Sunday Story…Goals and Dreams

It's that time of year again. The end of the year, when we start thinking about the things that we accomplished and the things we wanted to accomplish but maybe didn't quite get to.

As we look forward to the coming New Year, what are your fitness goals? Are there any skills you'd like to improve? Skills that you meant to get better at this last year but didn't quite get to?

Maybe some things that you're sure are going to show up here in a month or two for the CrossFit Open, but you're not quite ready. You haven't done the work that you needed to do to be as good as you know you can be. Well, it's time to figure out how to get to them. You can schedule a goal review with Alex. You could talk to Ellie. You could talk to me. We can schedule a private session or two, or if you have some friends that have the same issues, they need to work on the same skills, we could set up a special class on a Saturday afternoon or maybe a Sunday morning and get those skills honed in and ready to show off for the Open.

Maybe it's something even simpler than that. Perhaps it's just "I want to be able to (fill in the blank here). I want to be able to back squat an extra 20 pounds by this time next year. I want to be able to do five strict pull-ups. If that's the case, then we need a plan. You need a plan to make that happen.

If you don't have a plan and a date, all you have is a dream. So let’s set the goals, make a plan, and make it happen.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Be Kind!

We're coming up at the end of the year here, which really means we're coming up on the 1st of the year. As you know, there'll be so many of your friends, neighbors, and relatives who are going to make resolutions. They're going to go to the gym. This is the year that they're really going to get in shape. And then, in the middle of February or the 1st of March, that resolution will be tossed into the garbage bin. We need to help those people. We need to give them a path to fitness so they can enjoy the same benefits you all do from the work you're doing.

So, look through your friends and relatives and see if there isn't somebody who needs your help. I'm offering a new class. It'll be mid-morning Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 am. That limits the population. We could be talking about people who have more flexibility in their schedules than those in a regular 9-5 job. But the point is that we're going to get stronger in this class and improve our cardiovascular fitness. We'll be doing that using Zone 2 training, VO2 max training, and sprint training. We'll include all those things throughout the cohort. If we care about these people, we need to show them the path. It's just like you can't make the horse drink water, but you can show him where the water is. Your job is to show him where the water is. Tell him what's going on here, who we are, and what we can do for them, and get them on their own journey to extraordinary.

It's an act of kindness.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Indulgences

It's that time of year again, you know? Sweets are everywhere, drinks are flowing, and the resistance begins to break down. You know you can have one drink, but more than one becomes a problem. You know you can have one or even two bites of a sweet, but more than that becomes a problem.

This is where we all struggle: finding the willpower and the desire to continue on our journey, to maintain the consistency of our diet and exercise. It would be a shame if we let one or two weeks ruin all our progress in a year. That's the prize to keep your eyes on. All of the progress that you've made, all of the good things that you've done, you don't want to erase in one meal or one week.

Can you indulge yourself? Of course. Can you overindulge yourself? You can, but you probably shouldn't.

So, look at the table groaning with all those delectable morsels, pick one or two, and have a bite or two of each, enjoying the hell out of every bite. Chew it thoroughly, close your eyes, and enjoy the taste, the feel, and the aroma of the food in your mouth and on your tongue. And then have another bite, and as you do, realize that maybe that second bite wasn't quite as satisfying, quite as good as that first bite, and you know every bite after that won't be as good. After that, it just becomes something to do that you're supposed to do. I'm supposed to eat the whole piece. I'm supposed to finish my plate. You don't have to. There's no “supposed to” here. Enjoy your indulgences, but don't overdo it in a way that sabotages all your progress.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Your Fitness

Well, it's that time of year again - the end of the year. We look back and decide whether what we did was what we wanted to do and whether it met the goals we thought we could achieve. I only have one question for you: Are you fitter than you were at the beginning of the year? This is the question we must answer for ourselves every year. How do I measure fitness?" It's pretty simple. You can look at all kinds of different metrics:

• You could look at your 400-meter run time
• You could look at your Fran time
• You can look at how much your back squat is

The fact is, you are more or less fit than you were at the beginning of the year. The hidden part of that question is, "What are you going to do about it this year?" We can’t rest on our laurels, but let's also be kind to ourselves. If you think you're less fit, or maybe you believe you are just as fit but you're a year older, that means you're more fit. You see, every year you're fighting against the ravages of age. The longer you live, the more difficult it is to maintain fitness. Thus, if I maintain the same level of fitness year after year, I am more fit because I'm fighting against my body's tendency to lose fitness.

If you are fitter, pat yourself on the back and get back to work. If you are less fit, get back to work. Either way, GET BACK TO WORK!

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Grateful

One of the most powerful practices you can perform is gratitude. If you are reading this, you have much to be grateful for. Too often, we try to make gratitude about the big things, the momentous occurrences. But the practice of gratitude really requires us to find it in the simplest, smallest moments. Let's think about that. I have gratitude for:

• The breath that I take
• My body's ability to absorb oxygen and send it out to all the places it needs to go
• Being able to get up in the morning and move
• All my relationships and all of the people that are around me and in my life
• The world around me
• The food that I eat
• The scenery that I get to see

You won’t have to look very far or very hard to find things to be grateful for. When you do this, all the other things that may bother you will slip away, and you will be left with warmth in your heart for all the blessings you experience in every moment. Gratitude is about the small things as well as the big ones.

Life is full of moments of gratitude if we just take the time to experience them. Gratitude is probably the single most important shift you can make that will improve your life. Viktor Frankl said, "The only freedom that man really has is his freedom to choose his attitude" - not just at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but every day, every moment. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…The enemies of progress

Are comparison and pursuing perfection.

 

We’ve talked at great length about what it takes to be successful at this longevity process:

1. Consistency
2. To do the work
3. To stay on task

We talk about these sorts of things all the time. If you don't show up, you can't get the work done. If you don't show up consistently, you won't progress. Those are obvious. What we haven't talked about is the enemies of progress - what's going to short-circuit your path to a greater and better health span.

The two that come to mind are:

1. Perfection
2. Comparison

Perfection - you would think that we'd want every rep to be perfect, we want every session to be a perfect session. But the fact is, that is an unachievable goal. We need to hit the standard of movement every rep; we aren’t going to short-circuit any of the movements. But we don't have to be perfect. We need to be good; we need to be excellent. We don't need to be perfect.

And then the second one, comparison. It's often said that comparison is the thief of joy. Let's be honest, doing all this work needs to be enjoyable. If it's just absolute suffering every time you're trying to do it, you won’t continue. When we compare ourselves to others or compare our progress to someone else's, it's going to steal our enjoyment. You're an individual. You are going to progress at the rate you progress at. Comparing yourself to somebody else does not move you forward on your journey. We want to be on our own journey toward our extraordinary, our own path to an extraordinary life. It's about you. It's not about me. It's not about that person across the gym. It's not about that person sitting at the table across the restaurant from you. It's about you, your work, and what you're doing.

Victory isn’t about perfection. Victory isn’t about beating someone else. Every positive choice, every workout is a triumph on your path!

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Memento Mori

When my father passed back in 2014, it was awe-inspiring how well he had planned for his passing. Everything was done for us, whether we wanted a memorial or not. The money went there; the stuff went there. And it was a smooth, easy process.

I see so many times when that doesn't happen. It's not an easy process. It's a time of strife. People are grieved, and they are fighting about this and that because it hasn't been done right. And that person's wishes, which are unknown at that point, aren't being followed. Had we asked them, it probably wouldn't have turned out the way it did.

I’m bringing this up now because it's something we all do. The fact is, is that we don't know when the end is coming. We know that it's coming, but we don't know precisely when, and the older we get, the closer we are to that date.

So, it's time for all of us to think about how we want our affairs handled when we're gone. If you want to leave it to whatever happens, happens, you can. That's the easy way (for you), but the other way is to plan for it because it's going to happen, just like the sun's going to come up tomorrow, this is going to happen. It's a question of when, not if.

So, plan for that, do the work, do the planning, do the thought process that it's going to take because it is a thought process. You are going to have to figure it out for them: How do you want it to look? You want music? What music do you want to play? You want AC/DC or Beethoven? What the heck do you want? Write it down, plan for it, make it happen.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Who Loves You?

One of the least emphasized aspects of your health span training is the relationship aspects and our connections with other humans around us.

Almost all our health span training is done alone and in service to me. In the Gym? It's about me. When I eat?  It's about me. The same thing with my sleep. It’s about me.

But really those things become less important if my relationship with other humans around me is weak or non-existent. Most of you reading this have some connection with other people: it might be your spouse, might be your parents, might be your children, the people you work with. But how are those relationships? Are you working at them or are they just all on autopilot? When you spend time talking with them are you listening? And by that, I mean are you listening to understand or are you listening to answer? Are you going out of your way to meet your relationships where they need to be met? Or where you think they need to be met?

Our relationships with other humans are the meat and potatoes of who we are as humans. We are tribal animals. Throughout the millennia humans thrive best when they are aligned with other people. All the advancements humans have created were created to help other humans. Think about it…every advancement: the steam engine, the telephone, antibiotics, textiles, farming, the list goes on and on.

There is an old saying…if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be the last man standing. I want to live a full and rich life and that means with lots of love, harmony, and happiness around me.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Attitude of Gratitude

One of the best practices I have found to keep myself on track and centered is gratitude. When we feel gratitude and express it for the things we have, the things we're doing, the things around us, it allows our outlook to soften and become more inclusive. I am grateful for the beautiful day I see around me. I am thankful for the body I live in, which moves so well, that has supported me for all these years, and for all the things I have done. I have gratitude for the people around me. The things they do, the things that they've taught me, the things that I have managed to understand and receive from them.

Years ago, in the San Francisco Bay Area, there were several restaurants called The Gratitude Cafe. The real fun and connective part of The Gratitude Cafe was that all the dishes had writing around the edges and at the bottom that were affirmations: "You are wonderful!" "You are beautiful!" "You are strong!" All the items on the menu carried the same kinds of messages. "You are beautiful!" It was a milkshake made with almond milk, nuts, and this and that. And when you ordered it, the server repeated it. So, you said, "I'll have an 'I am beautiful,'" and the servers would say, "One 'I am beautiful'!" And then the kitchen would be constantly yelling these things out: "I am beautiful!" "You are wonderful!" Things like that, and when they brought it to the table, same thing: "You are wonderful!" "You are beautiful!" It was an experience in gratitude, thus the name Gratitude Cafe.

The food was secondary to the experience that you left with, which was one of gratitude. Gratitude may be the single most important attitude you can bring into the world. Expressing gratitude out loud to the people around me inspires them to find gratitude as well. We can always find gratitude even in the worst circumstances. This is the meaning of finding a silver lining in every cloud. There's always something to be grateful for, even in the darkest days. As Viktor Frankl points out, "The one freedom nobody can ever take away from you is your freedom to choose your attitude," and that means the freedom to choose an attitude of gratitude, even in the face of ugliness, trials, and tribulations.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Musings on Mortality

 

Lately, I've been musing on mortality. As you can tell from the last couple of posts, I have now reached what would be considered three-quarters of the way to 100. When I turned 50, I said, "Maybe I'm middle-aged. Got 50 more years to go." But now, on the cusp of 70, it's only 30. And that feels like the blink of an eye.

None of us is getting out of here alive; that's been the fact since the day you were born. Everything we do is to live the most fruitful and productive lives we can, making connections, building relationships, providing value to the world, and discovering our purpose —the one we were put on this planet to fulfill.

But the question is, did we get there? Did you manage to do that? Did you find your purpose? Did you fulfill your purpose? These are some of the questions that I've been asking myself. I worry that I haven't done enough to achieve the purpose for which I was put here. I fear that I will leave behind more problems than I solved.

Most of these questions are unanswerable, or the answers may elude us in our own lifetimes. The people that we leave behind will have those answers. They will know if you've done enough, they will know if you solved more problems than you left. In many ways, the people, the relationships, the connections that we leave behind are, in fact, our legacy.

If you're interested in building muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…It’s your Job!

There's an old saying, "Youth is wasted on the young." And the older I get, the truer that appears to be.

When we're young, we look and feel immortal. 40 looks so far off. 50-60 is a region for older adults and grandparents. 70, 80? Absolutely ancient.

Here's the problem: The older we get, the more work we have to do to maintain our youth and vitality. When we're young, it's there for us anytime we want it. We heal faster. We move more easily. As we age, those things don't come as easily.

Now, however, staying in shape and working out is your job, and just like any other job, you get paid for results. If you don't treat working out like a job, it becomes just something you do occasionally. You must be committed to it, just like you are at your job.

You've heard me write about it a lot over the last few months. You must attack your fitness just like you attack anything else worth doing. This means:

• Lifting weights
• Working on your cardiovascular fitness
• Working on your vast twitch muscles (in other words, sprinting)
• Working on your VO2 max (in other words, how much oxygen can you uptake over the course of any amount of work)

All these things are necessary for your fitness. All these things are now your job.

The key to health span, in other words, how well you're going to live as you age, lies primarily in your fitness. There are other things that you must do: sleep well, eat well. But if I don't have fitness, those other things are not going to get me the results that fitness will.

The bottom line is do the work, reap the benefits. Enjoy your life as you become older because getting older is not an option. Being old is a choice.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…69

As you know, last Saturday was my birthday. And I have to admit that I've been struggling with this particular number, sixty-nine. When you turn forty, even sixty-three, it's not that big a deal. You really don't think about what that number means. But in this particular case, this number seems to carry at least some significance for me.

You see, after sixty-nine comes seventy, and I've got to admit that seventy sounds really, really old. Older than sixty-nine. Older than sixty. Old. Now I know that this is just my own perception, my own stuff around aging, right? Maybe for you it's sixty, or it's fifty, who knows? But I can tell you that when I look at turning seventy next year, I'm a little bit disturbed—or perturbed, something.

So, I've been thinking about that, and what is the why? Why do I perceive seventy as being old? Why not eighty? Why not ninety? Why not a hundred? I intend to live a long, healthy life until I can't anymore. In other words, I want my health span to be at the top of the game all the way through. So really, seventy is just another number. Still, I have all of this baggage that I'm carrying around with it, and I'm just kind of wondering as you're reading this, what kind of baggage are you carrying at sixty-eight, seventy-two, eighty-six? How is that working for you?

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength (and find discipline), sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Happy Birthday to me!

If you're reading this on Sunday, yesterday was my birthday. I'm celebrating 69 years on this planet. And I thought I would leave you with a couple of thoughts. As you can see, the picture posted is of me doing some regular old work with a shovel. And this is why I do what I do in the gym every day. So I can do the regular things - gardening, digging, walking - all those things that make life worth living.

Physical training isn't just about doing push-ups and pull-ups; it's also about developing overall strength and endurance. Physical training at this age is about how good I can feel after I do all the things that I want to do. It does no good to go out in the garden if I'm going to pay a price for that activity the next day or the next two or three days or weeks. The only way to prevent that is through regular physical training. You need to lift weights regularly. Most of the professionals we see these days claim to strength train two days a week, and I would agree that this is the absolute bare minimum - two days a week. I lift weights five days a week.

Most importantly, you should do hard things regularly, whether that means hitting Kilimanjaro or Machu Picchu (as Ellie has taken groups and plans to take another one next year to Portugal, I think) or spending a day with your kids or grandkids doing all the things they want to do. The only way to do that as we get older is by continuing to train our physicality. Doing nothing is worse than doing something hard.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Change

 

If you are reading this, you should already be aware of the importance of discipline and commitment. And, hopefully, you have already committed to your fitness journey and are showing up when you say you will (discipline!).

That’s great. Good on you! But there’s more, a lot more. You have begun the fitness part of your journey. The physical part. Perhaps you've already started improving your nutrition. And of course, your sleep. There's also your stress management. How are you managing your stress? Both at home and at work? How is that working for you? Once we get those things in line, we are on our way to an extraordinary journey. But that's not all.

Other things are not so obvious, things that are not so easy to pinpoint and change. The things that may be ingrained in you over years and decades of your life. Some of these aspects also require examination. How are you showing up in the world? How are you with your relationships? How are you showing up in your relationship with the universe? With divine spirit? These things may be as important as your physical journey, if not more important.

I often say that we would like life to be harmonious. By that, I mean we aren't looking for balance. Balance indicates non-movement, stasis. What we want is harmony. I can become obsessed with one thing or another, such as my career, my kids, or something else, but what I really want, even when I'm overly focused on one thing, is to have the rest of my life in harmony. It's just like an orchestra, sometimes the timpani drums are the big mover, and sometimes it's the horn section, the strings, or the woodwinds. It works as a harmonious whole, but the emphasis can be on one part or another. My question to you is, how harmonious is your life?

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Catch some Z's

 

Sleep is the most overlooked component of your fitness journey. I know we've discussed it before and written about it at great length, but as more studies are conducted and research emerges, the importance of this topic becomes increasingly apparent.

When I was a young adult (back in the late 1900s), we were told to sleep less. Well, now here we are all these years later, and we realize 4 hours isn’t enough.

We also need to have high-quality sleep. In other words, we need to pass through all the various components of an evening's sleep: REM sleep, deep sleep, and light sleep. They all help us restore and recover from our daily work. What we often overlook is how many small factors can impact our restorative and rejuvenating sleep.

There are all kinds of things that can affect your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and experience an entire night of restorative sleep.

Little things like:

• Changing my pattern of activity before I go to bed
• Having caffeine a little too late in the day
• Being over-stimulated before I went to bed

How can you improve your sleep consistency? Can you go to bed at the same time every night?  I see many of you at five and 5:30 in the morning, so I know you're getting up at the same time, 4-5 days a week. The hard part is getting to bed at the same time every night. Between social and family activities, it can be hard to get into bed.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Discipline is the glue

We discussed the importance of consistency and the need to show up every day to do the work, but what happens when you're just not feeling it? What happens when you get up and it's, "I don't want to do that today?"

This is where discipline comes in. Discipline is where you do what you're supposed to do because you are supposed to do it. You don't have to like it. You don't have to want to do it. But you are going to do it anyway because it's what you are committed to doing.

There's a vast difference between motivation and discipline. When I am motivated, I want to act. I'm excited about doing it. I'm happy when I'm getting ready to do it. I'm happy while I'm doing it. I'm happy when I'm done doing it.

Discipline, however, is what gets me through the times when motivation isn't there. Discipline is what will keep my consistency going in the face of non-desire. Discipline frees me from the chains of motivation. Discipline and all the surrounding rituals that discipline requires frees me from the shackles of choice.

Discipline is found deep inside of yourself. Discipline arises from the need to do what needs to be done. It's not concerned with external factors such as the time of day, the temperature outside, how you're feeling, how much you slept, or what you've eaten. Discipline is the glue that holds actions together.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength (and find discipline), sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story... How You do anything?

How you do anything is how you do everything. This saying is one we've heard many times over the years. The idea is to help us maintain high standards and uphold a high level of integrity throughout our lives.

It's a slippery slope when we allow our standards to become compromised. Once we're on that slope, it becomes increasingly easier for those standards to become non-existent. This is why it's so important to know what your standards are and to maintain them. Whether it's in a movement pattern like a squat or a pull-up, or in how you will allow people to talk to you, or how you allow people to talk around you, these standards are in place to help keep you safe and to guide you forward in the direction you want to reach.

Keep in mind that although standards can often be objective, they are often subjective as well. An objective standard is one that we all agree is the same, regardless of who applies it. I must squat below parallel. My chin must go over the bar if I'm doing a pull-up. These are standards we all agree upon.

An objective standard is one that I set and is applicable to me alone. I get to decide what my standards are for the people around me, for my relationships, for my career. Those are the standards that I get to set.  What is a standard for me may not be a standard for somebody else. In terms of subjective standards, it's okay if they don't match up with the people around you, but you are going to experience some cognitive dissonance that you will need to correct. And by that, I mean you will either have to change your standards or change the people around you.

Again, do it correctly. Do it correctly the first time. Do it correctly every time.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Standards

Standards build trust and consistency. They are the invisible underpinnings of our everyday lives. Usually, we don't really think about it. From the way electrical plugs fit into sockets to measurements like a gallon, a foot, or a yard, they create a system that allows us to all agree on how our world functions.

The reason I bring this up today is that we are seeing standards become eroded. We're seeing a world where something is better than nothing. And although that may be true, that something isn't the standard. That something is something else. It doesn't meet the standard. If you had a socket and a plug that didn't fit into a socket, it wouldn't work. Just like if you do half a pull-up, it's not actually a pull-up; it is something else.

When we have standards that we all agree upon, it's easy to say, "This is what it is, this is what a pull-up looks like, this is what a push-up looks like, this is what a squat looks like. We all agree that's what it is. When it's not that, that isn't what it is. It's simple. We cannot let things pass that do not meet the standard. If you can't meet the standard, you need to go back to work and do your best to meet it. If it is something else, then call it something else, but just don't call it what you are trying to achieve. The standard will not allow it.

Standards are not just picky little details. They are the foundations of trust, collaboration, and progress that we all agree upon to make things work. When I meet this standard, it's the same standard for you, for me, and everybody else doing the same thing. If you don't meet the standard, it's okay, but it's not the thing. Do better and remember: The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. So, if you're not meeting the standard in this piece of your life, where else are you not meeting the standard?

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Health Food?

As you can see from the meme above, if your store has a health food section, it begs the question, "What is in the rest of the store? Is that food not healthy? Is it less than healthy? The answer is yes. By that, I mean your grocery store is full of healthy food options. It's also got a fair amount of unhealthy food: food that is ultra-processed, food that is over-processed, food that has too much sugar, too many additives, and too much crap in it.

The real problem isn't that we have health food and non-health food. The real problem is that we aren't just eating real food. We are putting food in our bodies that does not serve our health and longevity. Maybe it has too many additives. Maybe it has food dyes in it. Maybe there's too much sugar. Maybe there's too much fat. Perhaps the fat that’s there isn't good for you. There are various factors that can make perfectly good food, such as broccoli, less healthy.

So, when we ask the question, "Is this good food or bad food?" It's really not the question you should be asking. The question you should be asking is, "How does this food, how is this serving of this food, move me closer to my health and longevity goals?" And if the answer to that question is "it doesn't" or "I don't know," you need to look at those foods more closely.

So, as we've said before, the bottom line is eat real food but not just eat real food. Eat real food that is prepared with the intention to serve your health and longevity.

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Consistency

Last week, we talked about just getting started. That is step one. Get started. The program, whether it be five by five, progressive overloading, or something else, isn’t essential. You don't need to spend your time worrying about that. Just get started.

Step two is to keep showing up, in other words, be consistent. Consistency is the most critical part of your longevity process. You need to do something every day. Sitting on your rear end watching TV doing nothing is not going to help you live a healthier, longer life, and that is why we are worried about how much exercise we're doing; we're concerned about how much weight we're lifting, and we're worried about how much we can do on any given day.

Just this morning on the radio, once again, it was pointed out that anybody over the age of 65 who falls is at a greater risk of dying. It's that simple. Falling is bad, but when you were 10 years old, falling was just falling; you got up. When you're 65, 70, 75, if you fall, you need to be able to get back up.

Step one: Walk through the door. Step two: Walk through it again and again and again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Keep showing up no matter what.

Once you get started, don't stop. It is easier to stay in shape than it is to get into shape. Once you get into shape, do everything you can to stay that way. What we've been talking about is getting you into shape. But once you start, you are already ahead of 99% of the people. So, once you get started, don't stop. Be consistent!

If you're interested in learning how to build muscle and strength, sign up for a free fitness assessment at www.crossfitodyssey.com or reach out to me directly, and let's get you started on your journey to extraordinary results.

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412