Notes or Nothing – A Blueprint to Practically Executing Your Blueprint
Written by Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is known for his wholistic approach to personal coaching merging fitness training with nutritional therapeutics. Author of the e-books A How-to Guide in Developing Functional Strength, Power and Adaptability, and The Cussing Coach, both published in 2024.
This article presents a powerful blueprint for executing your fitness goals, emphasizing the importance of a written plan, structured recovery, and consistent practice. It offers a step-by-step guide to developing a personalized fitness strategy, focusing on the essential principles of nutrition, sleep, hydration, and mental resilience. By incorporating practical tips and actionable steps, the article encourages readers to commit to their journey and overcome challenges, ultimately transforming their fitness aspirations into reality.
A poem of possibilities...
When I look up at the sky I find peace, when I look into your eyes I find happiness.
When I think of the possibilities, the freedom this world offers, I am in awe.
When I offer you my help, it's from a deep desire, a yurning.
Can the stars not bend to us just once?
When you offer your help, I offer my service to you.
Your kind, warming smile motivates me.
Your soft spoken words are calming and charming.
I feel I am an island miles from the city.
It was over, and now there's a beginning.
When you look at the chapters of your fitness journey, what do you remember? What do you see?
A plan is more than a plan, it is a blue print for success. For this paper you must act upon daily. You cannot fight with your mind only. You must bring it into being.
The structures of good planning & how to practically manifest your ambitions
I want you to think about the structure point by point, and the principles that inform them:
Recovery:
Nutrition and food
Calories and water
Sleep and stretching
Cold and heat
Spirit and body
A written plan:
Adaptable and modifiable
Changing when necessary
A guide and an inspiration
Commitable and compatible
A space to practice:
Spacious
Cool
Cleanable
Equipment:
Weights
Mats
Cardio equipment
Bands
Racks and storage
Action:
Discipline over motivation
Time to practice
Feelings are irrelevant unless adhering to the principles of recovery
All the above play an important role in your "journey" to achieving your next desired goal. This goal could be the body shape you've always dreamed of, the energy your body’s been yearning for, or a training event or competition that you’ve been wanting to take part in.
The desire behind the (fitness) demon
Your motivation behind this desire could be a family illness, and you're wanting to put yourself through this rigorous training to contribute to their health restoration. It could be that someone told you "you couldn't do it" (one of the biggest motivators!) or it could be that you have "something to prove to yourself!" Whatever the reason, you made the decision, the commitment, that you want this, and you want it now!
Begin by writing out your fitness plan, and if you haven't done this before, start with just one day. Yes, plan for what you want to do in the gym, or at home, tonight. Take this written (or typed) plan with you to the gym and follow it to the letter! This will show you two things:
You will display a commitment to yourself that you may not have seen before.
You will demonstrate to yourself that you have the work ethic to perform in the next gym session.
In between your bouts of exercise, take notes on your phone about how you're feeling during the session and what you're thinking about. This, in particular, will reveal your level of drive; pushing through a tough session, regardless of negative thoughts, shows great character.
Next
Next, I want you to repeat the process and plan your second session. This time, you're going to use the notes from your first session and put them into action. You can do this by pushing past any mental blockages you may have had last time, or by being aware not to over train a muscle group this time. An important note to have recorded is one about your exercise techniques: Could you have performed those movements more efficiently? Or, How can you take what you learned from your techniques last session and apply them to this one?
When you get home, adhere to the 'Principles of Recovery.' Many people fail to master this because of impatience generated by a 'Modernized' and 'Industrialized' society, where the 'Like' button gets more attention than your pet dog! As a result of this and related factors, many of us seem to neglect the following essential aspects of recovery:
Sleep
Wholistic nutrition
Hydration
Stretching
Cold therapy
I didn't type 'Food' in there because, let's face it, when it comes to getting the calories in, most of us are pretty good at that (including me!). But getting the 'right' calories in, ah, that's a different story altogether.
Unless you're an ultra–marathon athlete or adventurer, which physiologically demands you to consume 10,000–15,000+ calories per day, you shouldn't really be eating dirty.
Naturally occurring foods should be enough to satiate you, given that you're supplementing with all '90 essential nutrients,' thus meeting your nutrient and calorie goals for each meal.
Here is a list of naturally occurring foods across the globe:
Protein:
Beef, buffalo, ostrich, ox
Chicken, turkey, pork
Duck
Eggs
Wild cod, haddock, monk fish, sea bass, arctic char, hake
Salmon, trout, swordfish, tuna
Vegetables:
Radish
Kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce
Bell pepper, tomato
Onion, spring onion, shallot, garlic
Cucumber, celery
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
Parsnip, sweet potato, potato, yam
Mushrooms
Fruit:
Apple, pear
Orange, lemon, lime, clementine
Watermelon, cantaloupe
Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries
Grapes
Kiwi fruit
Mango, banana, pineapple, agave
Above is a 'shortlist' of foods. I didn't mention the good fats, spices, herbs, pulses, grains, dark chocolate, or various teas and coffees. I re-emphasize, you must consider your nutritional needs. We appear to live near industries that push fractionated nutrition. Even the bigger brands seem to be missing a lot of nutrition. They have maybe 20–25 nutrients in them, well, the human body needs 90 essential nutrients. Where are the other 65?
Nutrients
The human body requires 60 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 amino acids, and 2–3 essential fatty acids to function optimally. Each nutrient works in synergy with the others, activating and enabling various enzymes to function properly in the body, supporting DNA and RNA synthesis, supporting the immune system, and helping brain function and skin health, to name a few.
Now, during exercise, you don't just lose electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iodine, etc.). When you sweat as part of the body's natural cooling process, you lose a whole "soup" of the 90 essential nutrients. This is why athletes who are 'dialed in' will take their supplementation, hydration, and sleep seriously and will schedule it in their plan.
They're called 'essential' because the body cannot manufacture them in any way, shape, or form. When you lose them through exercise and don't replace them over a period of time, bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, skin, organs, and systems gradually break down. Cramps, twitches, and bone and joint problems are the most common symptoms of a calcium (and co-factors) deficiency and are very common among athletes and gym goers of all kinds.
Sleep
Sleep is a major part of recovery and helps turn on your parasympathetic nervous system (a.k.a. 'rest and digest'), which helps you break down, store, and absorb food and nutrition so you can recover optimally. High quality sleep should be on your priority list.
Turning off blue light 30–60 minutes before you 'turn in' for the night will help your body secrete melatonin, the "sleep hormone," more effectively than hammering blue light screens every evening.
Other activities, such as drawing, writing, reading, puzzles, and meditation, will also help sleep if you replace blue light activity. Meditation and deep breathing exercises have been proven to help promote sleep for many years.
Final words
Once you have an understanding of the basic principles of recovery, the necessary space and equipment, and your written plan ready, it's time to put it into action!
Remember, practice is the key to everything. Practice, review, then adapt when necessary. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Become a legend, become great, and conquer the battle within your own mind!
God bless.
Read more from Bradley Abbott
Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is a personal coach and author. Known for his wholistic approach to training merging naturopathic principles with fitness training, he has managed to reverse the symptoms of his clients almost completely, and raise their energy to heights they never thought possible. He is the founder of Phoenix Phorm Online and uses these platforms to educate and inspire a larger audience.
