After all, the least you can expect from reward for making time and taking action, is the reward of MORE time for yourself due to the energy and empowerment cultivated by your training!

Your Personal Trainer NYC

Fifth Power Fitness, “Turning Fitness Inside Out”

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The Worldwide Release Of ‘Women’s Fitness Beyond 40.’

After years of studying, practicing ‘in the trenches’ and dreaming, one of my dreams is finally coming true — the chance to bring a message and an opportunity for health and fitness worldwide!!

I can’t believe it . . . and I can’t wait!

6 months ago, I finally began writing the book that I’d been writing in my head for years.

The result was a project that became much more than a book — it became a full-on coaching program specifically for Women over the age of 40, complete with:

• a program manual (‘The Book’)
• exercise videos and descriptions
• training charts mapping out the program in full
• an online community where you can find inspiration and moral support.

AND

• 90 days of coaching — 90 days, every day — that arrives in your mailbox each morning . . . there to educate you, motivate and inspire you AND tell you EXACTLY what to do each day.

(Most importantly, those emails push you into action, so the program doesn’t collect dust inside your computer or on your desktop!  )

And now I’m ‘releasing it to the world’!!

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40

The site is up and running, and for the first 50 people who purchase, beginning at 12 EST tomorrow, I’ll have a special bonus for you, as a thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40

Check out the site, and be ready to go back tomorrow after 12 noon, EST, to pick up your copy!

Sweeping The World, 10/22/09 -- Grab Your Copy!

It’s a health and fitness training program that can truly transform your life — and I can’t wait to use it with you!

Are you ready?

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40

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Shed Excess Body Fat By Changing Your Mindset.

It goes without saying that, over the course of his/her career, a dedicated personal trainer will work with countless individuals who have struggled with their attempt(s) to lose body fat.  Commonly, of course, the problem tends to be such things as poor nutrition, inadequate rest and/or ineffective training programs.

‘Mindset’ plays a critical role as well.

A person might be ‘on’ their nutrition, might be getting enough sleep and might be ‘killing it’ in the gym, but their mental approach to the whole situation leads to less than optimal results . . . or results that only last temporarily.

My friend Charlotte Ord, an excellent coach in the UK, wrote a great article that touched on this concept . . . take a look! 

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Be Careful What You Wish For . . .

By Charlotte Ord

(October 10, 2009)  People, lots and lots and lots of people, want to lose fat and lose weight. Nothing wrong with that, right? Hmm, well I’d say wrong.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about the power of the mind and gave you an insight into just how powerful the mind can be. So let’s have a quick think about what signals we are atually telling our mind when we say, ‘I want to lose weight/fat.’

Take a moment to have a think about all the things that you’ve lost in the last year.  My list goes something like this:

• My wallet
• My keys
• My favourite necklace
• One earring
• A training folder
• A magnetic therapy bracelet
• Numerous socks
• 2 crop tops (how one loses these things is beyond me, but I managed it!)

…ok you get my drift.

Now what do all these things have in common? (Read the rest . . . )

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One of my favorite areas of study back in graduate school was neuroimmunology because it studied the very tangible interaction between ‘mind and body’ . . . and it made (for me) the importance of having a strong, positive mind all the more apparent.

Whether you’re struggling to lose fat because you view the glass as half-empty versus half-full . . .

or  you’re struggling because you focus on all the problems associated with the challenge of ‘shedding fat’, rather than unveiling the solutions that will help you overcome said challenge . . .

or you’re struggling due to ‘semantics’ — thinking of ‘losing fat’ versus ‘shedding fat’ . . .

the key here is that successful incineration of excess body fat requires the right mindset . . . just as much as it requires optimal nutrition, adequate rest and an effective fitness program.

Change your mindset; shift your perspective and increase the likelihood that you’ll shed your unwanted pounds . . . permanently.

Thanks for reading!

YOUR Personal Trainer NYC

P.S.  Have a success story about how your shift in mindset contributed to your fitness success?  Please share it in the comments – I’d love to hear it!

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7 Simple Concepts To Help You Eat Better.

“As a culture we seem to have arrived at a place where whatever native wisdom we may once have possessed about eating has been replaced by confusion and anxiety. Somehow this most elemental of activities — figuring out what to eat — has come to require a remarkable amount of expert help.”  ‐‐ Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
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Many times, even when information is laid out in front of you explaining exactly what to do, nutrition can be confusing.

Who the heck to you believe?

The media?  The government?  Your local farmer?

Your parents who raised you to eat a ‘particular’ way?

Your religion?

Confusion comes as a result of (among other things) the diverse resources from which you get it.  Many times you can’t figure out what to do simply because you don’t know how to piece all the information — from all the different resources — together.

And I’m sure this frustrates you because all you’re trying to do is ‘get your nutrition right’ . . . yet you have no idea what to do (or who to believe after being bombarded by conflicting information.

(All this being said and I haven’t discussed the fact that you’re probably running around with an insane schedule, simply trying to make the time to have a meal, let alone muddle through the confusion of nutrition!!)

What’s the best way to get around this?

Keep things simple.

Get back to the basics and often times the answers will be found there . . .

7 Simple Things To Consider To Help You Eat Better

1. When you’re hungry.  Eat.  Eat quality, nutritious foods.  (What are those?  Start with the list found in this nutrition program!)

2. When you’re full, stop eating.

3. Quality is important, first and foremost.  Eat animals and plants that are untainted — no antibiotics, no steroids, no genetic modification, not given foods that are unnatural to them, not grown in nutrient poor soil, not bathed in pesticides.

4. If you’re eating quality, eating according to your body’s individual needs and listening to what your body is telling you, calories don’t mean much.  Your body runs the show and it won’t ask for anything more (or less) than it needs.

5. Recognize that you’ll likely be very hungry on days that you’re very active . . . and less hungry on days that you’re not.  It’s the least you can expect — if you demand energy from your body, it’s going to demand that you replenish it!

6. Avoid foods ‘manufactured’ by man.  Regardless of what we think, we really can’t do things better than mother nature — and we sure as heck can’t outsmart her!

7. Recognize that you’re built and re-built by the foods that you eat.  Quality fats, proteins and carbohydrates are broken down into their most basic building blocks when you digest them.  Those building blocks are shipped to your body where needed (and as needed) to construct quality cell structures, cells, tissues, organs, systems . . . a quality YOU.  Eat junk and you reconstruct your body out of junk.  Eat quality and you’re built out of ‘the best that money can buy.’

Just taking these 7 points into consideration will go a long way to ending your confusion and getting you on the fast track to health.

Try it . . . and let me know how it goes!!

Trust the process of ‘getting healthy’.  Know and trust your body.  And keep things simple!

Thanks for reading!

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Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Science For Your Health and Fat Loss Advice.

What is ‘good science’? I’ve never seen it defined as eloquently as this:

“This is how functioning science works.  Outstanding questions are identified or hypothesis proposed; experimental tests are than established either to answer the questions or to refute the hypotheses, regardless of how obviously true they might appear to be.  If assertions are made without the empirical evidence to defend them, they are vigorously rebuked.  In science, as (Robert) Merton noted, progress is made only by first establishing whether one’s predecessors have erred or ‘have stopped before tracking down the implications of their results or have passed over in their work what is there to be seen by the fresh eye of another.’  Each new claim to knowledge, therefore, has to be picked apart and appraised.  Its shortcomings have to be established unequivocally before we can know what questions remain to be asked, and so what answers to seek — what we know is really so and what we don’t.  “This unending exchange of critical judgment,” Merton wrote, “of praise and punishment, is developed in science to a degree that makes the monitoring of children’s behavior by their parents seem little more than child’s play.” (from Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories, pp. 450-51)

How often is “good science” practiced?  Taubes follows the above passage with this opinion:

“The institutionalized vigilance, “this unending exchange of critical judgment,” is nowhere to be found in the study of nutrition, chronic disease, and obesity, and it hasn’t been for decades. . .  Though the reasons for this situation are understandable, they offer scant grounds for optimism.  Individuals who pursue research in this confluence of nutrition, obesity and chronic disease are typically motivated by the desire to conserve our health and prevent disease.  This is an admirable goal, and it undeniably requires reliable knowledge to achieve, but it cannot be accomplished by allowing the goal to compromise the means, and this is what has happened.**  Practical considerations of what is too loosely defined as the “public health” have consistently been allowed to take precedence over the dispassionate, critical evaluation of evidence and the rigorous and meticulous experimentation that are required to establish reliable knowledge.  The urge to simplify a complex scientific situation so that physicians can apply it and their patients and the public embrace it has taken precedence over the scientific obligation of presenting the evidence with relentless honesty.  The result is an enormous enterprise dedicated in theory to determining the relationship between diet, obesity, and disease, while dedicated in practice to convincing everyone involved, and the lay public, most of all, that the answers are already known and always have been — an enterprise, in other words, that purports to be a science and yet functions like a religion.”  (pp. 451-52)

**Bold mine

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In the fields of nutrition, chronic disease and obesity, the good intention of helping others has lead to mountains of research that, essentially, is as valuable as garbage because it frequently fails to live up to the rigorous standards of good science.

This misfortune is compounded when the results of these studies are released to the public as (unsubstantiated) “courses of action” that are often accepted as gospel because they’re delivered by highly regarded experts.

What’s the price we pay when research isn’t forced to live up to the rigorous standards of the scientific method?

What’s the price of delivering a “course of action” prematurely?

Conflicting advice.  Confusion by the masses.  And a world that’s sicker and fatter than it’s ever been, despite all the time, energy and money we’ve dedicated to study.

It’s time for it to stop.

Good science in the fields of nutrition, chronic disease and obesity was done well before the end of WWII (though much of it has been lost (or ignored)).  Good science, backed by evidence from the trenches of today’s top fitness professionals, exists today.

It’s up to us professionals to deliver it to you.  It’s up to you to be open to it. Just know that the beneficial “course of action” you take will likely go against the grain of the sound, scientific advice that’s guided you for the past 60 years.

Thank you for reading!  (If this post resonated with you (or struck a nerve) please share your comments below!)

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Low Fat, High Carbohydrate Nutrition — One Big Mistake?

“Forming hypotheses is one of the most precious faculties of the human mind and is necessary for the development of science.  Sometimes, however, hypotheses grow like weeds and lead to confusion instead of clarification.  Then one has to clear the field, so that the operational concepts can grow and function.  Concepts should relate as directly as possible to observation and measurements, and be distorted as little as possible by explanatory elements.”

– Max Kleiber, The Fire of Life:  An Introduction to Animal Energitics, 1961

(As cited in Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories)

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We live in a world filled where an inordinate number of us live in fear of making mistakes. Worse yet, we’re often afraid to admit to them once they’ve been made.

And it’s ironic, because isn’t one of the first things we tell our children, “mistakes are a blessing because of the lessons learned?”

As this pertains to the realm of health and fitness, what’s the biggest mistake we’ve made?

The low fat, high carb hypothesis.

This perpetual mistake is responsible for, at the very least, robbing people of optimal health.  And despite mountains of evidence against it, despite numerous researchers openly admitting that the “low fat-complex carb” dogma is not the answer we still fail to effectively change the literature available to the masses.

Why?

Because too much money has already been spent on one area of research?

Because some of the data is too hard to collect?

Because “the authorities” are afraid of losing money/power?

Because doing so would be admitting that we’ve been doling out advice for 30 years that – while good intentioned – is wrong…. a mistake?

What happened to simply doing what’s right?

We need to find a way to effectively inform the masses that “low fat-high carb hypothesis” is not the answer. . . after we admit that the hypothesis was a mistake.

Care to discuss?  Please share your comments!

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Is Exercise REALLY The Answer to Fat Loss?

Is Exercise Really the Answer?

(A philosophical look at our obsession with using exercise for fat loss. . .  Have we ever explored any other options, or do we only look to exercise because it transforms us fastest, as opposed to being the healthiest – or even the most fundamentally effective – way to lose fat?)

These days, in a world that’s continually losing control of the fat loss battle, the most common answer to the question, Why do you exercise? is probably, “To lose fat.”

We know exercise works to help the process.  The principles that work’ have been used to assemble some of the best selling, most effective fat loss products on the market:  Alwyn Cosgrove’s Afterburn, Craig Ballentyne’s Turbulence Training and Dax Moy’s Look Great Naked Challenge, to name a few.   So let me be clear in saying that I’m not writing this to imply that ‘exercise for fat loss is ridiculous’ . . . because it’s not.

I, along with many other  great coaches in the profession, have repeatedly used sound exercise principles to help clients shed thousands of pounds of body fat.  Smart training works – no question – and works well.

But I still wonder, in terms of health, in terms of fat loss, just because exercise ‘works’ (and can provide quick results in a ‘gimme now’ society) is it really necessary?  Or would we get the same results (perhaps less quickly) if we emphasized health as much (or more) than exercise?

Look beyond the fact that “exercise works” and consider this:

The body has an innate intelligence that we’ll never fully understand . . .

. . .an innate intelligence that will do everything in it’s power to survive at all costs . . .

. . . an innate intelligence that, provided the right foundation of quality food, quality sleep, a balance of anabolic and catabolic stress – will likely just “be” or become the body that we’re looking for – from the inside, out.

Isn’t it possible that “exercise” is to “fat loss”  AS

anti-inflammatories are to inflammation  AS

decongestants are to clogged sinuses  AS

pain killers are to pain?

In other words, isn’t it possible that “exercise for fat loss” is the ‘drug’ that assists in melting body fat, but does so without healing the root cause of the problem?  If so, wouldn’t it benefit us as a society if we focused on ‘remedies’ that promoted health, healing and transformation from the ground – up, in conjunction with the body’s innate abilities – as opposed to focusing more on programs requiring us to kill ourselves just to remove body fat?

In my own personal experience, successful life-changing, long lasting, fat loss transformations are the result of programs that emphasize nutrition and healthy lifestyle and exericse — with nutrition and lifestyle being the priority.  If exercise was the most critical factor, wouldn’t it be the priority instead?  If it was the most important component of fat loss, wouldn’t we see more successful fat loss cases even if nutrition and lifestyle habits were suboptimal?  If exercise is the most critical factor in fat loss, wouldn’t there be fewer success stories of individuals maintaining their ‘leanness’ via quality nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, despite reducing the amount of time dedicated to formal exercise?

Formally scheduled exercise gives us the opportunity to move in a culture where being sedentary is the norm.  Exercise improves physical attributes such as strength, endurance, power, flexibility, speed and mobility. . . and it’s a required component in these changes.  Exercise also contributes to successful fat loss, but I often wonder if we place too much emphasis on it as the end all-be all contributing factor — when learning and applying the facets of holistic health and nutrition might be just as, if not more, effective.

Your thoughts?  Please share in the comments!

Thanks for reading.

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Are You Aware of What’s Preventing Your Optimal Fitness?

“The chief characteristic of the volitional act is the existence of a purpose to be achieved; the clear vision of an aim.”

– Robert Assagioli, The Act of Will
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I recently suggested that one core factor keeping you from optimal health and fitness is that you’re ‘alive, but not living.’

What typically underlies that and proves to be an initial stumbling block for most (and, perhaps, is creating a stumbling block for you)?

Lack of Awareness.

Not lack of drive.

Not lack of success.

Not lack of passion.

Definitely not lack of intelligence.

Lack of Awareness.

Quite simply, you don’t know what you really want.

And when you don’t know what you want, you don’t have direction.

And when you don’t have direction, it’s not very easy to live.

(How could it be? You don’t really know where you’re going!)

I realize that this may come across as a far-fetched idea to you, being that you’ve probably created one heck of a life for yourself over the years.  But the truth is, this ‘lack of awareness’ happens all the time, especially when the speed of the world around you and the 10,000 things you’re juggling get you (almost) continuously trapped in your head.

With that being the case, it’s no wonder you begin the journey of ‘getting healthy and fit’ on auto-pilot — doing it ‘because it’s something you’re supposed to do’ or because ‘everybody else is doing it’ . . . without really giving it deeper thought and becoming truly aware of the reasons behind your decision.

And this kills your progress — if not immediately, then soon down the road. Because without awareness – without PURPOSE behind your actions – you’ll have little to carry you forward when the initial excitement of your ‘fitness journey’ wears off. . .

The good news is that this is simple to fix. You, just need to ask yourself two questions:

1. What do I want? (Better said, What do you Choose to Have?)

Answer this as clearly as possible. Do you want to lose 25 lbs of fat in 12 weeks? Do you want to be able to ‘see your six pack’ in the mirror every morning?  Is there a beach vacation you’re preparing for in 6 weeks.?  A class reunion in 6 months?  Do you want to prepare for your fast-approaching softball season?  Whatever it is you want, specify it, and hang it in front of you to give you a target to strive for.

2. Why do I want it?

This essential question – WHY? – is the one responsible for illuminating your purpose, which, in turn . . .

. . . gives you a frame of reference which you can use to measure the quality of your decisions and actions. (read: “Is what I’m doing right now helping me to fulfill my purpose, or is it taking me away from it?)

. . . gives you the intrinsic motivation to keep moving forward, no matter what challenges you’re asked to overcome between now and the completion of your mission.

Why? Gets you out of bed and into exercise when you’re tired, sore, aching, brain-fried, (insert symptom here) . . .

Why? Helps you make healthy food choices — despite the junk food sitting on the table in front of you . . .

Why? Pulls you out of your slump when you’re emotionally drained and can’t remember the goals you’ve written down for yourself (or find where you placed them).

Asking ‘WHY?’ is as important (and possibly more powerful) as asking ‘WHAT?’ — the key, of course, is that you stop long enough to ask . . . and then listen.

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In the end, getting the most out of your health and fitness (and your life), will always come down to your commitment cultivating awareness. This may be hard to hear. This may be hard to face . . . but it doesn’t make it any less of a reality.

Awareness = Ability to Know what you want = Direction = Ability to truly live.

Deepen your level of awareness and you’ll not only get closer to optimal health and fitness . . . you’ll live the life of your dreams.

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Steady-State Cardio May Be Ineffective For Fat Loss . . .

. . . but those who perform it at its extremes (read: marathon running, triathalons, etc.) show us all one quality that’s important for achieving success on the gym floor (and in life, for that matter). (See video, The Crawl below. . . )

If you’ve been around my training long enough, you know that I’m the last person in the world to suggest that somebody goes out and performs long distance, steady-state cardio.

Why, exactly?  Long distance, steady-state cardio . . .

• is the least effective way to burn body fat.  This is becoming (increasingly) old news, but there are still too many people out there churning out mile after mile, hoping to ‘lean out’.  This form of cardio is great at making your body more efficient . . . and the surest way to make sure you have to work even harder (read: run even further) to see any fat-burning effects.  (Strength training instead, anyone?)

• makes ‘maintaining muscle tissue’ difficult. Hopefully, you’re working hard to add (or, at the very least, maintain) muscle, so why go out and burn it all away with mile after mile?  You need that supple, functioning muscle, you know, if you plan on moving around with good strength and energy . . . making your ‘regular’ daily activities as well as your ‘extracurricular’ activities easier to perform and more enjoyable.

• trashes your body, especially if it’s ‘trashed’ already. I (and about 99.99% of the other fitness professionals who are conscious of it) spend hours per day training clients to improve their performance and correct muscle imbalances generally linked to faulty posture.  Running is something you can still perform when you have poor posture, but it doesn’t mean that you should.  (You wouldn’t drive your car cross-country with poorly-aligned tires, would you?)  If you insist on running, at the very least consider seeking out a qualified fitness professional who can assess and help correct any imbalances you might have.

• is hard on your body, period. There’s no denying that long, steady-state cardio is challenging . . . and it’s an incredible feat of endurance (marathons, triathalons).  But it’s also capable of placing incredible stress on your body.  (Fight or flight, anyone?)  Even, Phidippides, the elite Greek runner who ran the first ‘marathon’, died from exhaustion shortly after running it.  We are capable of running, playing hard, pushing our limits of endurance — and by all means if we’re healthy and willing, there’s no reason not to do it in that light.  The fact is, though, that most people do steady-state cardio because they want to burn body fat, not merely because they’re ‘having fun’ or because ‘they can.’ (The problem with that?  See bullet point #1 )
  

All the above being said, there is one thing that can’t be denied about those who choose to participate in long distance events (or compete at the highest level), as illustrated in this tear-jerking video . . .

They’ve got incredible heart . . .

They’ve got incredible desire . . .

They’ve got incredible focus . . .

They’re willing to challenge themselves to their known limits and beyond . . .

They’re willing to overcome obstacles . . . and demand the best possible effort from themselves in the face of adversity . . .

. . . all in the name of finishing, of becoming champions . . . of striving to become ‘better’ now than they were 2 strides (seconds, minutes, hours, days, years) ago.

Heart.  Tenacity.  Courage.  Fight.  Drive.  Thirst for Greatness.  Pride.

Do you have it in you?

Yes?

See you at the finish line!

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