Becoming Bulletproof

Check it out! Our book is ready. Its called "Becoming Bulletproof: An Uncommon Approach to Building a Resilient Body." 


Here is what Dan John had to say about it:

"I like clarity. I like to pick up a book or an article and come away with something...sometimes just one thing...that can impact my athletes or me. Tim's book, "Becoming Bulletproof," goes well beyond "one thing." I can simply tell you this, I was laying on the carpet within seconds of reading "preset" and I was doing the simple drills that Tim describes and I was amazed to feel and see the difference in my body in seconds. The book covers a lot of ground in an interesting "give and take" fashion. What Tim has done is linked the information you might find at FMS and Kettlebells and nutrition into a simple template which gives you enough room to still enjoy the process. In fact, Tim insists that you find time to play, not just train. This book is the link between a lot of other books that say "this" and "that," but don't tie it all together. Tim is the knot in the strength and fitness community."

            --- Coach Dan John, author of Never Let Go

You can check it out at: www.becomingbulletproof.net

It is almost ready

My friend, Mike Mcniff, and I wrote a book called Becoming Bulletproof: An Uncommon Approach to Building a Resilient Body. Wednesday, we plan to release the book. This book has been almost 2 years in the making. Not the writing part, but the learning and application part. 


As the title says, the book is about how to build a resilient body. We believe we have actually found the fastest way to unlocking the body's potential and preparing it for becoming fully capable of anything. I know this seems crazy, but you would have to read the book to really understand. If you've ever heard of the FMS, Z-health or Gym Movement, you may find the information inside really fascinating. 


Again, the book comes out Wednesday. I'm excited. The information inside the book has changed my life. I am as strong and healthy as I could want to be. 
Mike and I really think it can make a difference for everyone. 


Anyway, have a great week and I'll post more on Wednesday.

I wrote this article for Jeff O'conner's website: Outlaw Strength Systems

Skipping, its not just for Smurfs.

When I was young, I grew up going to a daycare. From the time I was 6 weeks old until I was 11 years old I went to daycare five days a week. Back then, we were not allowed to watch TV and there were no Playstations or Wiis so we spent all of our time playing outside. Daycare is where I learned to play things like baseball, football, dodgeball, hide-n-seek, war and hopscotch. We even had these things called monkey bars, I learned how to climb on them. They were great! Thinking back, most of my athletic foundation was probably built in daycare. 

Flash forward twenty-five years and the world is quite a different place. There are over 200 TV channels, when there used to be only three. There are computers and games; so much technology that it is rare to see kids go outside and play. It’s amazing how I have to argue with my own kids to go out and play on a beautiful seventy degree day. Schools are even starting to cut back on their PE programs. So kids are getting less and less opportunity to play, to learn, to grow. In my opinion, this is tragic. Physical Education is an invaluable part of growing and developing. There are numerous studies that show that an active, playing child is a learning, mentally developing child. Yes, physical activity is directly linked to brain development. Anyway, we are moving further and further away from a world where kids are being physically active and closer to a world where a kid’s idea of playing involves a game controller. 

It shows too. I meet kids all the time that do not even know how to skip. I like to think that all kids should be able to skip. Skipping is a beautiful display of coordination, rhythm and athleticism. More times than not, if you see a kid that skips well, you see a kid with athletic talent. 

Skipping is not just for Smurfs! If you train young athletes and you want an idea about their athleticism, check to see how well they skip. You may be surprised at what you find. You’ll have some athletes who will be able to skip gracefully, you’ll have some that look like they are trying to learn a new dance move, and you may have some that have no idea how to even start. If you find a kid who doesn’t know how to skip, teach him! I truly believe this will help improve their athleticism. 

I know it seems crazy to worry about skipping, but think about it. Skipping involves cross-body coordination of opposite, opposing limbs. It is a rhythmic, graceful action; a movement that resembles similar mechanics that are involved with running. When a child is skipping you can see how they swing their arms, how they raise their knees, and how they use their feet, etc... You can also instantly see if they have coordination. Chances are, if they are not skipping well, they are not running well either. So, if you can help a child learn to skip well, you may improve their ability to coordinate other body movements like running. You may even improve their mental focus as well. Remember, physical activity helps with brain development (even with adults)! 

If your kids can skip, great! Check to see if they can skip backwards, then sideways. If they can’t, work on that too. You’ll only be improving their coordination. You’ll get your kids attention with skipping too. I always get these funny looks when I ask my kids if they can skip. But, I haven’t had a kid yet who didn’t want to learn to skip when he found out that he couldn’t. I child driven to learn how to skip, is a child driven... 

Skipping can really give you a good window into how well your kids move and how well they can coordinate their bodies. If your kids can perform multi-directional skips with grace and beauty, you’ve probably got some really good athletes on your hands. 

If they can’t skip well, you can help them learn. If you can’t skip well, you can learn too! Your kids may enjoy watching you skip like a smurf. Its another great way to help kids develop and learn while you make training fun. 

I wrote this article for Dan John a couple of months ago...

40 Days of Life

I recently finished Dan John’s 40 day workout. The workout was said to be an easy, easy way to build strength. Dan said the program was so simple, you wouldn’t be able to trust that it would work. At the time, it sounded like a fun challenge and a fresh change of pace, so I decided to give it a try. Basically, the premise of the workout is that you pick 4 to 5 exercises that you want to focus on and you do them; roughly everyday for 40 days. Oh, and you only use 40 to 80% of your one rep max and you keep your reps at, or below 10 for each exercise! Yes, I know. It already sounds way too easy to work. Guess what? It worked. I got stronger; a lot stronger, with almost zero effort. The program is simply amazing. Not only did I grow stronger, I grew wiser as well. Let me explain, I gained wisdom because I learned several life lessons while following this fantastic, 40 day program.  

I know it seems crazy. I’m talking about learning life changing lessons from a simple strength training program. But its true. For example, I leaned about having integrity. Everyday, I had my doubts about this program. But, everyday, I showed up and I did what I was supposed to do. Why? Because I made a commitment to do so. It would have been easy to say, “this is crazy, I’m going to do something else.” But I didn’t. I wanted to finish what I started. I wanted to do what I said I would do. If I can not commit to a simple 40 day workout and stick to the commitments that I make to myself, how can I expect to have integrity with anyone else? This idea, this integrity, has spilled over into my personal life and I am now more aware of my commitments. I want to be the guy who does what he says he will. I want to be the guy that his wife and kids can depend on. I want to have integrity. 

I also learned about humility. I knew too much for Dan’s 40 day program to work. I’ve been training for almost 22 years. There is NO WAY dead lifting 135 lbs for 10 reps is going to help me dead lift 350 lbs. 40% of my max? Really? Yes, really. I was wrong. Lifting 40% of your max can increase your max. So, I learned a little something about humility. I don’t have all the answers, maybe I don’t have any. Maybe I should keep an open mind and realize that there are lots of people out there that have a world of possibilities to offer. Maybe I shouldn’t make opinions about ideas or concepts until I at least try them. Maybe I should think less of myself and more of others. Maybe I should strive to have humility. 

A huge lesson that stood out to me from Dan John’s program is the lesson of faith. Faith is the hope for things uncertain and unseen. Believing I could get stronger even when I was unsure in the method, was an act of faith. Dan said the program would work. He said I would struggle with the idea that the program would work. But Dan said, so I did. That is faith. I know having faith in something so small as a strength training program seems trivial. But how could I have faith in something huge, like Love or God, if I can’t even have faith in something simple like a strength training program. Faith, like strength, needs to be exercised too. Faith in little things can yield faith in larger things. A man walks a mile one step at a time, all the while believing each step will take him closer to where he wants to go even when he can’t see past the horizon. We could all use a little faith. Without it, we are just staring at the horizon. 

I learned some other lessons too. Perhaps not as “out there” as integrity, humility, and faith, but diamonds none the less. For instance, training to win. One of the cool things about Dan’s 40 day workout is that you are training to win. In other words, you are not training to failure. By keeping the workouts easy and always making your lifts, you are teaching your body how to win, how to succeed. So when you do lift heavy, you make your lift. I think that is an awesome lesson that should be carried much farther than simply strength training. I know we can’t always avoid failure, but we can always strive for success. We can always choose to be our best. I have to believe if I always give my best, then those around me will get my best. That is training to win and nothing bad can come from that. 

Perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned following Dan’s program is this: If it is important, do it everyday. Dan John credits this saying to Dan Gable, but Dan John is the man who brought it to my attention. And I have to say, it is simply brilliant. In Dan’s 40 day workout, you are supposed to focus on 5 things you really want to improve upon; 5 important things, and you do them everyday. Then, like magic, they improve! There is a huge lesson here that goes far beyond the weight room. If it is important, do it everyday. Tell your wife you love her everyday. Hug your kids everyday. Say your prayers everyday. You get the point. I think this is so brilliant. With this one concept, a person could change the world. If it is important, do it everyday....

There it is, life lessons from Dan John’s 40 day workout. To sum it all up, you pick four to five important things like Integrity, Humility, Faith, and giving your best, and then you consistently work at them every single day. Oh wait, I think I’ve got that confused. That must be Dan’s 40 day life changing program. Come to think of it, after 40 days and 40 nights, the rains stopped and the world was forever changed...

Thank you, Dan!