Brain Training for Body and Mind

Brain Training for Body and Mind
in AThletic Training, Bodyweight Training, Calisthenics, CrossFit Training, Interval Training, Performance Coaching by

Train Your Brain, Body, and Mind

Your brain is a playground. It’s a computer. It’s your security system. And it loves to collect data. When you train, neurons activate and form new physical associations. Old neurons die and rebuild with flexible connections. People who understand the neuroscience of the brain can use it to their advantage in life and career.

“The brain’s ability to change its plasticity is lifelong.” (UC San Francisco neuroscientist Michael M. Merzenich, Ph.D. Michael Merzenich: Growing evidence of brain plasticity, 2004, Ted Talk TED2004) Learning anything new, perfecting a skill, puts the brain in a “stressful” situation. It’s very similar to physical training. The rebound from experience allows the brain to toughen up and develop a new resiliency. Brain function increases. Your memory can become sharper. Your cognitive abilities grow. Task yourself beyond your comfort zone. Train your brain with physical exercise. Invoke the modern science of human physiology.

Your prefrontal cortex is the CEO of your brain. If you have ever been curious as to how you make decisions, your prefrontal cortex is the hardware making it possible. It’s the control room where priorities, temptations, and wants to receive the go/no-go sign. It is where your habits reside.

How Do You Benefit from Neuroscience Knowledge?

Take points from other successful coaches. “Be a teacher first and a coach second.” John Wooden. Take your first step – activation. Make some determinations about yourself and what your purpose is. Find a source of knowledge. That might be a strength coach or someone in your family. Make sure they are objective and open to learning as well. Your goal is to understand your habits.

Identify your “why.” Get clear on why you pursue your objectives. Recognize the routines you subscribe to that keep you trying as opposed to succeeding. Identify what you must do for yourself to become the type of person capable of greater success. A behavioral change is required for you to keep moving forward in your pursuits. Become conscious of your internal growth and the skills necessary to move towards an external expression of your growing mental strength.

Activate. Attack your habit of comfort and realize the positive effects of exercise on the brain. Being forty years old has an impact athletically. If you are fifty or sixty, you must build brain health. You have lost flexibility and strength over the years. All physiological functions slow down as you age. If you’ve been active over the years since high school, you might be in a little better physical shape. Believe in the science. Exercise works to rejuvenate brain performance. You must see training as one goal with two targets.

Prioritize. Merzenich goes on to inform us that if you don’t rejuvenate your mind, you have a 50% chance of being senile by age 85. You will understand the shocking reality if you find your car keys in the refrigerator. I recently reached into my jacket to grab my cell phone and pulled out the remote control for the TV. It’s time to add another workout session to my busy week. Your routine behaviors must congruent with your goals. Don’t lose it without a fight. Take positive steps in creating new practices knowing you can grow your mind. Do it now before you forget.

If you are a party animal, the gym will appeal to your gregariousness. If you aren’t, then maybe your choice of individual training will work better. Regardless you must feel safe and believe training will work for you. You are building brain health.

We live by our behaviors. We die by our beliefs.

Dan Raabe, Performance Trainer

Training isn’t rocket science. It’s not pain and suffering. Creating new habits is the real work. Develop a working model of modern behaviors for anything that might be holding you back. If you are healthier and stronger, you’ll be more able to protect the ones you love.

Think of your “why.” Include brain training in the picture. Physical exercise for brain training is a substantial reason. Find yourself involved in all manner of brain performance and brain health. Let the strength training do its job. Your task can be permitting yourself to stay motivated.

Physically remodeling yourself is a choice. Behave towards new horizons without following the negative buzz on the Internet. Think about the ability to move and function better physically. Think of channeling stress into positive motion. Envision a more functional circumstance. See yourself in a crowd standing a little taller. Fit people are easy to find.

We don’t need a Ph.D. to get motivated to invest time in useful activities. Develop a life of fascination. Train differently. Apply the lessons to your career. What if your perspective is cleaner? Your calling card says you are an individual. You listen. Your unique proposition expresses your motivations, knowledge, and follow-through. You have criteria and metrics that can be understood by anyone you meet. Through the new skills, you’ve worked to polish, and the personal presence you exude, those around you feel your intrinsic value. It’s a winning outcome.

If you feel that training involves risk, we do risk well. You will grow in athletic prowess. Proper training is a skill.

Fill your head with insights and knowledge. It’s human nature to analyze everything, but cool it a little bit. Learn for the sake of supporting your interests and curiosities. A good portion of your physical health is vested in keeping your brain engaged. Exercise does its part in the activation of your core neurology. Sleep is necessary and rejuvenates brain chemistry. Actively learning through study, reading, and indulging in abstraction keeps your brain plasticity youthful.

Performance Coaching is Complex

Asking anyone to identify “why” in an area of life is invasive. It’s personal. But you must get on with the task. Activation means you made the first move with autonomy. You attended the webinar. You took a pro-active stance and physically moved to action. Then you created new priorities. Performance training must be one of your top priorities.

Train hard and train for a reason.

If you find yourself in the forties plus, career-centric, working-professional group you are my target audience. There is more to the performance discussion and I’ll gladly share it with you. I am a speaker, author, and interval training expert. Send me an email coach@danraabetraining.com or text to (303) 880-4641. Mention “LinkedIn article” and I’ll send you today’s workout. Don’t look for a reason to train. Train for a Reason! #performance #danraabetraining #trainforareason


Inspiration – action, action, action!

in AThletic Training, Bodyweight Training, Calisthenics, CrossFit Training, Gymnastics, Interval Training, Kettlebell Training, Performance Coaching, Personal Training, Plyometric Training, Resistance Training, Science of Behavioral Habits, Skilled Movement, Tactical Mental Training by

Dan Raabe Performance - Train For A Reason - Gymnastics, Conditioning, Mental Strength, Tactics, Skilled Movement, Training #trainforareason #danraabetraining

Inspiration precedes every action. Why? Because inspiration is the blood supply of motivation, learning, and follow through. It’s the heartbeat of will-power. Without will-power, there is no self-control. Self-control is a precursor to success.

How many uninspired projects have you undertaken? Your determination might have seen you through to the end. Or perhaps it fizzled, unfinished. With a lack of inspiration, your motivation waned, and the effort soon became drudgery.

We have one precious chance to impact our life’s outcome. If our actions are congruent with our desired results, then it’s easy to understand why finding inspiration is such a necessary component. It improves how we arrive at an outcome we targeted. You will hear me say, “Train for a reason.” Actions taken towards goals are not decisions. They are dates for your future.

How many people must we meet, interview, and build relationships with before we find someone who asks the magic question, “Can you teach me how to do that?” Life would be so easy if adults automatically got inspired just by intrinsic enthusiasm.

A coach can inspire athletes to act for their good. A good coach can also teach the executive athlete how to use their prowess to accomplish the enormous goals in their life. The motivation to act on a good premise comes from inspiration.

Watching the Olympics, I never fail to ask, “How did she/he do that?” Every event requires a unique skill set. There must be some tipping point when you cease to accept the status quo for yourself, and your physical preparedness. I became a coach when I realized that I could answer the question, “How do I get strong?” My inspiration comes from meeting successful, skilled people, and taking account of where I fit into this potentially powerful group. When I feel weak, I find inspiration from, “I train because I want to be strong,” Once you identify and commit to your goals, the second step is assured. There can be no considerations to keep you from achieving.

In the training culture, the kid inside you plays, and the adult safely does the work. We work in a different context that puts training on our calendar. Physical accomplishments become congruent with life’s goals. We operate outside of the reason to train. We train because we are focused on the outcomes.

“Taking action to participate requires three motivators: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. It’s my idea. I’m confident I can do it. I belong here, and I’m worthy.”
Richard Ryan and Edward Deci

If you like this article and want more information, please contact me at coach@danraabetraininig.com or call/text to (303) 880-4641. We focus on the forties plus professional because it’s important to stay in motion, build a solid foundation for health, and hone the skills of self-control. Don’t look for a reason to train, Train for a Reason.

Tactics In Strength Training

in AThletic Training, Bodyweight Training, Calisthenics, CrossFit Training, Gymnastics, Interval Training, Kettlebell Training, Performance Coaching, Personal Training, Plyometric Training, Resistance Training, Science of Behavioral Habits, Skilled Movement, Tactical Mental Training by
Tactics in strength training implies your approach has science. You strengthen all areas of your physiology with a plan. When you execute on that plan you experience a valuable win. Your brain, muscles, nervous system, and inner biology enjoy the efforts you invest. You are clear on your “why” to train. And your investment in the gym is paying off.

Is this you, or the you that will come when you find the right time and place to train? Here are the three tactical concepts in a productive training program.

  • Learn the skills.
  • Be dynamic with your priorities
  • Put consistent action behind your goals

The skills come from the world of action. In our experience a broad training with a good range of modalities works very well. It is important to remember that strength training is more than getting fit. You are developing functional strength. You are learning to move well. You are becoming an athlete in the broadest physical sense. The skills of physical training are tools that can assist you in a wide range of life tasks.

Avoid a major pitfall of the busy person. Schedule your training. Pick your top tasks for any given day and include training three times a week. If you are an insatiable gym goer it’s time to rethink your goals. If you are forty and above working with greater efficacy is better than working more. Invest time in your life. Invest time in recovery. Learn to work simple. Work fast. And work hard.

Going to the gym once a week is fruitless. It’s tantamount to failure and you will quit sooner than later. Begin with your “why.” Why do you train? Clarity will go further than hope. Then set a goal. Make it aggressive but achievable. And go to work. Be consistent. Pick a time that works. Collate your equipment. Be a little Spartan about it. Get hydrated. Mix your recovery drink. And go. Once you begin your warm up, any residual head trash you carry around with you will disappear.

We all need guidance and a push to get training programmed into our lives. I did at first. It took a few months of committed behavior to get the tactics in strength training to feel normal. But I had a goal. I’m a coach. I have a gym. I must be a product of the product. There is no way to duck out of the process. I hired myself. You must do the same. Hire yourself to fulfill your goal.

Tactical strength training is an incremental process. There must be process or the training won’t work. And if it works, who gets the bragging rights? And who cashes in on the bigger rewards of health and brain function?

Your coach is your guide. Our process includes building the person, the tactics in strength, and the physical development. You may not be an athlete. You do want to roll back your athletic years. That includes good motor function in your muscles. It means flexibility in your joints. And a healthy dose of youthful brain function.

That’s tactics in strength training.