Week 1: Integrity

TSCers, for many of you this is your first week on the TSC Heart of a Champion Training & Nutrition Program. First, I want to congratulate everybody that performed Monday's leg workout. Please realize that the first leg workout is the most difficult workout during the entire POWER-10 Challenge. You should expect to be sore, it means that your body is producing lean muscle tissue and that your metabolism is increasing.

Soreness also means that your body is utilizing what I call After Burn. As your body repairs and fortifies itself, it is burning extra calories (to do all that repair work). This is one of the great benefits to weight training, you keep burning calories at a higher rate for days after you workout! This is in stark contrast to aerobic exercise which stops burning extra calories almost immediately. Instead of thinking, "wow, my legs are sore," start thinking, "wow, my body is building lean muscle and I'm still burning extra calories!"

The Transformation Ten word for week 1 is Integrity.

Integrity is the adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Essentially Integrity means setting standards for yourself and living up to them. During the POWER-10 Challenge, we should all challenge ourselves to raise our standards. This means expecting more from ourselves and behaving accordingly.

Integrity is not about being perfect, put rather striving to be better and more honest in all aspects of life.

We should strive to always be honest with others and also with ourselves. We need to look inward and honestly appraise where we are and which direction we're heading. If there are aspects of your life that don't "jive" with who you want to be as person, or that fall below your standards, than for Pete's sake, correct the behavior.

For instance, I developed a pattern of using very foul language. At first I thought it was funny, cussing all the time and carrying on like Entourage's Ari Gold. It took me a long time to realize it, but eventually, I gained the awareness that usually my foul language made me seem juvenile and immature. I then took immediate action to correct the behavior. I agreed to pay a friend a dollar each time I used certain inapropriate words. Needless to say, my cursing has decreased dramatically.

During week 1 of the POWER-10 Challenge, I encourage you to look introspectively and honestly evaluate yourself. Look for ways to adhere to a higher standard and hold yourself to it. If you need help correcting a behavior, especially one related to nutrition and exercise, I'd be happy to help your brainstorm ideas to help you make a positive change.

Best,
Chris K.

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