A CELEBRATION OF LIFE.

Why is it that so many of us look at improving ourselves as work? Why is it so much harder for people to pick up a book to learn about a subject that interests them than turning the TV on to watch the latest reality show? Why not go out for a hike and enjoy nature? Why not go out and run or lift weights? Why not live life for what it was meant for? To learn and grow.

I've had many people come in and out of my life that have had impacts on me, and most of them came from small towns in Nebraska (where I grew up). Of course, my dad and grandpa were men that impacted me in positive ways. But one individual that is sticking out in my mind right now is a basketball coach at a small Division-II college in Nebraska. Coach Kropp was a person that could motivate you to take on the world with a 6 word sentence. One day he and I were watching Coach Larsen (strength coach at said college and another guy that's had a huge impact on me) run his basketball team. The team was in the middle of an tough workout of court sprints. As I was standing by Coach Kropp, he said to me, "Mike, look at these guys. You can tell that some of these guys would rather be anywhere in the world right now but right here running these sprints. But you know what? You go up to the hospital and grab someone who's confined to a wheel chair for the rest of their lives and wheel them up to the side of the court. I can tell you, most would tell you they would do anything they could to get up and run sprints with these guys." Then he looked at me and said, "Just remember that the next time you don't feel like working hard. Always appreciate what you have."

How many people are walking through life defeated and complacent? I see so many of them and it makes me sad. I've been there myself and it's not fun. It's better to live a life full of calculated risks than to live a life that is safe, boring and dead.

That gets me back to training and learning. Training is work and work is good. You learn something about yourself not only physically but also mentally and spiritually when you push your body to the brink. What are you capable of? Do you like what you see? If you don't, change it. Work hard and thrive. Little kids train all the time. They call it playing.

What about learning? We should never grow tired of learning. Learning should be a lifetime quest. Pick up a book on a subject you don't know anything about but always wanted to. There is no such thing as useless knowledge. Your brain has more than enough room for whatever you shove into it. Program things in that will help you help others. If it doesn't help you and others grow, it has no place in your brain. Help the world grow. Don't be a comfortable person on the bench. You're butt will fall asleep and that's not comfortable after all.

Learn and grow. Train and grow. Get out into nature and grow. Play with your kids and grow. Go to church and grow. Hang out with friends and grow. Or, play video games, watch TV and lay around. No wonder we have no energy in this country anymore.

God bless,

Mike Sanders

I'VE FINALLY FOUND THE PERFECT WORKOUT!!!

Strength and conditioning has been my profession for quite a few years now. As with all professions, there are certain aspects of a person's career that start to grate on the nerves after awhile. Well I've got an issue on my mind right now that I need to get off my chest.

I hear the same questions and comments from people all the time. People interested in strength and conditioning hear about the latest fad that is the guaranteed end-all-be-all workout. Do this system and you'll get amazing results. It's amazing! People will see a commercial, read an article in some magazine, see something on the Internet, or go to a conference and hear some "new" way of training and think, "That's it!!! I now know why I or my athletes didn't make the Olympics last year." They take what they see or hear at face value and think they've just discovered the super secrets of the elite athletes.

My favorite of these "super secrets" is the "core". This one came out a few years ago and it seems that it's all that anyone is talking about anymore. If fact, a huge percentage of the athletes and coaches that I've worked with over the years are under the impression that there is no other muscle in the body but the "core". And by the way, I don't remember the core being a muscle that we talked about in kinesiology or gross anatomy class. As far as I can tell, judging by what everyone else is saying, there has been an outbreak of core weakness of epidemic proportions and if we don't alleviate it all athletes will go the way of the dinosaur.

I also get asked about kettle bells a lot. There is a huge amount of people that are under the impression that kettle bells are the only and best weight lifting implements available to develop strength. Apparently barbells and dumbbells have no place in the world of the tactical athlete's strength program. I'll let you in on a little secret, a 45 pound dumbbell weighs the same as a 45 pound kettle bell. In fact, the last I knew, so does a 45 pound sandbag, barbell, stone and medicine ball. I'm not saying I don't like kettle bells, but I am saying that there is a whole other world of important implements that should be included into the warrior's program.

Then comes the "sports specific" ilk who believe that everything the athlete does in the weight room should resemble the exact move the athlete does on the battlefield. Please understand me, sport specific training is important but let's not get carried away. Sport specific training is much more complex than making sure you're doing a movement that is exactly like the movement that you're doing in the field. Sport specific training should include movement patterns, movement speeds, intensities, etc. Let's put it this way, I've never asked my hockey players to do squats in skates on the ice.

Then there's the balance fanatics. All exercises should be performed on exercise balls, bosu balls and wobble boards. Some of the stuff I see coaches program for their athletes looks more like a circus act instead of an exercise routine. Where's the monkeys, clowns and the umbrellas? Maybe I could do a set of squats on a wobble board while balancing on the elephants back.

Then there are the people that make you believe that one single workout protocol is good for everyone. I'm here to tell you, that is absolutely false. All tactical athletes have different needs. All people have different muscle imbalances, energy system needs, speed needs, strength needs and injury needs. There is no one-hit-wonder program for all.

Now, be very clear, I'm not saying that "core" training, kettle bells, sports specific training and balance training don't have a place in the tactical athletes workout. I'm simply saying that all have a place along with Power lifting, Olympic lifting, strongman training, sprinting, and plyometrics (just to name a few). The more implements, protocols and movements that you put into your workout, the better off you are. You will develop a more rounded tactical athlete.

Here's the truth. Getting into shape is hard. It takes sweat, work, dedication, lifestyle changes, commitment, etc. There is no pill, no diet, one piece of equipment, one workout, one circus routine, one exercise, or one way to get into shape. I've said it before and I'll say it again; science is telling us something completely different.

As I've said before, there is a lot of ground that needs to be covered in respect to all the different aspects that are needed in the tactical athletes training. Please stay tuned and we'll talk about them more and more as time allows.

That's it for now.

Mike Sanders

THE HOBBY THAT TURNED ON ME...AND CHANGED ME.

I love to read. I love to learn new things and have a wide range of interests. I like to read about the military, psychology, exercise science, wilderness survival and Christianity, just to name a few. As with most things that come into my life, I like to analyze and think about what I've learned and how it fits into my own little world. Sometimes this process of analyzing and thinking about the subject I'm reading about can become difficult for me. The reason is because it causes me to sometimes look deep within myself and sometimes I don't like what I see. I've also realized the subjects that shake me up the most are the areas I need the most personal work in. To some, this may seem like a bad idea, to submit yourself to something that may cause you to be uncomfortable or even cause a little pain. I, on the other hand, think its part of my personal growth process and find it invaluable.

I believe deeply that how I grow as a person is extremely important to myself and the rest of the world. How I am and what kind of a man I am affects my daughter, my wife, my co-workers, my athletes and the other various people I come in contact with everyday. I don't like what I feel when I don't like what I see inside myself. There's only one person that has the power to change myself, and that's me. But I need help understanding what's going on inside of me; that's why reading is so important to me.

We all came into this world without any baggage. We picked up that baggage over time through people we've met, events we've been through, the way we've been treated, and the challenges we've been met with. Those so called happenings have caused us to be the people we are; some of it's good and some of it's not good. What we do with the events that have affected us are completely and totally up to us. We can change. If you see something inside of you that you don't like, figure out what it takes to change it, quit blaming the people that may have caused it, and make the change. Don't let other circumstances and individuals have that power over you.

There's no magic formula for change. It's not easy. It takes time and dedication. It's hard. Change can be downright painful. But, now that I think about it, everything that's ever allowed me to grow was pretty tough. That's how it works. Growing takes work, lots of sweaty, dirty work.

Books are full of people who have overcome incredible odds. Books teach us how our thinking can sometimes be misdirected. Books teach us how our bodies and minds work and how incredible they are. Books teach us that we are all incredible beings that are capable of incredible things. We've all got it in us. Trust me, it's inside you. I used to think it wasn't inside me either. It's up to us to dig deep inside ourselves and find it. I'm far from perfect and have a lot of work to do. We're never done growing. If you think you're done growing, think again. I've made the mistake of believing that one myself as well.

Reading is a great tool for growth. Take if from people who are facing some of the same challenges you are. Take it from people who are facing challenges that are much bigger than the ones you're encountering. Learn from them and grow.

God bless,

Mike Sanders

"SLOW IS SMOOTH. SMOOTH IS FAST"

There's an old military creed that says, "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast." I'm sure most of you have heard it. Well, I got to thinking about that particular phrase the other day and thought it sounded pretty good, but what exactly does it mean? Unfortunately, these are the things that keep me up at night.

I'm currently reading a book entitled, "The Mind & the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force" by Jeffery M. Schwartz, M.D., and Sharon Begley. I'm finding this book extremely interesting as it speaks about the human brain, how it develops and what it's capable of. As I was reading this book, I started putting some of the issues the authors discuss into the realm of tactical physiology and strength and conditioning...more issues that keep me up at night.

Before we get too far into this article, I need to shed some light on neuroplasticity and the human brain. In short, the human brain is full of neurons. Neurons are little nerve cells that are responsible for a whole plethora of functions. They help us taste, hear, see, jump, run, drive, shoot stuff, etc. Each neuron looks a lot like a creature from the blue lagoon. On one end of the neuron, there is a bunch of little arms sprouting out that are called dendrites. These arms look a lot like the roots of a tree and are responsible for picking up incoming messages. On the other end of the neuron is an arm called an axon which is responsible for sending messages on to other neurons. In essence, there is a communication process going on between the axon and the dendrite called a synapse. These synapses are the communication point between one neuron and the next neuron down the line.

I'll use the metaphor of a train and all its cars. Visualize a train with all its cars lined up on the track. Now visualize that each car of the train is very close to one another but not quite touching. The car is the neuron, that little gap between the non-touching cars is representative of the synapse between successive neurons. The command to do something (i.e. jump, taste, sit, feel) starts at one car and sends the signal down the line to the rest of the cars on the track. This communication makes it possible for all the feelings, senses and movement that we as human beings enjoy.

Neuroplasticity is the scientific verbiage for a phenomenon called brain mapping. Brain mapping is what happens when we learn a new skill, smell a new smell, learn a different language, etc. In order to explain this further, let's use the example of learning a new skill. As some of you know, I've been writing a lot lately about explosive strength. This is something that can and needs to be developed in the tactical athlete. By doing a systematic program, the neurons (among other physiological changes) will actually begin to change the map of the brain. What that means to the neuroplasticity scientist is that your brain will develop and look different after you train for explosive strength. The pathway that is responsible for such a movement will be created. In other words, it will start developing highways in the brain that are responsible for making the warrior more explosive. Pretty amazing stuff!

In the past, scientist believed that the human brain didn't change at all after a certain age of human development. Research is now showing that that may not be true. We may still be able to change the make-up of our brains by applying proper training and learning.

There are many studies that have been performed over the years to show that brain re-mapping is actually possible. Scientists have incorporated the use of monkey's, dyslexic children, stroke patients, amputees and musicians to basically prove that neural re-mapping is possible. Although we don't have time to cover them all, I think it's important to our cause to at least mention a few of the many studies that are mentioned.

For example, scientists placed food wells outside of monkey's cages that contained banana flavored food pellets. The scientists designed each food well to be a different size. There were 4 different size food wells that the monkeys had available to recieve the pellets. In order to retrieve the food pellets, the monkeys had to extend their arms, stick a finger or two into the food well, find the pellet, scrape it out and put it in their mouth. As you can imagine, the monkeys had an easier time getting the food pellets out of the larger wells compared to the smaller ones. At first, the monkeys struggled to pick the food up but were later flawless at eating this way once they practiced it a couple hundred times.

Sounds believable enough. Practice makes perfect, right? The important part was that the scientists went back to study the brain of the monkeys and found that they had changed. The nerve cells that were responsible for grabbing the food actually increased (1). This means the brain adapted to the training in order to become more proficient at eating a certain way. They learned the movements slowly and became faster and more efficient at it later.

The next example is actually even more interesting. Scientists had a group of people practice a five-finger piano exercise. The subjects of the study were randomly assigned to a group that physically practiced the exercise, a group that only mentally practiced the exercise, and, as all good studies do, had a control group that didn't practice at all. Each group was tested daily for brain re-mapping. Over the course of 5 days, mental practice alone led to significant improvement in the performance of the exercise but was significantly less than that produced by the physical practice alone. In other words, thinking about moving a certain way actually improved the movement patterns, just not as much as the actual physical practice. The interesting thing was that the mental practice still led to the same plastic changes in the motor system as those occurring with the physical practice. This suggests that mental practice helps lay the ground work for further development of skills through physical practice (2).

So, what does this have to do with the old military mantra of, "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast?" It seems to me, looking at the above mentioned studies, the human brain is capable of making specific changes in order to master certain types of movements. This is a learned response and very specific to the movement. If you are an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician, it would be pretty beneficial not to fumble around inside an explosive. That is what training is for. Learn the movements under a controlled environment to develop the correct neural network that you need so that it becomes second nature. Learn it slow, mentally rehearse it, and become more efficient at it later.

If you're learning to clear a room with hostiles and friendlies in the room, it would make sense to learn the skill slowly and mentally rehearse the tactics to develop the nervous pathways. Once the pathways are developed, let speed take over in order to be effective and flat out dangerous. Slow is good for learning smooth movements. Smooth movements are the way to speed. Attacking with speed and efficiency makes it almost impossible for the enemy to answer back to your attacks. That's good for you-bad for them.

And that's my take on "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast."

God bless,

Mike Sanders

1. Nudo, R.J., G.W. Milliken, W.M. Jenkins, M.M. Mezenich. Use-dependent alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel monkeys. J Neurosci. 16(2): 785-807. 1996.


2. Pascual-Leone, A., N. Dang, L.G. Cohen, J.P. Brasil-Neto, A. Cammarota, M. Hallet. Modulation of Muscle Responses Evoked by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation During the Acquisition of New Fine Motor Skills. J Neurosci. 74(3): 1037-1045. 1995.

PLANNING YOUR WORKOUTS

I see it all the time. Tactical athletes who want to get "in shape" head off to the weight room or jump on the treadmill with that goal in mind. To get into shape. They all go without much thought as to what their physical needs are. In other words, they don't know what they're trying to achieve, and worse, don't know how to get there. Getting to the gym and doing a workout is a great start, but there's a lot more to it than pushing a few barbells around, getting a good sweat on the treadmill, or getting so tired you can't stand when you're finished. Way more.

I've written a few times in past articles about what it means to be in shape (Check the resource page and past blogs to learn more). I won't go into great detail again, but I'll give you the gist about what being fit is when speaking in terms of the tactical athlete. Being "in shape" is being prepared physically, mentally and spiritually for missions and operations. Missions have a way of putting the combat athlete in situations where a very unique set of skills are needed. Some of the unique skills needed are indeed physical. Just because you possess the skill of bench pressing 500 lbs., can run a marathon in super human time, or got really sick during your last workout doesn't mean that you are totally prepared to handle the rigors of your mission. A physically unprepared warrior will also be unprepared mentally and spiritually, and may be a liability to himself and his team.

A few weeks ago, I was working with a group of combat athletes that were doing fitness testing. One of the athletes present was an ultra-marathon runner. Believe me when I tell you, the fact that this guy is able to do something like that is absolutely amazing to me and is something I respect very much. It takes an incredible amount of mental fortitude, physical prowess and spiritual strength to finish or even compete in something like that. The only issue that I had was the fact that it became very apparent that he was not operationally ready.

The particular testing protocol that he was required to complete had been designed to determine whether or not he had the correct physiological mechanisms and potential to handle the physical needs of the job. Throughout the testing, he was required to pass strength tests, anaerobic endurance tests, explosive strength tests and an aerobic endurance test. As it turned out, he was not able to pass any of the strength, anaerobic endurance or explosive strength tests. He passed the aerobic endurance test with flying colors. Yes, he's fit, but not fit for the job.

As I said, being in shape, or fit, can have many different implications. It is important that the tactical athlete choose the correct exercise program in order to become operationally fit. The human body will adapt, we just have to be sure we're stressing it in the correct way to get the required outcome. Just because the workout is hard and you thought you might "throw up" during the workout, doesn't necessarily mean you're getting the correct training stimulus to develop the correct physiological mechanisms. It's not that easy (even though some coaches may lead you to believe that). Science is telling us something quite different. I'm not making this stuff up, it's science.

The key to all this is developing the correct physiological mechanisms. Again, science has shown us the way to develop those mechanisms. I am getting ready to launch a series of articles that will help you understand the correct way to design your programs in order to bring about the correct adaptations that you need. You are a combat athlete. You have different needs than a football player, wrestler or marathon runner. There is no such thing as a one-program-fits-all workout.

Here is a list of the topics to look out for:

• Specificity of training


• Needs analysis


• Periodization


• Undulating periodization vs. Linear periodization
  

Stayed tuned. I'm going to walk you through this process step-by-step and offer you ways to become the best tactical athlete that you can be.

God bless.

Mike Sanders