Guest Post By Tyler Bramlett. Creator Of The 27 Body Transformation Habits
Whether you like it or not, who you are right now is a culmination of the daily, weekly and monthly habits that you have formed up to this point in your life. Let me be crystal clear about this so you can get the most out of this article. You are NOT and will never be better then your habits… Period!
If you have bad habits, you will not build the strength, muscle and athletic abilities that meet your true potential. But… Bad habits are easily remedied by replacing them with good ones.
The rest of this article is dedicated to teaching you what I believe are the top 5 healthy habits every athlete needs. If you master this short list of healthy and somewhat unconventional habits, your gains will soar!
Let’s dig right in…
HABIT #1 – Get Some Damn Sleep!
If you want to be the best athlete or get the best results in your workouts you must sleep! It resets your hormones, allows your muscles to repair and is critical if you wanna give your workouts all you’ve got.
But… Many of the things you’ve heard about sleep are complete B.S. In fact, did you know that sleeping 8 hours can actually make you wake up feeling more tired?
The TRUTH is that human beings have roughly a 90 minute sleep cycle. If you wake up at or towards the end of your sleep cycle you feel great, if you wake up in the middle, you feel like shit!
Think about a time where you woke up without an alarm and felt amazing, full of energy like you could absolutely dominate your day. This is no doubt because you woke up at the end of your natural sleep cycle.
Take the opposite scenario where you woke up feeling like a punching bag after Mike Tyson had his way with you, where you had to pry your eyelids open as if they had been superglued together. This is usually because you woke up in the middle of your sleep cycle.
So what does this mean? It means that you should get a bare minimum of 6 hours of sleep every night, aim for a solid 7.5 hours and if you really wanna optimize your training try getting 9 hours!
When you wake up feeling great, you’ve nailed your sleep cycle and your health, attitude, strength, performance and determination will all be better because of it.
HABIT #2 – Stay Hydrated 100% Of The Time
Everyone is looking for the latest greatest supplements, workout routines and diets that will produce the best possible gains. But… Do you have any idea how many people forget about mastering the basics?
In fact, if I had a nickel for every person who doesn’t drink enough water, I’d be a rich bastard!
So… Ask yourself this question, “Do you drink enough water every single day?”
If you’re drinking a minimum of 0.5oz per lb of bodyweight (up to a gallon) every single day then skip this section and go onto habit #3. If you’re not, then get this into your head right now…
A 2% drop in fluid volume in your body can cause a 30% decrease in performance!
Imagine knowing that the reason you only got 7 reps when you wanted 10 is because you decided to skip out on drinking enough water. Does that sound like a good idea to you?
I didn’t think so!
Make the habit of drinking a minimum of 0.5oz per lb of bodyweight every single day and your performance in your workouts will thank you. If your having trouble meeting this criteria, try drinking 32oz of water first thing in the morning before breakfast.
HABIT #3 – Use Cold Therapy
This is probably my personal favorite healthy habit mostly because I like to watch people squirm in agony as they imagine doing it for the first time.
In my opinion, everyone should be doing some sort of cold water therapy. You don’t have to get extreme, taking 30 minute ice baths for it to be effective either. In fact, just 2-5 minutes of cold water at the end of your otherwise hot shower can do amazing things for you.
Plus, the mental toughness benefits of knowing that it sucks and doing it anyways will be a small daily reminder that your character is forged in the fires of your adversities.
So… If you want increased blood flow, a supercharged metabolism, and an increase in your mental toughness, turn the hot water completely off for the last 2-5 minutes of your shower and enjoy the cold. After doing this for a while, you will thank me!
HABIT #4 – Touch The Earth Daily
Alright, here’s where I get to go all hippy dippy on you, but don’t bash it until you’ve tried it, deal?
One of the most interesting things I have learned over the years was the importance of touching the earth. In fact, did you know that the charge the earth gives off can boost your immune system, reduce inflammation in your body and decrease the amount of harmful EMF’s that are lying dormant in your cells.
This is not bro science B.S. but rather the cutting edge of performance amplifiers that you can use to get better results from your workouts. Just check out this quote from Clinton Ober in his groundbreaking book, Earthing:
“The research that followed has produced fascinating evidence demonstrating that Earthing generates a powerful and positive shift in the electrical state of the body and restores natural self-healing and self-regulating mechanisms.
We know that Earthing allows a transfer of electrons (the Earth’s natural, subtle energy) into the body. We know that inflammation is caused by free radicals and that free radicals are neutralized with electrons from any source. Electrons are the source of the neutralizing power of antioxidants.”
What this means to you is that when you make skin contact with the earth you are increasing the speed at which you recover, reducing inflammation in the body and boosting your immune system, just by taking a walk or standing on the grass.
Give this a shot for 30 days and notice how you feel. I’ve had numerous clients report feeling less achy and more energetic just by waking on the earth barefoot for 5-10 minutes a day.
HABIT #5 – Make Sure You Stay On Track
As an athlete or an avid gym goer, you probably have goals, right? But, how often do you revisit these goals to make sure you are staying on track?
The reality is you can set a goal of benching 315lbs for 10 reps, but if in a month all you’ve done are pushups, yoga and some bootcamp classes then you will never achieve your goals.
This is why I recommend a monthly goal audit where you take the time to examine whether you’ve made progress over the last 30 days on your goals. Identify what is working and what is a total waste of time. Then, just eliminate the time waters and do more of what is working.
Most people are lazy and their goals are just wishful thinking. Since you’ve read this far I know that this isn’t you. Examine your goals and make sure you are on track every single month and you will get further then 99.9% of the people in the whole world. I guarantee it!
Master these 5 habits and sleep soundly knowing that you are on your way to looking, feeling and performing your best!
If you want to learn 22 more unconventional habits that will help you get the best results possible then check out my NEW book The 27 Body Transformation Habits YOU Can’t Ignore.
NOTE: Jay is no longer accepting guest post. Please do not submit a request for one.
