This is a great core movement that can also help build shoulder strength and stability. Add it to any of your functional movement training session. We recommend 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps per side.
CLICK HERE for the video demo
Name: Brandon Null
Age: 32
Hails From: Duncan, Oklahoma
Sport: Obstacle Course Racer “OCR”
Occupation: High School Teacher & Gym Owner “Timeout Fitness”
Fun Facts:
- Favorite Food = Mexican
- Spirit Animal = Deer
- If he were running down a beach in slow-mo what song would be playing = “The Champ” by Nelly
Brandon joined Team Link just over 2 years ago after surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Since then he has done nothing but get stronger and faster! Not only is B a full-time teacher, he also owns a gym where he leads group training for fitness and for OCR. Brandon recently represented the U.S.A. at the Obstacle Course World Championships in London, England where he competed in the 3k & 15k race distances. Not only did he finish very highly amongst the best in the world in his age, he had 100% obstacle completion on the 3k and only had to retry two obstacles out of 99 the next day in the 15k. This is a HUGE testament to how his grip and grit have grown!! Congrats on a great season Brandon!!!
Setting an intention or intentions for your day has shown to boost mood, improve your ability to handle stress, and more. But what about setting your intentions for a workout? When you set an intention or intentions for your next training session it can help you to understand where your mindset and focus are before you begin. It can also be a very useful tool when you look back on the training session and see if you had a positive mindset and goals, which can improve your training session, or a negative mindset, which can negatively impact your session. Were you focused on the task/workout ahead? Or was your mind busy with “to do” lists, work projects, etc?
Listen to the audio -which I made for my online coaching clients but wanted to share with you also – for how you can set your intention for each training session to and how it will help you become the best athlete you can be.
If you need any help with mindset, focus, goal/intention setting email Coach Mo at mo@linkendurance.com
In this episode we get to sit down and chat with Brakken Kraker and he mic drops knowledge and insight for the entire show. Brakken has always been a leader in the OCR world both in competition and in coaching, and it came as a shock to a lot of athletes when he announced early in the year that he had been unhappy and “fallen out of love with training”.
We dive into this and along the way discover:
- How his broken down minivan helped him rediscover his love for the sport and training
- How to love the process not just the goal
- How not to rush into decisions
We also talk about:
- How to train in the off-season
- The importance of sustainability & quality vs. quantity in trainig
- Could Cross-Fit make a surge in Spartan Stadium races
- His “go-to” workout for hills on a treadmill
- and SO MUCH MORE
Seriously this episode is so full of great information that will help make you a better athlete in every way shape & form
CLICK HERE to listen or download from iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
This is a total body movement that can be used to build strength and power. In addition, it is a great movement for increasing grip strength. We recommend 3-4 sets of 5-8 repetitions per side.
Click the link below for the video demo!
Singular Focus
This week’s mindset echo’s the message from last week on sneaky ways to meditate in the sense that we are talking about a singular focus. Meditation is a challenge and takes years to get good at and many more years to master. Often times focusing on your breath can be quiet challenging as our monkey mind bounces all around with random thoughts popping in and out every few seconds. One of the ways I have found to help alleviate the monkey mind is to find something that you ARE good at focusing on. ONE thing.
As an example, I love to shoot a bow and arrow. When I draw the bow back I have to be focused on staying relaxed and staring at the target, all while breathing relaxed through my diaphragm. In order to hit the bulls-eye I have to be 100% focused on it. Anything less and I will miss. I know the feeling of breathing and staring through the sites at my target. That is my singular focus, and I can use that in my mindfulness practice because my mind is already familiar with the process. All I need to do is close my eyes and mentally rehearse the process of shooting my bow.
So what could be your singular focus? Is it an activity that requires your 100% attention? Is it a game like Chess? Is it a thought process like prayer? This list could go on, and hopefully you get my point. Also, when you apply the singular focus technique it can be helpful to set a timer and try it for one minute. Once you can keep your focus for that one minute progress it to two minutes, then three, and so on. Do this consistently every day and before long you will be able to have a meditation and breath practice that lasts however long you want and/or need it to keeping your mind focused on one singular thing.
In this episode Mo, Miles, & Vic answer listener training, hydration, & nutrition questions for the upcoming Dallas Beast & Ulta-Beast. Even if you’re not racing the Dallas B/UB we provide great advice and tips to help you prepare for any B/UB you will do in the future.
We also quickly dive into how you should be training this off-season to make 2019 your strongest season yet!
CLICK HERE to listen or download from iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
The books Coach Mo reference about mindset
Elite Minds by Dr. Stan Beecham & Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg, Steve Magness
Meditation is a practice that if done regularly can greatly assist in reducing stress, but you probably knew that already. What you may not know is that by reducing stress with the diaphragmatic breath during meditation it can also have a positive impact on your hormones. When we are stressed our bodies produce cortisol, which increases blood sugar, reduces immune function, and can decrease testosterone.
In this study, 4 months of meditation increased both testosterone and HGH in the subjects while simultaneously reducing cortisol. So if you are struggling with low-T and have a stressful lifestyle, you may want to consider a meditation practice before diving into any type of hormone replacement.
In addition to testosterone and HGH, meditation has been shown to increase the release of serotonin and oxytocin, which are key hormones that improve mood and empathy. Dopamine is another hormone that has shown to be stimulated by meditation, which improves memory, attention, and problem solving.
So you see, taking a few minutes each morning and evening to relax, breathe, and meditate not only starts and ends your day on the right mental track, it can have pretty profound affects on your body on a much deeper level than you once thought.
In this episode we sit down with Spartan elite racer Lefty Kapanadze. Lefty has a pretty incredible story, coming from the impoverished war torn country of Georgia, to playing semi-pro baseball in the U.S., then finding OCR.
We talk about:
- Life growing up and how that’s given him perspective
- His love for mountain biking and how he uses big mile weeks on the bike to build fitness for OCR
- Using mountain biking as active recovery
- Why he races and races so hard
- and more!!
CLICK HERE to listen or download from iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Have you been wanting to change some of your bad habits, or perhaps create a new habit or two, but don’t know how or where to start? In this episode Alix and Mo share how to do just that by:
- Creating one new habit a week or month
- How to FOCUS on changing just one habit per week/month
- How to shift your thoughts from a “have to” mindset to a “get to” mindset
- How creating new habits can improve cognitive function
- How taking on one habit at a time vs multiple habits increases your ability to stick with it
CLICK HERE to listen or download from iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!