Recently, I had a chance to experience what it means to be fully alive in a way that most of us have long forgotten. This happened during a five-day facilitator training workshop with Philip Shepherd.* A deep dive into his pattern-dissolving exercises triggered cascading insights that reconnected me with a self that had been long-buried.

The transformation I experienced was at a non-verbal level, so it is difficult to convey the experience with words. It was simply paradigm shifting. As the week progressed, I came to realize that each day was bringing so many changes that I would emerge a different person from the Andrei who entered the program.

For me, and for many of our long-term clients, the New Element Training approach has transformed the way we approach fitness and keeping healthy generally – physically, certainly, but even mentally. Explaining it properly takes more than a soundbite!

Hopefully, Global TV will invite me back for a longer segment and I can structure the explanation along the following lines:

The Solution: An Ultra-Efficient Form of Strength Training. “Work by scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and other institutions shows that even a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike-riding.” [Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times]

The question then became, why isn’t this exercise method more widely known and practiced? A common reason people give for not exercising is lack of time. This approach takes almost no ‘gym’ time by conventional standards and produces exceptional results.

“Dietary protein supplementation significantly enhanced changes in muscle strength and size during prolonged resistance training [strength training] in healthy adults.”

Our philosophy at New Element Training is that the process of moving towards your vision is more important than the actual goal. If you value your final goal over the process of achieving it, you will feel frustration, anxiety or even anger at every setback. The resulting stress will diminish the quality of what you are doing, and you may feel frustrated enough to give up your exercise routine altogether.