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SFL Goal Achievement Series
"Practice Doesn't Make You Perfect"
Sam Bigler competed for the United States in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. I was
fortunate to meet and train under Sam’s watchful as an undergraduate student at Millersville State College in the mid-seventies. During my time training with Sam, I learned a lot about lifting and training, but the most important lesson Sam taught the lifters he coached was the importance of how you practice.
Sam stressed focused practice. He constantly preached that “Practice doesn’t make perfect,
perfect practice makes perfect. Sam did not expect his lifters to be perfect, but he did expect us to put in our best effort and stay focused on each set and repetition. Sam provided us with feedback on our technique and effort and pushed us to constantly get better. The goal was always to perfect the process and the results would come. Sam’s philosophy was hard to question as he won four collegiate championships, five Pennsylvania state titles and placed 8th at the
Olympics.
I was recently reminded of Sam while reading the book “Peak – The New Science of Expertise” by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, Ph.D. and Robert Pool Ph.D. The authors research shows how the very best of the best rose to the top of their profession or sport by using deliberate practice. Deliberate practice basically involves totally focusing on whatever we are practicing, getting feedback
and pushing ourselves past our comfort level to continually improve. Focus on what we are doing is the key to deliberate practice.
Look at how you are training. Are you focused on improving your technique and pushing yourself to progress or just putting in time during your workouts? Use deliberate practice to keep improving. Sam Bigler had it right; “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes
perfect.” The SFL Goal Achievement Series is designed to help you set big goals, stay focused and motivated and overcome
obstacles along the way.
Monthly Fitness Challenge
May Fitness Challenge - Pistol Squat Our May Challenge is the Pistol
Squat
Level 1 - Squat to bench, touch and go; must complete both legs, 5 times each side
Level 2 - Squat to the top of deadlift box on top of platform 5 times with each leg
Level 3 - Full pistol squat to floor 5 times on each side Remember to maintain good form. Challenges must be reviewed by an SFL trainer. |
Monthly Nutrition Challenge Snacks
The Challenge
Choose one of these meal planning challenges for the Month of June: Plan one meal a day for a week. Choose breakfast, lunch or dinner. Plan you protein intake for each day for a week. Plan your healthy snacks for a week.
Check out our Healthy Meal Planning Tips and let us know how you are doing. Share
your best tip and you will be entered into a drawing to win a Strength for Life T-shirt
Meal Planning is a great way to keep on top of your nutrition. Whether you are counting calories, tracking your macros, watching your portion size or just trying to choose healthy foods, meal planning can help. The thought of finding time to plan and cook meals ahead of time can be daunting. Meal planning is a great way to set yourself up to be successful with your nutrition. The best part of meal planning is that you cannot fail! There are no rules, just do what works for you and your family. You can plan breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can use meal planning to make sure you get enough protein, limit simple sugars or even for planning your snacks for the week. Our philosophy is always start simple and look for ways to incorporate healthy habits into your busy lifestyle. Meal planning should reduce your stress and free up time, not become another chore on your to-do list. Here are some of our favorite tips to help you get started on meal planning: - Commit to meal planning – Put meal planning on your calendar. Start with a time that you feel you can commit to, even if it is only 15 minutes once a week. Schedule a meal planning appointment with yourself.
- Get Organized – Organize your meal planning. Make a list of what you would like to cook. Organize your list by themes like protein, salads,
ethnic meals, healthy snacks or styles of cooking such as grilling, roasts, crockpot or stir-fry.
- Make a shopping list - Write your grocery list while you fill out your meal planning list. Remember to write down how much of each ingredient you will need. Check your pantry and refrigerator to see what items you already have on hand. To save
even more time keep a general list of items that you usually buy like chicken breasts, yogurt and eggs.
- Save your favorite recipes - When you are stuck for ideas, look back on recipes that worked in the past. You can also keep a file of new recipes that you would like to try. Use the best system for you. You can use a notebook, Google docs, Pinterest or an online app live Pocket or Evernote.
- Get ideas from your spouse, family member or roommates - Ask them what they like to eat.
- Cook once, eat twice – Crockpot recipes, casseroles and cooking more than you need are a great way to leverage your time and get multiple meals from one meal planning and
prep session. You can use the leftovers for an extra meal, freeze some for a later date or create sauces for future use. You can even repurpose food into a new meal, like taking leftover chicken and making chicken salad. You can even use one day a week as a leftover buffet day. Just put all the leftovers out buffet style and you have one less meal to plan.
- Stock up on essential ingredients – Keep your kitchen well-stocked with items that you use frequently. Make sure you always have olive oil, lemons, herbs and spices that
you frequently use in your meal preparation.
- Set aside time to prep food – Many of the ingredients you need for meals can be prepped ahead of time. Vegetables can be washed, chopped, cut and shredded. Brown turkey for chili, roast vegetables, start a batch of tomato sauce and save these ingredients in sealed containers to use when needed.
We hope you enjoy these meal planning tips. Share with us your favorite meal planning tips. Send us a written tip, photo or video to share with our SFL family.
Strength for Life Programs
Personal Training
Small Group Fitness Classes
Moxie
Strong Moxie Strong is Strength for Life's newest program. Moxie Strong embraces strong, independent, fierce determined women. Moxie Strong is a program for a women's whole person. Moxie Strong is for women who are not intimidated by lifting weights and fro women who strive to be their best in all areas of their life.
Contact Natalie Bean at NNbean@comcast.net
Online Training SFL is now offering online training to clients who travel frequently or want to train while on vacation. If you are interested in more details or would like to participate in the online training program, see one of our SFL trainers. Active SFL clients will receive a
discounted price for online training.
Contact Jim@Strengthforlife.us |
Check out another great article by SFL client Emma Borgstrom from her blog "Rooted."
Strength for Life
1440 Wallingford Road
Springfield, Pa 19064 www.Strengthforlife.us 484-441-6126 Call for a Free Consultation
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