Week 5: Why repetition is so crucial

SECOND NATURE: Rich and Stacey can skip on auto pilot because they’ve done it so often

HAVE you ever tried learning something – it could be anything – and it just seems an endless struggle? Or have you noticed how some of us pick up new skills or perform tasks far easier than others?

We’re all different. We learn in different ways. Physically, mentally and emotionally, we are hard-wired differently.

It doesn’t mean we are better or worse than the next person. Only different. And if we want to improve or change, we can. But the way we are programmed means that change is often slow and only those who persevere with the process reach their destination.

The people I’ve worked with on the Amazing 12 Chichester transformation program have all had contrasting strengths and weaknesses.

My current pair, Rich and Stacey, now at the end of week 5, are no exceptions.

PRACTICING: Rich working on the hinge pattern

Rich, for example, has always found it hard to get the hang of the hinge technique which is essential for the deadlift and kettlebell swings, whereas, by contrast, Stacey finds it almost effortless. There could be anatomical reasons for this also.

“I just don’t understand why I find some things so hard and Stacey makes it look so easy,” said Rich this week.

But what may explain how some of us take more easily to certain tasks and challenges than others is that we are all programmed uniquely.

Our programming covers everything, from the way we think to how we move to our beliefs and desires.

I’ve noticed how there are things Rich has adapted to much better than Stacey, again highlighting how each of us is unique.

UNIQUE: some movements are easier for us than others

Crucially, Bruce Lipton, a cellular biologist and an expert on this subject, explains how most of our programming is done during the first seven years of life and some of it pre-birth.

By the age of seven we are very much set in the way we do things, hence the expression about “show me the boy at seven and I will show you the man”.

It may explain also how some of us seem so naturally talented. This ‘talent’ is programming that’s either inherited or learned during those seven years.

Our programming is stored in our subconscious, which is where habits reside. According to Lipton, we operate from the subconscious 95 per cent of the time.

“The subconscious mind is like a machine,” explains Lipton. “It records, pushes a button, plays back.”

SPEED WORK: sprinting with the prowler

Everything we do is being recorded, whether we like it or not. For example, the person who comes home from work, plonks himself on a couch, watches television and doesn’t move for the next four hours each day is recording a pattern he or she may not even realise is being recorded.

Or, as I have written about previously, the person who complains repeatedly is re-recording the same pattern. Or the individual who automatically reaches for their phone upon waking is reinforcing a pattern…

Lipton says the process for changing habits shouldn’t be rushed because it takes time, which, of course, conflicts with our impatience for results.

“You don’t want it to change very quickly, because otherwise habits fall apart,” says Lipton. “Habits are resistant to change.”

MODIFICATION: Stacey pressing with a football bar

The good news is that the programming can be changed. The bad news is that it requires work, action, discipline, commitment and patience.

Some challenges may seem impossible. But remember that on the other side of impossible is the possible.

So what is the best way to change this programming that is within each of us?

According to Lipton, there are three main ways. One is hypnosis, because, as Lipton explains, for the first seven years of life our minds operate at a low vibrational frequency. Many athletes successfully use forms of hypnosis to improve their performances.

The second – and more common method – is repetition: doing something over and over. “Practice, repeat, practice,” says Lipton, which is how it works often in the gym with developing and honing techniques and skills. It’s why, for the best results, training needs to be repetitive.

“It’s about habituation,” says Lipton. “Where you make a practice out of something every day and repeat it over and over again.”

GROWING: Rich’s strength is on the increase

However, the process starts with awareness – recognition of our behaviour. To change something, we need to be conscious of what’s going on. But, as Lipton explains, the conscious and subconscious mind operate differently.

Our thoughts are hugely important in this respect. Earl Nightingale, the famous American author who studied human behaviour, once wrote: “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition will one day become our reality.”

Lipton adds to this that “the picture you hold in your mind creates the behaviours and biology you express in life. Take fear, for example. Fear causes 90 per cent of illnesses on the planet. It’s all generated by the perception of the mind.”

Therefore, a vital cog in the wheel of change is the belief that you can change. Practice and repetition in the right way can help to foster confidence that encourages belief that leads to change.

Energy grows where energy goes, so to speak.

HARD WORK: week 5 must go down as the toughest so far

Belief is something that can ebb and flow. I notice with Rich and Stacey how on some days and weeks they are more focused and confident than others.

This week at the Core Results Gym was particularly hard for them both, especially Stacey. She took a day off on the final day. I don’t encourage skipping training sessions, but there are times when it’s the best course of action. With the training getting harder and her continued lack of sleep, Stacey’s body badly needed some reprieve.

Stacey’s finding her journey through the Amazing 12 much tougher second time around, mainly because she’s stronger and therefore the loads she is having to lift and move are greater.  

Rich, too, felt it was a grind after flying through the first four weeks. He works tremendously hard in every session. But he admitted he had to dig especially deep this week and felt depleted by the end of it.

It won’t remain that way. That’s the magnificence of the human body (if treated respectfully). With sufficient rest, it recovers, adapts and comes back stronger than before. This is physical change.

ONE MORE REP: Rich is not one to give up easily

Remember the graph I used in my Week 3 blog illustrating a typical path of progress? It doesn’t always take a straight line, but the overall trend is upwards. This was one of those weeks where the line of progress was flatter.

Physical change can be a lot easier to alter than habitual change. For instance, Rich drives himself to the limit all the time and there are occasions where I don’t want him to (for good reason). He has had to learn to control that habit.

In fact, when you watch people train, as I do every day, you can see how the vast majority of actions and thoughts are dictated by habitual behaviour.

William James, the American philosopher, wrote in 1892 that “all our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.”

TESTER: crawling can challenge the brain as well as the body

According to Charles Duhigg’s excellent book The Power of Habit, “habits never disappear. They are encoded into the structures of the brain.”

It explains how and why we can slip back into old habits. To change means overwriting one program with another.

“Habits, though, are as much a curse as they are a benefit,” says Duhigg. In training, someone who has a habit of losing concentration can cause themselves injury, while someone whose habit is to never give up won’t ever need motivating.

With regards to food and eating, bad habits, we know, can undermine our best intentions. Good habits keep us on track.

Therefore we need to identify (awareness) the habits that are holding us back and work on re-patterning and replacing them.

When I coach Rich and Stacey, I look to how they move and breath and think and respond to different stressors and cues to identify habits. If they need modifying, I remind them, sometimes repeatedly. Consciously, they will then try to perform or think differently until the action becomes subconscious and doesn’t require much or any thought.

SMILING: it doesn’t matter how difficult it gets, Stacey tries to grin through it

Whether or not 12 weeks is long enough to bring about lasting changes depends on the individual and how committed they are to the process of change and how deeply ingrained the original patterns are.

“Habits, as much as memory or reason, are the root of how we behave,” wrote Duhigg. “Once they are lodged within our brains they influence how we act – often without realization.

“They shape our lives far more than we realise – they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.”

Here’s the challenge for this week: try to identify the habits in your behaviour and thinking and decide whether they are in alignment with your best intentions and beliefs.

 

Week 9: Habits and Six-packs

WHAT makes us successful or unsuccessful? One thing I know that plays a significant role is our habits.
Do you have winning habits or ones that lead to failure?
For example, if your aim is to lose weight and your habit is to indulge in a tub of chocolates or stuff your face with fast food or down 2 litres of Coca Cola every evening, it’s not exactly a winning combination.
Habits are not just physical. If your desire is for less stress and your habit is to fill your to-do list each day to the brim or leave everything until the final minute, again it’s counter-productive.
So ask yourself how do your actions and does your lifestyle support your goals?
As an  Amazing 12 transformation coach, I have to do my part and deliver the program in the gym, offer guidance and instruction on technique and manage the weight and reps for each movement. I have to advise on diet. But to get the most success from this program for my clients, I need to adopt successful habits: I aim to be punctual; I plan each session ahead of time; I pay attention when my clients are lifting….
If you are doing the program, winning habits might include preparing your food ahead of time; bringing a protein shake to each session; clearing your mind of worries before training; arriving early to warm-up and do some foam rolling; eliminating foods from your kitchen that you know you shouldn’t have in order to avoid temptation etc…
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I am not talking here about the need for an overhaul of lifestyle, but more how we can be derailed by habits that undermine what we want to achieve.
They say it takes 21 days to change a habit. The Amazing 12 consists of 60 training sessions. There’s a deliberate routine, structure and almost ritual to the Amazing 12 training and diet. Habits are changed and established through repetition. Excellence follows practice. Good, productive habits are what deliver results.
Think about this quote from Craig Ballantyne, who wrote an excellent book The Perfect Day Formula: “When you eliminate bad habits, it becomes easier to stick to good ones, which in turn allows you to make better decisions and secure faster results.”
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Sue, Kari and Ross have now completed week 9 and each has faced challenges along the way. We’ve worked on ‘bad’ training habits and we continually talk about mindsets. We are now approaching the final three weeks – the home straight, so to speak.
As I’ve detailed in previous weeks, some have struggled more than others. But “success is simple when we accept how hard it is”. That acceptance is what enables us to walk through any walls that come our way. When you don’t accept it, you are more likely to quit or falter.
While all 12 weeks in this program are important, for me the final three are where the greatest changes occur. It’s the climax of the journey. However, you need to put in the work for the first nine to be able to scale those walls in and reap the benefits of the final quarter. There are no shortcuts.
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The A12 is a program where you get out what you put in. This week wasn’t the best as far as attendance is concerned. Through work, Ross skipped two sessions and Kari one.
Strength gains have still continued, but every day missed (unless through injury) is an opportunity lost to gain more strength and achieve your best.
By ‘best’ I don’t mean achieving a six-pack! That’s just a bonus for those who by the end have a lean and muscular body and depends largely on your starting physique.
The six-pack has become a bit of a fixation, however, like it’s a badge that represents true strength and fitness.
My fellow Amazing 12 coach Jon Compton, who runs the Wimbledon Strength and Fat Loss Club in London, put out a video recently about the obsession with gaining a six-pack which seemed quite timely as Sue and I this week had quite a few conversations about it.
But I think it can (wrongly in my opinion) be regarded as the dividing line between success or failure, which I think is missing the point of what training and the Amazing 12 is all about.
Jon articulated it in more industrial language than I care to that while the aim at the end of the Amazing 12 is to reach a peak – which is illustrated by photos of the start and finish and very specific to each person – the program is about much more that isn’t always so visually noticeable.
Having a six-pack is sustainable, but only if you are prepared to make sacrifices or are genetically predisposed to a body that doesn’t hold much fat. However it’s not as useful as being strong and fit. Is it?
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“Having a six-pack is a consequence of completing exercise and diet, but does not demonstrate strength,” said Ross.
“Having strength, both physically and mentally, is a particular goal of mine and the six-pack, which has always eluded me, is simply a visible by-product, much like having big arms or a chest.
“Strength is hard to measure, as mental strength is down to the individual and can change through many variables. Physical strength doesn’t necessarily mean the individual has mental strength.”
For Sue, the question of the importance of strength and aesthetics has changed from when she started the program.
“It’s not because I’ve changed my mind, but more because I’ve changed my body,” she said. “I’m as strong as I want to be – I have achieved what I set out – and now I want the next three weeks to deliver something more.
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“My other goal starting the Amazing 12 was to shed 5% body fat, so that is what is driving me. A six-pack would be the icing on the cake, though I’d choose leaner legs over the abs.
“It will be interesting to see what happens there. In the 25 years since I started exercising, I never shed fat from my legs until I started running, so let’s see what the A12 can deliver.
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“Interestingly, going into week 10, I feel like I almost want to put the brakes on in terms of strength development, because I build muscle quickly and my arms and shoulders are now well developed.
“So aesthetics are important to me. Strength and six-pack both matter because they have an affect on how I feel about myself. But I could live without the six-pack (I have until now!)
“However, I couldn’t imagine life without strength. It’s such a big part of who I am. It is my hobby, my stress-relief, my armour, my empowerment.”
Kari also feels as if there’s a tipping point with strength gain, which is a common and hard-to-budge mindset for women who falsely fear that gaining strength from lifting weights equates automatically to big muscles.
You only have to look at the lighter weight categories at the Olympics in weight-lifting to see that strong women aren’t overly muscular.
“I want to be reasonably strong, but not very strong,” added Kari. “I don’t want to look like a man, compete with their strength or come across as intimidating. I still want to ask a man to open a jar or a bottle top for me when I struggle. I never want to lose my femininity.”
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In terms of appearances, Kari is after the strong and lean look. “I want to be toned and have nice abs,” she said.
While the focus always seems to be on the obvious – that being aesthetics – I think the hidden but equally important prize of the Amazing 12 is in developing physical and mental strength, training competence and honing habits which can lead to a healthier, better, happier, more capable, skilful, confident and productive you.
Just don’t let the six-pack image obscure your sight of that.