First off, I hope you had a fantastic New Year, I know I did!

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To kick things off right in 2010, I wanted to tell you the one word every Strength Coach, Personal Trainer, Athlete and Exercise Enthusiast needs to know and apply to their training to ensure success!

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The word is EFFORT!!!

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Put simply, anyone can exercise and train, but it’s the folks who put in the most effort who get the biggest return. Now, even though I could get all philosophical here, I’m not going to. Instead, I’m going to keep it simple and talk strictly about effort as it relates to training.

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You see, everyone is always looking for the newest “magic bullet” exercise or best program to follow. But, none of that will mean much if your not willing to do more than just go through the motions.

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For instance – I could say “do 6 reps of back squats” and just let you go through the 6 squats in any way you want. Or, I could say “do 6 reps of back squats as fast as possible”, or “do 6 reps of back squats and explode out of the bottom with everything you have on each rep”.

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It’s obvious that the second two scenarios will get the best results. But they are also much tougher. And that’s my point. Its not just doing the back squat, its how you did the back squat. This goes to show that our results are not do any specific secret exercise or training program. But rather on the effort we put into our training, even if its using old school, low tech exercises.

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Now, I’m known for developing new, high-tech exercises. But, my main training focus is always to get maximal effort from my clients and athletes on each rep, set and exercise. All the fancy stuff comes second! The truth is, I don’t need any special exercises or equipment to deliver a killer workout that gets results. I can bring even the most elite athlete to their knees strictly on effort.

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So, in 2010, if you do one thing, give your personal and professional training programs more EFFORT and enjoy the mental and physical benefits it brings!

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Don’t just move the weight, move it as fast as you can!

Don’t just lift the weight up, explode the weight up!

Don’t just do 10 reps, try to complete 10 reps in 10 seconds!

Don’t just run, sprint!

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