Bit of a Catch Up

Hey Guys,

Today I wanted to just ramble on about what I have been up to recently.

Lately work has taken over a little bit so training has been on the back burner. I've been getting in 3-4 weight sessions a week, and 2-3 BJJ sessions. While this is a lot lower than I would like (especially on the BJJ end) it is still allowing me to move towards my goals (just a bit slower).

Training wise, over this last year or so my main goal is to get stronger. I'm more than happy with what I have achieved and hope to fit the following lifts in the next 2-3 months;

• 3x body weight DL
• 2.5 body weight squat
• 1.5 body weight bench
• Just under a 1.5 body weight Over head press.

These aren't amazing numbers, however I am over the moon with them considering where I was a year ago. I've done this with Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 and I will continue to run this, probably till the end of time. Over the next few months I will be concentrating on adding more volume in to get ready for the wedding/photo shoot/honey moon in September. I know that's vain, but at least I'm honest about it...

BJJ wise my progress has slowed to a crawl. The reason behind this is simply the amount of work I am putting in. While some people can make progress on 2-3 times a week I know that I need at least double that to feel as though I am progressing at a good rate. Unfortunately I need to prioritise my time at the moment and this is the thing that is taking the hit. This sucks a little bit, but as I look at my training and goals over the course of YEARS this isn't really such a big deal to me.

Nutrition wise things are going great. The main goal for the last 6 months has been to support training and improve my metabolism. Hopefully over the next 3 weeks I will hit the 3000 cals a day mark before I start a slow recomp. Yes my abs have pretty much gone and I am a few KG over my weight class (3kg to be exact) but this is worth it in the short term for the metabolism and strength benefits. Remember, we are thinking long term here, not some 6 weeks to super hero bullshit.

I will be updating things every couple of weeks pr so, but if anyone has any direct questions, just let me know.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Work ethic

Hey Guys,

Todays post is all about work ethic.

Now I've wrote about this quite a bit in the past as I think it is one of the most defining factors that you can have in whether or not you're going to achieve your goals.

One thing that we have always seen from any body who achieves their goals and realises their dreams, is that they work incredibly hard.

None worked as hard as Dan Gable.

Dan Gamble is a wrestling God. He won the Olympics without have a SINGLE POINT scored on him.

A single point!!!

For anyone who knows wrestling they will tell you that like winning the NBA by 3 pointers alone (and not getting scored on).

As we are now at the pointy in January when people start to give up on  their goals a bit, I thought I would post this video to help you all get through your Monday.

Go kill it!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

2014 in Review

Hey Guys,

Well it's that time of year again, time for the annual review!

This year I am going to combine both personal and business into one post so I apologise for the length of this before I start! In this post I will be looking at what worked great for me in my personal and business life plus a close look at all the things that sucked (and many did).

I will say straight away that 2014 was probably one of (if not THE best year) of my life. Major things happened to me that not only made me a lot happier but also will make me happy in the long term. The things that sucked were all things that I can learn from and not anything that impacted my life in the long term. This is something I am truly grateful for as there aren't many that can say it.

Ok so here we go!

Personal

2014 was an amazing year for me personally with so many cool experiences and life changing decisions that benefited me. I also had a few set minor set backs that I am still paying for.

I'm going to keep this in bullet points for ease of reading but I will happily elaborate on anything, just comment below :)

So the positives!

• The biggest and by far the best thing that happened to me this year was that I proposed to my long suffering girlfriend Kelly and she was daft enough to say yes. Being an obsessive, workaholic maniac isn't something that is easy to live with, never mind want to spend the rest of your days with. But she wants to... Which in turn makes me a very happy and lucky man. Kel is my number one supporter in everything I do and is absolutely relentless in her passion for supporting me with everything I try. I really am so lucky to have her in my life.
• I saw some pretty cool places and met some amazing people. Travel is always something that's fun to do and it always reaffirms my belief that people are essentially good as individuals, it's large groups that seem to cause all the problems. Travelling is something that I hope to do a lot more of in 2015, not necessarily to other countries but just seeing new places.
• Training wise, 2014 was pretty good for me. I set out this year to increase my absolute strength to a semi respectable level and improve my over all explosiveness while still focusing on BJJ. It went well and while I didn't compete in BJJ as much as I originally wanted to (more on that in a bit) I still exceeded all the strength goals I set for myself. This alone has made an absolutely massive difference to not only how I perform but how I feel. I would strongly recommend anyone to spend a chunk of time making themselves as strong as possible (within your weight class etc if that is something that you need to focus on). In 2014 I used the programme Wendlers 5/3/1 for the entire year. I will be using it again all the way throughout 2015 as I feel that not only is it effective but is also extremely flexible.
• BJJ. I'm pretty happy with the progress I made through this year on the mat. I managed to get my blue belt and start to find my way a little bit. I think that it's really hard to gauge your performance in BJJ. Not simply because how much of a grind the sport is, but that everyone around you is also progressing. Therefore you always feel the same. In 2015 I hope to keep plugging away and putting time in on the mat. I don't really want to get to caught up in the desire to improve as i think it's to short sighted. I simply want to focus on having fun while training. As long as I'm training hard and smiling, I'm going to be very happy.

Ok, so what sucked?

• I sometimes really suck at being a good friend and family member (and future husband). When I get involved with a project I generally only see that and don't make time for anything else. While this is certainly sometimes needed, it's not something that I need to be like all the time. I can definitely spend more time with family and close friends. More importantly I can be present when I'm doing it. Sometimes I am 'that guy' who is always checking and responding to E Mail when at social gatherings. While being connected to clients and giving them a response is vital for my business, it doesn't need to be all the time.
• I failed to learn a forgiven language for about the fifth year in a row. I just need to book a course and do this as it's something that really interests me.
• Training wise I really slacked off on a couple of things. Those things being flexibility and mobility work (especially foam rolling). While I certainly did all of these things I didn't do them with any kind of regularity that would really be beneficial. Towards the end of the year I really improved on this eliminating all pain in my rotator cuff and stretching every session. This is something that I hope to continue!
• As previously mentioned I didn't compete anywhere near what I wanted to (about half in fact). While this does bother me as it is a goal that I failed to hit, it is not something that I will lose sleep over. As I have stated numerous times, competing isn't something that I particularly enjoy but it does help me improve immensely. I'm never going to be an all out competitor as it just doesn't motivate me. However I can certainly do better!

As you can see the things I list are not earth shattering by any means however it does help me a lot to put all of this down on paper (well, digital paper). Hopefully you can gleam something from it all as well. If not, don't feel guilty by clicking away :)

Onwards!

Business

What went well,

• This was my first full year being self employed full time and I have to say it as been awesome. I've met and connected with to many awesome people to mention and every single one of them has enriched my life for the better.
• Over all Unorthodox Nutrition has grown in every aspect. each month more and more people come to the site, read my ramblings and ask for my help. This is still mind blowing to me and I can't thank everyone enough for the support!
• Education and reading still continues to be a massive part of my business and it is something that I think is vital to achieving the results that me and my clients get. This will certainly continue this year!
• I was very touched to be asked to speak to students a number of times this year. Not only giving guest lectures and classes but also to be involved with great Youth projects and Q&A sessions. I love this and hope to do more!
• I am really privileged to continue to meet very smart, creative and passionate people that I regard as colleagues. Some of the people in this crazy industry are really amazing and I'm very lucky to be a part of their projects and pick their brains when needed. Thank you.
• The writing side of the business continues to grow with more articles being featured in more magazines and the launch of 2 ebooks (including the free Unorthodox Fat Loss). I hope to continue this and write another 2 books this year (even possibly co author a few). I also want to write more for me. This might be on here or just random stuff that never sees the light of day. I said that I was going to do this last year but never did :(
• No section on what went well would be complete without mentioning all my fantastic clients. Together we have achieved goals, travelled the world, won world championships and changed lives. Without you all my job would be nothing and you make it what it is. I can't wait to help you all in 2015. Thank you.

Now for what sucked,

• Admin. I hate doing it. I do a little bit (basically just enough to stop my office being a pile of papers and receipts), but I must do more and do it better in 2015 if I want the business to keep growing.
• I've had quite a few failed projects over the year that I thought would be massive but didn't do anything. I think this is simply due to me creating stuff that I want to do rather than stuff that there is a market for. It's against my nature to wait but research must come first moving forward.
• I've trusted people who I shouldn't have. These people have either not delivered what they said they would, backed out, been unprofessional or simply just stole my work. This is unfortunately an on going process. Thankfully I gained more great people than bad ones this year.
• Networking. While I love talking to people and travelling, networking just for networks sake I can't stand. However this industry (like any) is about who you know. I'm hoping to find a better way to do this in 2015.
• Writing. While I certainly wrote quite a bit in 2014 I didn't do it anywhere as near as much as I wanted. Writing isn't something that comes easy to me and while I enjoy it, quite a lot of the time it is a complete struggle. This year I want to write everyday, whether it is to be published or not. Hopefully this will get me a bit closer to my 10,000 hours.

That's it really. I do a more detailed analysis for myself that covers figures and goals for this year etc but I choose not to share that. I put them up in my office and look at them everyday. In my experience people seem to just hate on peoples goals when put on the internet (no idea why). I hope that you do something similar to this yourself whether it be in regards to your personal, professional or passionate life as I really think it helps.

As always comments and questions that are in a constructive manner are welcomed :)

Thanks for a great year!!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Goals and staying on track in 2015

Hey Guys,

Today I thought that I would share with you one of my more popular articles from last year (you can find more of the same HERE).

The article was first published on YourMMA and is about goals, which I thought was pretty appropriate for this time of year :)

Let me know what you think below!

Right its that time of the year, its been a few months and the numbers are starting to thin out a bit in your gym, diets are starting to loosen and enthusiasm is dropping.

I see this in my gym all the time. the best intentions start to wain and dedication starts to take a bit of a hit. Its not all doom and gloom though, there are still a few who have ‘the look’.

You know ‘the look’.  Its not reserved for anyone, everyone can have it. It’s something thats past their eyes, something that is past determined. It’s a person that has had enough. Whether they have had enough of being in bad shape, enough of a shitty job, a toxic partner or someone who has taken one to many beatings either on the mat or at the hands of someone else.

This person WILL succeed. Its not a matter of ‘if’ its when. Nothing will deter this person. Not bad weather, social events, unsupportive people, injuries, a meteor striking the earth. This person will be in the gym rain or shine. This trait isn’t reserved for anyone. Everyone can gain or get back this level of determinism. All it takes is realising how much you really want it, because thats all it is really, how  much YOU want it.

This article is for those people. A quick set of tips to help them stay on the path that will give them more than any TV show, computer game or drink or drugs. Ask anyone who achieves something with their body and the will tell you that you cant stop that drive spilling over into other parts of your life. Whether its being better at your job, a better parent or partner to making your dreams a reality. Yes, it is that powerful.

Ok, so tips;

1) Make small changes. Trying to do everything at once is just a recipe for failure. Make one change a week and stick with it. Whether its small changes to your diet or adding in some stretching and mobility work, small changes turn into habits.

2) Try new things. Whether its a new food or a new exercise, variety is the spice of life and keeps things interesting.

3) Learn stuff. I highly recommend blagging peoples heads who know more than you. You will find bits of real world information that you will not find off an internet forum guru. Also, read stuff.  

4) Music. Find tracks that motivate you and use them. Trying to break a squat PR or doing magic 50′s to steps or any X factor stuff just isn’t going to cut it. Get angry, psyched or whatever emotion works for you. Music focuses people. be a focused person.

5) Enjoy it. You remember enjoying training right? There is no point training if you aren’t loving it. Even if your mate has recommended the best programme since someone hit a bag or picked up a weight, if you don’t like it you’re not going to do it.

6) Eat to support your goals, don’t train to support your eating habits.

7) While we are on the subject, learn how to cook. Making interesting, good quality food that tastes nice will make a massive difference to your training and results.

Those are some basic quick tips that may help you get back on track. If not, well, only you can do it at the end of the day.

As always, comments appreciated

Stay healthy,

Mike

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hey Guys,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Firstly thank you for such an amazing 2014! I'm so thankful and honoured to have worked, talked, competed with and connected to such a badass bunch on individuals! Thank you so much, for without you I wouldn't love my job nearly as much!

Very soon I will be doing breakdown of what went well last year (both personally and in business) and what didn't go so well. While many people (especially in this industry) would like you to believe that they live fairy tale lives and everything is perfect, I think that it not only does me a lot of good to tell it to you straight, but also for you to read it.

I think that this is perfect time of the year for goal setting and reflection, and I hope that you can give some serious thought to what you would like to achieve this year.

Here is to a fantastic 2015!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

What it takes to succeed.

Hey Guys,

I've often wrote many times in the past about what it really takes to accomplish a goal.

Any goal that is worth having (to YOU, not other people) will always be really hard work. It will require you to work hard, sacrifice thing and become uncomfortable. This is the law of the universe, not mine. Everything has its price and you can either pay it or you can't. Can't pay the price, can't have it and no amount of excuses will change that.

I think that we can all be a bit guilty of forgetting that sometimes (me included). It's to easy to become commutable and stop really working hard for what we want.

We go a little soft.

It's easier to stay in bed rather than get up and put the work in. It's easier to take sort cuts rather than giving your best. However it is only our very best efforts that provide us with the results we need.

In this article Matt Kroc talks about what it takes to excel in powerlifting, bodybuilding and just being successful.

Well worth a read, it reminded me of some of the things I have been neglecting in my own lift.

Stay healthy,

Mike