I’ve blogged many times on mental toughness (here, here, here, here, here, and here). And now, one of my favourite bloggers, Eric Barker just wrote another blog on it! In his blog, he provides 3 tips to improve your mental strength. Read here to become a stronger you, mentally and
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This answer from Quora is one of the better pieces I've read online for a while. Although, the piece veers slightly away from fitness and nutrition, the advice is all about improving oneself - and that is the fundamental mission of Olive Branch. It is a bit lengthy, but it’s completely filled with nuggets of wisdom that will benefit you. Read it - and let’s discuss! Comments welcomed! Read Matt Bodnar's What does the 1%
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There’s been a lot of emphasis on new exercise routines and functional training in the fitness industry - and there will always be some new shiny object that comes along. The objective of this blog is to make a case for why the basics are, in my opinion, still supreme. The primary goal for any exercise program is to improve one’s health. Although, there may be other positive side effects of exercise, such as enjoyment,
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You hear it all the time: “I need to lose weight!” And the instrument you use the most to track your progress - the scale. But do you just want to lose weight indiscriminately? The answer, if you haven’t already guessed, is a emphatic NO! That’s because when a person decides to lose weight, they will usually go on a ‘diet’ and eat less so they weigh less. However, your loss of weight can come
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I’ve blogged a lot about mental toughness (you can read about them here, here, here, here, here, and here), but I’m going to start the new year with a Member Spotlight blog on a Olive Branch member, a mentor and a friend, Cary Cheung. A story on real mental toughness put into practice. Although Cary doesn’t regularly attend ACT class here in the Shanghai Olive Branch studio, he does train ACT regularly at his home
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Are you’re feeling just a bit slow and sluggish these days? Do you find that you crave sugar and refined carbohydrates a lot more than before? Has your workout schedule fallen by the wayside? Perhaps, even your waistline has increased a bit. Inevitably, you feel a bit guilty for letting yourself go - maybe even a bit self-loathing at the extreme. While it’s not ideal that you gained fat and lost a bit of muscle,
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If you’ve come to one of our classes before, then you would have probably heard me say “PUSH TO FAILURE”. This is ingrained in our training philosophy because of one main ideology - stimulus equals adaptation. If you’re trying to make your body stronger (ie. adapt), then you need to apply a stimulus (ie. training) that is strong enough so that the body can hear it and then make the necessary improvements to build up.
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“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” In the Information Age, the unique skill that will determine your success is your ability to stay focused. But there are just so many distractions and temptations trying to steal your attention. Temptations exist in all forms and they always derail you from your long-term goals. They may come in the form of a chocolate cake, or a cold beer, a WeChat group
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Last blog we talked about how willpower is a construct of the mind. If you believe it is capped, then you have just capped yourself. On the other hand, if you don’t believe there is a willpower limit, then you will continue to do things that are good for you and for your future. This trains your dorsal striatum to side more with your prefrontal cortex of your brain - the logical side. This blog
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Continuing from last week’s blog on why it’s so hard to go to the gym, we explore the topic of willpower. As mentioned last week, the ego depletion theory has been challenged numerous times to the point now where I no longer believe it to be true. I must admit, that at one point I did believe in it. It made sense and had some studies done by psychologists that support the theory. But
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