I am at the point in my life where men my age start to experience the dreaded ‘mid-life crisis.’ While I have not run out and purchased a red sports car, I have noticed that what I value has changed.

The two material possessions I have been most excited about recently were a pair of Red Wing boots and a pair of selvedge blue jeans. Maybe not as cool as a Corvette, but better in my opinion.

What do these boots and jeans have in common – other than going great together? I chose both of these items because I knew they would get better with age and wear.

Did they cost more money initially than most of their competitors? Did they require a longer and less comfortable ‘breaking in’ period? Do they require more involved and time consuming care and maintenance? The answer to all of those questions is yes, and it is worth every penny and hour spent.

It is worth it because in the long run they will last longer, be of higher quality, and actually get BETTER with each year that passes.

I think we can apply the same concepts to our life and health. One of my pet peeves is listening to folks my age and older resigned to the fact that they are getting old and that their health and physical performance are – and will continue to – decline. One does not have to look too far to find evidence showing that this is ABSOLUTELY not inevitable.

Celebrities such as Laird Hamilton and his wife Gabby Reece are perfect examples of what is possible with the correct approach to life. I compete in Masters (old timers) weightlifting internationally, and there is no shortage of men and women who leave you inspired and in awe.

So, how do you do it? How do you age like a fine wine in such a way that you can’t wait to see what the product of the next year will be? Simply, treat yourself like a pair of Red Wing boots!

First, you must start out with great materials. With boots, that is simple – you just pay for the good stuff. For many people and their health and physical body, this can be a bit more of a challenge initially. Perhaps years of trauma, stress, bad habits and good old wear and tear have left you feeling broken down. That’s ok, things just need to be cleaned up a little.

Depending on how hard the past has been on you, a variable period of REALLY fixing your diet and lifestyle, smart exercise and balancing your structure and function is required.

In my Neurospinal Optimization chiropractic office I refer to this as Cleaning your Windshield. The structure and function of the spine and nervous system are abnormal enough that it is like driving a car with caked, muddy windshield – causing you to constantly bump into things and

create more damage. Before get to move you forward (aging like a fine wine), we must clean the windshield.

In my experience, the best way for most people to do this is under the supervision of a professional, whether it be a chiropractor, physical trainer, naturopath, nutritionist, psychotherapist, or a combination of several.

The next step is care and maintenance. Once the windshield is clean and the major damage is fixed, we can start moving forward, but the car must still be cared for and we need to make sure the mud on the windshield doesn’t cake up again. Cleaning my boots on a regular basis, rubbing them with hydrating cream and applying leather protector are essential. Would I do that with a cheap pair I was planning on replacing next season? Of course not. I want to pass these boots on to one of my sons, so I do the work!

At Nexus, most of our patients continue to see us periodically after their windshield is cleaned for this reason. They are less dependent on care at this point, but choose it stay on the right track an move smoothly down the road.

The final phase goes hand in hand with care and maintenance. That is Refinement and Optimization. In life we call this wisdom. Because the windshield is clear and the vehicle is well taken care of, we are now free to explore all of the amazing places in life. Even though we may not be able to run around expending energy non-stop like when we were 19 years old, we are actually getting healthier because we are more aware of what we need and wiser in all of our choices.

My boots are getting better over time because each wear is molding them to my feet and movements. Because they are of high quality material and I put the time and sweat into their care they are free to become wiser with wear and tear.

The most fulfilling part of my job is working with people on THIS path – and it doesn’t matter the actual age. I see eighty year olds getting more out of their life and health than ever and I see the same thing with some 20 year olds. It is never too early, and it is never too late to start aging like a fine wine.

I am so excited and refreshed to be back home and ready to start entraining people in the office after my two and a half weeks in Italy to compete in the World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Turin, and then enjoy a holiday with my family in Florence and Rome.

This article will take a break from my series on Going Deeper to Get Better, to go back in time and complete the classic September grade school project; what I did on my summer vacation. Because I’m sure you could care less about most of the details of my holiday, I thought I would instead share what I learned both from the competition and the vacation in general.

First the competition. Jumping into my first world masters competition was a HUGE deal for me. For the most part I have been blessed with pretty good athleticism and I have typically done well at most athletic endeavours (except flag football, but that is another story!). I am USED to succeeding in sports.

Picking up Olympic weightlifting at the age of 38 has been a big challenge to my big ego. I have shared with some of you that weightlifting is more of a spiritual practice for me than anything and this is one of the reasons why. When I registered for the World Masters – paid the fee, booked flights and hotels – I had yet to even reach the standard to qualify! I just committed to find a way to get it done. Those who know me are aware that this is NOT my style – or at least hasn’t been until now.

So, one thing I learned is that sometimes it is okay to get READY, then FIRE and then AIM. You don’t have to have every angle figured out before you commit.

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

            -Woody Allen

I never wanted to believe that quote, but I have found it to be true in many cases. My expectations going into this competition was to finish somewhere between 14^th-16^th out of 16 competitors. Some of you were even upset at me for suggesting I had no chance at a medal. What ended up happening was that a few of the top lifters could not get into the country, a couple others had bad days on the platform and I ended up in 6^th place. Had I made my last lift I would have been 4^th. Sometimes you just have to prepare the best you can and show up!

The Roman Holiday

Holidays – especially in foreign countries – are always great learning experiences in many ways. Italy is a country with lots of challenges (especially financial) presently and in a time of challenge you really get to see what a culture’s priorities are. On the surface, what struck me most about Italians is the importance they place on high quality food. Compared to North Americans they eat fresher, better, and less processed food – and they are willing to pay for it.

The biggest lesson I learned on this holiday was to be adaptable. It is rare to be in a place where almost nobody speaks your language (Turin), stores are open and closed at odd times, training facilities are different than what I am used to, there are no clothes dryers, the internet access is kind of sketchy, air conditioning is not what it means to us, and our Roman apartment was spread over 7 floors. In spite of all of this perceived loss of our usual comfort, we were happy, we had lots of fun and I was able to put in my best competition total to date.

Being in a different place provides an invaluable and immediate shift in context that forces us to look at what is really important, what is really necessary and question if the way we have been doing things is really the best way. That is a great gift and one of the reasons we have taken our children on major trips since they were toddlers.

Naturally, I filter everything I learn and experience through the work that I do correcting Neural Resistance through NSO (Neurospinal Optimization). The link is that Neural Resistance reduces our ability to adapt to both physical and mental changes and challenges. It freezes us where we are (physically and mentally), hindering us from ever making any real progress. AND this hurts!

Correcting NR allows us to unwind what has kept us stuck and in pain and opens up a new world to us whether we are walking down Main St. in our hometown or fighting the crowds and 40 degree Celsius heat at the Colosseum.

Before you invest too much time on this article, I want to warn some of you that you may have absolutely no interest in what I am writing. Yes, this article is about weightlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding!

The reason that I chose to write this article as a part of my chiropractic office blog is that I do receive quite a few questions and comments about my new hobby since being in the newspaper recently. There also seems to be a fair bit of confusion about what it is that I am actually doing – especially because I am too fat to be a bodybuilder and too small to be a powerlifter.

The sport that I compete in is called Weightlifting or Olympic Weightlifting. It is called so because it is an Olympic sport. Weightlifting include two lifts called the snatch and the clean and jerk. Both lifts start with a barbell on the floor and end with it secured overhead with locked elbows and knees. At competitions there are a variety of men’s and women’s weight classes and I compete in the -94kg (207lbs) class. Lucky for me there are also master’s divisions so I compete both as a senior (all ages) and with people my own age.

Powerlifting is comprised of 3 lifts – Bench Press, Dead lift and the Squat. Like weightlifting, powerlifting success is based solely on the amount of weight lifted. Other than basic technical rules for a good lift, no points are given for form or performance.

Bodybuilding is a performance sport and is judged on the appearance of the competitor’s physique. The actual lifting of weight has nothing to do with bodybuilding other than producing the esthetics displayed on the stage (or nightclub!). Bodybuilders tend to train with much higher repetition counts than weightlifters or powerlifters in order to produce the desired results.

Obviously there are different attributes required by these different disciplines my choice of sport definitely reflects what I value as a chiropractor. Unlike the others, Olympic lifting REQUIRES incredible flexibility and range of motion and strength through that full range. Because the bar is taken from the floor to overhead, success demands catching heavy loads in a full squat (bum to heels), sometimes with the arms fully extended straight overhead. Powerlifting is done over a very limited range of motion, so while some athletes may have good flexibility, it is certainly not necessary to be successful.

Powerlifters are definitely the strongest when it comes to the pure amount of weight moved – which can be incredible. Ironically, weightlifters are the most powerful because there are higher speeds of moving the weight involved. Bodybuilders may be strong and powerful due to their training but do not NEED to be for success.

Lastly, the body types of the 3 athletes tend to be quite different. Bodybuilders are judged on muscle hypertrophy (big round muscles) and definition (low body fat) so are big and lean. Powerlifters tend to be big and thick through the torso. Olympic lifters – while muscular with big upper legs – tend to look more like normal people. If you saw many of the top weightlifters in this country in street clothes you would not guess they were elite lifters. In many ways, big bulging biceps and chests actually hinder weightlifting performance and those of you who have known me have likely noticed the change in my proportions which allows me to wear ‘normal’ shirts again!

I believe that everyone – regardless of age – should partake in some activity that addresses strength and movement. Olympic lifting does this for me and a growing number of others. Powerlifting and bodybuilding can also help you achieve these goals if applied appropriately.

If you would like to get involved in any of these activities, feel free to speak to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

As many of you know, I recently competed at the Ontario Weightlifting Championships for the first time. If you read my past article (that you can read by clicking HERE) about how my son’s hockey team helped me make the decision to lift at this particular meet, you would also know that as a result of being a beginner in the sport (a 39 year old beginner at that), I just barely made the qualifying standard and was therefore competing against men in a class far and above my own.

I must admit that up until the morning of the competition I was still having feelings of trepidation. ‘Will I make a fool of myself? What will people think? Do I even belong here?’ You know what I mean!

After the fact I can say that I am thrilled that I took the plunge and participated. In fact, I learned and reinforced some valuable life lessons that are about so much more than weightlifting. I would like to share some of these life lessons with you.

The first lesson I learned is that commitment leads to progress. After lots of deliberation I COMMITTED to competing and all of the preparation that goes into it. Not only did I send my cheque and my registration, I wrote an article that I posted on the internet about it! There was absolutely NO WAY I could back out.

This commitment forced me to focus my training in a way I just would not have otherwise. After a long day of meetings, and entraining, and child rearing, and I did not want to drag my butt to the gym, guess what? I had visions of standing in front of hundreds of people in a singlet and you bet I ended up training. The result is that I lifted 12 kilograms more than my previous competition. My commitment led to my progress.

The next lesson I learned is that competing against people better than you is invaluable. By hanging out with, warming up with and stepping on the platform with lifters better, stronger and more experienced, I instantly became better. In essence, I upgraded my peer group.

Why are these lifters better? They speak differently, focus differently, act differently, warm-up differently and use their energy differently than others. The only way for me to understand this was to BE one of them. As a result, I was able to make a lift that according to my previous training should have been impossible.

Last but not least, I learned that stretching beyond you comfort zone is incredibly rewarding. Was this competition a comfy, relaxing, and smooth experience? Hell, no! But let me tell you how fulfilling it is to have done it. Regardless of what I do in this sport THAT competition is a memory I will always remember. And it was also a lot of fun.

These lessons are not specific to weightlifting or even sports. They are about life and we all need to be reminded sometimes. If you are struggling with your health, or any other aspect of your life or are just looking to step up to the next level, consider these lessons.

How can you commit even more to health and life? Where can you stop ‘trying’ and start DOING. Who can you surround yourself with that is already getting the results you desire? If you want glowing health yet hang out at Tim Horton’s, your chances of success are NOT good. Finally, how can you embrace discomfort to not only get better results, but have a lot more fun doing it? A wise man once said, “You can either be comfortable or happy, not both.” Which will you choose?

I challenge you to apply these lessons in one area of your life starting today. This is a muscle that will grow with use so that one day you will be ‘lifting’ with the big boys and girls too.

If you would like to watch the Ontario Championships, click HERE for the link. My weight class was in Session 4.

As I spoke about in a recent article you can see by clicking HERE, autumn is a time for action, a time for transformation. That is certainly the case at Gault Family Chiropractic. To be sure you don’t miss anything, here is a summary of all the special stuff that is happening over the next few months.

On Sept. 4th we held our inaugural Fireside Chat with the one and only ME. This is a special casual workshop for patients and practice members at any level of care to literally ask me ANYTHING about health, Network Care, life, or personal development. The evening opens with me presenting briefly on what is new in the world of NSA and Reorganizational Healing and is followed by the question period supported by hands-on demonstrations. The response to this event was so great we will be conducting one quarterly. Keep an eye out for our next Fireside Chat.

September 15th I will be entraining at Dr. Tony Sandorfi’s Clear Day in Gatineau.

Monday Sept. 17th is our 2nd Patient Appreciation Dinner at The Grind. This is a get together to honour our favourite practice members and their guests. It is our way to say thank-you for making our jobs the best in the world. If we have not invited you yet, please be patient as we are catching up on 12 years of great people.

On Sept. 21-23 I will be both attending and teaching at the X-CELS seminar for chiropractors. You can listen to a short audio of me being interviewed by X-CELS co-founder Dr. Pierre Bernier by clicking HERE and scrolling down to the second interview.

In October we will be holding our Discover – The Truth About Back Pain Revealed workshops on Tuesday Oct. 2nd and Monday Oct. 22nd. This is the best place to learn how our care can help you and your loved ones and ensure the best possible results in our office. Phone 613-932-8111 to reserve seats.

Our 16th!!! Clear Day will be held on Saturday, Oct 13th. This is an all-day, comprehensive day of transformation composed of 3 special Network entrainments, transformative workshops and is fully catered. This Clear Day will be held at The Church on Sydney in Cornwall. In the past we have had doctors and patients from all over North America attend and participate.

I am very excited to announce that I will be speaking at the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce Bizfest this year. On Oct. 18th I will be presenting The 3 Steps to Becoming the Most Resourceful Business in Your Field – Using Change to Create Success. The link for this event is HERE.

On Oct. 27th I will be personally attending Drs. Pierre Bernier, Christine Bourque and Andree-Anne Bernier’s Clear Day in Gatineau. This is part of MY commitment to world class care for myself.

In November, I will be competing in the Ontario Open Olympic Weightlifting Competition on the 3rd. I train with the Cornwall Weightlifting Club out of Caveman Strong. For more information click HERE. Also, stay tuned for 2 more workshops during that month.

On Nov. 16-18, my family and I will be travelling to a Transformational Gate with Dr. Donny Epstein in the N.Y. area, to further enhance our care. We will have information posted for interested practice members.

On Wed. Nov. 28th, I will be speaking to Tom Irvine’s physical education class at St. Lawrence College. I have been doing this for years and is a lot of fun. Tom is a great personal and athletic trainer at Quest in Cornwall. You can see his web-site HERE.

Of course at the end of November we will be rolling out our popular Christmas Card promotion which is the best opportunity to share the results you have benefited from with your friends, family, and loved ones.

Stay tuned for all of the special events we have planned for the holiday season as well.

Have a great fall, and please take advantage of all of the workshops and activities we have planned to help you on your way to a healthier and happier you.

I would like to preface this article by emphatically stating that I am in NO way commenting on the quality of the other chiropractors in my community. In fact, I think Cornwall is lucky to have a nice complement of chiropractors who do good work. I frequently refer potential patients and practice members to other chiropractors if their goals do not match the objectives of my office. Okay, on with the story.

This past Friday I hurt my neck during an Olympic weightlifting training session. No big deal, but it left me with a stiff neck that I could not turn very well and moving a bit like the Frankenstein monster. I was running some errands yesterday and ran into an acquaintance who commented that I looked kind of stiff for a chiropractor and we joked that it would be difficult for me to adjust myself.

I realized in that moment that I had not even considered phoning another chiropractor in town to get care. It had not even crossed my mind. The reason that I am writing this article is that I think most people would find it very strange that a chiropractor wasn’t seeking chiropractic care for himself after injuring his spine. I will tell you why.

First of all, I do not use chiropractic care as a reactive tool. My sore, stiff neck does not mean that my body isn’t healing. I had 265 pounds of weight crash a little too hard onto the front of my shoulders – some pain is understandable. In fact, the pain and stiffness restricting my range of motion are probably exactly what my neck needs to heal quickly and fully. Why would I want to get rid of that?

Why am I so confident that my body is healing well, even while I am in pain? In addition to taking good care of my health, I see my chiropractor in Gatineau for 2 entrainments every week. I have been doing this for 11 years. Because of this, I heal better than last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.

So why do I take every Wednesday afternoon off from the office, get in my car, fill up with gas, sit in Ottawa (the most inefficient drivers in the world!) traffic, pay big city chiropractic prices and wait in a busy reception room? All of this when I could probably drop in to an office down the street, be out in 10 minutes and have it all done for free. As I mentioned earlier, it is not because the doctors in town aren’t good – they are.

The reason that I go to all of the hassle and expense for my care is that what I want from my care is NOT to react to health challenges. What I want is to develop ever evolving strategies to live a healthy, happy, adaptable, and a forever increasing quality of life. I want reorganization, NOT restoration. Network care is the only health care system I am aware of that has this as a direct objective. If I ever find anything better at creating this result I promise I will learn it and provide it.

As a side effect of this care, I do have fewer occurrences of pain and disease, and heal much faster when they do arise. Bonus!

It is my belief that most people hunger to reorganize, step up, and evolve yet settle for comfort because they don’t think the former is possible for them. People want a life that becomes richer, fuller, healthier and more vibrant with each passing year yet don’t take the steps to achieve it. You can.

In any endeavour in life, be sure your actions, effort and the people you work with support your highest vision for what is possible.

“People don’t know that pain can lead to something GREAT. If they did they would not try to kill it.”                     Donny Epstein

I recently returned from a weeklong holiday in Cuba with my family. We stayed at an all inclusive resort for the wedding of my wife’s cousin.  Just before we left I read an article posted by my friend and weightlifting coach, Tyler Touchette about his own trip to Cuba. It was called Pigs at the Trough and can be viewed by clicking HERE. I always enjoy Tyler’s candid and passionate articles and in this one he highlighted the gluttony of our wealthy North American ways and how perhaps we are worse off than the resource poor Cubans who are happy, hard-working and always ready to serve.

Agree to Disagree

This having been my first trip to Cuba, I arrived with Tyler’s article in mind. I must say that while my experience matched Tyler’s in many ways, I left with a very different outlook on how happy and hardworking the Cubans truly were. Since we have a mutual respect that allows us to agree to disagree I thought I would share the lessons I learned on the trip.

First, I must say that our trips were not identical. Yes, we both stayed in high end all-inclusive resorts. Like Tyler I was in bed early every night except one. I walked on the beach and worked out every day. I read lots and I ate mostly food that was good for my body. I did treat myself however, drank some drinks and was surrounded by family for most of the trip. I also did not get to experience Havana as our location would have required a minimum overnight stay away from my family.

People are People

The main lesson I learned – and this is a lesson I have learned in all of my travels – is that people are people. Regardless of where we are from or what the politics of our country are, we all have the same needs and desires. Some of us are jerks about it and some of us are saints. This is true of both Cubans and Canadians and I witnessed all of these combinations during my week.

Part of this lesson was also that when I was able to relate to the resort workers as human beings instead of Cubans I tended to see more of the saintliness. Isn’t this true of everyone? Tyler has an incredible ability to see people as just that which is my guess why he had such a great experience with the locals he met. Having labelled the tourists as people he is around everyday perhaps brought out more of the jerks in them.

New Perspective – New Wisdom

The next lesson I learned was one of perspective. It is so valuable to encounter people who live differently from us. The contrast certainly highlighted how gluttonous we can be and how caught up we can become with money, possessions and my own favourite – addiction to a constant flow of information. This perspective really forces us question what it is we really need and want. This is a great thing.

On the other hand, I left feeling lucky for what I have and where come from. Money, possessions and abundance do not make us unhappy – becoming obsessed with them does. Smiling at rude tourists hoping for a dollar (that Fidel takes 75 cents of) hardly seems like freedom to me.

There are no Free Lunches

Finally, I learned that nothing is free. The gym attendant that I came to know fairly well (I was usually the only one there) loved to boast about how university education was “free” in Cuba. He had a masters degree and his job was to watch me workout. This to me is a cost that I certainly would not be willing to pay. Perhaps calling it free made him feel better about the fact that his obvious knowledge and intellect were being wasted. Somehow I doubt this is what Che gave his life for.

This reminded me of how Canadians proudly boast about our “free” healthcare as they watch their health decline while paying huge tax bills for the privelidge. If we stopped calling it “free” would we be willing to live with the cost?

I apologize (a little) for this being a rant responding to a rant. I think the take home message is to recognize that while we don’t all live the same way, we still really are all the same. When we can learn to relate to people this way it opens the door to us being able to learn so much about ourselves and in doing so, choose a different path if necessary. Vacations are a great tool to doing so, but are not the only way.

Start really listening to people. Anybody and everybody. Dive into their worlds. Then make every choice you make about your own life a conscious one. Take nothing for granted and know that every ounce of energy you invest is important.

Thorin Gault, D.C

« If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks. »
Maria Montessori

The happiest and most successful people in any walk of life have certain traits in common. One of those traits is that they constantly learn new things. They study, they read, they listen to audio programs, they take courses, they attend seminars and they seek out the best teachers in the world. These successful people understand that regardless of what they have achieved in the past, stagnation (maintenance) equals death. They know that you are either growing or dying. This goes for business, relationships, fitness and health.

Only 2 Paths to Happiness

As I have written about many times in the past, human needs psychology tells us that only 2 things will provide us with true happiness and fulfillment – growth and contribution to others. The more we grow, the more we are able to contribute. Unfortunately, the “North American dream,” our culture has sold most people does not include either of these. A life of study hard, get a good job, marry the right partner, buy a house and car, maybe have some kids, and then sit back and enjoy the next 50 years of your life simply doesn’t deliver as promised, does it?

New Dream?

What if the real “North American dream,” was to live a life of never-ending learning, adventure, refinement and sharing? Would this guide your actions differently?

Many of you know that I have always been relatively fit and athletic. A few years ago my fitness regimen looked essentially the same as it had when I was in high-school. Same workouts, worse results and zero motivation. I was merely going through the motions. Had this continued can you see where this would have ultimately taken me?

You Need Coaches to Succeed.

Even though I thought I knew a lot about fitness I decided that I needed coaches. Over the next  2 years two amazing trainers – Tom Irvine and Tyler Touchette – helped me to completely change my path. Today, I have discovered the sport of Olympic weightlifting (more on that in future post) that I am learning more about and improving in every day. I study it, learn it, and practice it.

Most importantly, I am excited about my fitness again, can’t wait to get into the gym, and am getting results that will serve me for a lifetime.

Start Here!

How can you apply this to your life? How can you not only find success, but be happy, fulfilled and excited while doing it? There are many ways, so I created a list to help you get started.

1. Decide what is really important in your life. What areas of your life deserve the commitment to never-ending learning and refinement? Make a list.

2. Take on a new project. I took on Olympic weightlifting in the area of fitness. Perhaps a new professional course or a family project.

3. Refine, refine, refine! I constantly refine my chiropractic skills at seminars and workshops. What keeps you up at night wanting to get better at?

4. Get a coach or mentor. I have health, chiropractic, business, and fitness coaches. Remember, the best athletes in the world still have coaches.

5. Only use the services of those who are constantly learning. You can only lead if you are learning and you should demand that of your leaders. Ask your doctor, financial planner, accountant, consultant, coach, trainer, teacher, barber, chef, shoe shine boy what they are doing to improve their services. This will create a new culture of growth in your life (and maybe theirs).

Play a Better Game

If the “North American dream,” isn’t working for you, choose a new dream. Play a new game. Choose happiness, success, fulfillment and growth. When the old dog learns new tricks, it doesn’t get old!

« Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will. »
Mandela

After 12 years as a chiropractor and having worked with thousands of different people, I have found only a few factors that are great predictors of a person’s success in care. By far the most valuable is simply the individual’s commitment to what they are doing. People who make a decision, commit, and follow through get results. Those who don’t…are a crap-shoot.

Why We (I) Fail

I have both succeeded and failed (and observed others do the same) enough to recognize that this applies to every area of all of our lives. The reason that so many people struggle, fail and become frustrated with their health, fitness, finances, relationships and careers is that they never fully commit to anything. They are dabblers and dabbling will never create success.

Training With a Bulgarian Master

One of the things I appreciate about my friend, coach and business partner, Tyler Touchette of Caveman Strong, is that he is definitely not a dabbler. When he decided to start an Olympic weightlifting club in Cornwall, he committed to doing it well. As a result, a small group of us had the opportunity to be coached and spend some time with world record holder, world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, Alex Varbanov who travelled from Toronto with his family to train us.

Focus

Mr. Varbanov knows what it takes to be successful and dabbling is definitely not a part of it. He gives and expects full focus at all times – even when lifting what he calls a “small bar.” There is no music playing. After each set you sit quietly focusing on your next lift. As we started to approach our maximum lifts EVERYONE was expected to stop talking, stop moving and stop making noise.

Details, Details, Details

Attention to detail is also an important part of commitment. Following a specific training schedule. Eating the right stuff at the right time. Resting appropriately. Constant assessment and reassessment based on outcomes. Everything is taken into consideration.

It was an absolute blessing to be able to observe how someone who has reached the pinnacle of their discipline thinks and acts. Yes, this story is about weightlifting, but it is really about so much more than that. This is about your life.

What do YOU Want?

Do you want to be vibrantly healthy? Don’t dabble…do! Do you want to be financially wealthy? Don’t dabble…do! How about a relationship they will write poems about? You have to jump in with both feet.

Everyone (almost!) I meet with in my office wants some result that has been eluding them. They want to be free to do the activities they are unable to, or work to support their family. They want greater awareness, or mental and emotional well-being. They want strategies to facilitate their own growth, evolution and inevitably their greater contribution to the world.

Many achieve this, but there are always some who think they can take a short cut. They miss visits, they make excuses and they don’t follow through. They skip the workshops and don’t do their exercises at home.The result is frustration and disappointment.

The great thing is that it is never too late to turn it around. Really decide what you really want in your life and commit to making it happen. Don’t be a dabbler! Act now!

Thorin Gault, D.C.

« Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. »
Paulo Coelho

This weekend a group of Olympic weightlifters from Caveman Strong had the opportunity to participate in a private 3 hour training session with the legendary Alexandar Varbanov. Alex is an Olympic medallist, 3 time world champion, set multiple world records and is pound for pound one of the greatest lifters in the history of the world (I looked it up). Since concluding his competitive career he has become a world class coach. Being able to work with Alex would be like a hockey player having one on one ice time with Gretzky!

While I learned too many things to mention in this article, perhaps the most valuable was recognizing the role of progress and pain in creating our ultimate payoff or result.

Lack of External Does Not Always Equal Internal

I am very new to the sport of Olympic weightlifting (which is to power lifting what a concert violinist is to a fiddler) and I have to admit I had started to grow frustrated by what seemed to be a lack of progress. In fact my recent totals have actually been LESS than they were 6 months ago when I started to seriously train! I had been asking myself what have I been doing wrong and realized after my session with Mr. Varbanov that I wasn’t doing anything wrong except that my totals should be even lower!

I Suck, But In a Better Way!

What does this mean? It means that even though my results are worse, I have made tremendous progress in my mobility and technique – both things that will set the stage for much bigger totals in the future. I also learned that I have much more work to do in these areas before the big external results begin to manifest. You see my biggest asset (my strength) had been my largest impediment because I could use it at the expense of developing solid technique and mobility. The problem with this is I was at the limit of what I could produce at that level of skill – which really wasn’t much at all.

Sometimes, Some Pain Means Massive Gain

I also learned some lessons about pain. Essentially what Alex prescribed as correction strategies involved movements that I have avoided because I find them uncomfortable and painful. The question now is, am I willing to experience temporary discomfort for long term progress? The answer is YES, by the way!

Lessons For Life

While this anecdote is about weightlifting, this article is really about so much more. How can these lessons be applied to your health and life? Are you guided by short term results (symptom relief) at the expense of long term health? Do you choose comfort over success? Do you stop making progress on your health (diet, exercise, meditation, chiropractic care) the first time it feels painful or uncomfortable? How you answer these questions will determine your long term health and wellbeing.

How could these lessons apply to your financial success (debt vs. Savings)? How about your relationships? How about your career? What other areas of your life would be forever enhanced if you committed to progress instead of short term results and embraced some pain and discomfort in order to achieve the long-term payoff?

How You Do the Small Things Is How You Will Do the Big Things

One of the reasons I love sports (or any skill) is that they provide you with a classroom to learn about the secrets of life. The courage comes in taking the secrets from what is ultimately a trivial arena and applying them where they count.

Click Here to see a video of Alexandar Varbanov in action

“You can either be comfortable or successful.”

–       Dr. Donald Epstein

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