Strength Kvlt

Be an asset. Do not be the reason somebody does not make it home to their loved ones. If you are unwilling to prepare for the mental and physical rigors of a violent profession on a daily basis. You are a risk and liability to those who depend on your preparedness.

If you haven’t already noticed the theme in my recent posts. Time management has been a heavy focus of mine lately. Building a better daily routine to accommodate family, work, jiu jitsu and strength training. All time consuming endeavors if done correctly. My goal has been to trim the fat off my life. Cut away the unnecessary and time stealing activities. Let me be clear that these are not sacrifices. We are talking about things that in your death bed will be meaningless. If I don’t get to binge watch a Netflix series every night. I am pretty confident that I won’t die or miss out on too much. You will find that if you dedicate time to pursuing only things that make your life better. Your life will get better. It’s weird how that works out in that way.

I watched an interview with a guy who did the CrossFit “Murph” workout everyday for a year. He was a regular guy, had a wife, couple of kids, and a job but decided to dedicate an hour a day into grinding out this workout. You know what one of his biggest takeaways was after a year? How much unnecessary time he was wasting on unimportant things. He had to do this hour long brutal workout everyday, and spend time with his family. He still wanted to be a husband and father, so cut out the insignificant activities.

Daily Routine I am not one of those guys that pushes that hardcore daily routine schedule. The “Wake up before you go to bed” social media snake oil that targets men looking for a way to improve their life. It predatory behavior that isn’t followed by the people pushing it down our throats. You have to find a schedule that works for your life, family schedule, work commitments, and training routine. What works for me isn’t necessarily going to work for you. I’m not going to post a watch photo everyday trying to guilt you into to anything.

The mindset should be adapted to your firearms training as well. I love shooting from my gun belt with all the mag punches, drop pouch, and cool guy holster. I also don’t walk around like that in my day to day life. I carry appendix inside the waistband (AIWB) when I walk out my front door, so I train drawing from that carry position. Often, it’s only dry firing as the two local indoor ranges don’t allow live fire from the AIWB. So when I get the chance shoot at a range that allows it. I spend a significant amount of time dedicated to shooting from that carry position. If you all have is the space to dry fire. Do it. You should be dry firing once week.

Train like you fight.

Are you training enough in your day to day street clothes? I can tell you I’m not doing it at all right now. I train both Gi and No Gi, but it has been a long time since I’ve rolled in jeans, shoes and regular t-shirt. The clothing I’m wearing 99% of time I walk out my front door. It changes the dynamic of the fight as not all techniques can applied the same, or at all. Movement can potential be restricted due to layers of clothing. It’s winter in United States right now. Try grappling with heavy boots and a thick winter jacket, on the frozen ground or icy sidewalk. Factor in concealed carry or other miscellaneous items like a backpack or keys in your pocket. It’s not as easy as starting from a neutral position on the ground in a rash guard.

Find the problem. Fix the problem.

At a minimum, try to train in a combat sport twice a week. If you can get an 1-2 hours of fight training in twice a week. You are doing far more than the average person. Remember, it is a lifetime commitment to training, not a few classes and you’re done. We are playing the long game of keeping our fighting abilities up.

If you’re looking for a good book to read about sleeping. I highly recommend Dr. Matthew Walker. You’ve probably heard him on Joe Rogan, or his own podcast.

Sleep. If you are going to do one thing in 2024 to improve your overall health and longevity. Get more sleep. The average adult should be getting 7-9 hours of consistent sleep every night. You need to make your sleep hygiene a ritual. Two simple things you can do to vastly improve your sleep hygiene, and boost sleep quality. First, go to bed at the same time every night. Your body produces melatonin 2-3 hours before your sleep. If you consistently go to bed at the same time. Your body will start producing melatonin at the same time each night. I go to bed at 10pm every night, and around 8pm I start to feel the drowsiness. I am lights out when my head hits the pillow. Second, treat your bed as only a place for sleep and sex. It is not a place to watch television or doom scroll on social media. You can have all the phones settings adjusted, blue blockers on, but you’re still blasting light into your eyes. Tricking your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. Chronic lack of sleep causes weight gain, lower testosterone levels in men, and impairs cognitive abilities. Poor sleep is directly related to developing Alzheimer’s. Imagine not remembering who you are as a person, forgetting a lifetime of memories, or not recognizing your family. All because you didn’t want to go to bed.