2020 Q1 - Conscious Coaching, The ONE Thing, & Choosing The StrongPath

Conscious Coaching: The Art and Science of Building Buy-in by Brett Bartholomew

All physical therapists, trainers, and strength coaches should buy this book. Brett does a great job describing how self-knowledge impacts your interactions with your clients, and how to identify & leverage the archetypes he aggregates to get the most out of your clients. His compilation of archetypes alone is worth the cost of this book for anyone who works in the coaching or training field. I first read this on my Kindle before deciding to purchase a physical copy as well.

Here are some of my fav quotes:

  • "learning about the history of someone's body is easier than learning about the history of their mind."

  • "successful interventions begin with successful interactions."

  • "Don't teach the lessons, tell the stories"

  • "When an individual is able to identify their own communication style and tendencies, they possess the power to successfully navigate any social situation, whether it be a casual conversation or a speech delivered to a large crowd."

  • "Exploring our past enhances our understanding of the present, and helps us to better refine our approach in the future."

  • "... becoming a better communicator first and foremost requires tremendous self-reflection."

  • "Leadership is contextual."

  • "Purpose is a performance enhancer."

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller

This well-structured book is helpful for anyone trying to build a business and/or get the most out of their time. Anyone who enjoyed reading Essentialism will identify with this read. The core concept of the book boils down to ONE crucial “Focusing Question”: What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary? The entire book revolves around the necessity of this question, the contexts surrounding this question, and how to apply this question to the many layers of our personal life and business life. 

This (rare) interview of Gary Keller is a great companion to this book. Highly recommended listening and reading.

Great corollary reads include: Atomic Habits, Essentialism, Mindset, Deep Work, and The Power of Full Engagement.

Choosing the StrongPath by Fred Bartlit

Short take: read this if you don’t know about sarcopenia and how it can stealthily impact your quality of life. Here’s a 30 min video of Fred talking about it.

Long take: I purchased this book hoping to read about how to stay fit into my 80's. Instead, I found a book telling me about the surprising benefits of resistance strength training exercises. As a physical therapist, I am already aware of many of these benefits, but the granularity of these benefits comes across with an added punch when they are written by an 85 year old retired trial lawyer who enjoys weight-lifting and downhill skiing.

This book is about Fred's discovery of Sarcopenia. A very practical definition of sarcopenia is "the loss of strength due to inactivity." Sarcopenia, along with diet and physical health, is a topic medical schools generally avoid. As a result, many physicians haven't heard of the term. And, even if they have, they don't appreciate the full impact of sarcopenia, let alone that preventative measures exist - resistance exercise, increased dietary proteins to 1g/kg of bodyweight, and Vitamin D of 1000 IU/day.

The secondary impacts of sarcopenia include: reduced mobility, greater dependency, reduced ambition, submission to these negative physical changes which prompt inactivity and perpetuate the cycle toward disability. And, guess what? It begins in our 30's! You lose ~1% of strength every couple years in your 30's! This accelerates in your 50's before becoming undeniable when you cross 65. What's worse is that sarcopenia is a silent epidemic that didn’t get its own official classification until 2016.

Additionally, muscles do more than engage your nervous system, generate strength, generate movement, and serve as glycogen reservoirs. They also store amino acids, an important component of a healthy immune system. In fact, a 10% loss of muscle can contribute to a compromised immune system.

The benefits of resistance training go beyond combating bone loss, diabetes, and heart disease to reducing the odds of a variety of cancers and treating other circulatory conditions, such as peripheral artery disease. It can even provide beneficial effects for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The book strongly recommends developing a healthy mental perspective toward exercise, aging, and longevity. Once this hurdle is jumped, your exercise program should err on the side of efficiency over maximizing. Finally, track your progress and highlight every new Personal Record that you break. This will allow you to progress gradually over time without burning out. 

He also touched on the importance of habits, power of beliefs, and the limits of willpower. Toward the end of the book, Fred talks a bit about exercise programming and the importance of working with a knowledgeable trainer that you trust.

Links!

Jason Boddu