Core and CORE…

This morning in the 3PP (Pushup, plank, pull up Palace) six men showed up to find the outer limits of their challenge zone. Whenever the sweat accumulates in my ears, I’ve come to discover, there’s a good chance I’m working near my limit. Today, there was an inner pond forming…

The timer was set for 33:33, meaning we only worked for thirty three minutes and thirty three seconds. What made it so difficult was the limited amount of rest between sets and my focus on form. For instance, when doing TRX up/downs and army crawls you can let your core kinda go when you drop to your elbows from the push up position. The result will be your body sways back and forth kinda out of control as you plop down onto your elbows to either crawl or push back up. For me, all it takes to increase my performance is to focus on holding my core strong while putting it through the paces. Instead of letting it go, I hold it in. My body sways less. My core holds it together. The exercise is performed with less chance of injury. And, it hurts more acutely. Lots more.

You see, the same is true with your figurative CORE. The more you exercise your most deeply held beliefs and put them under pressure to perform, the more likely you are to hold it together when the crucible comes. The time to build your CORE is not when you need to take a stand. The time to build your inner resources is now, in the quiet of your 3PP, closet, office, or room of choice. The reason we see so few leaders holding it together under whatever is their painful, problem of the moment, is because so few have put themselves under pressure during practice with a professional beside them whose purpose it is to make them better. BTL exists to fulfill this purpose. We don’t sell shit, in case you’re wondering. We live it and the few are somehow drawn in. Good.

So, if you’re one of the many millions suffering from chronic, lower back pain, I suggest you start working your literal core a bit harder. STOP rationalizing and, instead, get after it. It will hurt, acutely. Good. And, if you call yourself a leader, you never stop working your figurative core. Leaders are always under construction, at least the few worth remembering are. So, leader, keep working. Keep working, my friend. Keep working your core and CORE. Keep working…