resilience
Everyone wants to know the ‘secret’ to motivation. Like most topics, this isn’t as simple as repeating cliches like ‘just don’t quit’ or ‘stay hard’. These sayings can be useful as simple reminders of more complex concepts, but only if you understand the underlying process and skills that lead to that outcome. Without those underlying […]
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I was still 17 when I enlisted in the Navy. My parents had to sign the enlistment paperwork for me since I wasn’t of legal age. This wasn’t without some resistance. I could have become a doctor. Or a lawyer. These are the two jobs that are supposed to be in your future when you’re […]
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Regardless of your occupation, self-regulation is a key component of resilience and performance under stress. Self-regulation has an immediate effect, in that it helps you direct your cognitive function and make better decisions in difficult situations. In the medium-term, it helps to modulate circadian rhythms, prevent burnout, and manage energy and recovery. And, in […]
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Don’t have access to any weights or only have a few kettlebells or dumbbells? No problem. Now is the time to work on building your work capacity: the total amount of work you can do in a fixed amount of time. Work capacity is a blend of power and capacity. Power = the amount of […]
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Move well, move more It’s easy to simplify how we think about movement. You take something like a squat, and you work on doing it well. Then, you work on doing it a lot. You add weight, volume, density or complexity. A good bodyweight squat becomes a good goblet squat becomes a heavy barbell back […]
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By: Jon Pope “On the occasion of any accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.” – Epictetus The current situation has affected everyone in one way or another. Some people have had their lives upended. Others may be only slightly inconvenienced […]
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Nearly everyone knows of Demetrious Johnson – the 11-time UFC Champion, and top contender for greatest-of-all-time MMA fighter. A few years ago we were hanging out with his long-time strength and conditioning coach, Joel Jamieson, who told us a story about Demetrious and what made him so special. Demetrious didn’t have what you’d call a […]
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Bodies can be remarkably strong. They’re hard to truly break, and – given the right circumstances – easy to repair. Bodies of SOF candidates are even stronger. So, it should be no surprise that people usually fail out of selection not because of physical factors, but mental ones. The mind breaks before the body. Physical […]
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“What’s your name? Where are you? What day is it?” I had no idea. This strange yet vaguely familiar person may as well have been asking me to solve quadratic equations. As I excavated my brain for answers to his puzzles, he lowered me to the deck of the pool and called for the medic. […]
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The ultimate ceiling of what you’re capable of as an endurance athlete is astonishingly high. Evolutionarily, we’re the most efficient runners on earth. Well-trained humans can run animals like gazelles to death in the heat. Your own upper limits are heavily influenced by your mental and emotional perspective, as well as the more obvious factors […]
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