By Changing Nothing, Nothing Changes

Issue #13


“If celebrating the small stuff is hard for you, the go-big-or-go-home mentality is probably sneaking up on you. Shut it down. It’s a trap. Celebrating a win —no matter how tiny— will quickly lead to more wins.” -BJ Fogg



Fit Tip: Switch Things Up

When you go to a public gym you can learn a lot about people. One thing I have noticed when observing the early morning crowd at my gym is that most of them do the same thing every day. While being consistent and showing up every morning is great, I think you have a lot more to gain if you switch up your training style every once in a while. Your training does not need to change drastically or often, but if you are chasing health you should try to be somewhat well-rounded. 

If you only do the same few moves with the same number of reps with the same tempo, you will adapt and it will become quite easy for you. This is good, until it isn’t. Your progress will slow down; you are just going through the motions each workout getting little more than some healthy movement in. I will use myself as an example of how to do this effectively.

Over the last year I probably did 4 or 5 different workout plans. One was a basic strength and hypertrophy, cover-all-your-bases workout that included some cardio days. Then I pivoted to a lifting plan that had exclusively unilateral training (working each side independently) to tease out any imbalances I had. After I was feeling pretty good and balanced from that I was ready to hit the big lifts heavy: powerlifting for 11 weeks as I prepared for the Garage Gym Competition. This is pretty taxing on the central nervous system so the perfect transition was into a short hypertrophy focused workout. This allowed for less load while still really pumping up the muscles and providing a completely different stimulus. Somewhere in the mix I will do some athletic training that involves lots of speedy explosive movements. Sometimes my workouts also have one big overarching goal: for 2025 I want to hit a certain record weight on my deadlift, but for 2026 I have thought about doing a little triathlon. Those require very different training.


It is good to have a plan and to stick to it long enough to observe some improvements. I recommend sticking to a good workout plan for 2-4 months, before switching things up a bit.. How often and how drastic you change it up depends on your experience level. Challenge yourself to do the things you are bad at, because it might just be what you need. If you have been hitting the light weights for reps of 10 for longer than you can remember, get your hands on some heavy weights that you can only lift 3 times and try that out. If you have been doing all your leg work on machines, challenge yourself to get good at some free weight lunges. If you have focused on hypertrophy but never put those muscles to the test with something athletic, try something explosive. 



Content: Dental Health


Like many, I have long despised going to the dentist. But my dislike was not simply fueled by an uncomfortable experience laying with my mouth open getting poked and prodded; I disliked it because even at a young age I was skeptical (and perhaps proud.) It seemed odd to me that nearly everyone needed teeth drilled for cavities that seemed unpreventable. Then the wisdom teeth ordeal: ‘why did God give us those teeth if everyone needs them surgically removed?’ 

I finally got some answers that involved a bit of a history lesson from a number of books. If you are interested my recommendations this week are called Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic or a recent episode from the MindPump podcast. Is Traditional Dentistry A Scam? Functional Dentistry with Dr. Staci Whitman | Mind Pump 2557

They asked a dentist a lot of the questions I had. This dentist, along with a growing number of others, has really changed the way they practice dentistry. Your oral health impacts the whole body; your dentist should treat it that way. 




Challenge for the Week: Experiment in Your Training

This week, I have a bit of a fun challenge. I simply want you to experiment with something new inside or outside of your training. Maybe you have been wondering if you can do a handstand. Maybe you saw a cool stretching routine on Instagram. Perhaps you have been scared to attempt a barbell squat. You have seen people use kettlebells but don't know how to do it. Take a minute and look something up if needed. Learn something new. Whatever it might be, use 5 minutes to mess around. 


Win the weekend!


Brad


Durable Dad Training

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