Time Management

WE’RE BACK!!

Ladies and gentlemen, returning from a three year tour of Europe, Scandinavia and a sub-continent, The Blues Brothers….. oh sorry…. I mean uh, here we are, returning from a two-week tour of the southeast and upper mid-west. Actually we got back last week, but it’s amazing how much catching up you have to do even from a short trip. We had a great time, made some great contacts and God used us to bless people, which is the most important thing of all.

We drove about 3,800 miles in 12 days. Now normally we would fly that, but we’re putting new things in the performances and testing and working out some equipment transport issues. Plus we were going to go off of our normal track to see friends that we had not seen in a while. During the trip I performed seven times in nine days. Several of those were twice in one day performances. Three schools, a church, the Davenport Athletic Club, an All-Faiths night for the Quad City Mallards, and a small performance for a family reunion.

We’re going to add a section to the website so that we can give you more details about every time we perform, minister or travel. It will either be in the Articles section or have it’s own section completely. Look for that update on the website soon.


NOW LET'S TALK TIPS

Learn to take advantage of everything life presents to you. Every day there is some kind of an opportunity presented to you. It may be a seemingly small thing, but it’s there. Learn to look for these opportunities and be living in a conscious way so that you realize they are there for you to act on. Everybody when they are young misses golden opportunities. Opportunities to learn, grow and to help others. It’s part of the maturing process of life to begin to recognize these opportunities and take advantage of them so that you don’t have to look back and kick yourself in the butt for missing something that could have changed your life. During the trip we just returned from we had all kinds of opportunities presented to us and I hope that we did a good job at taking advantage of most of them. Not just those that were a blessing to us, but those that allowed us to bless other people.

Here are a few opportunities that you might overlook that you can take advantage of:

1. Time with your family. It’s awfully easy to get caught up in the day to day strain of life and never have time to really get to know those you care about. Turn off the TV, go outside, whatever you have to do, just don’t miss that. As an example, during this trip, Noah and I both saw snow for the first time and we got to play in the snow and throw snowballs at each other even in the middle of a business trip.

2. To learn. I know a lot about exercise. I mean… a lot, but I’m still learning. I had the opportunity to learn from many other people in different disciplines during this trip. I got to attend a class at seminary with my sister in New Orleans. A very thought provoking experience. I learned about business, and about different areas of our country. I learned about myself and about some other people. Never stop learning.

3. To teach. During this trip I got the chance to privately train with three new friends. I’m not going to say “clients.” And during this time I got to share a lot of what I’ve learned on exercise. But let me tell you the real upside to this, every time you teach someone something you are effecting their life and those whom they will teach. You’re also learning along with them, teaching yourself. Everyone has something that they have enough knowledge of to teach someone else. If you feel like you don’t, then what’s stopping you from getting that knowledge? Hint: here’s your opportunity.

4. To show kindness. Every day there are people who are close to us or just strangers we meet who will benefit in inestimable ways from a kind word or a friendly gesture. Only the truly strong can show gentleness. Show it in being a positive experience to those in your life and to those you’ve just met.

5. Share what you believe. I believe in God and Jesus Christ and I believe that God loves every person in this world and it is therefore my responsibility to share my belief with you. The key word there is “share.” Not attack, not browbeat and at the same time not hide or cower away from. I want you to know what I believe because I believe it can be helpful to you and while I will be frank with you about the things that I believe I will not be condemning with them. Sharing what you believe is in what you say to people, but it’s also in how you treat them and how you behave. Love is the key.

6. Excitement, Accomplishment and Fun. The opportunity is there for us every day to not take ourselves so seriously and to have fun. I hope you’re not missing this one. The opportunity also comes along at times in our lives to be excited about things. Take advantage of that. Being pumped up about something is a great place to be. The more often you do it the better you get at it. Take advantage of that excitement and transfer it into the energy to live life and to accomplish whatever goal that excitement places before you.

Stringing all of these things together helps create a full and balanced life. One that is true to yourself, to your beliefs, and to others. Full of joy, happiness and getting the job done. Not having to look back at wasted opportunities. So wake up and get after it.


IS YOUR TRAINING GETTING THE JOB DONE?

Part of the reason that I created Twisted Conditioning and spent the time necessary to weave together all of those training goals is that I wanted a training system that would work for my own life. I wanted my training to have practical outcome and practical benefits for the rest of my life. I don’t think most people have even considered this when they think about training. Most people simply adopt whatever training program they’re exposed to by whatever name in the fitness industry or the one that they see under the pretty picture in a muscle magazine.

When I set out to put together Twisted Conditioning I knew that I had specific goals that I wanted to accomplish and that those goals tied in to how I wanted to be able to live my life. I want to be able to have high level strength and demonstrate it at any time. I want to be able to have the endurance to live my life well and to demonstrate my strength in the aforementioned way as well as recover from it quickly. Actually I’m pretty happy with the results I’ve gotten because on the trip that just took I was able to literally display the effects of this training and put it to a real world test.

Here are some things to think about in your own training. If you can’t answer these questions maybe you need to be looking to close these gaps in your workout.

1. Does your training give you more energy or deplete it? There are times when you must train, “on the edge,” so to speak. When you push to your absolute maximum in strength and endurance and it depletes your energy, but for the most part you should feel energized after training and in the rest of your life. If its not a max training session but you’re dragging the next day then something is wrong.

2. Do I recover and perform well in the rest of my life? Last week I helped replant orange trees in my family’s grove. Now the rest of my uncles and cousins that were helping were suffering pretty good. During the work and the next day. But guess what? Because of my workouts the work wasn’t very hard and I didn’t get sore the next day even though it was an odd stimulus that I don’t normally do. In fact very little of the work that I do outside feels physically brutal and if I do have any recovery issue with it it’s purely from volume or heat issues (central Florida ya know… 90+ much of the time with high humidity).

3. Do I hurt more or less from training? When I train I am actually more nimble, flexible and lose with less pain than if I were to skip it. The only minor exception to this is if I go absolutely beyond max, then sometimes the aftermath effort is a bit painful. I think long term with life your joints and muscles should be feeling better from training rather than beaten from it.

4. Can I out perform just about everybody I know? Now this doesn’t count if everybody you know is a professional football/rugby/fighter/Olympian/powerlifter, etc. I’m talking about the rest of the world. Most mainstream training is geared towards physical ability. That’s why they get crap results. Normal physical ability is pathetic. If you shoot for extraordinary ability and end up with well above average you’re still way ahead of the game. If you shoot for normal physical ability and even if you make it that still doesn’t give you much to work with.

5. Am I really getting strong? This is tied to number four. Everybody can get strong, but most people aren’t willing to do what it takes to get strong. I think the stronger you get the greater the base of physical ability you have. The greater the base of physical ability you have combined with taking good care of yourself the better your life is and the stronger you’ll be as you age.

6. Can I maintain this training? In regard to time is your workout efficient? Does it pay me good dividends for the amount of time I have to spend? Is it something I can mentally maintain for a long period of time? (That changes as your training experience grows and everybody does short periods of training that are too intense to sustain forever.)

7. Is it actually giving me the results I want? Am I getting bigger or stronger or better endurance or leaner or whatever it is that you’re training for? In regard to that, are your expectations realistic? Much of what we think of as possible from the physique standpoint is clouded by the fact that most of the physiques that we hold up as standard for the last 45+ years are drug induced. On the flip side the mainstream standard of strength is pathetically low. Hold yourself to a higher standard and realize that training is a long term time based effort.

I know Twisted Conditioning has worked for me to answer many of these questions and in giving me the ability to be strong, to be enduring, to accomplish my goals and to live my life the way that I want to. Think about these questions and see where you are. Everything in lifting is a personal deal. You have to see and decide things for yourself. Twisted Conditioning might help you get to those goals. It’s the only training system that I know of that encompasses all of the variables at one time without conflict. It’s definitely getting me there, maybe it will get you there too.

Check it out at http://strongerman.com/twisted.html


We’d like to say thank you and recommend a couple of people that we just worked with while finishing up this letter. The Quad City Mallards were an absolute first class organization and we really enjoyed working with them. Dustin James, their Director of Corporate Sales is a gifted professional and if any of you get the chance to work with them, please take advantage of the opportunity. Thank you.

James Craft, the youth minister at Riverside Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana is a wonderful asset to their church and was a true blessing to us. He was extremely helpful in every way during our visit to their church and schools. Thank you.

To Larry Turley and Family, thank you so much for opening up your home to us. We truly enjoyed the stay and visiting with you all. Noah really loved riding the Harley.

To Greg Pickett and Family, we really enjoyed the time and thanks for opening your home. Greg, thanks for the inspiration and the nails and help locating the hotel.

To Dale Hunter for making some great equipment for me to use on this trip and for getting it done for us quickly. Anybody who needs welding done in the central Florida area should call me for Dale’s contact info. He made my backlift platform and it works great!

To Rebecca Hughes and Matt, MacKenzie and Levi. We always love you guys and love hanging out with you. Thanks for taking us through the French Quarter and showing us the city. Anyone looking for a women’s ministry for their church or group should contact Rebecca. She’s an excellent speaker with a vast depth of spiritual knowledge to share. http://rebeccahughes.org


Remember to force your training to give you what you want. You can have all your goals. You just have to think and get the smartest training knowledge you can. So take advantage of every opportunity presented to you and thank those who help you along the way.