Action

Keep one commitment today, especially if nobody is checking.

Standard

Be someone others can count on.

Today’s Reading

People often search for the secret of consistency, and one of the secrets is remarkably boring: show up. For years, people have arrived at my home to train. Sometimes I feel excellent, and sometimes I would rather stay in bed, but the appointment solves the argument because they are coming.

Showing up does not guarantee brilliance. Some workouts are average, some meetings wander, and some writing sessions produce very little worth keeping. Not showing up, however, guarantees that nothing happens.

Reliability is also one of the great gifts we give other people. The person who arrives when promised becomes valuable, the coach who is there before the athlete arrives creates trust, and the friend who comes when things are difficult creates something deeper than a friendship built only around convenience.

You do not have to be magnificent every day. Be there often enough that showing up becomes a form of character.

EM, my All-American, asked to go to a camp. I went with her and threw for hours for two days. She got better…I got tired! But…you know, “show up.”

Coaching Vocabulary

Reliability: The habit of being present and prepared when you have committed to be there.

Reflection

Where would simply showing up consistently solve most of my problem?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Use your fitness, skill, time, or attention to help someone today.

Standard

Let your abilities serve more than yourself.

Today’s Reading

Fitness becomes more interesting when it stops being only about you. A stronger person can move the table, a fit person can walk with the slower friend, and a healthy grandparent can get on the floor with a child and get back up. A person with energy can show up when somebody needs help.

This is why I have never been completely satisfied with fitness as appearance alone. Looking good is fine, but usefulness gives strength a larger purpose. My definition of fitness has gradually expanded beyond performing in a contest to meeting the demands of your life and remaining useful to the people around you.

Read more

Action

Practice one ordinary task that you want to continue doing for yourself.

Standard

Train for the life you want to keep living.

Today’s Reading

We often describe fitness with extraordinary images: marathons, championships, heavy barbells, and mountains. As I get older, I am increasingly impressed by ordinary things such as getting out of a chair, walking up stairs, putting on shoes, getting into the shower, carrying groceries, and getting off the floor.

These tasks rarely earn applause, but losing them can change a life quickly. Independence is not one quality; it is a collection of strength, balance, mobility, endurance, judgment, and confidence. That means we can train it.

Squat because chairs matter, carry because groceries matter, and walk because getting from here to there matters. Practice getting down and up because floors exist, and train the hands because we open doors, jars, bags, and everything else with them.

You do not need to wait until something becomes difficult before preparing for it. Much of good training is simply paying rent on the abilities you want to keep.

Think of exercise as a “lifeguard.” (Erica and I at Rainbow Beach, Australia)

Coaching Vocabulary

Independence: The physical and practical capacity to continue performing important daily tasks without unnecessary assistance.

Reflection

Which ordinary ability would I most hate to lose?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Do one thing today that increases your future choices.

Standard

Build capacity before you need it.

Today’s Reading

Fitness gives you options, and so do money, skills, and good relationships. This may be one of the most important reasons to train. Strength means you have more choices when something heavy needs to move, mobility gives you more ways to solve a physical problem, and aerobic fitness expands what you can comfortably do.

The same pattern appears elsewhere in life. Savings create choices, education creates choices, and being dependable creates choices because people want you involved. We often think of discipline as restriction because, in the short term, it is.

You go to bed instead of staying up, save instead of spending, and train instead of sitting. Over time, those restrictions frequently create freedom. Poor preparation narrows the future, while preparation widens it.

You cannot control every event that will arrive. You can, however, arrive with more tools.

89 was my number in football. I made good choices then, and I am so happy I did!

Coaching Vocabulary

Options: Future choices created by building physical, financial, social, or practical capacity in advance.

Reflection

Which practice in my life is quietly creating more options for my future?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Take a walk without turning it into a performance.

Standard

Walk often enough that walking remains normal.

Today’s Reading

Walking may be the most underrated tool in fitness. It does not look impressive on social media, there is very little equipment to sell, and nobody needs a complicated certification to explain the basics. Put on shoes, go outside, and walk.

Walking helps with body composition, recovery, aerobic fitness, digestion, stress, and perhaps most importantly, thinking. Many of my best ideas have arrived while walking. There is also something deeply human about moving through the world at walking speed because you notice weather, see neighbors, have conversations, and watch problems shrink after twenty minutes outside.

Walking combines beautifully with strength training because it generally adds work without adding much damage. Do not make it complicated. Some walks are fast, some are slow, some are long, and some simply get you out the door.

Walk when you need exercise, recovery, or an idea. Walk because someday you will be grateful that you still can.

Coaching Vocabulary

Walking: Fundamental human locomotion that can serve simultaneously as exercise, transportation, recovery, and reflection.

Reflection

What would improve if I simply walked more?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

I am allergic to crab and lobster, and occasionally someone will ask if I miss these delicious foods. Well...no. I don’t like going to the emergency room, no matter how good something tastes. And...if deadlifts and squats literally destroy you...maybe don’t do them?

I thought that not doing deadlifts and squats but continuing to exercise around what one could do, rather than following this magic perfect program filled with fairy dust and unicorn hairs, was really a good idea. Honestly, when it comes to exercise, not unlike drinking water and sleeping well, I’m all for it!

In the comments, someone wrote a fairly cruel note commenting on both my intelligence and masculinity. In truth, a rather inappropriate term concerning the female anatomy was used because I even suggested someone should train without doing the power lifts.

I would like to say it hurt my feeling, but since I only have that one, I save it for my family and closest friends.

I tend to coach “could.” Now, honestly, you SHOULD exercise and probably follow a host of other health-related habits. I would like to have the legal right to make this into a MUST, but I trend toward moderation about most things.

If someone has physical issues, we focus on what they COULD do. And so, my Gentle Questioner received this same advice: Do what you can, not what some twenty-something social influencer tells you that you should do.

This upset a listener. Seemingly, even daring to NOT deadlift or squat will destroy civilization as we know it.

Here’s the thing:

The research is a little fuzzy because of self-reporting, which in my opinion has no validity in science but I don’t make the rules, but, at best, one in four Americans meet the basic guidelines of exercise. After age 65, it’s about 15% of the population.

And...those are self-reported numbers. It’s like asking your middle-school child if they did their homework:

“Yes, yes I did.”

It’s an easy sentence to say. The follow-up question, “Show me,” always involves a quick reflection and revision of the previous statement.

The guidelines, in a quick summary, are this: The federal standard for movement is at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, plus muscle-strengthening activity at least twice a week.

Did you do your weekly exercise?

“Yes, yes I did.”

Show me.

My experience and rather simple observations make me think that, like most things, people who can retire after 65 without external aid, follow basic preventative care, and, here in Utah, show up on time, only about one in twenty Americans exercise...at all.

I might be generous here, too.

Warming up just a few years ago in my late 60s. I need more than I used to!

Brad Pilon and John Barban had an interesting discussion recently on their Philife podcast. They noticed that in a gym setting only one in 500, yes, one in 500, people used the weightlifting equipment.

So, let’s reframe this discussion. I lift weights three days a week. I am nearing 70 years of age, so the numbers in my age cohort that lift weights, at best, mean that I am one in 10,000. I believe it. I spend a lot of time at musical events, Senior Centers, and walking in the mall. From my experience, few, very few, seniors lift weights.

I’m an outlier’s outlier!

Back to our point. Should American senior men lift weights? Should women? Should non-seniors?

Yes.

My estimate is that one in 10,000 follow this simple advice.

So, rather than argue about the deadlift and the squat for middle-aged and senior lifters, let’s find ways to encourage people to do the minimum guidelines for movement. And, Bless You, if you CAN deadlift and squat, and I might even add the bench press, what standard should you have?

Standards are always tough to address. Let’s look at standards.

First, a standard should be a number that everyone else in the group shrugs their shoulders and says, “Well, yes, of course.” I would expect a high school faculty to be filled with people who have high school diplomas and college degrees.

Well, yes, of course.

To play Division One American football, generally it is expected to clean 300 pounds, bench 400, and squat 500. For many players, those are numbers they did early in high school.

I’ve been working on standards for women athletes since 1980 and other numbers for kettlebells and a whole host of others. And no matter how I explain standards, how nuanced I make my summary, and how filled with eternal truths my answer establishes, I will always get a comment, actually many, like this:

“I’m a 93-year-old Virgo with Libra rising. What should I bench? Oh...and I have never trained with weights.”

Okay, I exaggerated. No one with Libra rising would ask that.

Back to standards.

Rusty Moore shares with us a great standard from his work, Visual Impact Ageless. His friend John, a 75-year-old man who looks decades younger, notes that ONCE a year you should try to squat your bodyweight for five reps.

I would have laughed at this at 20. And 30. And 40 and 50 and 60. Sneaking up on 70, I look at that number, nod my head, and pick a test date a few months out.

There were times in my life when I could have done this in a suit and tie, probably holding my kids’ backpacks, with no warm-up. Today, I need that warm-up!

A little coaching before squatting in suit and tie.

I like this standard because it has the golden truth of “doable, reasonable, and repeatable.” Is it perfect? No. I have issues from a 41-year career of high-level discus throwing that impact me in all kinds of interesting ways...like those weird mornings when I swear all I did last night was sleep and one of my limbs takes issue with everything.

If you can squat, deadlift, Olympic lift, kettlebell snatch, and do backflips, good for you. Keep at it. If you have to move from barbells to machines, good for you. If you find your mobility improves from chair yoga, skip the hot, strength-intensive yoga group.

If you can’t sprint, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t bike, swim or ride. Oddly, the body is a marvelous healing machine, and maybe your “can’ts” today will be your workouts soon.

Stay away from “either/or.” Embrace exercise and movement.

And, please, don’t judge others who can’t be as perfect as you.

Action

Carry something useful today.

Standard

Strength should make ordinary life easier.

Today’s Reading

Loaded carries are one of my favorite training tools because the instruction is almost embarrassingly simple: pick something up and carry it. Yet carries train the grip, trunk, posture, gait, breathing, and the ability to move while supporting a load. They also look suspiciously like life.

Groceries have to come into the house, suitcases have to move through airports, children and grandchildren occasionally need to be picked up, boxes must move, and garbage goes out. One reason I value strength is that strength provides independence. The goal is not to prove that you can carry every bag on the airplane because wisdom still matters.

There is, however, something valuable about remaining capable of carrying your own things. Train loaded carries in the gym with farmer walks, suitcase carries, bear-hug carries, and other variations, then notice the transfer into ordinary tasks.

Useful strength often announces itself quietly. You simply do the task and realize later that it was easier than it used to be.

Oddly, the best caber toss drill I ever used: This is a 150 pound sandbag plus dragging a sled (in the snow).

Coaching Vocabulary

Useful strength: Strength that improves the ability to meet ordinary physical demands outside the gym.

Reflection

What ordinary task do I want strength to keep easy?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Get down to the floor and return to standing under control.

Standard

Keep the floor available to you.

Today’s Reading

Children spend a surprising amount of time on the floor, while adults slowly stop going there. Eventually, for some people, the floor becomes a place they fear. This matters because getting down and getting back up involves mobility, strength, balance, coordination, confidence, and a certain willingness to interact with gravity.

It is difficult to separate those qualities once they begin disappearing. I have become increasingly interested in the ordinary physical tasks that preserve independence, and getting off the floor is near the top of the list. You do not need to turn it into a workout to keep the skill.

Sit on the floor while reading, roll, rock, crawl, and change positions. Practice standing without making the movement dramatic. If you need your hands, use your hands, and if you need furniture nearby, use the furniture.

The goal is not to impress anyone; the goal is to retain the relationship. The floor has been there your entire life, so do not surrender it without a fight.

The Following Link is one of my favorite ways to do this.

The Get Back Up

Training on the ground is always fun.

Coaching Vocabulary

Floor competence: The ability and confidence to move to and from the floor safely and independently.

Reflection

When did I stop spending time on the floor?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Do something today that you would be happy to continue doing ten years from now.

Standard

Choose practices that improve with time.

Today’s Reading

I began lifting weights in 1965, and that sentence means more to me now than any single personal record. I remember many great lifts, championships, competitions, hard workouts, and days when everything came together. The real achievement, though, was returning year after year.

Training long enough changes your definition of success. The question stops being, “How hard can I train today?” and becomes, “How long can I continue doing this?” The long game rewards patience, reasonable training, good technique, intelligent recovery, and enough humility to make changes when your body or life changes.

The long game also changes the value of small things. A daily walk looks almost meaningless compared with a heroic workout, but repeat the walk for twenty years and the arithmetic changes. We overestimate what we can accomplish in a week and underestimate what quiet repetition can accomplish across decades.

Train today, but remember who you are training for. You are also training for the person you will become.

The foundation of my first training program: Ted Williams’s book from the Sears Barbell Set. Still better than most of the “influencer” crap you see online.

Coaching Vocabulary

The long game: Making present decisions with enough patience and perspective to support progress across years and decades.

Reflection

Will my current approach still make sense to the person I hope to be ten years from now?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Name the season you are in right now.

Standard

Do not demand summer results during winter work.

Today’s Reading

Training has seasons, and life does too. There are times when everything lines up: sleep is good, work is manageable, the body feels strong, and the schedule allows longer sessions. These can be wonderful times to push.

There are other seasons when a parent is sick, work becomes chaotic, travel increases, or your own health needs attention. Trying to train exactly the same way through every season is not toughness; sometimes it is poor coaching. Athletes understand this naturally because there is an offseason, a preseason, a competitive season, and time for recovery.

Adults often forget that their lives have seasons too. A difficult season may call for maintenance, and maintenance is not failure. Preserving strength, health, relationships, and good habits through a hard period can be an extraordinary victory.

The season will change, and when conditions improve, build again. One of the great advantages of thinking in seasons is that it keeps a temporary problem from becoming your permanent identity. Winter is not forever, and neither is summer.

I actually love all four seasons; I try to find joy and fun in every day of the year.

Coaching Vocabulary

Season: A period in which circumstances make certain goals or levels of effort more appropriate than others.

Reflection

What does this season of my life actually ask from me?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Measure one thing that matters instead of estimating it.

Standard

Use information to guide decisions.

Today’s Reading

I like assessments because they end arguments. Can you hold the plank, make the lift, touch the mark, or walk the distance? We can discuss theories all afternoon, but eventually somebody has to pick up the bar.

Good testing gives us information, while bad testing becomes entertainment. Many athletes test so often that they never have time to train. Every workout becomes a contest, every run becomes a race, and every heavy set becomes an attempt to prove that last week’s training worked.

Testing should interrupt training occasionally, not replace it. Pick a few measurements connected to the goal, test them honestly, record the result, and then return to training. The same idea applies outside the gym because people often say, “I hardly eat anything,” until they keep a food journal, or “I walk all day,” until they count their steps.

Information can be uncomfortable, but it is still useful. Test when the answer matters, and then let the result teach you something.

My All-American, EM, started out her college experience throwing just over 100 feet. She improved 50% within the first year or so and kept getting better and better. Having a measurement is the best feedback!

Coaching Vocabulary

Test: A deliberate measurement used to assess current ability, behavior, or progress.

Reflection

What am I currently guessing about that I could simply measure?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Identify the visible result you are tracking and the behavior underneath it.

Standard

Keep score of what you can control.

Today’s Reading

Most goals have two scoreboards. One scoreboard shows the result, and the other shows the behaviors that create the result. Bodyweight and waistline are scoreboards; so are your bank balance and your performance in competition.

Those numbers matter, but there is another scoreboard. Did you train, walk, prepare your food, save the money, make the phone call, or practice the skill? This second scoreboard is often more useful because you can influence it today.

You cannot always command your body to lose a pound by Friday, but you can control many of the actions that eventually make fat loss more likely. You cannot force an athlete to win a championship, but you can prepare properly. Results arrive on their own schedule while behaviors happen now.

Pay attention to both scoreboards, but do not confuse them. When the result stalls, inspect the behavior; when the behavior is excellent but the result does not change, reassess the plan. Keep score without becoming a slave to the scoreboard.

Coaching Vocabulary

Two Scoreboards: Tracking both the desired outcome and the behaviors most likely to produce it.

Reflection

Which scoreboard has been getting too much of my attention?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Choose one useful standard and compare it honestly with where you are now.

Standard

Let the gap guide the work.

Today’s Reading

A standard is useful because it tells us something, not because it judges our worth. If an athlete needs a certain level of strength to compete successfully and does not have it, we have discovered a gap. That gap can guide the training.

If someone cannot comfortably get off the floor, carry groceries, walk a reasonable distance, or climb stairs, those are also gaps. The mistake is becoming emotional about the assessment. I have watched people perform a test poorly and immediately explain why the test is unfair, why the weather was bad, why they did better twenty years ago, or why the result does not matter anyway.

Maybe some of those explanations are true, but the number can still be useful. Standards simplify coaching because they tell us what “good enough” might look like for a particular task, and the difference between the standard and your current ability suggests where to focus.

Do not chase every gap at once. Find the gap that matters most, work on it, and reassess. A standard should give direction, not shame.

Tape measures, clocks, and true “before and after” shots are not angry or deceitful. These are tools that give accurate feedback. (Used correctly!!!)

.

Coaching Vocabulary

Standard: A useful level of performance that helps define readiness or competence. Gap: The distance between current ability and the desired standard.

Reflection

Which gap, if improved, would make the greatest difference in my life?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Choose one next step that clearly moves you in the right direction.

Standard

Direction comes before speed.

Today’s Reading

People often want the entire map before beginning the journey. I understand the desire because we want certainty. We want to know that if we perform Exercise A, eat Food B, and follow Program C, we will arrive exactly where we hoped.

Life rarely gives us that kind of promise. Sometimes the best question is simply, “Am I on the right path?” If your goal is better health and you are walking more, getting stronger, sleeping better, and eating mostly sensible food, you are probably on the right path.

The same principle works elsewhere. If you want financial security and you are spending less than you earn, saving consistently, and avoiding foolish debt, you are probably on the right path. You may still need adjustments, and the route may change as you discover a better tool or a shorter road.

A compass can be more useful than a detailed map. Do not allow uncertainty about Step Twenty-Seven to prevent Step One. Find the direction, take the next reasonable step, assess what happens, and then take another.

If you decide to go to O’Connor’s, I can get you there from my gym. Knowing where you start and where you are going are the keys. In goal setting, a vague “here” and a vague “there” won’t help at all.

Coaching Vocabulary

The right path: A direction in which repeated reasonable actions are likely to move you toward the desired outcome.

Reflection

Am I asking for certainty when direction would be enough?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Set an acceptable upper and lower boundary for one important measure.

Standard

Use a range instead of demanding one perfect number.

Today’s Reading

Bowling became much more enjoyable for my children when we put the bumpers up. The ball could still wander and drift left or right, but it could not disappear completely into the gutter. I began thinking about life the same way.

Most people chase exact numbers. They want to weigh exactly this much, spend exactly this much, train exactly this many days, or sleep exactly this many hours. Life rarely cooperates, so bumpers provide a range that allows ordinary variation without allowing a small deviation to become a disaster.

Your bodyweight might move within a few pounds. Your training might vary from two serious sessions during a difficult week to four during an easier one. Spending might move up and down while remaining inside a boundary you established in advance.

This removes needless emotion. If you are still between the bumpers, you do not need a new diet, a new program, or a three-hour meeting with yourself; you are still in the lane. If you hit a bumper, make a small correction, and if you go through the bumper, pay attention. A useful life has room for movement without allowing drift to become direction.

Part of my evening preparation is to chart out my two core “Bumpers:” Bodyweight (and waistline) and my financial goals (mostly tracking spending and saving/investing). If I am “good,” I don’t think about it and just do the daily work. If I start to flounder, I gently look at the daily work and make small changes. Bumpers…Nic Peterson’s book. Buy it.

Coaching Vocabulary

Bumpers: Predetermined boundaries that allow normal variation while preventing serious drift from the goal.

Reflection

Where would a reasonable range give me more control than one perfect number?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Identify the smallest version of one important practice that you are willing to do even on a difficult day.

Standard

Never let zero become the default.

Today’s Reading

People often ask me for the perfect workout, but I am more interested in the workout you will still do when the day falls apart. There is value in knowing your minimum because difficult days are not exceptions. Flights get delayed, meetings run long, grandchildren arrive, and sometimes you simply have a terrible day.

Maybe the normal session includes several lifts, carries, mobility work, and a walk. Excellent. On a difficult day, do a few goblet squats, hang from something, carry something, walk around the block, or practice your lifts with an easy load. Get on the floor and get back up.

The minimum is not the goal; it is the bridge back to the goal. Five minutes of writing keeps a writer connected to the work, a short walk keeps the walker walking, and preparing one decent meal can prevent a difficult day from becoming a difficult week.

There are days for personal records and days for survival, and good coaching knows the difference. The person who understands the minimum can remain in the game while everyone else waits for life to become perfect again.

The Ted Williams Program. This came with the 110 pound/50kilogram set from Sears. I still comeback to this book and principles whenever I get too lost in the noise.

Coaching Vocabulary

Minimum: The smallest useful dose of a practice that preserves continuity during difficult circumstances.

Reflection

What is the minimum I can always do?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Look at one important habit and ask whether it is reasonable, repeatable, and doable.

Standard

Build a plan you can live with.

Today’s Reading

I have seen thousands of training programs that look wonderful on paper. The problem is that human beings have to do them. A plan can be scientifically impressive, perfectly periodized, color coded, and supported by dozens of references, but if the athlete cannot follow it, the plan has failed.

Over the years, I began judging programs with three simple words: reasonable, repeatable, doable. Is the plan reasonable for this person, at this age, with this schedule and these responsibilities? Can the person repeat it long enough for the work to accumulate, and can it actually be done with the equipment, time, energy, and resources available?

This applies far beyond the weight room. A financial plan that requires perfection every month is fragile, and a diet that cannot survive a birthday dinner is fragile. A morning routine requiring two uninterrupted hours may disappear the first time a child becomes sick or the airport shuttle arrives early.

The best systems bend without breaking. Do not build your life around the perfect Tuesday; build it around ordinary Tuesdays, difficult Tuesdays, travel Tuesdays, and the occasional Tuesday when nothing goes according to plan. If you can keep doing the important things, the results have time to arrive.

There is more to life than the gym.

Coaching Vocabulary

Reasonable, Repeatable, Doable: A standard for judging whether a practice can realistically produce results over time.

Reflection

What part of my current plan is harder to repeat than it needs to be?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Choose one thing today and decide what “enough” looks like before you begin.

Standard

Stop when the work is done.

Today’s Reading

One of the hardest lessons in training is learning when to stop. Most of us understand the danger of doing too little, but we often miss the danger of doing too much. If five sets are good, we wonder whether eight would be better. If losing ten pounds improves our health, perhaps losing twenty would be twice as good.

The same mistake appears outside the gym. If one book teaches us something useful, we order six more before finishing the first one. If a little discipline helps, we tighten the rules until the plan becomes miserable. Eventually, more stops helping and begins interfering with the original goal.

“Enough” is not laziness. Enough requires judgment because the correct amount changes with the goal, the season, your age, your experience, and everything else happening in your life. Some days enough might be a serious workout, while other days it might be a walk, a few movements, and an early bedtime.

The important skill is recognizing when the essential work has been completed. Do what needs to be done, do it well, and then have the courage to leave something in the tank.

Harry Paschall was the master of “enough.” Thanks to Bill Hinbern for permission to use this.

Coaching Vocabulary

Enough: The appropriate amount of work needed to move toward the goal without unnecessary excess.

Reflection

Where in my life would doing less actually produce more?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Accept one truth, practice one useful skill, and record one lesson from experience.

Standard

Keep learning from what actually happens.

Today’s Reading

I once worked with a top-level fighter whose performances were consistently worse than his training. He believed cutting weight was the problem, and that was a reasonable possibility.

I asked him to describe a typical fight day. He explained his nearly six-hour preparation: mobility work, foam rolling, meditation, exercise, and a long warm-up.

Then I asked what he did before an ordinary training session.

“Oh,” he said. “I just walk in, roll around a little, and get started.”

There was the problem. He was leaving his performance in the warm-up area.

Before his next fight, a match he was expected to lose, he arrived, rolled around briefly, and decided not to lose the entire day before the fight began. He won in a major upset.

Elite performance can be summarized with three words: Accept, Practice, Experience. Accept the truth about what is happening. Practice in a way that prepares you for the real demand. Use your own experience and borrow the experience of others.

Coach yourself first. See clearly, assess honestly, make the next appropriate decision, and remain willing to learn. Then repeat the process tomorrow.

This is me just about to pin my opponent in high school. His counter was brilliant, he broke my nose then I bled all over the place…but I still pinned him.

Coaching Vocabulary

APE: Accept the truth, Practice appropriately, and use Experience to guide future decisions.

Reflection

What have these twenty-five days taught me about coaching myself?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.

Action

Write down the three most important elements of your current goal.

Standard

Everything may matter, but everything does not matter equally.

Today’s Reading

I often ask coaches, athletes, and workshop attendees a difficult question: “What are the three, and only three, keys to success in your field?”

A basketball coach once answered:

“Offensive rebounds.”

“Transition defense.”

“Free throws when tired.”

As he spoke, his eyes drifted away. I could almost see the games he had lost because his team failed in one of those areas. He did not need twenty-seven priorities. He knew the three that mattered.

Josh Hillis gives three keys for fat loss: food preparation, a food journal, and getting stronger. A discus thrower needs lots of throwing and some appropriate strength work. The precise list changes with the goal, but the principle remains.

This is the Big Rocks lesson. Everything may be important, but everything is not equally important. Put the large rocks into the jar first. If you begin with sand, errands, trivia, and distractions, there will be no room for what you claim matters most.

Choose your three keys. Give them time before the smaller things fill the day.

The great Dani Samuels.

Coaching Vocabulary

The Three Keys: The few essential actions or qualities that produce most of the desired result.

Reflection

What are the three keys to the goal I claim matters most?

This lesson is adapted from Dan John’s book, Fitness Forge, originally written as Tools of Coaching. Learn more at danjohnuniversity.com/bookstore.