To live is to learn.

To learn is to evolve.

If you remain stagnant you are not truly living, you are merely existing.

Here are 5 simple steps I've begun implementing more aggressively to live a Stronger Life.

Follow these 5 steps yourself and you'll become stronger in mind, body and spirit.

The ultimate way to feel stressed out is to remain stagnant.

Here we go. Onward and Upward.

1) Full Days of Mobility Training

Rather than just do mobility as part of my warm up or cool down, I'll be doing full blown "training sessions" of mobility work.

These will also include ab work, some light conditioning with sleds and battle ropes as well as shoulder stability exercises / rotator cuff work.

These are things I have worked on but I need to ratchet up the intensity, attention to detail and overall commitment in this area.

2) More Bodyweight Training

I LOVE lifting heavy and intensely but I also love feeling healthy. Bodyweight Training gives you that explosive, athletic feel while also giving your joints a break from the heavy loads.

As much as I don't want to admit to myself that I need to back off, a solid blend of heavy lifting and Bodyweight Bodybuilding is a powerful recipe for strength, health and lean muscle gains.

As you get older, you need to learn how to get More from Less. I have certainly been learning this especially since age 35 or 36. My body didn't respond to the aggressive style of lifting that worked in my 20s and early 30s.

As I said, you must evolve, you must grow. Accept the change. Embrace the change and grow from it.

Here's a Great Example:

About 3 years ago I Deadlifted 525 lbs.

During my training leading up to that Max Effort Deadlift day I would deadlift 315 and 405, sometimes 455 and focused primarily on speed and technique. I never went into "grind" mode where I was crushing myself for a 1 rep max and I felt GREAT when I hit that 525 Deadlift, pic below.

Above, 525 lb Deadlift (No Belt)

My motto and the advice I give with the Deadlift that works great and I recommend to you has always been this:

"Kill the Deadlift and it will Kill You!"

3) Back to Green Smoothies

I shared a Video on my youtube channel over the summer and discussed how I reduced my animal protein intake to improve some of my blood work and overall drop some unwanted pounds.

[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3O6hbTPVQU[/youtube]

I normally eat with the seasons around here in NJ. It's simply the way it works as weather changes and we get different foods available to us through the different seasons. During the spring and summer I am grilling a lot and eating lots of fruits and veggies.

During the winter I end up eating more soups and more carbs in general. My change in lifestyle this year really changed when I training Lehigh University Wrestling Team.

My schedule changed with the heavy travels 2 x week and in turn it affected the work I do on my other days being that I spend 8 hrs in the car from 2 days a week of work. I'll be dialing in my meal prep even more and I suggest the same for you.

In fact, I've always had best results with proper meal prep dating all the way back to my early college years as a bodybuilder and packing food so I never got stuck eating shit.

I'll get back to these green smoothies every morning except the mornings I drive to Lehigh (hit the road at 5:45 AM) which will lighten my bodyweight and detox my liver as well.

I don't wanna wake up the family to a blender at 5:45 in the morning, ha ha.

4) Less Is More (Lifestyle)

After 13 years of pure hustle with my business and overall life I am moving towards making myself less available to others outside of my coaching groups.

I notice when I push to try to make everyone happy or push to open countless doors for people to help them achieve more success I end up doing a few negative things:

- I tend to screw up my health.

- Less healthy means being a less enjoyable person to be around for my family. Family is # 1. LOTS of people say Family is # 1 but I've made tremendous lifestyle and business choices allowing me to spend more time with my wife and kids.

- Let the wrong people into my life and business.

- I used to be very forward and open with allowing others to team up with me and work with me and I tried so hard to help others achieve success. In turn, these people never respected the success because they didn't have to climb countless mountains to get there. This is a shame and the fault is my own.

I learned that many people enjoy and have NO problem putting themselves as # 1 and they don't care how it hurts others in the process.

5) It sounds like a d**k move but I am now putting myself as # 1.

I suggest you do the same as well. Take care of YOU first and foremost.

If you're a "nice guy" like me you likely realized that you have made the mistake of allowing the wrong people in your team and in your life and in turn, you hurt yourself and those around you who genuinely cared for you.

I learned this lesson the hard way both in life and business so it's time to stop opening doors for everyone else and time to bring myself and those who are loyal to the highest level.

This is life. This is business.

I have found through experience that it's best to give thanks for everything, even the challenges. It's also best to take ownership for everything, the good and the bad, not just the good.

I spend no time blaming others. Instead, I take responsibility, even for the negative.

When I was 18 (I wrote about this in my Encyclopedia when discussing how I overcame depression) my friend in Israel told me to start being grateful every morning I wake up. I was walking around like a zombie at the time in a deep depression for 6 months. He helped me see things differently and my gratitude changed EVERYTHING in my life.

Everything from my school grades, getting a great job, transforming my body, winning bodybuilding competitions, earning more money, meeting (attracting) great people into my life and more.

Having an attitude of gratitude completely changed my outlook on life. I took this attitude to the next level after attending a Tony Robbins event in my early 20s and he spoke often about gratitude from countless angles.

I invested my entire 2 week pay check on that Tony Robbins seminar and purchased the VIP front row seats which were $1,500 at the time.

I called out of work "sick" but that investment changed my life forever.

At first I was afraid to take a sick day from work when I wasn't really sick. Then, the $1,500 was a HUGE amount of money for me back then so it scared the shit out of me.

I was a 3rd year teacher at the time so I had just turned 25. I wasn't a strength coach or entrepreneur, I was simply in search of greater meaning and more happiness.

But, because I took care of "Me First" I changed my life forever.

It's OK to do the same for YOU.

Please drop your comments / questions below.

Live The Code 365

--Z--

The Underground Strength Coach Cert

Change Your Life HERE