Mental Versus Physical

You do not need to be a genetic marvel to experience life-changing physical improvements from Total Results exercise. Most of our clients are regular folks who simply want to become the best and healthiest versions of themselves. With our guidance, they learn the basic physiological principles of high-intensity exercise, master proper form and speed of movement, increase their tolerance for exertional discomfort, and acquire the ability to train with great effort. If everything goes right, clients will grow mentally stronger in addition to gaining physical strength and endurance. Many have asked the question: how much of it is mental and how much is physical?

Success is dependent on several factors. There are a few "non-negotiables" that, in my opinion, you either have or you do not. These non-negotiables can be influenced by your instructor, to a point, but in reality they need to already be present. It all starts with attitude; a positive attitude can achieve great things, but a negative attitude will doom you from the start. Do you look forward to each workout as an opportunity to improve, or are you dreading coming in for your session? Only you know what is truly in your heart. The second factor is a willingness to learn. For over 90 percent of our clients, the Total Results exercise philosophy runs counter to everything they think they know or have heard about physical training. Therefore, it is a new concept to them and they should approach it as a learner and a beginner. Unless a new Total Results client has previously worked with an instructor that I know and can vouch for their qualifications (Case in point: years ago I had a client who moved to the DC area from Orlando and had trained regularly with Ken Hutchins. I knew then that I could skip ahead a few chapters.), I will treat them as if they are a beginner. The third factor is coachability. We can define coachability as, "the willingness and ability to seek, receive, and act upon constructive feedback to improve your performance." I will take it a step further and say that being coachable entails receiving instruction and executing it to the best of your ability the first time you are asked. Part of an instructor's job is to be critical and correct mistakes as they happen, while at the same time praising effort and recognizing proper execution. Please remember that all of this is done not to injure feelings, but to ensure the best possible performance and outcome.

There are some factors that are trainable and can be developed over time. Focus can be defined as the ability to concentrate on one task at a time. This is a critical component of our philosophy, and it is why we have designed a private and distraction-free exercise environment in our studio. Focus is required not just to ensure the highest quality exercise stimulus (the main purpose of the workout), but also to maintain client safety. It is important to shut everything else out for 20 minutes and devote your complete attention to your workout. Grit is a term made popular by psychologist and author Angela Duckworth in her 2016 book of the same name. Duckworth believes that grit has four psychological assets:

• Interest: A deep passion and genuine enjoyment for what you do.

• Practice: The relentless dedication to deliberate practice, consistently focusing on improvement and and working on weaknesses

• Purpose: The belief that your work is profoundly meaningful and contributes to the well-being of others.

• Hope: A rising-to-the-occasion perseverance; the optimistic belief that you can overcome challenges and that your effort will make a difference.

At Total Results, grit can entail not quitting in spite of feeling significant exertional discomfort, overcoming the psychological hurdle of reaching muscular failure and not being able to move the movement arm, but also showing up for each session even if your progress has slowed or life presents challenges. Will you take responsibility or make excuses? Finally, we can talk about desire. Some may debate as to whether this can be developed or not, but I believe it can. How important is it to you to make physical improvements? This is hard; are you willing to do what it takes? Some sacrifices will be involved; every time you say yes to something that means you have to say no to something else. You have an early morning workout tomorrow; saying yes to going to bed early means you're saying no to staying up late to binge-watch that Netflix series. In my opinion, desire can grow as soon as you start to experience some tangible progress, but remember that there will be obstacles in your path.

One cannot completely discount certain genetic factors that will impact training results. We can define neurological efficiency as the percentage of muscle fibers that can be recruited in an all-out effort, and the number typically falls between ten and forty percent. This is largely pre-determined by birth, and the more neurologically efficient you are the deeper you can inroad (fatigue) your muscles in a given exercise. Limb length is fairly self-explanatory, but it has an impact on leverage and what your range of motion is on certain exercises. Tendon insertion angle is the exact degree at which muscle fibers attach to a tendon or where a tendon attaches to a bone. Longer muscle bellies (the contractile area between tendons) generally mean a greater potential capacity for strength. Finally, fiber type makeup can be described as the different types of muscle fibers that make up your skeletal muscle. For simplicity, you have Type I fibers (which are slow twitch), Type IIA fibers (which are fast-twitch oxidative), and Type IIB fibers (which are fast-twitch-glycolytic). Type I fibers are largely for endurance activities, Type IIA are intermediate, and Type IIB fibers are for explosive and short-term physical feats (think sprinters and football linebackers). Type IIB fibers also have the greatest potential for growth, while Type 1 fibers do not. The only way to concretely learn your fiber type makeup is to have a muscle biopsy performed; most people aren't all THAT curious. You have no control over your fiber type makeup; you can either thank or scold your parents for that, depending on your preference. The best thing you can do is to make yourself as strong as is humanly possible and maximize your genetic blueprint.

This brings us back to our original question: how much of it is mental and how much of it is physical? I think it is impossible to give an exact percentage of each, but suffice to say that we are training your mind as well as your body. Clients would do well to focus on improving the things that are within their control and not spend time and energy worrying about what they cannot change. Keep in mind that of the three types of muscle (skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle) in the human body, only your skeletal muscle can be contracted volitionally. Your brain controls your body's movements, but don't allow your brain to quit before your body has reached its limit! If you are strong mentally but are not physically recovered because you are overtrained, you will perform poorly. Worse yet, injury and illness are much more likely to occur. On the other hand, if you do not approach your workouts with the right mindset you will not succeed. Lastly, if you are physically rested and mentally alert, you still cannot "outrun" a bad diet. The safest conclusion that we can make is that the mental and physical components go hand in hand; they are like two sides of the same coin.