Episode 145: 2 Easy Tips to Get Yourself Out of a Rut!

Ever feel as though you've hit an unbreakable ceiling in your personal development or fitness journey? Say goodbye to those stubborn plateaus with the expert guidance of Dr. Jake Berman and his sidekick, physician assistant Jenni Berman. On our latest episode, we don't just share tips—we live them, walking you through our monthly testing method to catapult your growth. Inspired by Jenni's gymnastics prowess, we've been on this rigorous routine since January, proving that goal-setting with a touch of competition is a powerful mix. This is not your average pep talk; it's a clear strategy to document and achieve your milestones.

We believe in the mind's might when it comes to body goals, and this episode is a testament to that belief. By marking our achievements, we set the stage for new personal records, much like athletes eyeing the world stage. Listen in as we recount tales of personal bests and the strategies we employ, from detailed workout planning to meticulous tracking of our lifted weights. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or someone looking to take any aspect of your life to the next level, you'll discover why accountability and reflection are the heavyweights in the ring of progress. Join the Bermans as they unpack the essentials of turning aspirations into achievements, one month at a time.

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Facebook: @bermanwellness , @physicaltherapynaples, @Berman Golf 

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Email us - 

drberman@bermanpt.com 

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www.bermanpt.com 

www.bermanpt.com/wellness

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Transcript

Improving Performance With Monthly Testing

Speaker 1 0:00

This is the Berman Method podcast, featuring Dr Jake Berman and physician assistant Jenny Berman. We are here to treat problems and not symptoms. Disclaimer this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and not to treat anyone or to give medical advice. If you are interested in any information that we are giving and would like to use this for yourself, we recommend that you contact your primary care physician or reach out to us and ask us questions about yourself specifically. Enjoy.

Speaker 2 0:34

How ready are you?

Speaker 1 0:36

You already pressed the button.

Speaker 2 0:38

I already pressed play. You didn't trick me, and we're rolling baby with the Berman Method podcast focused on treating problems and not symptoms. Doing my best to shake things up with my beautiful co-host.

Speaker 1 0:54

Jenny Berman, physician assistant.

Speaker 2 0:57

Dr Jake Berman here, and she's too smart for me. Can't pull one over on her.

Speaker 1 1:03

I don't know about that, but I am watching you. I have eyes.

Speaker 2 1:08

You're always watching Mom. Eyes are always on they're everywhere.

Speaker 2 1:13

Everywhere.

Speaker 2 1:15

Today we're going to go over two simple and easy tips on how to get out of a rut. There's a lot of people most of us actually get into these ruts where you're just going in circles, You're not progressing, you're not regressing Maybe regressing slightly, but you're definitely not progressing or you're going up and down one step forward, one step back, one step forward, one step back, one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and at the end of a year you really don't have a whole lot to show for whatever it is that you're working on. So we're going to go over that.

Speaker 2 1:52

But before we do that, I want to give a real quick, shameless plug for my golf podcast, the Long Balls Golf Podcast. The Long Balls Golf Podcast we just got a brand new technology, an AI-driven technology, where we are working with clients all over the country and the world now with our virtual programs. That we've been doing for the past couple of years now, and now we've got this brand new AI technology where we are able to really analyze your swing virtually and make some significant impacts on it going in the right direction. So make sure you check out the Long Balls Golf Podcast, brought to you by yours truly.

Speaker 1 2:36

Okay, it's a fun podcast. I don't even golf and I like just listening to you talk to yourself. It's fun, so go check it out. The Long Balls Golf Podcast. Yeah.

Speaker 2 2:51

I came up with the name because I think it's funny.

Speaker 1 2:56

Okay, awesome.

Speaker 2 2:59

Happy Monday everyone. Yes, Thank you for humoring us and putting up with us.

Speaker 1 3:04

And so now the Berman Method podcast. The Berman Method podcast.

Speaker 2 3:09

I wanted to bring it back to our monthly testing that Jenny and I have been doing now since January. We've mentioned it a few times and this was your idea, jenny, back in January, and you decided at the beginning of every month for this entire year we are going to test four different exercises. Four different exercises. Why?

Speaker 1 3:35

To improve not only consistency of performing the exercises, but also to show ourselves that we could continue to progress and develop based on documenting our testing skills.

Speaker 2 3:54

Exactly? What was the overall goal? Why did you think that this was important for us to do?

Speaker 1 4:00

So I was thinking back about my gymnastics days, and we used to do this. In gymnastics, we had a monthly testing every single month that we would do to help us stay accountable. That was. The biggest thing in gymnastics is we were working out 20 to 24 hours a week of exercise in the gym growing up, and so we were always fit and always doing things.

Speaker 2 4:26

On top of going to school full-time.

Speaker 1 4:29

On top of going to school, I was a full-time student. I went to public school. I was not homeschooled.

Speaker 2 4:34

And you're doing 20 to 25 hours a week of gymnastics on top of it.

Speaker 1 4:39

Yes, 20 to 25 hours a week, depending on our weekend travel. So if we didn't have a competition or whatever, it was probably 20 hours in the gym. During the summer it was definitely 24 hours of exercise, of working out, practice, and then, spring and fall, we had competitions every weekend.

Speaker 2 5:02

And you had monthly testing accountability.

Speaker 1 5:04

Yes. So we did the monthly testing, not to test our strength, because we knew we were still strong. We were exercising 24 hours a week. We were strong, but it was really to hold us accountable and to show us perseverance and being able to work through something and continuing to improve and develop on one individual thing, something, and continuing to improve and develop on one individual thing, which and they were strength-based exercises. So we would compete every month not only against ourself but also against our teammates, and there were motivation factors for us to be able to improve on these individual tests each month.

Speaker 1 5:40

So I was thinking back about it over the December break and I was like you know, why don't we do that? We, as in Jake and I, used to work out together prior to having children, and now that we have our two girls, one of us goes to the gym, one of us works out at home, and we alternate days every day, so we're never really together, except for on Sundays. We will go to the gym together because we are able to bring the girls to the child care at the gym, and so I care, is not open at five in the morning.

Speaker 1 6:13

Well, probably found a fun to wake your kids up at four and bring them to the gym, but they're not open at 5 am. So, no, I write my workouts every single day and I perform them, and there will go on stretches where I will send the workout to Jake and he will also do it, even though we're not together, and then we'll come back and talk about it. And then we go on stretches where we don't share workouts and we just do our own thing. So I decided that this monthly testing was going to hold us accountable. It was something that we could compete against each other, but also ourselves, as a friendly little competition to try to get better and improve, and we always talk about.

Speaker 1 6:54

If you're not doing something different every day, you're not going to be better one year from now than you are today. So how else can we prove that we're better one year from now than we are right now, or January 1st 2025,? How can we prove that we're better than we were January 1st 2024? And it comes down to writing it down. Wait a minute.

Speaker 2 7:22

I didn't know we were competing against each other.

Speaker 1 7:26

I'm secretly competing against you. What in the world? I'm only beating you in two categories out of four okay, so I'm beating you in two out of two out of four, half, 50%, and you're beating me in 50%. That's pretty fair. Not that this is about fair, but meal planning, so nutrition, or just overall improving our longevity and our focus is writing things down, writing down the foods that we're eating, writing down the meals that we're going to make each week and holding ourselves accountable to actually eating those. Writing down our exercise.

Speaker 2 8:25

I was trying to think of the saying. It's a business saying don't expect what you don't inspect. Don't expect what you don't inspect. And it's very similar to what we're saying here is don't expect to lose weight if you're not inspecting what you're putting in your mouth. And the way that we're going to bring this full circle is if you're not writing down what you're putting in your mouth, or if you're not looking at a plan before you go to a restaurant on what you will or will not eat, then you're not inspecting it, you're not preparing, so you're kind of weak.

Speaker 2 9:03

It's very similar to my sister's bridal shower was yesterday and you ordered donuts and cookies from our favorite baker here in town, karen, where she makes these gluten-free baked donuts that are freaking phenomenal, these chocolate chip cookies that are just really, really delicious. And I was doing yard work you know bridal party girls only and I decided that I was going to walk over there and I walk into this spread of cookies and donuts. And I'm going oh my goodness, and I didn't even say hi to my sister, I just started grabbing cookies and donuts and I couldn't help myself because I wasn't mentally prepared to say no. Had I known that there was cookies and donuts over there. I could have mentally prepared and said I'm going to walk over there and say hi to my sister and hi to everybody else and not eat cookies or donuts. But I was ambushed. Next thing I know it was our fault.

Speaker 2 10:08

Yeah, it was your fault. Next thing I know four donuts had been put down within 48 seconds and 13 cookies are gone and you're like wait a minute. What about us?

Speaker 1 10:20

Yeah yeah, he's just like he didn't even say hi, just eating. But the point of that was you didn't have a plan going in, yeah, so that's what I.

Mind Over Matter in Fitness

Speaker 2 10:32

Let's bring this thing full circle. So tip number one the easiest thing that you can do to get out of a rut is to write it down, and I have been personally writing down my own personal exercises, prs, personal bests for the past year and a half maybe two years now, and I'm not that great at looking at it before I do an exercise. And there will be weeks, sometimes a month or two, where I will not do a particular exercise or try to max out on it, and once I do look at it, I'm like, oh man, I haven't improved on this thing and the date is October 23. I'm like, what in the world's going on here? I better focus on that one. So to come back full circle, tip number one is write it down so that you know what you did when you did it, because time is the biggest liar of all. Right, like we mentally think, ah, it wasn't that long ago that I bench pressed 225 12 times. I'm like, wait a minute, that was actually 20 years ago that I did that.

Speaker 1 11:47

Right, right, right, and it's true. And you think, oh, I'll remember the next time I go to do this exercise, or, oh, I have done this meal plan long enough that I know what I need to be eating, and so time will just start to slip by. And then either the scale is not moving, or we're not gaining strength, or we're gaining weight and we look back and we haven't tracked in six months, or we haven't accomplished our goals of lifting heavier in six months. When we actually go back and look at the date of these things.

Speaker 2 12:22

Exactly. And that brings us to tip number two. The easiest way that you can start progressing and getting out of a rut is looking at the said goal or said written thing down before you attempt at the next thing. Before you go work out again, make sure you look at what it is before the workout, Because this is the part that really blows my mind on January of this year. So our four things that we we are measuring monthly is our chin ups, like just how many chin ups can you do before fatigue resting? Double unders, so with a jump rope, how many double unders can you do in one minute? Leg lifts, so laying on your back and doing leg lifts, how many leg lifts can you do in one minute and then push able to do 15 chin-ups, eight double-unders in a minute, 30 leg lifts in a minute and 44 push-ups in a minute? And I remember that day going how in the world am I going to do any more than that?

Speaker 1 13:45

Right, because that's the point of this every month is we want to try to get at least one more rep of each individual exercise.

Speaker 2 13:55

Right. So now fast forward to February. The first thing that I did we both did was look at what were our numbers in January. So I'm like, okay, I did 15 chin-ups in January, so I better do more than 15 chin-ups in February. So, magically, one month later now I'm doing 17 chin-ups because I knew what the target was. I knew what the goal was. I knew that I had to do more than 15. That's all that really mattered. Same thing with push-ups. I knew I did 44 the previous month. So I'm like I just have to do more than 44. Ended up doing 48. Leg lifts I did 33 or 30 the first month, did 33 the second month, and then same thing in March. I looked at what the numbers were last month before I did in March. And then yesterday I finally did my makeup session because I was out of town last weekend. For the month of April I did 19 chin ups. I started with 15, right, I did 19 double unders. I could only do eight double unders in a minute in.

Speaker 2 15:06

January and I did 19 leg lifts. I did 43. And here's the thing that was funny was the first time I did it. Yesterday, I only did 37, which is exactly what I did the month before, and I'm like well, I didn't know how much time was left. This is the mental game that we all play with ourselves, is, I didn't know how much time was left. Had I known that the time was getting closer to ending, I would have went faster.

Speaker 1 15:35

So I'm like what in the world? Yeah, why didn't you just go faster the whole time, knowing you only had 60 seconds?

Speaker 2 15:41

Exactly. So then what I do? Just because I'm mentally weaker than you are, I set my phone up with the timer so that I could see the countdown as I'm doing it, and I ended up getting 43 instead of 37.

Speaker 1 15:54

Got it.

Speaker 2 15:54

And then push-ups. I ended up doing what did I do? 55 push-ups in a minute yesterday, in January or December 31st. Technically I did 44. Wow 11 more push-ups 11 more push-ups in a minute. If I would have said here's the big take-home message, if I would have said December 31st, I need to do 55 push-ups, I probably would have did 55 push-ups.

Speaker 1 16:27

Right.

Speaker 2 16:29

I can't really explain that.

Speaker 1 16:32

When you have a goal.

Speaker 2 16:34

When you have a goal, you know what the threshold is. You know you've got to do 55. I did 54. Now I need to do 55. You figure out a way to make it happen.

Speaker 1 16:44

Right.

Speaker 2 16:44

In December I did 44. In April I did 55. And it's just the way. That's why world records keep getting broken. It's because somebody sees what the new goal is and you're like, okay, now I've got to break that goal.

Speaker 1 17:02

Right, right, and that's something I'm personally trying to get better at with my workouts. I write my workout at night. Every night before I go do it the next day, I write my workout. But what I am not good at is going back and putting in the weights that I lift that day so that then, when I look back on that workout, I can repeat it and see okay, this is the weight I did that time. What am I going to do this time to improve? I will go back and repeat exercises and workouts, especially if I rate it an eight out of 10, as far as exertion goes, I'm like this wore me out eight out of 10. I'll repeat that workout and see how much better I feel doing it the second time, and it always is better. But we need to be able to write things down, look back on it and repeat it.

Speaker 2 17:51

Exactly. I think that this is a perfect time to bring this thing up, and I wish I would have spent some time researching the name and the name of the book and before I just try to word vomit here. However, 10 years ago or I don't remember when it is how long ago it was there was this guy that was running a marathon or something out in the West Coast and, long story short, a guy that was not in shape hired this guy that was in shape to come train him, and he was a former Marine or special operations guy, essentially training somebody that was not in shape, and the first thing the guy tells him to do is do 100 pull-ups, and he's like I don't do pull-ups. And he says I don't care, do 100 pull-ups and sure enough, took him a couple hours. I'm just don't hold me accountable to this. This is an actual story, an actual book, something about pain or something, and he ended up doing 100 pull-ups.

Speaker 2 18:52

The thing that's important about this is what this Marine said. I think he's Marines, don't hold me to that either. He said we tend to quit when there's 60% left in the tank, 40% of our energy, and we think that we're done and we just quit because we're so mentally weak, he said. The reality is there's still 60% left and you've just got to keep pushing. You got to push yourself through this mental barrier, because your mental barrier is the reason why you're quitting, it's not your physical barrier. And I think that that's what's happening with these numbers that we're writing down, because if you would have told me on December 31st I needed to do 55 push-ups in a minute, I'm going what do you mean? I could only do 44 in a minute. Well, that's not true.

Speaker 1 19:47

Right, right, and I think about that story all the time when I'm running, when I'm out doing longer mileage run and my body keeps telling me that I'm tired. And then my brain is like, are you really tired? There's still probably 60% left in your tank. And then for some crazy reason it gets kicked up a gear and I run a little faster on that last mile. But that just shows us that our mind is really more powerful than the rest of our body is telling us that we are it's crazy to think that and that is the battle it never, ever goes away.

Speaker 2 20:25

It doesn't matter how long you train or how disciplined you are, that never goes away. So don't look at people that are quote unquote in shape and say that never goes away. So don't look at people that are quote unquote in shape and say they've got it easier than I do. We all battle the same demons, the same mental weakness saying you've got to quit. I just did it this morning, when I was banging out reps in the gym, I counted to 10 and for some reason I should just stop counting, because it doesn't matter what the weight or resistance is. As soon as I get to 10, I'm quote unquote tired and I need to rest.

Speaker 2 21:00

I'm like no, I'm not Next thing. I know I was at 30. I'm going what? This is so frustrating, Right, so frustrating.

Speaker 1 21:09

The mind is so powerful.

Speaker 2 21:11

It's like I could have easily quit at 10 and said, patted myself on the back and said that was a good set.

Speaker 1 21:17

Right, and then I did 30. But then you did 30.

Speaker 2 21:20

It's like what in the world?

Speaker 1 21:22

And this is why it does help to have somebody to be there with you and hold you accountable whether it is a coach or a friend or moral support to be able to have someone else there and say you're not done, you can do more. Or to have somebody there and say what are you going to order? Is that really the best thing? For you? To be ordering in a nice way.

Speaker 2 21:46

Yeah, a nice nonjudgmental way, a supportive way. Right, have a mental game plan. I'm going to this, this restaurant. I know there are not a lot of good options. This is what I'm going to order. I just did it this weekend too, at off the rock off. If you've not been to off the rock, here's a shameless plug. Off the rock is kind of like a gastropub. It's not a sports bar I mean it technically is, but the food in this place is astronomical, absolutely amazing. So I highly recommend you go to Off the Rock, run by a local guy I grew up, went to high school with, but anyways, they got my favorite meal there. It's called the Hot Chick. It's a sandwich, chicken sandwich with all sorts of deliciousness on it, and I've been getting it in a wrap much with all sorts of deliciousness on it.

Speaker 1 22:36

And I've been getting it in a wrap.

Speaker 2 22:37

However, wrap is how many carbs right? So I mentally made this decision. Going to the restaurant Saturday, I'm not going to order it on a bun. I'm not going to order it in a wrap. I'm going to get it on a salad.

Speaker 1 22:48

I was surprised, I was very surprised.

Speaker 2 22:51

And I remember sitting there and she's coming around doing our orders and she's getting ready to get to me. I started very surprised and I remember sitting there and she's coming around doing our orders and she's getting ready to get to me. I started getting nervous. I'm going oh man, I really want to get this thing in a wrap. No, stay strong, Stay strong. You're going to do this in a salad. Come on, just stay strong. No, just get a wrap. Really, it's only how many carbs.

Speaker 1 23:11

It's not that many calories come on, and it's so much easier to order it that way, yeah it's way easier.

Speaker 2 23:16

And then she got to me and I said hot chick, no bun, no wrap, just salad. And she goes what did you just say? I said may I please have a hot chick on a salad?

Speaker 1 23:32

and she was like well, let me see what I can do. But you know, the point of this also is that you can modify anything and they will be willing to. Majority of the places, 99% of the time, will be willing to modify what you're asking, so don't be afraid to do it.

Speaker 2 23:49

Yes.

Speaker 1 23:49

We have so many clients who are like well, I just don't want to ask, or I don't want to be that needy person at the table, or I don't know if they'll do it. Just ask and be needy, it's allowed.

Speaker 2 24:01

You're allowed to.

Speaker 1 24:02

Yeah, it's for your health and longevity.

Speaker 2 24:06

Even if you're in an airport at a burger fry.

Speaker 2 24:11

They were not happy, they were not happy with you at all, but anyways, let's wrap this thing up. Two easy tips on how to get out of a rut and quit the ebb and flow. One step forward, one step back is number one write it down. But number two is more important than number one. Actually, look at what you wrote down before you do whatever it is, before you do the exercise, before you walk through the door of the restaurant, whatever it is, make sure you look at it so that you're mentally prepared. You're walking into the game with a game plan.

Speaker 2 24:51

There's not a single successful team that walks onto the field just knowing that they have a playbook. They always walk into a game knowing that these are the first plays that we're going to run and, if it keeps going the right way, these are every single play that we're going to run for the whole entire game. That's why Nick Saban was one of the greatest coaches of all time is because his ability to make halftime adjustments was second to none. He could be losing a game in the first half, go into halftime and completely change the playbook for the second half and blow a team out of the water.

Speaker 1 25:30

I like it the point is be prepared. I like the analogy Good, awesome, all right, have a great week everybody.

Speaker 2 25:39

Like, subscribe and share this one. Leave us some comments too. We love your comments.

Speaker 1 25:46

We like that. All right, Ciao for now. Thank you for subscribing on your social media and podcast platforms to the Berman Method Dr Jake Berman with Berman Physical Therapy and Jenny Berman, Physician Assistant, with Berman Health and Wellness. You can find more information on our website wwwbermanptcom for physical therapy. Wwwbermanptcom forward slash wellness for the health and wellness. Mptcom forward slash wellness for the health and wellness. You can also find us on social media Facebook, Instagram and on your podcast platform, so be sure to follow us, like us, subscribe to us and, if you would like any further information, definitely visit our website and reach out to us. You may also find our free reports on the websites as well, where you can download this free information for yourself. Have a great day.