102 MAY 2017Step 5:Strive for Daily Gains
During a challenging workout, your brain
holds your body back. To bypass those self-
imposed limitations, you need to understand
the difference between exercising and
training. About a year and a half ago, I met
Matt. He was far from a fitness rookie. He
had been working out four to five days a
week with personal trainers and was in good
shape. But Matt was only doing exercise. I
showed him how to train.
I worked with him to create a plan with
big fitness goals that he thought were
unattainable. But he changed his mentality,
performing slightly better each day than the
previous day and pushing through pain.
Within weeks, Matt showed
improvement. After months, there was
significant physical change. This program
allowed him to hit those seemingly
impossible performance goals and build
more strength than he thought he could.
This incremental approach works. First,
it forces you to train by keeping specific
performance goals in mind. Second, it allows
for steady improvement, building fitness
and psychological resilience. Finally, it helps
you overpower mental roadblocks. Over
time, as the small improvements add up, you
understand what hard work feels like and
you find your true limits.Step 6:Sweat the Small Stuff
In theory, if you exercise too hard and too
often, your body starts to break down. That’s
called overtraining. Sure, muscle can literally
break down in extreme cases, but the truth
is there’s no such thing as overtraining;
however, it’s possible to under-recover.
In 2012 and 2013, I trained Hack’s Pack,
a six-member squad from Ute CrossFit that
competed in the CrossFit Games team series.
They trained 15-20 hours a week – running,
sprinting, rowing, lifting – always at full tilt.
Yet they never became overtrained. That’s
because I hammered this point home: training
your body is just half the battle.
Hard workouts tear up your muscles
and impose stress on your system. Fitness
improves outside the gym, when your body
repairs itself. More efficient recovery allows
you to train more often and improve faster.
The Hack’s Pack athletes followed the four
strategies below and it paid off in a big way:
the squad won the CrossFit Games two years
in a row.Get More Sleep
Poor sleep saps your strength, makes you
more prone to injury and messes with your
metabolism. When I work with people who
need to get ripped quickly, I require them
to get at least nine hours of sleep a night.Here are two easy ways to help make that
happen: hang blackout curtains to turn your
bedroom into a darkroom and shut off all
your electronics an hour before bedtime.Manage Your Stress
Life stress impairs healing and your body
doesn’t have the resources to recover from
both life stress and workout stress. There’s
no single best way to recover from life
stress – we all have our own tricks. Preston
Wood meditates for 20 minutes a day. A
friend of mine builds Lego sets with his kids.
Whatever helps you unwind, do it daily.Walk
A few years ago, I suddenly found myself
lifting heavier and running faster. What
changed? I’d recently adopted a dog and I
was walking an extra 30-60 minutes a
day. A daily walk increases bloodflow,
helping you recover from tough workouts.
It’s also a low-impact way to burn a few
more kilojoules.Tend Your Muscles
Life and exercise conspire to make some of
your muscles tighter than others. Tighter
muscles increase your risk of injury. I roll
my muscles for 20 minutes each night as
my wife and I watch our favourite TV series,
Game of Thrones.“There are seven days in a week.
‘Someday’ is not one of them”
The Maxims of
Maximus:
Sometimes you’re
the hammer, other
times the nail.”
“No rest is taken
except the rest
that is earned.”
“Do what’s right,
not what’s easy.”FITNESSTHE MAXIMUS BODY PLAN
Workout on page 135.