AdapNation: all things Self-Optimisation!

FOUR key variables to making deliberate progress in the gym - Training Consistency, Training Frequency, Training Intensity and Progressive Overload. These are hotly debated and researched aspects to training, which can lead to much confusion and uncertainty for most gym goers. This episode looks to bring you up to speed with these concepts, the latest research and how to practically consider these principles within your training programming.    That, combined with the release of our 9th #HyperWorkouts Training Block for the year, spurred us on to having this informative and personal look into our own training regime, gym progress and understanding what really matters.   PART 1 - Steve’s Progress with OCT-18 #HyperWorkouts * The benefits to Steve and Bryn with these aspects fo the programme: ▪︎ Percentage-based training ▪︎ Accommodating Resistance ▪︎ Daily Undulation ▪︎ Increasing Big Lift Frequency   Steve also covers off his injury prevention strategies and the importance of listening to your bodies signals of aches and pains.   * #HyperWokouts are real-world and phased annual weight training programming that Steve & Michelle use throughout the yea win support of our body goals.    PART 2 -   Optimising Training Consistency, Frequency & Intensity (~19mins in) Understanding how to consider and practically manage the below, with the view of building a strong, bigger and lean body:   1️⃣ Training Consistency (micro & macro) 2️⃣ Training Change / Periodisation 3️⃣ Training Frequency 4️⃣ Training Intensity & Pushing to Failure   We also cover:   - Where Progressive Overload fits into all of this - How Neurotypes and Character plays a part in training - How Environment & Social pressure/support can change performance dramatically - All whilst respecting the Evidence-Based Research on Strength and Hypertrophy, Personal Anecdote, and the Reality of people lives that are not consumed with working out   We finish off PART 2 by reflecting on what we individually need to focus on as our area of improvement, given the above insights and evidence.    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star review and letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   Evidence-based Researchers / Leaders referenced: ▪︎ Menno Henselmmans, founder of Bayesian Bodybuilding ▪︎ Greg Nuckols, cofounder of Stronger By Science ▪︎ Brad Shoenfeld, founder of Look Great Naked ▪︎ Layne Norton, founder of Biolayne ▪︎ Mike Matthews, founder of MuscleForLife   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website- Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Butler- An Online Personal Assistant that can inspire easy and tasty Homs-cooking ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 100’s of Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community- To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos- 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ Steve’s Body & Mind Progress Journals- Follow Steve’s real-world progress, following all the principles within the Podcasts ■ AdapNation Instagram- To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

The rapid advancement of usable everyday technology can be so liberating and enabling, and at the same time be so destructive when it comes to productivity and happiness.   Specifically, as we talk about Smart Phones, use and dependancy is spiralling out of control. That said, if you are mindful and leverage the latest features and apps, you can pull out so much goodness from your phone whilst controlling your use. That’s the essence of our discussion today.    First part of our chat talks about the latest release of iOS with an insightful and powerful feature called Screen Time. We chat about how this release allows for greater insight and management of your tech use as well as your kids. We delve into the eye opening stats of Steve’s phone use (eek), and how he intends to help curb the inevitable trend of his young kids getting addicted to their tech. Let’s face it, most of us are using our phone's as a crutch to run, operate and distract our lives. We’re truly addicted. Features like this help highlight the issue and give us tools to manage our use. 👍   For the Second Partof the Podcast (at ~20mins in), we get into our Go-To Health & Fitness Apps we use frequently, that you too may want to look at. We’ve broken the Apps down into Four Categories:   1️⃣ Food Apps- Nutrition, Diet Management & Food Inspiration 2️⃣ Training Apps- Programmes, Workout Tracking, Accountability, Running, HIIT Training etc 3️⃣ Rest Apps- Guided Meditation, Sleep Tracking, Device Use Management 4️⃣ Overall Stats, Dashboards & Other Apps- Apple’s Health App, Apple’s Screen Time etc   Lastly, we chat about our Tech Wish List (at ~58mins in) - where we’d like to see technology go to make things even better, faster and easier to use smart tech to advance our health, fitness and wellness.    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   Referenced Apps: ▪︎ MyNet Diary ▪︎ MyFitnessPal ▪︎ AdapNation Butler ▪︎ Zero ▪︎ Stacked ▪︎ Strong ▪︎ JEFIT ▪︎ TeamBuildr ▪︎ MyFfitBot ▪︎ Interval Timer ▪︎ Yoga Studio ▪︎ Bleep Test ▪︎ Map My Run ▪︎ Headspace ▪︎ Sleep Cycle ▪︎ AutoSleep ▪︎ Apple’s Screen Time ▪︎ Apple’s Health App ▪︎ Oura Ring   Referenced Products: ▪︎ Oura Ring ▪︎ Lumie Alarm Clock ▪︎ FitBit ▪︎ Apple Watch   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Butler- An Online Personal Assistant that can inspire easy and tasty Homs-cooking ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 100’s of Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkouts YouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ Steve’s Body & Mind Progress Journals - As referenced in the Podcast, Steve’s body measurement tracking etc is written about here  ■ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

This is a Bodyweight Training focussed discussion, where we look to understand this space, it’s popularity, it’s application, as well as the pros and cons. So, if you really like doing bodyweight training at home, or feel it’s a great way to get started on your health and body transformation journey, then you should definitely listen to this episode with Bryn and Steve.   Before we get started on the main topic, we do have 20min chat about the Elon Musk Podcast interview with Joe Rogan, and the marvellous strangeness of Elon. He’s a weird cat, but absolutely fascinating. This has us reflect on our own social awkwardness at times, as well as our overall empathy levels for humanity vs the individual. Kinda interesting stuff…   The Bodyweight Training Discussion, broken down:   1️⃣ Why is Bodyweight Training so popular, and is it for good reason? 2️⃣ What types of body weight training is there - e.g. HIIT, Circuit, Hypertrophy, Animal Flow, Gymnastics, TRX, Calisthenics 3️⃣ When and Why does Bryn programme Bodyweight Training for his PT clients? 4️⃣ How does Bryn programme Bodyweight Training - is it exclusively bodyweight or a hybrid? 5️⃣ Can you use Bodyweight Training for Conditioning, Fat Loss, Fitness, Strength, Muscle Gains and Skill Work? 6️⃣ Can you exclusively rely on Bodyweight Training as part of a long term strategy to lose weight and gain muscle?   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Butler- An Online Personal Assistant that can inspire easy and tasty Homs-cooking ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 100’s of Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

Sure, losing weight and achieving the best body you deserve has a lot to do with your emotional and logical commitment to the goal and process, through sheer determination, willpower and grit.  That said, too often in the fitness and food industry, the idea of food addiction is dismissed as a lazy excuse and lack of willpower. From personal experience, I disagree. Food Addiction is a real thing, and needs to be addressed as part of a plan to losing and managing bodyweight.   This discussion is broken into 2 Episodes (#43 & #44) where we look to cover off the reality of food addiction, how it happens and most importantly what to do about it.    PART 2:  1️⃣ What is Hanger and why does it happen 2️⃣ The Rehab Plan - how to elegantly withdraw from Food Addiction 3️⃣ Replace, Not Eliminate - 9 Food Specific recommendations that make the Rehab Plan easier   Recap on #43 ⬅️    PART 1:  1️⃣ Drug-Like Foods - The similarities to Food consumption and Substance/Drug abuse 2️⃣ How we evolved to to use Flavour, Smell and Reward Signals to seek out our Nutritional needs 3️⃣ The basics of Flavour Types 4️⃣ What Food Engineers use to Create the Bliss Point 5️⃣ The Six Most Common Addictive Food Types that DO NOT send the Signal of Fullness  6️⃣ What is going on within the Foods & our Bodies causing the Addictions   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: ▪︎ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ▪︎ AdapNation Butler- An Online Personal Assistant that can inspire easy and tasty Homs-cooking ▪︎ AdapNation Food Diary- 100’s of Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ▪︎ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ▪︎ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ▪︎ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

Sure, losing weight and achieving the best body you deserve has a lot to do with your emotional and logical commitment to the goal and process, through sheer determination, willpower and grit.  That said, too often in the fitness and food industry, the idea of food addiction is dismissed as a lazy excuse and lack of willpower. From personal experience, I disagree. Food Addiction is a real thing, and needs to be addressed as part of a plan to losing and managing bodyweight.   This discussion is broken into 2 Episodes (#43 & #44) where we look to cover off the reality of food addiction, how it happens and most importantly what to do about it.    As we get started, for the first 10mins we have a food confessional by Bryn, who has a very real addiction with Cheese and Hummus. Lose still, he likes to dip Cheddar Cheese sticks in Hummus… 🤢   PART 1: 1️⃣ Drug-Like Foods - The similarities to Food consumption and Substance/Drug abuse 2️⃣ How we evolved to to use Flavour, Smell and Reward Signals to seek out our Nutritional needs 3️⃣ The basics of Flavour Types 4️⃣ What Food Engineers use to Create the Bliss Point 5️⃣ The Six Most Common Addictive Food Types that DO NOT send the Signal of Fullness  6️⃣ What is going on within the Foods & our Bodies causing the Addictions   PART 2 (#44): 1️⃣ What is Hanger and why does it happen 2️⃣ The Rehab Plan - how to elegantly withdraw from Food Addiction 3️⃣ Replace, Not Eliminate - 9 Food Specific recommendations that make the Rehab Plan easier   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: ▪︎ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ▪︎ AdapNation Butler- An Online Personal Assistant that can inspire easy and tasty Homs-cooking ▪︎ AdapNation Food Diary- 100’s of Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ▪︎ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ▪︎ #HyperWorkouts YouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ▪︎ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

What a cracker of a discussion! In this Episode I am joined by Talent & Strengths Coach Kevin Thiele, founder of Salescode.co.uk and whose mission it to help manage high performance sales teams.  After I performed a Psychometric online assessment called CliftonStrengths, Kevin joined me to perform a live readout call of my report, where we bare all about my personality type - warts and all! This is a great chat, as it combines healthy debate with honesty, vulnerability, humour and an insanely accurate assessment of how we both show up as people in very different ways.   In actual fact, Kevin and I worked within the same industry and were aware of each other for many years. Both carved out a successful career in IT Sales, yet our talents are surprisingly different. How can two very different people play the same game and be successful at it? We explore this and much more in this fascinating discussion.    Here’s what you can expect to listen in on, with links to the Psychometric Assessment and links to Kevin’s online presence below: 1️⃣ Difference between Talents, Strengths, Skills and Weaknesses 2️⃣ Success comes from Excellence. Excellence and satisfaction comes from leveraging talents 3️⃣ You can be moderately successful without talent… but unlikely 4️⃣ What is Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment and how is it different? Calls out your Talents and where your strengths are assessed within 30mins.  5️⃣ Steve and Kevin sharing good and bad stories of their careers 6️⃣ Describing Steve’s TOP 5 Strength Themes, and how they can be Leveraged AND Abused 7️⃣ Steve's surprising lack of Relationship Building and Communication in his Top 5 8️⃣ Compassion vs Empathy - Can you develop compassion if your empathy is naturally low? 9️⃣ Accept yourself - your strengths and non strengths. As opposed to comparing yourself with others 🔟 Our people annoying you because they are being difficult or because they are DIFFERENT?   Many gems to listen out for: - The 5 attributes to Success - talent, attitude, skills, knowledge, style - Needs of followers - Hope, Trust, Stability, Compassion - Steve & Kevin’s Individual Top 5 Talent Themes - Steve’s full 34 Talent Themes Report & Blog - See https://AdapNation.io/blog   Kevin Thiele / Gallup Useful Links: ▪︎ Connecting with Kevin on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn ▪︎ Kevin’s Talent Coaching Business - salescode.co.uk ▪︎ Taking the Gallup CliftonStrengths Assessment(s)   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 100's Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

We’ve all seen and probably succumb to those 'Rock Hard Abs' and 'Get A Six Pack’ adverts during our lifetimes - those marketers know how to get guys to act and spend money! Abs are the definition of sexiness and good health in modern times, and it’s universally considered by men that abs are what women want. It’s funny that what men think women want and what women find attractive is usually quite different… 🤣 But let’s be clear, Abs are here to stay as part of societies image of health, athleticism and physical attractiveness. And we at AdapNation embrace looking good naked!    So, in this episode, we walk you through what you need to know. From the misconceptions, low priority stuff, and unrealistic online photos through to the key tenants behind building a strong, healthy and sexy core.   A.  What people typically do when they are their Six-Pack mission  B.  Some Ineffective Activities for Ab development C.  The Key Tenants to a great Six-Pack Look     1️⃣ Diet, Leanness & Body Fat Percentages     2️⃣ The Online Lie - Lighting, Oil, Bronzing, Angles, Post Production     3️⃣ Posture & Bloating     4️⃣ How to Purposefully Progressively Overload Your Abs     5️⃣ Core vs Abs - What’s the difference? What Are The Training Differences?     6️⃣ Heavy Compound Lifting & Whether Ab Isolation / Crunch Work is Needed.   15-20min CHIT-CHAT🐕 - We kick this episode off taking about dogs. Specifically, Bryn is looking to get himself a Puppy. We chat about our youth with dogs, Steve’s stupid (but fast) Whippets, and how we are pretty similar to dogs in our fight-or-flight instinctive reactions.    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website - Where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 110+ Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family  

This is a beauty of a philosophical, meaningful and thought provoking conversation between Bryn & Steve. A natural, curious and reflective conversation - one you most probably would enjoy being part of. We’d love to carry on the dialog, so get in touch via the Facebook page if you’ve got something to add or question.    It’s a continual in-flow chat hitting on: 1️⃣ Kids Growth - Helping your kids grow and take accountability at a young age 2️⃣ Morning Rituals - Morning routines being the key to consistent high achievement 3️⃣ Expediency vs Meaningful Action - The choice immediate gratification and actions that bring deep value ~25mins thru 4️⃣ Transformation - Steve’s personal transformation driven by attaching to more meaningful actions ~40mins thru 5️⃣ #BeYourBest Meaning - The levels of being your best - 1st - compete with others, 2nd - compete with yourself, 3rd - care and love for your future self ~54mins thru 6️⃣ Finding Life’s Purpose & Drive - attaching to Nature’s higher purpose - evolution. To advance, as one ~60mins thru   A little more detail into the conversation:   1️⃣ We get things started by Steve talking about his kids summer break from school, and how with some planning and careful motivation, they’ve managed to enjoy growing and developing over the last six weeks. 2️⃣ That leads us into talking about the importance of morning routines for kids and adults, and the impact a consistent morning ritual has had on Steve’s daily energy and performance.  3️⃣ We then get into discussing the concept of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Order Consequences, which is really about understand the cause and effect of your actions, be it positive or negative. This is about immediate gratification and the value of attaching current decisions to a longer term more meaningful goal. We chat about the gym, cold showers, binging, reading, foam rolling, eating to thrive and article writing.  4️⃣ Steve shares the impact that has been felt in his life by orienting around 3rd Order consequences, and how he has converted un-enjoyable activities into things he loves due to this reframing.  5️⃣ Then we chat about the #BeYourBest mission at AdapNation, and the varying levels of considering and acting against this objective. First Order - Compete with others. Second Order - Compete with yourself from yesterday. Third Order - Care for our future self like you do your kids, partner and pets!. Paying it forward.  6️⃣ We then close on Higher Purpose, and understanding the bigger machine at play - Nature. What’s Nature’s higher purpose? It’s to evolve, to advance evolution by helping species develop, grow, adapt & prosper. How does that relate to humans? Can you, one out of 7.6 billion people who exists for a tiny fraction of earth’s life have a worthwhile impact? We conclude that you, everyone, can have a meaningful and significant impact. It’s all of our duty to do so, to pay it forward in our own way. Time to abandon selfishness and self-pity and think about how we can contribute to the advancement of humanity.    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: - AdapNation Website - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset - AdapNation Food Diary- 110+ Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive - Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best - #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs - AdapNation Instagram - To see what’s going on in our world across business, training and family

Whilst we’re not a CrossFit Podcast, and we have a natural bias towards more traditional strength and weight training, we massively appreciate CrossFit for the positive impact it’s had on people's relationship with health and fitness over the last decade. Moreover, Bryn got started with a CrossFit box a few months ago and has a really interesting perspective as a PT and someone who has always favoured strength training.    This episode will help those who are considering CrossFit and/or those who have specific body goals understand all the value, benefits and downsides of CrossFit, from a relative Newbie who is not dogmatic and cult-like about the sport.    Bryn walks Steve through his experience, motivations and realised benefits to date. We cover:   1️⃣ What does a typical CrossFit session look like? 2️⃣ Why did Bryn Start going? 3️⃣ Is he still interested in going? 4️⃣ Is it in support of his physique and strength goals? 5️⃣ What have been the benefits and carryover? 6️⃣ Does Bryn do CrossFit exclusively? 7️⃣ What about risk of injury? 8️⃣ What is the average age demographic? 9️⃣ Is Lisa (Bryn’s Wife) enjoying and getting value from CrossFit? 🔟 Summary Pros, Cons and Barriers to Entry   If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: AdapNation Website - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset AdapNation Food Diary- 100+ Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs AdapNation Instagram - To see how Steve uses and progresses in the gym  

What do you listen to when you hit the gym? What gets you fired up to lift heavy and have intensity, and what have you realised does NOT work? That’s the topic of discussion in this half an hour fun chat. As always, Bryn and Steve have some differences in our needs and motivations. Check it out. Oh, and for you Oldskool Michael Jackson fans, there’s a little treat for you towards the end of this Episode. I think you’ll like it. 😉   What we discuss: 1️⃣ Listening to Audible & Podcasts whilst training 2️⃣ Steve’s need for over-stimulation and zero distraction... 3️⃣ Aggression or Calm when lifting really heavy? 4️⃣ What are the #Instafamous listening to when they film their workouts? 5️⃣ Oldskool favourites of Steve when he first found working out as a young teenager   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.   AdapNation Useful Links: ■ AdapNation Website - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset ■ AdapNation Food Diary- 100+ Tasty Healthy Meal Ideas, that are focussed on helping you thrive ■ Facebook Community - To get into conversation with like-minded folk wanting to be their best ■ #HyperWorkoutsYouTube Videos - 8-week training blocks, with video guides and print-outs ■ AdapNation Instagram - To see how Steve uses and progresses in the gym