#81 - Q&A: 1.5 Mile to 2 Mile Run Change, Best Training Split, Worthwhile Supplements & More

In this week's Q&A, we covered:

• Gym bag essentials
• Supplements and which ones are worth taking
• Updates on PT test standards
• Best training splits
• Tracking nutrition and bodyweight
• How to bounce back after a missed session or meal
• And more

DM @everydayresponders with questions for the next Q&A, or watch for a question story!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Everyday Responder Podcast. We have a fun QA today, which I always love. The QAs, keep it punchy, answer questions and keep that rolling. So, as always, if you ever have any questions, don't be afraid to DM them over. Or uh I usually put up um you know frequent somewhat frequently a QA kind of block on my Instagram story. So don't be afraid to drop those there, and I'll get those answered here. So the this is going to be a culmination of questions from clients, of questions in the DMs, as well as uh questions in those blocks. Um, some of them are regarding training, nutrition. Uh, I think there's some lifestyle ones in here, but a bunch of different things that we are going to unpack. So I am excited to be back. It's been a little, a little while. I was just on some travel. I was working nights, I was uh sleeping on floors, um, switching time zones. So it was just absolute chaos uh from a perspective of you know work, but also you know, making sure that I keep I keep rolling with everything else that we got going on, whether that's content, whether that's um podcasting, whether that is uh you know schoolwork, all these different types of aspects. So it's been absolutely crazy, but uh some of the questions revolve around, you know, keeping things fun or adjusting training or different things like that. And I it's top of mind for me because I 1000% adjusted my own training, um, auto-regulated all those different aspects, especially with the the lack of sleep and um trying to do the the best I can with nutrition. Um, because again, it was uh, you know, the I always say, and we'll live and die by hey, we need to prepare, we need to meal prep. But sometimes that's not the reality, and that's not just an excuse, but we could still do, you know, the best that we can with it and make sure we set ourselves up for success, have like quick options, different things like that. So we're gonna get into a bunch of different things here uh that I hope you will enjoy. So, first question here what do you have or what do you keep in your gym bag? So this is uh this was a question from a client, and I have a bunch of different tools that I either keep in the and tools that we're gonna go over that, but that I either keep directly in my gym bag or you know, wear to the gym or use at the gym, those different types of things. Um, but it's kind of funny. I keep my gym bag in my car, and then I'll usually just kind of take what I need or dump out what I need, leave it in my car just to to lighten the the gym bag. I don't think you need to have, you know, like worst case scenario, like in your gym bag and just a you know massive suitcase that you're bringing in. Um, so that's something that I do, but a bunch of different things that I keep in there. So the the first one would be my squat shoes. And obviously that is depending on what I'm doing for that specific day. Um, but I have I think it's called you know, tier TYR. I'm not even sure how to how to properly pronounce it, but that's the brand of squat shoes that I have. I love them. It just allows, you know, better, better posture. Uh, it allows me to target the quads a little bit better. And um, I have pretty pretty bad ankle mobility. That's something that I'm working on, but but that helps with my uh my overall squat form. So that is something that I use for uh hack squat, belt squat, obviously, like anything with a barbell, whether a back squat or front squat, and then they're they're really solid with uh unilateral work as well, depending on what you're doing. But again, not mandatory whatsoever. Um, like I said before, these what I'm gonna go over, uh as well as the squat shoes are all tools. So, what I mean by that is yes, it's going to help, it's going to enhance your session. But if I did not have these things, I'm not going to, you know, white flag the session. Like we're still going to get the session done, but it's just ways that that you can optimize. Similarly, similarly to with uh with nutrition, like I would call these like supplements to the session, where yes, it's going to help, it's going to, you know, maybe fill some gaps in in what you are doing, but again, it's not mandatory. And I'm not telling you to go out and buy all these things. These are things that I've just accumulated over the years. Um, and obviously serve a purpose and I find helpful. So that would be the first thing. Um, a rogue uh dip belt is something that I I love and I always keep in my bag, or like I said, my car. Um that obviously is for you know weighted, any kind of weighted pull-ups or chin-ups, neutral grip pull-ups. Um, those are one of my favorite moving patterns. So uh that helps with that as well as weighted dips. Now, obviously, what you can do as well is put a uh dumbbell in between your legs, uh in between your feet, in between like your quads there, hold it and uh squeeze your squeeze your legs together. Now, that's obviously a solution, but I've found in in my own experience that it kind of you know messes up the form a little bit. So pull-ups, any kind of pull-up uh dips, they're you know, people a lot of people jack up the movement patterns where they're either jacking up their shoulders, um, smoking their their elbows, all those different types of things. So I would rather have really, really solid form and kind of take my mindset away from the stability portion of like a dumbbell or something, kettlebell or something like that, um, and it actually focus on the movement pattern. So that is something that that really helps me with that. Um, another thing that I use is Versa Grips. Uh, I think those are phenomenal. That is something that I I've had for a while. I have new ones now because I uh I think I left my other ones in a rental car, which is such a bad hit. But um, again, I think they're really solid. So I bought another pair. Um, so I love those. I think this is something, you know, I I try to get clients' heads around um because I was I was this person as well, where it's like, oh no, I need to work on my grip. Like, I can't, you know, if you can't lift it or you can't lift it and you can't hold on to it, then you shouldn't be using it, that type of mentality. Um, I think you know, everybody should should have some some grips on them. Again, not as a crutch, we're using it for every single movement pattern, but I think it's phenomenal in a sense of we we don't want our grip to be the limiting factor on movement patterns. So if you think about a heavy hinge or a heavy row, right? Usually your grip is going to go first and you are putting your back or your hamstrings, your glutes, whatever that may be, whatever the movement pattern is, you're putting it at a massive disservice because your posterior chain is going to be stronger than your grip. So I think that's very important to keep in mind where you know we don't want to leave four to five to six reps in reserve on these movement patterns because our grip is giving out. Now, with if you do have a properly, you know, uh a properly properly set program, you are going to be hitting grip in other places, right? And you could even put in extra grip stuff if you need to. Um, but that is something that that definitely gets me fired up with any kind of grip. You know, people will call it cheating, they'll call it this, they'll call it that. But um, you know, it's it's again we're we're getting the most we can or we're squeezing the most we can out of our posterior chain. So something to think about there for sure. And with that said, I I use I kind of mentioned it a little bit, but any kind of you know, RDL, um, chest supported row, those different types of things. Um, I personally don't use them on any kind of like pull-up variation. Again, that is something where we can hit our grip. Um, so that is kind of how I use those and and why I use them. Um, another couple other things here. Uh, so the I have a uh Enzer belt. So that is something that I absolutely love. I've had it for years. Um, I think that's you know, uh a solid belt is always really a solid move there. Um, so the Enzer belt, there's uh some some pros and cons. Again, it's a little bit more pricey relative to other belts, but again, like I said, I've had it for years. The one con that I would say with something like that is uh with the Inzer belt, is in order to adjust it, you need to literally unscrew it and move the uh the latch like further or um closer. So depending on which movement pattern, um, I think if I remember correctly, for me it's a little bit closer with a any kind of like hinge or deadlift, and then a little bit further with a squat. But overall, like I think it's again one of the best belts that that I've ever had or I've ever used. And I'm I'm always under the impression of like, okay, I'd rather pay a little bit and have something quality that will last a freaking lifetime rather than you know buy cheap and then having to to buy twice. So that is something that that I love. And again, if you buy the right size with the Enzer belt, which obviously I would recommend, um, you know, you can you can make those adjustments based off of what season you're in with nutrition or where your body comps at or something like that. So um, like I said, I've used it, uh, I don't even remember when uh it was years ago now, my my first powerlifting competition, but that's when I bought it and I still use it to uh to this day. So a couple other things, not necessarily you know, equipment, but definitely tools that I always either keep in my car or uh you know bring to the gym. So carb and electrolytes, uh carb source and electrolytes. There's there's usually a combo there um that I've been using for pre-post, kind of like peri workout nutrition there. Um, but that's something where I usually do a scoop of uh carb powder, which I've been using. Um, go one more. Uh I've used a carb powder with um pomegranate juice. That combination has been really solid. I'll have like a full shaker cup, drink about half, not like a direct science, but drink like about half on the way there, maybe some during, and then I'll have a little bit for after. Um, as well as not every day. Um, I can't even remember the last time I've had it, but this is something that that came top of mind is uh is pre-workout. So that is uh again a tool that should not, in my opinion, be used every single session. But if I'm really, you know, either either feeling a little bit, you know, the energy is a little bit low, that is something that I'll do every once in a while. But I would I would probably actually change that to caffeine. So some sort of uh caffeine, usually before um is something that I do. So um actually now that I think about it, the last thing here that I'll say is the vivo barefoot shoes or some type of trainer. I wear the vivos every single day for uh strength training. Um, don't recommend running in those. I've heard some people running them, which is absolutely insane in my opinion. Um, you know, I would make sure we're progressively overloading wearing those, or you will jack up your feet just because it's such a different stimulus. Um, but those have been freaking phenomenal and I uh I live and die by those. And yeah, don't lift in running shoes. So make sure you either have some sort of you know trainer, uh, not saying you need to get the vivo barefoots, but some type of solid shoe. So we're not essentially lifting on a bosu ball. Nothing gets me more frustrated when people lift in in like running shoes, especially with any kind of leg day. So, so don't do that. Um, so next question here what supplement should I take? Uh, so this one I would tell you right off the bat, I am not sure. Uh, I would say, and I've been recommending this, is I would say that everybody should do blood work. Um, and you know, the unfortunate reality is many primary cares won't give you the the blood work that you need for performance. Um, maybe you would get lucky, so I would talk to your primary care anyways. But um, I personally would recommend just doing it out of pocket. Um, I use Vitality Blueprint, I think it's phenomenal. Um, and now once you do blood work, we can actually test what you need for supplements and then actually supplement with a purpose. Crazy concept. Um, but you know, people will say, Oh, I don't want to pay pay that money, or it's too much money. And then we look at the supplement stack that they're running, and it's like we don't even know if you are if you are using like supplements properly. I remember uh the one of the the founders of Vitality Blueprint, I had a call with him on a group call with a group that I'm in, and he asked a question. Uh his name's Dan Garner. He asked a question and was like, How many people supplement with magnesium and fish oil? And all the coaches in there raise their hand and it's like, okay, he's like, okay, what are your levels? And nobody, nobody had a solution and or nobody had an answer to that. And it's something to think about where it's like, are you supplementing supplementing with a purpose? So there are things that you can take that are are are safe and they're they're good to go from from that aspect, and you can kind of use critical thinking where it's like, oh, the majority of the population is deficient in X, Y, and Z. I should probably, I could probably supplement with those things. Me personally, I would rather just give myself a peace of mind. And it doesn't matter if you're feeling really good or you're feeling really shitty. Either way, it's gonna be phenomenal to get an actual baseline. And then again, I'm gonna repeat myself here, actually supplement with a purpose. Now, I mentioned Vitality Blueprint, that is what I use, and I really like them because number one, they're not associated with like their own individual supplements. I've done a couple other blood work companies and they did like a call and you know, all that stuff, kind of going over stuff, but it was it seemed, in my opinion, like very pushy with pushing their products. And I'm like, dude, I don't want to buy, I don't want to buy your products, I just wanted to do the blood work. But Vitality Blueprint, I found it different number different number one, they go after performance metrics, so not just like population norms. They're like, no, if you want to perform and thrive, these are where we recommend you be. And then it also gives you solutions for not only supplementation if you need it, but also nutrition options as well as lifestyle options. So I found that super helpful, and then it always kind of cites its sources so you can actually learn about these things and not just kind of shoot from the hip. So I think that's phenomenal there. Um, but you know, if you aren't willing to do blood work, which again, I hope that now you're like, okay, I'm going to do my blood work. Um, if you're not willing to do that, I would say, you know, again, these are not specific recommendations. Um, talk to your primary care or do your own research there. But I would say like conservative, careful examples here would be like a multivitamin, fish oil, vitamin D, creatine. I always keep, um, there's definitely mixed, mixed feelings about these, but I would always keep, I personally always keep green supplements good to go. Just like for an example, um, if I'm, you know, when I'm working nights or don't have access to, you know, completely whole foods, different things like that, I just kind of give that. I drink the the green supplement as a more of a peace of mind and making sure that I'm hitting, uh at least trying to hit what I need to hit. Um, so that's kind of what I would recommend there. But again, make sure that that you do your blood work. The last thing that here that's coming to mind as well is I would track your nutrition. So what I've been using uh recently is chronometer, and it does a really good job with a micronutrient profile of what you're eating for that specific week. Um, I think that's a phenomenal way to at least kind of the the second, it's it's gonna be second to none when it comes to blood work. But at least if you are tracking, say for seven days or 10 days, you can look at your averages and it's like, whoa, I am extremely low, or on in this week or this 10 day span, I've seen that I am extremely low on vitamin D. And it's like, okay, well, we can probably deduce that a vitamin D supplement would would work, right? It might be helpful, as well as you know, all the different like fiber is another one where it's like, holy crap, my fiber intake is extremely low for where I need to be. Like maybe I should, you know, start thinking about more uh fiber dense nutrition protocol, right? Like that type of stuff. Um, so that's kind of what I would do. And and again, um, like I said, vitality blueprint has been my go-to as of recently. Number three here, thoughts on the Air Force PT test going from 1.5 to two miles. So I would say, and I talked a lot about this on um on drill when I was home, it shouldn't matter, right? Like it shouldn't be a big deal. The amount of conversations or the amount of complaining that I've heard or had um is insane, right? And I think this is one of the biggest problems with training the specific test. When you train the specific test and anything changes or there's any kind of adjustment, you are smashing the panic button because it's like, oh no, an extra half mile. Like now I need to start running two miles nonstop. And it's like, no, no, no, no. Like the problem that I see is you know, people are not looking at what the test is actually testing. So, in that example for the run, the run, like screw the 1.5 mile and the two mile, right? That is just a a way to give you like a baseline and give you a target. But if you train what that is testing, so you train your aerobic capacity on a week-to-week basis or a day-to-day basis, you are not gonna be stressing these small changes. So that is what I would focus on. Like two to three, two to three times per week, we're gonna be doing some sort of conditioning and working on and allow the the two mile or the 1.5 mile to be a byproduct on what you're doing. So obviously, kind of hammered the the run a little bit. That is usually the main thing that throws people off. People can, you know, get through the the push-ups or or the core, but um the the run is always uh is always people's kryptonite. And it's usually because you aren't running or you aren't doing the damn thing. So um that's what I would say is about that that aspect. And I would say, like, this is my kind of personal opinion. I I think that the the long and drawn rollouts of different test changes, like we've seen the army go through it, we've seen uh definitely the air force, um, even just for any like the the different rollouts, I think kind of set people up for failure because it's like so long in advance. And I think obviously it's important to to give people some foresight, but I just remember the waste tape, for example, in the Air Force, like a super roll, uh super long rollout, and it's like this is going to be implemented in a year and a half or two years, and then it just gives that mentality or that mindset of like, oh, that's way in the future. I don't really have to worry about that. But I think like if we just kind of you know ripped off the band-aid and people started using the diagnostics, which is um, you know, still I have mixed feelings about, but we're not gonna go, we're not gonna go deep into that. But the like the diagnostics, the fact that people don't use that or even have a pulse check on where they're at is mind-blowing to me, right? This is an open book test. We have the answers and you have opportunities to quote unquote practice the test, like it should be zero surprise of where you are at, regardless of what kind of day you have, right? That should always be the target to be so far and above the test that if changes, if environmental factors, if sleep, if nutrition, all those things are a little bit off, obviously we don't want that to be the target. But if they are a little bit off, we should still be good to go. And a lot of units um offer at least an hour of gym time, sometimes, right? So if that is the case, I I don't know why this has been such like a big uh a big rollout or people complaining or different things like that. Um, well, I do know why, but ultimately if you are training consistently year round, like we should be doing anyways, those small changes should should not be uh not be even in your purview, right? They're baseline requirements, and it is saying, hey, I am minimally competent to be able to do this. So uh again, we we should just be getting after it on a day-to-day basis, and that does not mean that you need to run the whole time either, right? That also means hey, like low impact is an option, especially if you are just trying to thrive on the test. So um, yeah, that is that question, and that one gets me fired up every freaking time. So, another question here, what is your favorite training split? So, when I look at training splits, there's there's many different options here, and there's not a one size fits all. I like to look at, you know, what like how how uh frequently are we hitting these the stimulus on a on a week to week basis? What are we gonna be able to do to manage fatigue? What are some of The outside stressors that this person may be dealing with, right? Are they dealing with mandatory PT? Are they dealing with a night schedule? All these different types of things go into going into a training split. Now, I will tell you there is absolutely no perfect split. If there was a perfect split, we would all be running the same thing, right? So I try to always keep that in mind. And again, building for the specific person, I would ask the question of what can you consistently crush on a week-to-week basis with your worst week in mind, right? Then we can start reverse engineering. Okay, they have four days of availability, they have five, they have six, those different types of things, and then we can build your split base off of that. So common mistakes that I see with that is uh, or without kind of taking those things into consideration. It's usually a copy paste kind of deal with a program where it's like, okay, this person did X thing. I want to do X thing, therefore I'm going to do their exact program, right? That's usually setting ourselves up for failure. Or we start up way too aggressive, and it is like, okay, I have, you know, about five days of availability. Let's try to figure out six, right? And I know that sounds obvious and I know that doesn't sound logically sound, but a lot of people do that. And it's the the reality where it's like, hey, I want to improve this, I'm going to, you know, full send it, lock in, and I'm going to go, you know, just ultimately just do too much too soon, too often too fast. Um, the the last thing here is a lot of people don't, you know, have a system that respects their goals. And I know, again, that sounds obvious as well, but uh, you know, if you want to improve your runtimes, then you probably need to bias your run and not let anything else fall off the map. But a lot of people are like, okay, I want to improve my runtime. I suck at running, so I love train strength training. So that's what I'm gonna bias, and then I'm gonna treat running as an afterthought. And it's like, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. So overall, I usually keep it within three different types of splits. Again, there's a ton of nuance here and adjustments that can be made for the individual. Me personally, I love full body, as you probably know if you're listening to this. Um, I think full body from again talking about that stimulus, that frequency, and controlling fatigue. I think it's usually a very, very solid bet for 99% of the people, right? You can make it, you know, more beginner-esque with different movement patterns, you can make it extremely advanced. Um, you can have that intermediate, that middle ground. There's a lot that you can do with full body. Um, so that's usually, you know, my my go-to. Um, but that's not the only option. So I would say full body. Um, and again, two to three times per week with uh strength training would be solid there. An upper lower split, I've been loving. That's actually what I'm currently running since I've been back. Um, but usually two uppers, two lowers. Um, that is a solid way. Again, frequency, fatigue, but it needs to be managed, right? Like you can't just just because you're doing full body does not mean you need to blast every single, you know, uh movement pattern or muscle group. And the same thing goes for uh for upper lowers. The last kind of recommendation is more of like a hybrid of both. I think that's another good option where it is, it could be a lower body day, a upper body day, and then a full body day. And maybe you're doing more uh like dynamic effort or different types of plyos, different things on a uh full body day. So I think that's another good option. So the reason for or the reason why I kind of lean towards those splits is you think about a tactical athlete and you think about the specific demands that we could be faced with. You think about testing environments, um, real world events, recovery demands, all these different types of things. I think those three splits just make sense um because you can control, like I talked about, um, the frequency, the fatigue, um, and the uh stimulus. So that's kind of what I would lean towards. Another question here do you track uh do you have to track to make progress? So um I'm assuming they're talking about nutrition and body weight. So I would say, you know, you don't necessarily have to, but I highly, highly, highly recommend it, even if it's for just a small period, whether you're going into a mini cut or a bulk or you're just trying to maintain performance. I think that is uh it's a great idea just to again, similar to the blood work answer, just get a baseline of where you are at, right? So the expectation that I like to tell people is the the goal is not to track for the rest of your life, it's to see and understand kind of where you are at and actually be able to eat intuitively, right? Like the the peanut butter um thing always is a great example where you know you take a freaking heaping spoonful of peanut butter and you're like, oh, this is a serving. It says it on the the package, and then you look, maybe you measure it, and it's like oh, that's like 50 grams. That's like almost double the double what the uh nutrition label is saying. So little things like that I think go a long way. Um, but again, the the goal is to actually train and and develop the skill to be able to eat intuitively in the future. Um, so like I said, I would always say, hey, you know, start off seven to ten days, just kind of track what you are eating on a day-to-day basis, and that will be able to uh or that will give you a better kind of inclination of where you are and where you need or where you need to make adjustments. So when it comes to the scale, the scale is an interesting one. Um, I actually have some people where we don't track, right? Maybe the the scale kind of gets in their head a little bit. That's something that we we we just say, okay, we're not gonna track, we're gonna use other measures. Maybe we're gonna do um some measurements, maybe we're going to uh you know wear some clothes or put on some clothes that maybe are a little bit snug, and then that's gonna be our measurement tool. We're definitely gonna do like uh progress pictures, different things like that. So you don't necessarily have to measure weight. I've found a lot of people get extremely neurotic about the scale, and you kind of start your day. Um, you know, your day is gonna be dependent on the scale, where it's like you step on, it's a little bit higher, and you're like, shit, I did everything right. Like this is this is terrible. Then you're like re-weighing yourself and it's just like taking up way too much, uh, way too much kind of discipline and and willpower and all these different types of things. So if you're that person, I would say you don't necessarily have to. Um, but you know, it's a it's always a good idea to have some form of measurement. I also have people where we where we weigh in once per week on say something like a Friday. Um, again, obviously there's nuance there with your, you know, you might be it might be a heavier Friday, it might be a lighter Friday, right? But we just want to see overall trends. So looking at, you know, the trends of three weeks and instead of you know just one weigh-in. And then I also have people where we do Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Um, I think this is a you know a good kind of middle ground where uh we we can cover, make sure we're covering after the weekend so we don't go crazy and then before the weekend, but also that that midweek. But either way, with those three kind of things that I just recommended there, either way, you need to focus on performance as well. This is a big missing piece where people only focus on the scale or they only focus on nutrition and different things like that. But we also want to look at the output because what I always say is if you are improving everything regarding your performance, and the one metric that is not moving is the scale, like that should not be able to take up as much real estate as it does. So if we can have other evidence or we can have other proof that it's showing, like, no, you are getting stronger, you are getting faster, you are looking better, then like who cares what the scale says? Because a lot of times people will say, like, oh, I want to be, you know, 180 pounds. And it's like, well, would would you consider this a failure if you were 183, but you looked better, felt better, and performed better? No, of course not. So again, we need to take that in consideration and make sure we have a kind of wide swath of uh of things to measure here. So we're not just using the scale. Again, it's a tool that can be used and tells part of the story, but it's not the not even close to being the whole story. Another question here. So this was actually from uh a conversation at drill, but how can you optimize training and nutrition on nights? So I put optimize here in parentheses or in uh in quotes here. So, you know, you're not necessarily going to be able to optimize it and be perfect with training and nutrition, in my opinion. Like I try I've tried to in the past, like when I was consistently on nights years ago, um, and just be like, no, I'm gonna be perfect with my training. I don't care how tired I am, I don't care what I got for sleep, I'm going to go bulldoze through the session. And it's just a liability, it just builds a uh a very big, uh, big recovery debt there. So when it comes to training, I've talked about this a lot, but build flexibility in your training, like that is with the schedule. And again, another kind of perk with going full body. So, for example, uh at the time I was doing two full body days, two conditioning days, right? So that gives me three days of flexibility there. So if I didn't sleep, if I didn't do those things, if I knew I had a long, a long day or night and it was gonna be absolute chaos, I am not going to stress about nailing that training for the day. I'm going to zoom out and say, okay, I have seven days. I need to hit these four days in a seven day period. So again, it gives that flexibility. Another thing that I would focus on with training is kind of have pivot plans or training options to allow for auto-regulating. And I did this when I was traveling, right? So I have a full body day and I'm like, oh wow, like I'm absolutely smoked. And I get to the gym. Uh sometimes the hardest part is getting to the gym. Got to the gym and I see on my my own my own training program. I already knew this was coming. It's like heavy or like uh it was a lower rep range, trap bar deadlifts. And I'm like, that is going to put me out right now. So what did I do? I did dumbbell RDLs, right? A small change and then increase the uh increase the reps. So lighten the load there. Like that is a small change. Is that exactly the session? No, but like, did I still keep the intent? In my opinion, yes. I still hit it, right? So that is like on the the more tactical level, like a smaller change. A bigger change, and I did this too, where I had uh, I think it was uh a tempo run, uh, a tempo run, absolutely smoked, and I'm like, you know what, I'm going to just do easy instead, and I'm still going to get in some some solid conditioning, but I'm not going to to push the pace. Again, thinking about the having kind of like like that that uh that foresight into what the next day or night could look like if I do absolutely just gut check myself or go really hard, right? So small little pivots like that, you know, massive gains when it comes to auto-regulating, when it comes to readiness. Um, so that is what I would kind of recommend there. Now, on the nutrition side, I would say, you know, uh obviously you make sure you can meal prep as much as possible. But more importantly, same thing with training, like have a pivot plan. Like what is the what are our options when it comes to the like a BX run or gas station stop, those different types of things. So let's think like protein bars, um, beef jerky, uh, any kind of like almonds, things like that, rice cakes. There's there's a ton of different options. Even at the the BX, um, it's not like the like super appetizing, but think about like tuna, yogurt, like there's things that you can do to try to keep the intent intact. I would always kind of lean on more like protein-centric, as you always should, anyways. But that's kind of what I would do in kind of having a plan there. But realize, especially if you're on nights, you're not going to be able to just like, oh, I'll just order, you know, quality food from here. Like, most things are going to be closed. So you need to kind of plan beforehand. This is where that last hour of the day is is the most important hour. And it's like, what am I eating tomorrow? Like, that should always be a question that that comes up before you, you know, put your head on the pillow. Another thing with nights, I would say, you know, get as much sunlight as possible. Here's another opportunity if you're consistently on nights. Even more important, I would say, for that person to get some blood work. Maybe you need to supplement with vitamin D, like some little things like that go a long way. But um, trying to get you know as much sunlight as possible, moving around as much as possible. So trying to get some steps, like I said, some sunlight. And then, like I already kind of mentioned, make sure you have some like supplements in mind. Um, but again, kind of fueled by blood work. But I would say, okay, where like do you have any kind of like whey protein? Do you have a green supplement? Um, for me, I was uh I had some you know melatonin on hand um to kind of adjust and make sure I'm at least trying to get sleep. Again, not ideal, but uh not ideal to be you know super reliant on it. But at the end of the day, I would rather take um you know consistent melatonin and and take that hit and actually get some sleep than just kind of you know grit my way to sleep with just like closing my eyes and and not getting any kind of sleep. Um by the way, a little side note on melatonin. I uh it's it's still mind-blowing to me that in order to get you know melatonin at the dose that I want, I need to get kids' melatonin. That just blows my mind. We, you know, heavily overdose melatonin. Um, and in some countries, it's not even like you need to get it prescribed, which is is mind-blowing to me. And then you can just go, uh, you can just go to the the store and get freaking 10 milligrams of melatonin. And just like it's it's wild to me. But I usually do um, you know, uh a gram or excuse me, not a gram, uh, you know, a milligram of melatonin there. Um, so next question here. How could I prevent injuries uh while chasing aggressive targets? Um, so this is I actually did a post on this the other day with uh a client that I'm working with who's a drill instructor. Um, but yeah, this is it starts with programming, right? Like the the best way to prevent injuries and make sure you're increasing performance is a solid program. Like not just kind of throwing it together or you know, not investing in, you know, either a quality coach or a quality program, right? Like it's just it's it seems so obvious, but it's something that can that people completely jack up, where it's like, okay, high frequency, high volume, let's just go crazy and let's just kind of run this seamlessly uh into the ground here. So what I would focus on with uh with this kind of question here, um, like I already kind of talked about, make sure that autonomy is built in um with any kind of injury history, different things like that. You need to kind of drop the pride and the ego and not just bulldoze through. So something that I've talked about in the past. Um, I've you know, in the past, I've been somebody like, I'm not using machines, I'm not using this, the Smith machine, different things like that. But you know, those can be great, great, great tools. And I've honestly implemented a ton of machines into what I do on a day-to-day basis with injury prevention, with making sure the movement pattern is hitting the target muscle, but also feeling good, right? If a barbell back squat bangs you up, you don't have to do that, right? You're not going to see a back squat in the field and be like, you need to back squat this, or you know, uh bad things are gonna happen. It's like, no, you don't need to. Like you could still hit a squat pattern, maybe a goblet squat, maybe a landmine squat, maybe it's unilateral work, right? There's a ton of different ways that you can hit these desired patterns without being in love with a certain movement pattern. So again, having that flexibility, I would also say, like, we need to get to the root cause. So that comes with targeting your specific weaknesses. Like, what are your what is your injury history? You know, what is potentially that root cause, right? So, just for an example off the top of my head, if your lower back is absolutely jacked up, it's like, okay, instead of just completely avoiding it or just like completely just bulldozing through it, let's start, let's start asking the questions like, why? Is it tight hamstrings? Is it, you know, bad posture? Like we can ask those different types of questions and then put fixes in place to see if that is the the problem, right? And I've found in my experience a lot of the times it's extremely tight hips, right? Or that's one of the one of the reasons. So, how could we, you know, open open up your hips, right? Maybe it's focusing on more unilateral work, maybe it's, you know, um more uh more prep work or more primers, uh better warm-up, right? There's so many different things that we can chase. Now, also with weaknesses and and injury history, uh, I'm just gonna kind of guess here with any kind of like knee or lower, lower limb injuries, different things like that, maybe stress fractures, Tibs, like um shin splints, those different types of things. I would say like we don't need to necessarily just run. A lot of these questions that I get revolve around improving runtimes. And obviously they're they're important for a reason, but I would say, like, okay, maybe now is the season to um improve body comp and just stay on low impact, right? That that could be an opportunity there uh for us. Like you in order to improve your run, you need to run. Like there is that specificity component, but you can still improve your aerobic capacity without running. So I think that would be you know a good start if that is an injury that you're dealing with. Um, the last thing I'll say on this question is just identifying what season you are currently in, right? This is another kind of hidden gem with programming where it's like, well, are you dealing with in the the last couple of questions? Are you dealing with uh night schedule? Are you dealing with high stress outside of the the uniform, maybe inside the uniform, right? And on identifying that season helps kind of you know program going forward. Where if you are dealing with mandatory PT, all these other stressors, we can't look at the program that we're doing in isolation. So it's all different stress, right? So we need to figure out which season you're in. And the same thing goes for nutrition. Maybe now is not the season to get absolutely diced, right? Maybe it's like, okay, we're gonna go into like a maintenance type, um, type nutrition protocol, and maybe that's gonna be our approach. But making sure that we can adjust with our season is super, super important. And I think that's a a big, you know, missing piece. It's like, oh, you know, I don't really care about all this other stuff. I want to do X, Y, and Z. And it's like, well, the other stuff matters and it needs to be uh considered. Um, so this is a a question, another question here. How to make training fun? So I love this question, and I actually talked a lot about it with uh with the people on my on my team here. Um, I would say, you know, it's a you know, programming is not just science and it's not just art, it's a blend of both of them. So I always have to ask the question of like, how can we create buy-in? Right. I and I know previously, you know, in the past, um, when I didn't really know anything, I I would just say, you know, we need to optimize everything. Like what does the, you know, what do the studies say? What does the science say? Okay, that's exactly what we need to be doing. But obviously we know that that quote unquote optimize um isn't always super accurate or isn't always directly applicable. So we need to make sure that that we're kind of blending that that art and science there. So a couple of different things that I like to do, um, and again, that might go against the grain to quote unquote optimal, um, but we keep it fun. And I think that, you know, I would rather have somebody, you know, get some results, have fun, and keep their compliance where it needs to be than have the perfect optimal program that doesn't get done. So a couple of things, like I mentioned, um, you know, this is one where you know people love hitting arms, and it's like, okay, we're going to hit some conditioning and then we're going to have an arm farm after conditioning. Again, is that the most optimal thing in the world? No, but it's gonna get done because people want to leave the gym with a pump, right? Another thing is like um finishers at the end of the session where it's like we hit what we need to hit, and people, you know, love being sweaty, sore, and fatigued. Again, that is not our specific target, but at the end of the day, it's like, okay, let's go on a quick burner, right? Let's do airbike sprints, let's do um some sled sprints, let's do this so you can you can feel like you're working hard. And again, there's, you know, you can still make those productive and make sure that they're moving closer to our targets, but people like to to have that feeling. So it's like, okay, we're gonna get what we need to be doing getting done. We're gonna target your weaknesses, we're gonna hit what we need to hit, and then we're gonna have some fun at the end of the session. Um, another thing is is segmenting tasks. I think this is very important. Especially from a conditioning perspective. So an example here would be instead of, you know, and again, depending on the person's goals, like I know a lot of people will struggle mentally with running for 60 minutes or 45 minutes, whatever that may be. So depending on your targets, we can segment that together by putting in interruption sets. So, you know, run for 15 minutes or run for 10 minutes, and every 10 minutes do uh some farmer carries, um, sled drags, and maybe some push-ups or something like that, where we're doing, you know, uh lower stem movements in between, but it helps break up the session and it keeps it more digestible, right? So that is something that that I like to do uh on conditioning. And then you just keep rotating through that until you get through your time hack of 45 to 60 minutes, whatever that may be. Um, the last thing here I think is very important and it's important from a coaching perspective, but solicit feedback, right? Like, yeah, I could know like the X's and O's of programming, but again, if I try to optimize a program and you know, the the person isn't enjoying it, or they're, you know, they're not, you know, doing what they need to be doing, right? Like that is a reflection or that is a an indication that the coach may need to make adjustments. Now, I want to be clear like there is going to be stuff that you are not good at that you uh, you know, that is a weakness that you don't enjoy that needs to get done. And again, that's that balancing act. But there is that 10 to 20 percent of a program, depending on goals and depending on where you're at, where we can have some fun, right? Like, what do you enjoy? What do you need? What do you suck at? What do you absolutely love doing? And it gets you fired up to go to the gym, right? Those are things that that we can implement in a program, but at the end of the day, compliance will will always be over optimal. So that is something some of the things that I would consider if you're you know dragging ass or you're not having fun with your programming. Um so number eight here, what are similarities in the people you coach? Um, so the the thing that I love with the people that I coach is all of us speak the same language, right? And I what I mean by that is like, for example, I've never been in law enforcement and I've never been a firefighter, right? But everybody kind of speaks the same language, right? If you wear a uniform, you you you kind of you you understand the suck, you understand the the team environment, you understand your role and responsibility. So I have a I have a very fun time kind of like like I said, speaking the same language with folks. Um the thing that I I see that all of us, including myself, need to work on is you know, silencing the inner critic. I talk about this a lot, but we always seem to, regardless of what kind of accomplishment, you know, we get or what school we get through, or you know, what we do, we always seem to downplay it, use some like uh you know, self-defeating feedback. Um, you know, we're we're not enough, even if we absolutely freaking nuke the target, we're just still like, yeah, but I could have done. And it's like, yeah, of course, like hindsight, we could have always done something better. But I think it's, you know, we need to stop and reflect every once in a while and be like, wow, I'm accomplishing some really cool shit. And like take a knee and be like, this is this is awesome, this is really cool. Or God forbid, say that you are proud of yourself, and then we can keep it moving, right? They that is not an excuse to just stop and be like, hey, I made it. Let's like, let's clap our hands and we're good to go. No, that is not even remotely close to what I'm saying, but we need to start like measuring backwards is a concept that I talk about all the time. But it's, you know, get to where you need to be and look back and be like, damn, that was a crazy journey. That was freaking awesome. I'm so glad I did it. And then we can look at the next target, right? I think that's a small little change that we can make. So it's not about you know being an egotistical asshole and be like, oh, I'm so great. Like I did this, I did X, Y, and Z, or you know, look how cool I am. No, but we are allowed to, you know, stop, take a look at the view and be like, damn, this is this is freaking awesome. I'm doing some really cool shit. Now let's keep doing let's let's keep going and let's do something else. So uh last question here, um, and it kind of relates to some of the stuff that we've been talking about, but what do you do when you go off track or miss a session? So this is something where a lot of people go haywire. Um, and it's regardless of you know what everybody really thinks, I think it's again a skill that needs to be practiced. Um, but it's like, uh, do you do makeup sessions or extra conditioning or quote unquote earn the food that you're about to destroy? Do you fast the next day or whatever that may be? I would say uh a hard caps lock no there. Like not even not even remotely close. And I would say that, you know, in the past I might have considered these things. Um, but now it's just like just stick and move, right? I say it's it's not necessarily like we don't want to go off track, obviously. Like that is not the target, but I think the most important aspect is how quick you respond, right? So not the next week or the next month. It's like, for example, in nutrition, it's the next meal, right? Or if you go out to eat, um, you're you're you know you're going out to eat and maybe you're you're stressed about it, or you're like, oh damn, I'm gonna go haywire and then I'm just gonna go crazy. It's like, no, just enjoy the meal and then just get right back on track, get right back on the game plan, right? No more, no less. So, you know, what I always tell people is if you have a plan or you're going out to dinner, I always challenge people to make the intentional decision. Make the intentional decision that you are or you can live with. So at the end of the day, I don't want to hear anything about you know peer pressure or you know, my friend made me drink or whatever that may be. It's like, no, I made this intentional decision, I am doing this thing, and then I'm going to respond right after, right? So, with that said, you know, when you go off track or you feel like you're going to or you're kind of forced to, I would still say, like, hey, find some wins in that. Like, what can you still do? Right. So, um, an example that's coming to mind is a client that was um going on a road trip, like had had a lot of different travel. So training was obviously in that instance not the priority. He's not going to like, could he stop at gyms and different things like that? Sure. Is that the reality? No. Same thing with nutrition. It's like, okay, like, well, we're not going to, you know, bring a crock pot or whatever. It's like, okay, we're going to have to travel, we're going to have to make sacrifices. What are ways that you can still win? And we we kind of had that discussion. And then he he did it on himself. It wasn't even a recommendation. It was, okay, I have a cooler. I brought this, this, and this, and we found wins that way. Again, was it his exact macros? Was it perfect? No, but he still found wins and he moved in the right direction. And he got to the point where he needed to be. And uh, like on the road trip, and he didn't lose a step, right? He didn't have to gain momentum when he got to where he needed to be because he never lost it. So I would say, as well, another important aspect, um, something that I hammer into my own head is freaking zoom out, right? Like one session or you know, one a couple days off or different things like that, or you're maybe you're you're injured and you can't get a training session in, those things in the grand scheme of things, if you are compliant for the majority of the time and you truly focus on 24-7, 365 readiness, that is a small blip on the radar. So, what I like to do is is look at you know, three-month compliance, six-month compliance, one-year compliance over, you know, specific days or or specific misses, right? So it's very important if you can, you know, be compliant and your compliance is over 90% or you know, 85% or whatever that may be in the long term, like you are going to be in a very good spot. So that is the thought process that I would take. And another line that I always say is, you know, you're never gonna be on your deathbed and say, damn, I really wish I would have hit my macros on June 19th, right? Like that is not going to happen. So I think it's very important to keep that in mind. So I appreciate you guys. I appreciate you listening. And like I like I said to start, if you ever have any questions or you know comments or concerns, please don't hesitate to throw them. I'd love to uh put you in the next QA podcast.