6 Steps To Bulletproof Your Body.

With a difference…

This guide is not just about the specific exercises needed. We cover all the aspects of optimal

performance. The 6 steps are full outlined here.

1. Sleep

2. Mindset

3. Nutrition

4. Movement

5. Exercise

6. Downtime

This is not only an exercise guide, it goes into all the areas of life which may affect and developing

resilience for your body.

Here are the steps areas to consider. My suggestion on which of the 6 steps to start with is to start

with the easiest one for you first. I often suggest doing the easiest first. Get a push start so to speak,

once we get a win on the board we are more likely to continue.

Motivation often comes after we start and those that continue do it despite motivation (as it

becomes a habit). Choose a category, then choose one item on that category you feel you need

most/easiest for you and start.

1: Sleep

Yes I’ve placed this at the top of the list. Sleep is that important and often the one most neglected. It

leads into the other 5 below. Why is sleep important?

Maintains your weight

You can concentrate better

Ability to make better informed decisions

You'll live longer

You're less likely to get ill

You'll remember things clearly

How do I get more sleep?

Make your room quiet

You can use white noise to drown out traffic or the outside world. If you don’t live near a beach

there are plenty on apps (make sure you don’t use your phone before bed though. –No Facebook)

Make your room dark

Even the smallest amount of light can interfere with melatonin (sleep hormone) production.

Blocking out light can be money well spent as is turning off any electronic devices that may interfere

with the darkness of the room.

Get rid of your phone

Use a normal alarm clock if possible, if not, place it outside of the room (some phone alarms will still

turn on, even if your phone is off. Scrolling through your timeline before bed is a sure-fire way to

disrupt sleep. Aim to achieve no screen time for the last 30-60 mins before bed.

Be natural

Aim to wake with the sunlight, the light will boost your vitamin D and adjust your circadian rhythm.

Don’t fear sunlight, it’s good for you.

Set a routine and stick to it

Our bodies like to have routines. Even on a day off where it’s possible to sleep in a little (unless you

have kids perhaps) we shouldn’t aim to sleep in. Get to bed earlier following the steps listed and you

should be able to sleep well.

Be as productive as possible.

This is one that the sleep experts won’t tell you about. If you’re lying in bed each night regretting

you didn’t get through your most important tasks for the day, you won’t be able to relax.

Thinking “I could of done more today” is not a relaxing state to be in.

2: Mindset

Mindset is a key that is often forgotten to build a strong a resilient body.

How we think affects what we do, what we say and how we feel. It will determine how you respond

or react to a situation; it affects our choice and behaviours.

Do you have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?

A fixed mindset is where one believes we have an innate ability and this is what we are to work with.

Or we can develop our ability through hard work and effort. This is called a growth mindset.

These two different beliefs lead to different behaviour, and also to different results.

Having a growth mindset (the belief that you are in control of your own ability, and can learn and

improve) is the key to success. Yes, hard work, effort, and persistence are all important, but as

important is having that underlying belief that you are in control of your own destiny. Regardless of

where you are with your health, there are steps to move forward and things we can improve upon.

As long as we know the end goal, and work back with the steps required. Taking one tasks at a time.

Mindset in Practice

People with these two mindsets actually think differently and also react to information differently.

In particular, may respond differently to information about performance. In people with a fixed

mindset, the brain is most active when they are being given information about how well they have

done, for example, test results.

In people with a growth mindset, the brain is most active when they are being told what they could

do to improve. It’s a very different approach: from ‘How did I do?’ to ‘What can I do better next

time?’

One is about how they are perceived, and one is about how they can learn. You can see which one is

likely to lead to better results in future.

There are three key things that you can do to develop a growth mindset:

You need to recognise that a growth mindset is not just good, but is also supported by science. In

other words, you need to be committed to developing a growth mindset.

You can learn and teach others about how to develop and improve their abilities through adopting a

growth mindset. This will help you to take control of your life, which is hugely empowering. Research

shows that people who feel in control tend to perform better. It’s a virtuous cycle.

Listen out for your fixed mindset voice. When you hear that little critical voice in your head telling

you that you can’t do something, reply with a growth mindset approach and tell it that you can learn

3: Nutrition

Eat food, mostly plants, not too much is a famous quote from Michael Pollan. The quote is a simple

way to guide us how we should be eating.

Eat food: refers to “real food” – meaning non processed food.

Mostly plants: Our diet generally needs increasing in vegetables

Not too much: Ensure we eat foods that provide fullness to minimise overeating

Nutrition Tips:

Nutrition is the fuel for our bodies. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't

recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something

with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?"

Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food

tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced

with fresh foods when it goes bad.

It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating

before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a

similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.”

Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a

good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between

meals felt wrong?"

Earn your carbs: Carbohydrates aren’t inherently bad even though that have a bad name at

times. It’d often a food nutrient that is easiest to overeat. Carbohydrates are a main energy

source for most people, so we need to match our carb intake with our activity levels for the

day.

If you do overeat (it will happen), it’s best to modify meals pre and post to balance the

equation. Where we slip up, is that we tend to overeat, then go back to eating a standard

portion, and that’s how the fat can creep up. If we balance the equation we can best

manage our intake.

4: Movement

I’ve split movement and exercise into 2 separate categories as they are both important but should

be discussed in different contexts.

What is movement and why is it important? Moving well, moving often keeps us healthy, we are not

designed to sit for too long at all. Movement can include the low level activity we complete but

should be as constant as possible and almost subconscious. It becomes part of our bulletproofing

process as “movement” is a major part of what keeps us internally (and externally) healthy and

functional. If we stop doing something, our body loses the ability to do it (we can get it back but it

takes effort).

The concept of movement can be referred to as N.E.A.T.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR), plus the thermic effect of the foods you eat, added to something

often referred to as Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) or Non-Exercise Physical Activity

(NEPA) makes up your energy requirements for each day. NEAT or NEPA is a huge part of that

equation and I’ll explain how.

BMR + thermic effect of food + NEAT/NEPA = daily energy requirement

BMR, or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), is the energy requirement of your body either without any

activity or while lying motionless. BMR/RMR accounts for about 60% of your total daily energy

requirements. The thermic effect of food (the amount of calories needed to digest food) accounts

for about 10-15% of your energy requirements. The rest of your energy requirements are dependent

on how active you are in both intentional exercise and NEAT/NEPA activities (normal life activities

like cleaning, shopping, walking, etc.).

Exercising is absolutely important but as you can see as far as the bodies health goes. It’s only part of

the equation for performing optimally and being bulletproof. A daily surplus of movement and adds

up over time, just as non-movement can.

Steps (pun intended) to improve day to day movement

o Learn to move your joints independently then apply. This is our system, we teach

o Sit less and move more.

o Walk to the train

o Take the stairs (or walk up the escalators.)

o Our bodies are not designed to sit for even moderate periods but we are often

required to with our occupation.

o Annoy those around you by tapping or fidgeting

o Squat 10 times each time you get off your chair

o Get low to speak to a child.

o Keep practicing as large range of motion - reach high, squat low

o Ask yourself. How can I move more today. Practice this for a month, habits will form

5: Exercise

“Isolate, Integrate ,Improvise” are our exercise principles.

What does this mean? First to bulletproof our body, we need to ensure we can isolate and correct

any deficiencies/dysfunctions.

Step 1: First we must learn to isolate the section of the body and learn to work and move joints

in isolation/independently.

Step 2: Once we create independence at each joint (knowing how to move that section of our

body without moving other parts) then we can begin integrating these into full movements.

This helps with our movement and exercise technique (as well as our day to day functional

movement). For example, if we get into a less than optimal position, we can always adjust the

required joint to correct ourselves.

Step 3: Improvise refers to the ability to adjust our body and apply the basic movement/exercise

rules into an activity we do. If we understand how each joint should move and/or stabilise we

can then just apply as needed.

The basics are not all that basic.

To bulletproof our bodies we should learn to move well (the 3 i’s) and exercise keeping in

mind the basic movements out bodies will be required to do. These are

1. Push

2. Pull

3. Hinge

4. Squat

5. Press

6. Carry

Any exercise or movement is a combination of these basic movements. While we might call them

the basics, they are not basic at all. They form the foundation to bulletproof our body. Think of them

as the pillars of the house, holding it strong.

If we know how to move each joint, how to stabilise muscles as required and aim to become strong

in the basic movement patterns. We will go a long way to being injury free.

Exercises to bulletproof your body

Many of these exercises will form the starting point to build the foundation of correct joint

movement or stabilisation. They provide the foundation for our other exercises and movements to

work from.

Shoulder – Straight arm pull-down

Stand in a good upright posture, knees slightly bent, lower core engaged, breastbone lifted,

chin tucked to neutral and hold this posture throughout the exercise. Do not let the chin

poke.

Hold the ends of the cable with your elbows straight and palms facing down.

Initiate the motion with the shoulder blades, opening up through the front of the shoulders,

drawing the blades backward. Do not shrug.

Then slowly pull the arms down to your sides, not behind.

Pause at the end of the movement, then slowly return to the starting position.

Concentrate on the pattern of the movement, controlling your head and neck posture

before increasing the resistance.

Core – Dead Bug

Lie on your back and place both knees and hips bent to 90 degrees and both arms pointed

towards the ceiling.

Activate your lower abdominals (transversus abdomini) by bringing your belly button inward

and by activating your pelvic floor muscles 20 to 30% of a maximal contraction.

Maintain a steady abdominal breathing while you lower one leg straight and lower the

opposite arm over the head.

Just before you touch the ground return the leg and arm to the starting position and repeat

with the other leg and opposite arm.

Lower back – Alternate arm/leg extension

Get on your hands and knees (four point position) with your knees and hands, hip and

shoulders width apart. Your back is in neutral position (slightly arched) and your chin must

be tucked in.

Activate your lower abdominals (transversus abdominus) by bringing your belly button

inward and by activating your pelvic floor muscles 20 to 30% of maximal contraction.

Maintain a steady abdominal breathing while you simultaneously lift one leg backwards and

the opposite arm overhead keeping your back in neutral position.

Return to the initial position and repeat with the other leg and arm

Pelvis - Clam

Lie on your side with both legs slightly bent.

Lift your top leg (injured leg), keeping your pelvis stable, your leg slightly bent and your heels

together. Rotate your hip so that your foot and your kneecap are pointing upward during the

movement.

Return to the initial position and repeat.

Hips – Hip hinge

Stand straight with knees bent slightly and knee in line with 2nd toe

Bend your trunk forward from your hips pressing buttock equally backward.

Keep your lower back straight as you flex forward.

Maintain balance point in midfoot

Return to the starting position.

Lower Limbs

Step forward into lunge position (start from floor with knees at 90 degrees)

Position knee slightly inside hip joint line with knee in line with 2nd toe

Back foot is also straight and knee in line with 2nd toe

Lunge straight up evenly distributing weight

Slowly lower to start position

Ankle

Stand up and take feet to normal stance, knee and foot slightly inside hip joint

Knee in line with 2nd toe

Keep an even heel, go up pushing through first and second toe

You should not rotate out to your 5th toe

Keep your weight evenly distributed without rocking back to heels at end

Breath – Diaphragmatic Breathing

Sit or stand in a good upright posture against the wall.

Place one hand across the front of your throat just above your collar bones to monitor the

unwanted activity of the surface muscles. Place the other hand at the side of your lower rib

cage, or use an elastic tubing around your lower rib cage to encourage rib expansion.

Take a deep breath in through your nose, trying to fill the lower part of your lungs, making

sure that your upper chest does not contribute and that the surface muscles of the neck do

not contract.

Breathe out through your mouth and then repeat.

6: Downtime

Read – Whatever you like - sometimes fiction to get the brain to switch off from the “big

tasks” – Ever noticed you come up with great ideas when you’re not thinking about it? It’s

because your brain is still working on it in the background.

Mediate – Headspace and calm are two great apps if you are personally unfamiliar with how

to meditate. (Both these phone apps provide a guided mediation – 20 minutes per day can

be recommended)

Recover – Swim, play with kids, explore neighbourhoods, people watch at a corner café.

Summary

This is the gateway to exploring this further. To unlock your best potential. If you’d like to know

more visit us, click like, comment and interact. Keep following for more information.

Remember choose one category and within that category choose one aspect to start. Choose the

easiest, stick with it before adding the next. Stay with the same task for 2 weeks or more if required.

Our program delves into these steps in further detail, including exercise plans. These will get you a

great start and we’d love to get your feedback on how you are going with these steps.

Email us at info@fitclinic.com.au or post on our social media profiles and let us know what you’re

working on and if we can help you further.

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Bulletproof Body 7 Day Tracker

How to use: Decide which category you want to start with first. Within this category choose a sub-option to begin to improve upon. For example, if you chose “sleep”

then write down your option you will use to assist this. Tick or highlight each day as it’s achieved. Only tick once completed. Remember start simple and build on it. Not

every section needs to be used every day. You may choose to focus on a category on a certain day.

Day

Category Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Sleep

Option Eg: Phone in different room

1:

2:

Mindset

Option 1:

2:

Nutrition

Option 1:

2:

Movement

Option 1:

2:

Exercise

Option 1:

2:

Downtime

Option 1:

2: