This little series sums up most of what I’ve learned in well over a decade and literally over 10,000 combined hours of personal training and teaching classes. I’ve done accompanying short videos so that you can spend 7 minutes each day for a week getting an overview and deciding where you want to go next.

How to get the most out of this

Thank you for including me on this particular step towards your best physical self ever. It’s probably a safe assumption that you’re looking for some degree of transformation, right? In which case, let’s begin. Repeat after me: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly.” Umm…Say what?

Okay, this matters whether your goal is small or huge. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty much the only way to reliably build momentum towards the huge ones.

The point is that goals and changes and transformations are process-driven. They only come to fruition if we put in the work regularly. As humans, we often tend to depend on the fact that eventually we’ll magically find enough ____ (fill in the blank: time/motivation/energy…) to realize our lofty dreams – but that’s trying to skip the process and head straight to results. Instead, I guarantee you that a few minutes a day, even minutes that may feel sub-par or mediocre, will go a long way in creating a great feedback loop: habits build confidence builds habits build confidence… And if you skip those minutes on a given day because you don’t feel you can do it “perfectly,” well, you haven’t really invested anything much that day in your chosen process, have you?

So right now, set your absolutely minimum intention for this coming week, starting literally tomorrow at the very latest. If you’re not sure where to start, I suggest committing to merely listening to one of the seven segments each day. They are only seven minutes each (and that’s a maximum, assuming you click through to the appropriate segment in the last one), and they’re designed so that you can revisit them over time and hopefully get more out of them each time.

Next, set your accountability method to help you stick to that minimum, no matter what, every single day, no matter if you don’t feel like it.

I encourage you to interact with others who are doing the exact same thing. If that’s not an option, there’s always bribing yourself (which usually meshes best with self-transformation when choosing a bribe that’s not caloric!), habit “stacking” (check out “Atomic Habits,” or “How to Change”), or really, whatever works for you.

It all boils down to keeping your “why” strong. Here are my thoughts on that (or click here for the video), along with my own personal mantra to stay on track: consider the alternative, then embrace the process.

I look forward to spending this time with you, albeit virtually. Each segment has a 7:00 video component, and this article links to others as a springboard for once those foundations feel solid and you want to challenge yourself more. All right, let’s fine-tune the basics for your best life ever!

1 of 7: Use your lungs well – adopt optimal breathing patterns

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this one.

While of course any breath is good breath, moving to optimal breathing patterns help keep the nervous system balanced, and almost every system in our body works better with an optimal gas balance circulating in the blood.

(Although scientific research hasn’t yet addressed this, I personally wonder if some of our current collective bone density struggles are due to our sub-optimal stress breathing patterns — for more on that, here is an abstract of Chaitow’s book, Breathing Pattern Disorders, which mentions the concept of respiratory alkalosis, which is a blood pH imbalance due to breathing disorders.)

For more in-depth dive into this, consider reading James Nestor’s “Breath” or looking into Patrick McKeown’s “The Oxygen Advantage”

There are so many suggested patterns and routines! I typically suggest aiming for a relaxed full exhale, up to a slow 8-count if possible, with an also relaxed 4-count inhale.

Key points, no matter what rhythm or routine you choose, are:

• Always, always, always aim to breathe in/inhale through the nose.
• Aim for a lateral, 360-degree expansion. As you inhale, the sides of your ribs should expand, and you should feel air into your mid back. This means using the full diaphragm muscle rather than the so-called “accessory” breathing muscles such as the neck or the pec minor.
• Keep the shoulder blades low to avoid shrugging and/or inhaling with your upper chest.

You can vary this to go with an even slower, more full exhale to allay anxiety and promote relaxation, whereas a more full expansion of the lungs will energize you or perhaps even really pump you up, as before a competition.

Click here to follow along (first we’ll truly fully exhale, then practice a standard catch-all type of breathing pattern, finishing with an energizing, “pump up” pattern).

2 of 7: Stand tall – embrace good posture

Handy tools include the wall, a dowel, and the floor (and perhaps a small pillow). Here is the video, and key points follow:

• Drop the lowest rib slightly
• Pull the shoulder blades down toward your hips
• Raise up through the BACK of your head/neck

3 of 7: Musculoskeletal structure, part A

Okay, this one was a little short of 7 minutes 😉 Using the row as an example:

• Maintain a neutral spine (mainly focusing here on the upper spine / neck because the torso usually isn’t particularly challenged during a row)
• Centrated joints (here, the humerus/upper arm bone within the scapula / shoulder blade)
• Spread the load over larger muscles (here, using the mid back to initiate instead of leaving it all to the biceps)

4 of 7: Musculoskeletal structure, part B

A dowel will be handy for this one. Using the squat as an example:

• No rush. This one ties in with focus on learning – don’t speed it up until you feel you’ve mastered a move.
• Root down and stay connected through the ground
• Centre of mass
• Challenging neutral spine: Hip hinge is preferable to spinal flexion
• Breathe and brace

5 of 7: Owning the movement and personalizing the positions

The first big test for any physical position is: can I breathe well here? And the second is, can I maintain good posture and spinal positioning during this movement? If not, first tune back into your optimal breathing and re-embrace that good posture. If that doesn’t work, adjust the position to make it do-able for your body at this particular moment.

Here are a few variables you can play with to personalize various moves, using the pushup as an example:

• Base of support (in this case, width of stance and also how many limbs are in contact with your supporting surface)
• Tempo (Remembering the “don’t rush” part: slowing down a move is a technique that would let you work harder if you don’t have as much resistance available)
• Amount of resistance (in this case, your body angle will affect how hard you have to work against gravity)
• Usually, lever length — although for the pushup, I prefer to stay away from this variable. I prefer elevated pushups to knee pushups because the pelvis in particular can stay in a better position. Adjusting lever length would be more relevant in something where there’s weight in the hands, such as a reverse fly, where a straight elbow provides harder work than a bent one does.

6 of 7: RPE – make your cardiovascular system work for YOU

As I contended during Covid: rather than wasting time citing scientific and anecdotal support for this point of view (because there’s lots!), I suggest: if you’re feeling a little paranoid, anxious, or “off” mentally, don’t spiral down into yet more social media rabbit holes and fixate on what else is wrong with the world; just get moving! And the next time you’re feeling a little “off” again: remember the positive results you got, lather, rinse, and repeat.

I like the RPE approach (“rate of perceived exertion”) because it’s simple, doesn’t require fancy technology, and asks you to tune into your own body awareness.

I’ve provided three mini templates as an example to establish RPE for certain moves. This assumes that any myofascial release, prehab, or really specific range of motion warmup has been done beforehand, if necessary, and that your range of motion is okay.

I’ve stayed inside for these demos, but if the joints permit and you have access to the space for it, I highly encourage occasional sprints. You can use a similar RPE-based approach for them.

I’d be happy to work with you as you establish your own repertoire of moves / RPE. I also suggest getting familiar with the principles in Foundations 5 of 7, “How to personalize…”

In the meantime, here are three minis to get you going. Just click through to the one you want to start with. Let’s do it!

Equipment constraints?

Then we’re going bodyweight.

“If you’re deconditioned / extended warmup” (0:35) shows examples of these.

In my demo, RPE 5 = Step-backs; 6 = Wall pushups or plyo push-offs; 7 = Side shuffles with touchdown

(Remember to include your wrists in the warmup if you’re following the examples above.)

Space constraints?

Now we’ll use an elevated surface (such as a bench) and some basic dumbbells. See the “middle of the road” mini (4:08) for examples of this basic template.

In my demo, RPE 6  = High pulls; 7  = Step-ups.

The world’s your oyster?

Assuming more energy — and probably equipment — please see “if you want to push yourself” (7:13) for examples.

In my demo, RPE 6 = Squats; 7 = Push presses; 8 = Burpees

(Note: I won’t take anyone to a 9 in this particular format. Why? Because it’s good to do it occasionally, but only occasionally.)

If You’re Deconditioned / extended warmup (0:35)

• 1:00 at an RPE of 4
• 0:20 6
• 0:20 5
• 0:20 6
• 0:20 7
• 0:20 6
• 0:20 5
• 1:00 4 cooldown – longer if you haven’t reached a comfortable 4 yet

The Classic (4:08)

• 0:30 at an RPE of 4, i.e. the temperature warmup
• 0:30 at RPE 6
• 1:00 at 7
• 0:30 at 6
• 0:30 4 for cooldown – longer if you haven’t reached a comfortable 4 yet

If You Want to Push Yourself (7:13)

• 0:30 at an RPE of 4 (temperature warmup)
• 0:45 6
• 0:30 7
• 0:15 8
• 0:30 7
• 0:15 8
• 0:30 6
• 0:45 4 (cooldown)

For each of the templates and moves, I would really love to get your feedback! Either under the YouTube videos in this playlist, or if you wouldn’t mind reaching out to contact me.

7 of 7: Reach for the stars! (And for long-term success, at your own pace)

Okay, now we go from the basics into: where do you want to go?

A select few people are highly motivated. If you’re one of them, skip to the cheat sheet below and have at ‘er.

For most of us, no matter what you pick as your path toward the transformation you’re seeking, staying on track is the big one. Unfortunately, it can turn into a sticking point for many – unfortunately, because it’s the make or break component for a long-range view of success.

It doesn’t help that being “lazy” was really an important energy-saving strategy for centuries, so it’s deeply honed in — for more on this, Exercised is a great read. Again unfortunately, it’s a strategy that no longer serves us well now that our corner of the world is one filled with ample, often hyper-palatable calories and with time-saving devices.

So here’s the golden question: how do I get there?

And of course there’s no one answer, because we’re all a bunch of beautiful little individual snowflakes…

For video, click here, and/or read one or two things that have kept me going on a personal level.

The big thing is: just start. Anything. It all gives good information, even if it’s not really your thing – yet – and eventually you’ll make something work, and hopefully even enjoy it.

Again, goals and changes and transformations are process-driven. Again, they only come to fruition if we put in the work regularly. It doesn’t work to skip the process and magically head straight to results, or even to motivation for the big stuff. The big stuff starts with the small wins, and you build from there.

Make your minimum commitment, something you can commit to — even on the days you feel lousy or rushed or ___ (fill in the blank) — and then stick to it. Yes, we all have cards stacked against us, and it’s up to us to choose how to play with what we’ve got. For more on my point of view, click here.

I’m happy to be part of your process somehow – maybe through a budget-friendly class. And if not, no problem! Pick any ol’ activity, look it up, pay for a session of classes, and just go. Seriously. Here are more specific pointers and a bit of motivation.

Basic principles for DIYers

Finally, if you’re more of a do-it-yourself kind of person, here’s a cheat sheet of basic principles to use as a jumping-off point:

• Fuel yourself well (hint: for most people, this will look like better hydration, more protein, and less sugar)
• Remember that first test for any physical position? Make sure you can breathe well throughout any strength training also.
• Speaking of breath, we bring in some new breathing patterns as strength work ramps up. This is typical about exhaling with the effort (and later, in something like a pushup where in a way it’s all hard, you can think of it as the concentric effort). Please note, however, that breath holding is not considered appropriate for people with high blood pressure issues. This means that while the inhale/exhale patterns of a squat, say, would remain the same, anyone with high blood pressure will use a constant inhale/exhale rather than getting their breath set at the top of the squat.)
• Always warm up the joints before loading a move.
• Typically work in the upper rep range first, to get your ligaments and tendons ready before we tax muscles heavily, The exception to the high reps are moves that demand a high degree of nervous system input, such as one-legged or other balance-intensive work.
• Once you’re warm, and depending what you’re focusing on, the most important stuff usually comes first in your workout, with accessories and isolation work typically being programmed at the end of a session.
• For upper body training, I see the continuum of difficulty for stabilization and joint challenge as being: horizontal pull (i.e. rows), then horizontal push, then vertical pulls. For bodies with significant mileage on them, you may or may not end up training vertical pushes with resistance, but no matter what, we still need to maintain that mobility as we age.
• Lower body: hip-driven movements are highly preferable to spine-driven! (Especially note the curious case of hip flexion/extension.) We’ll typically differentiate between movements that are predominantly hip hinges, such as deadlift variants, and squats, which also include a strong knee and ankle component.
• Core considerations – hopefully you are using your core throughout! This is why most people leave traditional core training to the end of the workout, and it’s also an area where there are so many approaches to training core specifically. Myself, I tend to stay away from most flexion-based core movements in favour of having the core work as an anti-rotational stabilizer.
• SAID matters (“specific adaptation to imposed demand,” as does deloading. (Hint: there are so many ways to come at this, but approximately each 4th week, step back down with the load)
• Another acronym: RiR, or “reps in reserve,” is worth bringing into your arsenal. It balances out the concept of RPE.