Master the mundane

Hiking in Yosemite.

For most of a hike, it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other. 

One of the first things I ask new clients is to “show me your squat.” No weights, just an air squat. 

Social media can be found to be constantly hawking some new technique, new moves, new equipment, new apparel, new diets, and on and on. Training is not glamorous, it’s work and it’s about consistency. Progress comes from mastering the mundane. 

The mundane? That doesn’t sound fun…

I make it fun—for myself and also for my athletes—because I enjoy the process. Fitness is not about the end product, it’s about the process. There is no magic pill or routine. Your brain may resist. Mastering the mundane cultivates mental strength just as much as physical strength. And, perhaps counterintuitively, at the end of the day mastering the mundane yields better results for you as an athlete. 

So what’s the mundane? It’s the fundamentals, like your squat. It’s dialing in your movements. It’s warmups with no plates on the bar. It’s using your breath. It’s knowing your body. It’s incremental, one step at a time. It’s also the boring yet vitally important things like looking after your sleep and drinking enough water (yes, these things impact achieving your fitness goals!). 

The mundane holds no shine yet wields a lot of power to transform not only your body, but also your mind. 

Consider me your noisemaker for mastering the mundane.

See you out there,

Andrew