Culture is Everything - Chad's Experience with us at EHP!

Me & Chad (all the way from California)

As you know I hosted an trainer all the way from the States who is travelling the WORLD visiting Strength Coaches to athletes & or clients who are athletes of life!

Well it's been 2wks since Chad Skrederstu left us where we invited him into our home to stay with us as a family & see me behind the trainer mask.

This is taken from his own blog that you can visit here Sand, Snow & Street

The big picture by Chad Skrederstu

After spending a week with Spida Hunter in Christchruch, New Zealand I still find myself processing the lessons I learned. Spida Hunta is a coach/trainer (for MMA fighters and general population), a father, a soon to be husband and an overall good guy (unless he’s ground and pounded you). Spida like many of the other veteran strength and conditioning coaches I’ve met on my trip makes complex ideas simple to understand.

So after spending a week with Spida at his house and at the East Side Barbell Club in Christchurch I came away with three major take homes:

1. It aint where you’re from it’s where you’re at (CULTURE IS EVERYTHING)

2. A good coach instills new beliefs and helps break negative ones

3. A strong tribe (group)brings out the best in it’s members

1. It aint where you’re from it’s where you’re at (CULTURE IS EVERYTHING)

I was amazed with the first session of women I saw Spida training at the Eastside Barbell at 6am on Monday morning by how strong they were. These women were dead lifting 155lbs for 8 reps super setted with 70lbs log cleans (in the video below). My first response to Spida was “damn the Kiwi women are strong dude,” and we talked about the difference in upbringing of kiwi women compared to other countries. Spida and a few of Kiwi women he coached explained to me many of the women grew up and still live on farms. As a result when something needed to be moved they moved it!

So I jumped to a conclusion that Kiwi women as a whole are stronger than women from the U.S. (I know really American of me). But……………………… I was wasn’t exactly right and it didn’t hit me until I was on a bus to Queenstown that it doesn’t matter where in the world you from it’s the culture (environment) that your in that will determine how successful you are.

(CULTURE IS EVERYTHING):

• If you look at cultures around the world they are very unique as societies but when you look at successful gym cultures around the globe ( east side barbell club, smart fitness, underground training station, College of the Canyons, Joe Defranco’s and Results fitness they share a few similarities:

Take homes

o Hard work-General public and athletes’ just blend together you can’t tell who is who everyone works hard.

o Competitive- It doesn’t matter if it’s MMA fighters or 60 year old femail they all want to out do others ( usually men) and out do themselves ( usually women)

o Simple/No Flash- It doesn’t matter if you’re in New Zealand or in Santa Clarita Ca the ideas are the same…… People push,pull,squat,sweat and do work sprinkled with some science and shit load of great coaching!

2. A good coach instills new beliefs and helps break negative ones

One of Spida’s great traits is that he is trustworthy. As a result he gets his clients to believe in him and believe in what they are working towards (like the placebo effect but with the results). Spida has this amazing ability to help clients get over their fears i.e. of lifting heavy weights, getting injured to accomplish work they had no idea was possible ( must be that Kiwi Haka he does before you do a lift). Very simple points but tough to master….

Take Home

• If you believe it’s more likely to happen then if you don’t


• Understand the person and basic human nature to move forward

Fiona how no idea how much she lifted

After a failed first attempt

3. A strong tribe (group)brings out the best in it’s members Spida comes from a strong Maori background and has implemented a few of these cultural ideas into his Enhancing Human Performance (EHP) training systems.

Spida trains his clients and mma fighters in small groups. I got to go through training sessions with both groups and felt the power of the tribe atmosphere when I wanted to lay down and quit.

Take homes: * A group is more motivating then training one on one (i.e. higher levels of extrinsic motivation, helps break negative beliefs and provides accountability

* Groups offer a learn by doing approach ( i.e. if 4 people are training and 3 people are doing the exercise correctly the 4th person will learn visually).

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Thanks Chad for keeping it real & taking life by the balls & inviting other people's worlds into your own so you can learn through their eyes & then filter what you like (or don't) & carry on the "Art of Coaching to the Human Spirit, Body, Mind & Soul"

To learn more about Chad please visit his sites below!

Chad's Facebook

Chad's Youtube...

Chad's Website

Want to Stay Up to date with EHP Fat Loss Tips? Click the pic below to join our Face Book Tribe & Get your FREE Fat loss Video delievered to your inbox TODAY!!

Talking RAW Strength with Craig McGuigan

Here's a talk with local Power lifter (Power Builder, you'll get this when you listen to the talk) Craig McGuigan......


He's a raw Power Lifter who can Bench Press 200kg Raw, Squat 285kg Raw..... Hope you enjoy the Strength Discussion with Craig!


You may want to download these talks as they are both long in length (who said females were the only ones that like to chitta chatta :-)

Part 1:

Part 2:

Hope you enjoy the talk on Strength and as many other aspects we talk about as much as we did, if you would like more of this stuff or fat loss, fitness, MMA then just ask, I'm here to help in any way I can!!

Thanks for listening,

Spida
P.S. Don't be afraid to share it with your friends as well, that's the cost of listening to this.....Pay it forward!!

The Month that was....April = Madness!!

April is now GONE until 2011 & where are we in terms of goals?

I'm on track with some and others I haven't even scratched the surface! So here we are again, a short snap shot at the month that was....... APRIL = MADNESS!!

Now, I can say "madness" in a positive light however when caught up in the madness it's often hard to comprehend & make sense of!!!

Moving to EastSide Barbell Club which has been a great move like any move creates a bit of strain on the "transition" of sorting details out etc & tidying up where I was, adding to the mix a new baby, school holidays for my 7yr old plus a much busier house (3kids) takes some time to "sort" and "manage" sometimes successfully and sometimes NOT very successfully :-)

Such is life & now that we have come out the other end, I wouldn't have it any other way.....mostly :-)

So what did I achieve in the month of April?

I have a goal of a book a month and I started this goal in March where I read Cardio Strength Training by Robert Dos Remdios.

In April I read Linchpin by Seth Godin.... This is a fantastic read for someone who is looking to "break free" of the machine mentality of "another day another dollar"!

I love how he addresses Resistance or Fear and in what forms it rears it's ugly head and how we "make it ok"!! I'm a big fan of Seth Godin's work, his book Tribes was the 1st ever audio book I bought!!!

I didn't train the first 1/2 of April with school holidays and moving gyms, however I found my stride or picked up my rhythm in the last 2wks of April and managed to achieve 8 strength sessions & 5 BJJ training sessions. Actually from the 19th to 30th I didn't miss any scheduled training sessions.

I missed 5 days out of 30 for Meditation which is alot for me in a 4wk period, I normally miss 5 days of Meditation in a 6wk period! However, the big picture is I still did it 6/7 days per week!!!!

People often ask, how I find the time to Mediate for 60mins at a time...... The benefits out weigh the not doing it, sure sometimes it's "not ideal" HOW I Meditate BUT I'm making the most with what I've got!! Basically, it gives me too much NOT to do it!!

So that's a snip it of April, May promises to be more "stable" but still challenging in a way that is progression......

Here's what I am striving to achieve this month:

1. Yoga 2-3x per week 8-12sessions
2. BJJ 2x p/w = 8
3. Strength 2x p/w = 8sessions
4. Get 5 Referrals for EHP
5. Have my mum here from Aussie for 2wks
6. Create 3-5 Gifts/Koha for EHP Tribe members
7. Take my lovely lady out for the night, she deserves it!
8. Get EHPFitness.com up (I may have to explore other people to do this or get very F$#@!$ alpha cause I'm over being patient!!!!)
   
9. Continue to Fail Forward by pushing boundaries of my perceived limits......
10. Continue to support our family through TIME & LOVE!

What will you do this month? It doesn't need to be a list, it could be as simple but as big as making a phone call to say to someone you are sorry???

What ever it is, I hope you GET IT DONE, regardless of your reasons you can't!

Thanks for reading,

Spida
P.S. In month of May I'm giving away a week's training for FREE, all you have to do is have the balls to email me (spidaehp (at) gmail.com) to book it in......

Monday or Wednesday at 5:30-6:20pm!!

Will you choose to try something different to achieve your goals of fat loss & fitness or will you remain "scared" of the What if?

Kia Kaha = Be Strong (in the gym and LIFE)

Try this Fat loss, Muscle Gaining & Strength Workout!!

When it's all said & done, the most strongest & leanest people on earth always fall back on SIMPLE exercises that yield BIG ASS RESULTS!!!

Today I want to share with you a programme that you can do in the gym for a 4wk period & get great results in your Fat loss, Increased Muscle & Strength goals.....This pic is of Shawn Phillips visit his site & LEARN!!

5x5x5 Full Body Push/Pull

Perform the following programme like this 5sets x 5reps & 5 Exercises!

Day 1: Pull
1) Hang Clean or Hang Pull rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
2) Dead lift rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
3) Chin Ups rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
4) Good Morning rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
5) Single Arm Row rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets

Day 2: Push
1) Push Press/Split Jerk rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
2) Back Squat rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
3) Bench Press rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
4) Step Ups rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets
5) Military Press rest 60sec then repeat 4 more sets

Do the above in a alternating fashion 3x per week so week 1 you would do 2 Pulling sessions but the following week will be 2 Pushing sessions. The end result, some serious fat loss, muscle mass & Strength Gains....... That's right this kind of workout gives you all 3 for a beginner to intermediate lifter & even an advanced lifter that is looking for a "change up"!! Some things to consider to yield optimal results of fat loss, strength & muscle mass!

• The weight needs to be heavy enough that 5reps can be completed & you maybe able to squeeze out 6reps on the early sets but 4th & 5th set.....The possibility of 6th rep is GONE :) E.g. if you can Squat 100kg for 1 reps your 5rep will be around 85-92.5kg
  
• 60sec Rest is also a must.....Sure you can stretch it out to 90sec when you are having a day where you don't have the ticker to kick through but this programme ain't designed for coffee talks....GET TO WORK!
• Abs, Bi's & Tri's......... These are far over rated for a beginner/intermediate lifter, yet 90% of people do them because we are lead to believe they are what's required for Optimal fat loss, Strength & Muscle Gaining...... Just because you see some huge dude do Bicep curls doesn't mean you need too, their foundations would not have been laid on bicep curls I PROMISE YOU!!
• Training Partner is good for this routine they keep you honest by 1 person goes at a time, when they are done you are in banging out the next set!!
• Other Days consider walking/jogging/Yoga as these modalities will help with soreness & allow the mind to be more passive
  

Have fun and let me know how it goes!!
Spida
P.S. I once did a 5sets, 5reps, 5exercises, 5days for 5wks.......Week 4 I WAS OVER IT too much volume & I was always sore!!

I think I missed 3sessions & the 4 th week was a bit of a joke as I was over it!! Here's how it looked.......
Monday = Olympic lifts
Tuesday = Upper Body Pulling
Wednesday = Squatting
Thursday = Upper Body Pushing
Friday = Posterior Chain

My #1 Kettlebell Resource!

Are you a Kettlebell type person? Do you know what a kettlebell is? Well, I would like to introduce you to my #1 Kettlebell Resource....

http://www.kettlebell-athletics.com/

Here's 3 Reasons why you will want to take in the information they are offering & sign up to their newsletter.

1. Jason & Pam are just cool cats, they don't bring the extra "stuff/ego" to the fitness industry!!
2. They break down the complexity and provide simple easy to follow solutions in how to use a kettlebell!
   
3. They have a world view on Kettlebells, which means they don't think KB's will cure cancer and or are every solution to your problems!

http://www.kettlebell-athletics.com/

Here's how I see it , I pop on over to their site when ever they post new content to check out the video's & I watch how they do what they do to learn and share.......

I hope you will join me in some of the discussions!

Thanks for reading, have an awesome day!

Spida

P.S. You can be sure to hear more of Pam & Jason because I put them up their in knowledge & bringing a "human" element to the knowledge they know.... This to me is a must have if I'm to send you to a site!! http://www.kettlebell-athletics.com/

Survival of the Fittest or Die!! Really.....

Charles Poliquin commented on his Facebook fan page and I quote:

"Just finished giving lectures for Fitness First. I like their business model for personal trainers, they encourage a survival of the fittest system, instead of a corporate down the line moronic approach that many of their competitors use."

I have no idea what "corporate moronic approach" he is referring too & I'm not interested!! My issue is with the Survival of the Fittest Model!!

I once believed with all CONVICTION in this model for life, sports, work.... and it has served me well in many instances in life/sport, I can assure you!! Now as a parent, husband, son and any other labels I attach to myself I NO longer adhere to this model, but before I share with you WHY I don't belong to this model I want to share with you HOW I got this "survival of the fittest" mentality to start with. By understanding how I learnt this thinking will help you understand "why" I currently think the model NOW sucks ass & I will do all I can in my being to promote/teach a more mature version of "Survival of the Fittest"!!!

Where it all Began!!!
At a young age I taught myself "how to survive" not because it was imposed upon me from people (although some of it may have), but the big reason was due to my fathers death at age 12!!

When something traumatic happens to you at a vulnerable age (more so as a teenager trying to sort out "stuff" while hormones are playing havoc on ya!) your perception on the world changes...... I mean how are you meant to make sense of your father dying at age 12 let alone as a adult?!!

So as a result of my fathers death & trying to make sense of it through the eyes of a 12yr old, you make representations of "stuff" that can be "right" or "wrong" or just plain DISTORTED! My way of making sense of my fathers death was 2 fold;

1) I took on the "I must be the man of the house now" mentality... After a 2yr period (14yrs old) this really shaped my belief systems about the world & stuff in the world....2 yrs prior I was "playing up"!

2) From the above, I took on a belief of "if I'm to survive emotionally from my fathers death, it must be Survival of the Fittest"!! Harden up Mother F#$%^# & be a "man"....... Show no "pain" because you need to be "tough" on all levels physically, mentally, spiritually & emotionally!! BRING IT ON as I remember my 13+ inner voice would say to me on many many occasions!!

So that's "my story" of how I adopted the Survival of the Fittest belief system in my life & MAKE NO MISTAKE it has served me well AT TIMES, but and here is the biggest BUT!!

What can serve you so well can also make you WEAK!!!

Some of you may think where is the problem with this thinking if it served me so well, I mean it was my "saving grace" after all!!

The flip side to Charles preferred model of Survival of the Fittest, is that we are creating a bigger gap between people of "rich" vs "poor" or "strong" vs "weak" in the world!!

Some people (as I did) once justified this thinking with, "I choose to get off my ass and make something of myself & they don't, so F#$% them, they are "weak" and I CHOOSE to be strong!!!"

Fair argument, however do you see that this thought process extends a gap between humanity that is already getting wider and wider each year of rich vs poor or strong vs weak?!?

There's no room for COMPASSION in this thinking & this is WHAT we need more of in this world that is getting wider & divided by the day!!

At What Cost do You Stop Before You Are the Strongest?

This question is a personal thing that I would ask at times, but more often then not answered in a self serving way to "protect" me which really meant to protect my lack of emotionally stability!!

Here's my Model for a MORE MATURED Approach to Charles Poliquin's Survival of the Fittest!!!

A More Matured Approach to Survival of the Fittest:

1. Understand the Difference between Immature Ego & Mature Ego we all have both!
   E.g. Immature Ego says "win at all costs without any respect to me or YOU!!"...
   Mature Ego asks "what is the cost of me winning & am I prepared to risk it?"
   
   
2. Ask yourself, where does this belief come from?
   I'll admit this is a hard one to achieve because most of us, don't know we are "this way" because it's coming from the unconscious mind!! However, simply questioning yourself is a great place to start!
   
   
3. Understand that most men come from a Immature Ego but tell us, they are here to "serve us"....
   E.g. Poliquin tells us from the statement above that he has a belief system of "win at all costs", some people may not have a issue with this, fair enough! BUT how content are you if your child, mother, sister are on the receiving end of the Strongest i.e. Weakest, would you be so "cool" with that?
   Would you "sell" them out to be the Strongest?

I'm sure there are many other ways to explore the more matured way of Survival of the Fittest & it doesn't start with big issues, check the vocab people or yourself that tells you your heading into "survival mode"...

Defining Yourself By More then Just Winning....

Here's my recommendations for expanding your mindset of what I have talked about by Men that have seen more then you or I reading this story!!

1) Measure of a Man A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier
What can I say, the first black man to win an oscar who grew up dirt poor & had joy in his upbringing!! This book was above my years when I first read it but it expanded my beliefs about "being a man" that holds to his values!!


2) Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
This has to be the first book to "change" my outlook from a Warrior who was Survival of the Fittest to accepting their is a more Peaceful (Matured) Warrior Way!! Thanks Dan!!

Final Thoughts......

The world will define you by your materials BUT your kids/family will define you by LOVE & Maturing your Ego is a long life process (or so I think so) like life it's a journey NOT a destination!!

Have fun with this new way of looking at Surviving in the world, don't "cop out" of winning just explore what winning REALLY is!!

We all must go through developmental stages in this "Survival of the Fittest Mentality"... I know I have and still am transitioning my perception of how I manage and label this mindset!! In all honesty, it still is in me to be the winner at all costs & like you I need to be "checked", so make sure you have people around you to "check" you when it comes :-)

Kia Kaha = Be Strong because you need to be "strong" to stand on this Matured Approach to Survival of the Fittest!!

Spida Hunter

P.S. I don't regret adopting my early belief of "Survival" & I have NO regrets about what God had in place for me in my father dying!

You Make the Most of What You Got, PERIOD!!

March = Wow that much, really?

The March Update almost didn't get done with Easter, moving gym etc.... Then it "dawned" on me, don't make an "excuse" for something that you said you would do i.e. Do monthly updates! Who bloody cares if it's late, just GET IT DONE!!!


So here we are & WOW what a month it has been!! Let's just go in order of how it went......
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Detox, Fasting =
Painful BUT AMAZING!!
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I've written about this journey every day (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7) so no need to get into details BUT to say that it has been a experience that I'm so grateful I've DONE, and it's got nothing to do with "weight loss"!!

I'm talking from a "health" perspective on my body & my mind!! If people can let go of the "weight loss" dogma & or even the "detox" dogma they would by default open their mind up to far more then you can comprehend in "my words"!!!!

Bottom Line: I will do a "detox" again, probably in Spring because the benefits of a detox/Elimination type Diet is too powerful NOT to do!!

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I'm now a Dr........
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I'm now a Dr ;-) We had another baby girl on March 12th at 12:50pm and I DELIVERED her, I'm not talking just cut cord type stuff, I mean I actually delivered here into this world as I did with our 1st daughter!

If you ever want to see a "pain free" birth, my lovely lady is the one to talk too!! Ok, I'm going to change gears & be brutal honest & you can perceive it how you want too!!!!

Woman share "war stories" of giving birth to each other like men tell stories about how great they are in bed & with how many woman!!!

If you as a woman reading this & you want to go down that path of "how much pain/trauma" giving birth was & it lasted 56hrs then by all means do that!

BUT what good is that to woman-hood!! If you truly want to empower woman then change the story to something more then "pain/world war 3" type stories!!!

I have the up most respect for woman & my words are not to degrade you, I hope you can read between the words & see the bigger picture, if not I feel the knifes warming as I type :-)

Here is Lennix Maria Lilian Hunter at 3wks old!

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City 2 Surf = Thanks!
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I wrote about clients completing City 2 Surf here, but think it's worth saying thanks again to those that gave it a nudge!! Your awesome!!

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EHP is Moving......
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EHP has combined it's magical powers with a local powerlifting club called Eastside Barbell, it is awesome to be part of a greater extended tribe of like minded people!!

Clients have already commented that Eastside has a "nice feel" which means the people at Eastside are cool cats that don't think they are the shiz cause they lift 2000000kg :-) !!!

Looking forward to breaking down new boundaries with EHP & Eastside :-)

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BJJ & Pan Am
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I'm back doing BJJ after a 2yr lay off, man it feels great to roll around and explore opportunities in movement. I'm taking a "new approach" to BJJ, because I'm strong I consider myself to have "strong BJJ" where is, I will use my strength to get to a position, however I'm trying to "surrounder" to this and allow my technique to find a way out or use my explosiveness when it will serve me rather then every time I'm in trouble!!

I've also decided to go to the Pan Am Tournament in Melbourne (November) where I'll compete in the masters white belt division :-)

So more to come on this........Check out Groundworkz BJJ Fan page here

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Conclusion of March
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Wow, what a month all this in only 4wks, there is more but I think they are the "big" things for the month....

Thanks for reading have a great day/month ahead & keep failing forward whanau, it's the only way to "fail" :-)

Spida