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By Bret, March 15, 2012 11:49 pm

In Part I of this two-part series I discussed some of the science behind happiness and well-being. In this post, I’m going to inform you about the specific steps that I took to reclaim my happiness. Without further adieu, I’m going to dive right into things.

How to Turn into A Negative Prick in Just One Year

If you want to turn into a stressed-out Debbie Downer, just do what I described in this blogpost about How to Be Successful in the Strength & Conditioning Field: work around the clock, don’t make time for your friends, don’t sleep much, get in over your head, and abandon those who provide you social support. I will look back at 2011 for the rest of my life with awe and amazement. I was a productivity-machine. I crammed more learning into one year than most do in a decade. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to acquire more knowledge in a single year; I gained a good sense of the literature both past and present, I learned how to use sports science technology, I had countless amazing discussions with professors and strength coaches, I increased my mastery of Biomechanics, and I dramatically improved upon my critical thinking skills.

But this comes at a price. I started getting a gut due to lack of sleep, way too many carbs, too much stress, and not enough physical activity. I was lonely and sad; I missed my friends and family especially my twin brother. I missed predictable sunshine, and I missed a lower cost of living. I didn’t realize it at the time but I believe I was on a pathway to destruction.

The Turning Point

On December 2-5 of 2011, I spoke at the FMA Strength Training Conference in Australia. The host Mark Buckley, also a good friend, informed me upon arrival that I’d be sharing a room with some jerk named Paul Taylor. Little did Mark know I was actually annoyed as I don’t like sharing rooms especially with some shady Irishman (totally kidding). Here’s a quick video of Paul:

Turns out this was exactly what I needed in my life at that time. This son of a gun put on the greatest presentation I’ve ever seen in my life, and I think I’ve seen at least a hundred presenters over the past decade. He spoke for around four total hours over two days, and his talks were so incredible that I actually fought the urge to urinate for around two hours one day as I was determined not to miss a single word of what he said. Paul’s talks were on body and brain health and performance and their symbiotic relationship with one another; it was a mixture of brain and neuroscience, positivity science, happiness research, child development, psychology, fitness, and health, with well-timed f-bombs and other curse words peppered throughout.

It’s ironic; my mom loves positive psychology and raves about the power of thoughts all the time. Though I listen to my mom intently, the skeptic in me often questions my mom’s preachings. However, Paul is what he calls a “Pracademic;” someone who blends the research with practical, real-life advice. His entire presentation contained links and excerpts to exciting studies that had been conducted, which showed me that my mom’s advice wasn’t just some ra-ra motivational gobbledygook, it’s quite real and there’s research to back it up.

For three nights in a row Paul and I would strip down to our skivvies, lie in our beds (which were fixed to the ground and separated by around a foot of space), and start reading our various journal articles and scientific magazines. Inevitably we’d end up discussing science, fitness, health, and the meaning of life. Little did Paul know that these talks were planting seeds that would take root shortly thereafter. I feel deeply indebted to Paul and I highly recommend you see him speak if you get a chance – his presentations are world class.

On a completely unrelated note, on this same trip Paul coerced me to play some crazy Irish drinking game which went awry and resulted in a permanently scarred buttocks. I believe that Rachel Guy has a video which she’ll probably blackmail me with for life. I took this picture just two days after the incident when it had just scabbed over. Now it’s just a scar. On another unrelated note, this trip yielded Rachel a video clip of her tapping me out with a surprise rear-naked choke that I couldn’t defend in time. Good times!

Baby Steps

When I got back to NZ after the AUS trip, I started doing two things. Before I divulge them I’d like to offer a quick disclaimer. This is going to sound really “un-masculine,” but it helped my well-being so much that I feel compelled to talk about it. So at the risk of sounding like a sissy I’m going to let you know what steps worked for me. I’m never going to be Marry Poppins or be whistling Dixie all day long; I’m a thinker, I’m very passionate, and I’m the type to rage at the dying of light. But I can definitely meet in the middle and learn to appreciate life and be happy and positive most of each day, and once upon a time I was the life of every party. I just needed to resurrect that guy.

Gratitude Journal

First, I started a gratitude journal. Every single night I started jotting down three to five things that I was grateful for, and I tried not to repeat myself from day to day. I’ve been doing this for three and a half months and it’s been an excellent practice for two main reasons. First, it gets your mind right; you end each night on a positive note, focusing on “the good” and acknowledging the things that make you “wealthy.” And second, it allows you to look back every couple of weeks so you can be reminded of your wealth, and you can analyze what you write down which allows you to figure out what truly makes you happy.

This is my gratitude journal

In my case, I realized that I never write down things like, “Earned a thousand dollars today,” “Sold a bunch of eBooks,” “gained a client,” “planned a consultation,” “gained ten new subscribers,” etc. The things I write down always have to do with family, friends, relationships, being social, having fun, and being productive. The things that make me happy revolve around relationships and getting things accomplished, not so much around money.

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. – Henry David Thoreau

Guided Imagery

Another simple but effective method I employed was listening to guided imagery. For some reason I really like the woman’s voice in the video below. I started listening to this at night which allowed me to relax and fall asleep. At this time I was sleeping 5 hours per night tops, and I was able to build up to 6-7 which is difficult for me. I realized that I always have anxiety and I’m always “balls-to-the-wall.” I don’t know how to shut things off. Guided imagery helps me shut it down for the night.

I know that since I’m a man I’m not supposed to like fluffy clouds, but it is what it is. This woman’s gentle voice just does the trick and calms me down.

Taking Charge of My Life

At this point, I was gaining happiness and positivity each day. All of a sudden it hit me – I am in control of my life. I can do whatever in the hell I want to do. I’m lucky in that I’m my own boss and can live wherever I want. But I wasn’t in a good place and I needed to steer the ship back on course. I asked myself the following questions:

1. What city do you most want to live in?
2. Do you want an apartment, house, or condo?
3. Do you want a dog?
4. What possessions do you want?
5. What other things are important to you?

Here was my thought process with the aforementioned questions:

1. I want to live by my friends and family. I want to live where it’s sunny. I want to live near my twin brother. I want to live in a city that’s inexpensive.
2. I don’t want to take care of a yard. I want a condo.
3. Yes, very badly, but I want a condo and I don’t want to have to take the dog out every few hours to go potty.
4. I want a plasma tv. I want a California King bed.
5. I want access to a jacuzzi. I want to get regular sun exposure. I want to be nearby plenty of strength training equipment.

To make a long story short, I immediately scheduled a flight home and told my twin brother (he’s a realtor) to find me a place. Literally the very next week I’m settled into my condo. It was very challenging packing and clearing out my apartment in NZ and then setting up my entire condo in AZ, but I made it work.

Personal Trainer Cribs

I filmed this video tonight to show you my new crib. I just moved in and am so happy. I’m in Phoenix. I have a 1 bedroom condo on the 6th floor in the Biltmore area (very nice region of Phoenix). I’m 2 miles away from my twin. It’s been sunny every single day since I’ve been back (I think 50% of my happiness is simply a matter of whether it’s sunny out or gloomy). I have a gym and steamroom on the 3rd floor, as well as equipment in my bedroom. I have a rooftop pool, jacuzzi, and grill. I have a California King bed and a plasma tv. There’s a gym right down the street, as well as a movie theater and tons of shops and restaurants. I’m spending much less than I was in New Zealand. Here’s the video:

What Does the Future Hold?

I’m not sure what the future holds. When I wrote Part I of this series I thought I had it figured out. I originally planned on continuing with my PhD and thought that everything was squared away, but now I’m not sure.

I make plenty of money to support myself these days so I’m not concerned about financial matters.

The bottom line is that I’m extremely happy right now and my life is amazing! I’m getting much more fit. I hang out with my twin bro a few days per week; we train, run, hit up the jacuzzi, etc. Sometimes his wife Angie comes along, sometimes my stepbrother Brent comes along. A couple days per week I’ll hit up the steamroom, and a couple days a week I’ll get some sun up at the pool. I’ve been going to dinner with several of my guy friends every Friday night. On Sunday nights I hang out with my family and we’ll go see a movie on Sunday night. Basically, I’m back to having a life again.

Joel and Angie

I’m doing what I love for work, I’ve been training 6 different people already since I’ve been back (and people don’t even know that I’m back yet).

If it was up to me I’d finish my PhD (I’d just need to travel to NZ for a couple of 3-week trips to collect data over the next year), but I’ve been getting mixed messages from my University so I’ll see what happens.

If that falls through, I still have all my equipment and could open up another training studio.

I could start doing more speaking.

I could try to line up a gig as a strength coach for a local high school football team.

I’d have more time to put into my blog and articles.

So I know everything will be fine either way.

I guess I’m like Honey Badger right now; I don’t give a shit!

I’m Back in Phoenix and Lovin’ It!

Right now I’m just enjoying life and staying busy. This is where I belong! Some wouldn’t like my situation at all, but I love it. I often work too hard and am prone to being a workaholic. I need to be around my friends and family so I have more options to take the time to smell the roses. I’m going to keep working hard but right now I feel a bit like Tom Hanks at the end of the movie Castaway.

Moral of the Story

The moral of the story is that if you’re currently not happy or content in life, do something about it. In just a couple of weeks I transformed my life and am a new man because of it. Figure out what you want and pull the trigger. You are destined for happiness and positivity; make it happen just as I have.

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By Bret, March 10, 2012 8:37 pm

One of the best things that you can do for others is take good care of yourself. Chances are your loved-ones care deeply about your health and well-being, and therefore it pleases them to see you happy. When you realize that you are responsible for your actions, your thoughts, and your attitude, your pathway to happiness becomes evident. In this two-part series I’m going to teach you a little bit about happiness. Being happier will make you a better friend, family member, partner, teacher, coach, therapist, trainer, or lifting partner. Part I will focus on the research and quotes, and part II will discuss the specific steps that I’ve taken to reclaim my happiness.

What Does the Research Say About Happiness?

It’s a bit strange consulting the literature regarding happiness. Let’s be honest – anyone performing a search on PubMed for the term “happiness” probably isn’t very happy. Indeed, several months ago I came to the realization that I wasn’t very happy, and my first step was to learn a bit about happiness through PubMed. Below is a summary of my understanding of what is currently known in the research on the topic of happiness.

What are Happiness and Well-Being?

Well-being or happiness requires at least two crucial ingredients: positive affect or pleasure (hedonia) and a sense of meaningfulness or engagement in life (eudaimonia). Happiness is a composite of life satisfaction, coping resources, and positive emotions. Dr. Martin Seligman, one of the foremost experts on the topic of happiness, confesses that years back his definition of happiness was too narrow; resting primarily upon three legs – positive emotion, engagement, and meaning, with the overall goal as increased life-satisfaction. Now he believes that the overall goal is improved well-being, and has added positive relationships and accomplishment to the mix.

There are two primary aspects of well-being; emotional well-being and life-evaluation. Emotional well-being has to do with the emotional qualities involved in everyday life – the frequency and intensity of experiences of joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection that make someone’s life pleasant or unpleasant. Life evaluation has to do with the thoughts that people have about their lives when they think about it.

Hedonic Adaptation

A year after most lottery winners win the lottery, they’re right back to their previous level of happiness and no happier than ordinary people. For this reason researchers have proposed that we have a baseline level of happiness and that it’s difficult to permanently elevate it. Recent research elucidates the challenges of staying happier; the gains in well-being following a positive life change are typically eroded via two processes. First, a bottom-up process whereby individuals receive declining positive emotions from the positive life change over time, and second, a top-down process whereby individuals quickly aspire to gain even more positivity.

The U-Shaped Curve of Happiness over the Life-Cycle

For the most part, happiness follows a U-shaped curve over the life-cycle, with happiness reaching a minimum during middle age (30-40 yrs old) and being higher during adolescence and advanced years (peaks during teens and seventies). This is related to the stress involved in the responsibilities of marriage, child rearing, career decisions, and financial dilemmas. Moreover, the U-shape is more pronounced in males than it is in females. Probably related is the fact that marital happiness follows a similar U-shaped curve.

The Shifting Meaning of Happiness over a Lifetime

Younger people tend to associate happiness with excitement, but as they age, they tend to associate happiness with peacefulness. This change seems to be driven by a change in focus from the future to the present as people age. This has many effects such as purchasing behavior and methods utilized to increase one’s happiness.

Why are Happy People Happier than their Less-Happy Counterparts?

Happy people become more satisfied in life because they develop resources for living well, not simply because they feel better. They also experience more frequent positive “in the moment” emotions, which increases resiliency and life satisfaction. This suggests that experiencing frequent spikes of joy and satisfaction throughout the day is at least as beneficial as simply having a good outlook in life.

Improvers of Life Evaluation

Having sufficient income to meet your basic needs, maintain a suitable standard of living, and have ownership of conveniences increase one’s evaluation of his life, as does increasing one’s education. Material prosperity is much more related to life evaluation than it is to emotional well-being.

Improvers of Emotional Well-Being

Meeting psychological needs, being in good health, caring for others, experiencing adequate social interaction, learning, having autonomy, using one’s skills, receiving respect, and being able to count on others in an emergency improve positive feelings about one’s life. Psychosocial prosperity is much more related to well-being and positive thoughts than it is to life evaluation.

Can Money Buy Happiness?

This is a bit ambiguous in the research as the literature shows complex and conflicting results on money and happiness. Income appears play a role in happiness, but one study showed that there’s a ceiling at $75,000, meaning that increasing income past this level does not improve emotional well-being. Life-evaluation continues to rise with increased income well-over six-figure salaries, but increased income doesn’t lead to greater happiness, it doesn’t relieve unhappiness, and it doesn’t reduce stress.

Having low income has been shown to exacerbate the emotional pains associated with divorce, illness, and loneliness.  Affluent and disadvantaged populations do indeed experience greater symptoms of depression, but this isn’t solely related to low income as the relationships with poor health, physical disability, and social isolation factor in considerably as well. Low income is associated with both low life evaluation and low emotional well-being. But increased income isn’t the only solution as high income buys life satisfaction but not happiness.

Thinking about time rather than money improves happiness. When you focus on time, you end up spending more time with friends and family and less time working, which makes you happier. However, when you focus on money, you end up working more and socializing less, which does not improve happiness.

Wealthier individuals do not savor (the ability to enhance and prolong) positive emotional experiences and they receive less total enjoyment from various experiences, and this outweighs the positive effects of their increased income. Access to the best things in life may actually undercut one’s ability to enjoy life’s small pleasures.

In terms of employment, being paid by the hour increases happiness as it promotes an economic evaluation of time-use. Non-hourly working counterparts aren’t quite as happy. Rank income, not absolute income, plays a role in life satisfaction. This means that increasing your income won’t make you happier if everyone else’s income is raised proportionately – what will make you happier is if your increase in income places you at a higher rank amongst your peers.

Factors Important for Improved Quality of Life

Good relationships with both the close world (self, partners, friends) and the distant world are important for possessing a superior quality of life, as is having a good overall view of life. Possessions, money, status, and work aren’t important to global quality of life or self-assessed health. Self-perceived physical health, self-perceived mental health, and satisfaction with health are much more important for quality of life. What one sees, evaluates, and experiences what he has, his level of consciousness, and his attitude toward life and others; not what one actually has, are the factors that are truly important for improved quality of life.

A general perception exists that meaning in life and happiness are essential to the concept of a good life, with money being relatively unimportant.

Spending Money on Others is More Important for Happiness than Spending Money on One’s Self

Research shows that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn. Specifically, spending a greater percentage of one’s income on others leads to greater happiness and buying someone something increases happiness more so than buying something for yourself.

Consensus

We all have our moments of unhappiness, loneliness, sorrow, and depression. However certain people experience these feelings much less often than others. Moreover, certain people are simply happier and more fulfilled than others and this doesn’t appear to have much to do with material goods or high achievement, but rather a good outlook on life and high quality relationships. Past a certain point, money won’t buy you happiness. And though comfort is nice, it can make a person bored which is why we need to continue to challenge ourselves. Yet it’s important to understand that continuous conquests won’t make much of a difference in our happiness; we need to be content with what we have and appreciate our relationships.

There’s a definite genetic component to happiness, but happiness is also highly dependent on thoughts. Little things like smiling, mindless meditation, and noticing what you’re grateful for can make a big difference in your quality of life. Finally, no matter how hard it is, it is imperative that you forgive people.

When I learned that positive thinking and healthy thoughts cause structural changes in the brain (just like resistance training does in the muscles), and that money isn’t the secret to happiness, I started focusing on more fruitful aspects of happiness which allowed me to make excellent decisions related to my well-being. I’ll elaborate on this in Part II. I’ll conclude Part I by providing some quotes on happiness.

Happiness Quotes

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. ~ Aristotle

So much sadness exists in the world that we are all under obligation to contribute as much joy as lies within our powers. ~ John Sutherland Bonnell

Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get. ~ Dave Gardner

The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular reason for being so except that they are so. ~ William Ralph Inge

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler

The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach. ~ Lin Yutang

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes. ~ Charles R. Swindoll

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By Bret, February 28, 2012 9:33 am

I’m very excited to announce the launch of Strength and Conditioning Research, a monthly research review service. I believe that this is a much needed service in our profession, and I am very excited and honored to be presenting coaches, trainers, lifters, and therapists with updated findings in their respective fields. I believe that this will really help our industry improve in terms of scientific understanding as well as practices and methods. I suspect that this service will help important studies receive the attention they deserve and that from here on out you’ll see more educated coaches and more intriguing conversations online.

I team up with Chris Beardsley to provide a monthly summary of all the most exciting research in the fields of Strength and Conditioning, Biomechanics, Physiology and Physical Therapy. We want to bridge the gap between the lab/journals and the weight room/field. We’ll bust our butts scouring through the journals and summarizing recent findings so you can rest assured that you’re up to date without having to spend hours sifting through Pubmed or various journals.

Each month we’ll be writing up around 50 studies and giving you the links to the other important studies that we haven’t written about for the month.  Subscribe, and you’ll soon be the most informed person you know when it comes to the latest developments in sports science.

If you sign up now, you can get our first edition for $1! After that, they’re going to be $10 each, which I feel is an insane bargain, given the amount of time we put into the reviewing and writing of each article.  It’s so affordable and you won’t find this quality of information anywhere else unless you camp out in the library for a week.

March Quiz

The March issue alone will help answer the following questions:

• Does core strength improve explosive power?
• Do partial reps improve strength and hypertrophy to the same extent of full range reps?
• Is power or strength training more effective for the elderly?
• Is early specialization necessary for sports success?
• How do the various NFL combine tests correlate with one another?
• What’s best for strength gains – one set, four sets, or eight sets?
• Is sled towing and jump squatting more effective than free sprinting and jumping?
• Does resisted treadmill sprinting improve speed?
• How do powerlifters train, what are their favorite assistance lifts, and what percentage of them incorporates bands, chains, plyometrics, and Olympic variations?
• Does resistance training improve running economy in marathon runners?
• Can mental imagery training be used to alter landing kinematics and decrease the risk of ACL injuries?
• Can low-load glute activation exercises be used to improve power output in a countermovement jump?
• Should the NFL Combine Test include a flying-sprint in their arsenal, and how do combine results break down between different positions?
• Do plyometrics improve sprint running speed?
• Does the entire transverse abdominis truly contract prior to limb movement?
• Which activates the leg muscle better and causes the release of more testosterone – the squat or the Bulgarian split squat?
• What effect do weightlifting shoes have on forward trunk lean and depth in the squat exercise?
• Do sprinters have thicker tendons and more tendon stiffness than sedentary controls?
• Does the nucleus pulposus within the intervertebral disc truly migrate, or does it simply deform?
• Do high heels change gait and increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis?
• Do high heels increase leg muscle activity?
• What protein has recently been found to basically restructure everything we knew about muscle dynamics (hint it’s a molecular spring that stores energy when muscles actively stretch)?
• Does abdominal muscle activation change depending on whether lumbopelvic motion is initiated in the pelvis or the trunk?
• Do weight bearing and non-weight bearing stretches both lead to increases in ankle dorsiflexion ROM?
• Do cell-phones change the way we walk?
• Do the rotator cuff muscles function differently during bench press and rowing exercises?
• Static stretching reduces subsequent power production, but what if the stretch is held to less than 45 seconds?
• Is increased stiffness following a plyometric regimen due to increases in muscle or tendon stiffness?
• Is the pullover primarily a pec or a lat exercise?
• Is the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) mentally pre-programmed or simply automatic?
• Does the kettlebell swing with a 16 kg kb activate over 50% MVC for gluteal activation?
• Do maximal strength and endurance resistance training improve insulin sensitivity through the same or through different mechanisms?
• Does strength training lead to improvements in semen quality and anabolic hormone status?
• Does fatigue influence spinal excitability and muscle activation?
• Is it time we abandon the concept of motor unit types?
• Does increased time under tension (TUT) indeed lead to greater muscle protein synthesis (MPS)?
• What percentage of adult population is in anterior pelvic tilt?
• Does inadequate hip range of motion increase the risk of low back pain in judo athletes?
• Does inflammation affect fascial pliability?
• Does fascia impact transmission from muscle force to bone and play a role in ballistic movements?
• What is the greatest risk factor of hamstring injury in sport?
• How does scapular movement differ between normal individuals, individuals with shoulder impingement syndrome, and individuals with glenohumeral instability during shoulder elevation?
• There must be proper coordination between the abdominals and which muscle during challenging activity in order to maximize performance?
• Can VMO onset be improved through rehabilitation exercise?
• What route is better for improving FMS scores – focusing mostly on movement quality or focusing mostly on setting personal records?

$1 Promo Ends This Week

This is cutting-edge sports-science research, and remember this is just one issue! You will learn a ton each month and after an entire year you’ll be much more educated in your practice. The first issue will go out on March 1st. Don’t delay as the $1 promotion is only good for this week.

Free Extract

You can download a free extract HERE which includes the intro, TOC, and first few reviews. Knowledge is power!