July 24, 2025 • 33 mins
Are you spinning your wheels with workouts that just don’t seem to work? Choosing the wrong fitness level could be sabotaging your progress without you even realizing it!
In this episode, we're taking the guesswork out of training decisions. Whether you're just starting out or eyeing the advanced programs, we break down how to confidently select the right level — and how to know when you're ready to level up.
In this episode, we cover:
- Key indicators to help you choose the right course level for your current fitness, mobility, and coordination
- The biggest mistakes handlers make when starting too high or too low – and how it affects performance
- How to tell when you’re ready to progress to a more challenging program
- The way our strength AND speed/agility programs build on one another for cumulative gains
- Why consistency matters more than intensity at the beginning
- How each level supports your goals in the ring, from improved stability to more explosive sprinting
Don't miss this: ➡️ We reference our FREE Handler Stretching Guide — a great place to start assessing how your body moves and what level may suit you best. You can grab yours at https://liz-joyce-fitnes.kit.com/75a61bb61a
Listen now and take the first step toward choosing the perfect challenge level — one that sets you up for success, not setbacks. 💪
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey dog sport handlers, welcome to the canine Handler fitness
podcast. I'm your host Liz Joyce, your go
to expert for all things dog sport fitness.
Whether you're running, agility,doing protection work, tackling,
search and rescue, handling it tough tugger or just looking to
build Frank for a lifetime of adventures with your dog.
Remember you are half the team and I'm here to help you stay
(00:23):
strong, mobile and injury free. Join me as I breakdown the
unique demands handler fitness, speed, strength, endurance, and
everything you need to perform at your best, both in and
absolutely. Let's stay strong, stay in the
game, and keep doing what we love.
Hey there, and welcome back to the Canine Handler Fitness
podcast. I am Liz Joyce and today we're
(00:45):
answering a big question. I get all the time.
How do I know what level I'm at?Am IA beginner, intermediate or
advanced? Especially when it comes to both
strength and agility. Slash speed, which are not
always the same thing. This episode will help you
figure out where you're startingfrom and why it's a really smart
(01:08):
thing to do. Choosing the right level means
that you're not overdoing it andgetting hurt.
It also means that you're not underdoing it and getting bored
or frustrated. And lastly, that you're training
SMART for your goals, for your body, and for your life.
(01:30):
This is not about ego or being tough.
It's about showing up where you are so you can grow from there.
I always tell my clients to train themselves like they would
train their dog and to think about it like information and
not frustration. In the same way that if their
(01:52):
dog was having a hard time with an exercise that was too
advanced for them, they're not abad dog.
They didn't fail, they're not where they should be.
They're a fantastic animal. That's just an exercise that's
too advanced for them. And the thing that you do for
them is break it down and build the foundations until they can
(02:16):
do that. And I want you to think about
how you would treat your dog andbring that same compassion to
yourself. We're also going to talk about
the role of ego in choosing yourworkouts.
Because whether we realize it ornot, it is always in the room
when we choose our workouts. And listen, ego isn't all bad.
(02:40):
It's the part of you that wants to do well, prove yourself and
keep up. It's the voice that says things
like I used to be able to run a 5K no problem, I should still be
able to, or everyone else is doing the intermediate program
(03:01):
so I should too. Or I don't want to look like a
beginner. Or maybe I don't even want to
see beginner on my workout program.
And while that can be motivating, ego can also get you
hurt emotionally and physically.Ego is what pushes you to skip
the foundations, the mobility work, the form drill, the
(03:26):
strength rogressions because youwant to go faster or harder
right away. But here's the truth, when you
choose a workout based on where you want to be instead of where
you are, your body pays the price.
(03:47):
These are some signs that your ego might be choosing your
workout level for you. You choose the hard version of a
workout even though the last onefelt shaky, painful, or you
couldn't complete all the movements with confidence and
balance. You might be skipping your
warmus or mobility because it feels too easy or too slow.
(04:12):
You might be comparing your level to others instead of your
own progress. You could feel ashamed of being
labeled A beginner. You rush through workouts to
check the box instead of focusing on the quality of
movement and the type of muscular engagement that you're
able to get out of that. Let's talk about fliing the
(04:35):
script. Choosing with wisdom is choosing
the right level even when it feels lower than you want is an
act of athletic maturity and I'dargue general maturity.
It means that you're training for longevity, sustainability,
and real progress. That you're setting your future
(04:57):
self U for success. That you know today's workout is
about building and not proving. And instead of asking what level
do I think I should be at, a better question is what level
will help me feel grade, state injury free and make measurable
progress overtime because of that is what an athlete does.
(05:19):
You dog sport athletes, athletestrain with intention and not
their ego. O how do you know if the be
inner level is the right level for you?
And this is where you're going to build your base in terms of
strength training. Beginner level workouts look
like body weight exercises or light resistance.
(05:41):
Why? In this phase of working out and
strength training, you have to be focused on your motor
control. This is the phase of working out
where you're building and strengthening neuromuscular
connections, your brain and body.
If you haven't been working out for a while, or maybe you didn't
(06:01):
grow up an athlete or you haven't strength trained before,
it is not uncommon for your brain and body to have a total
like disconnect. You may not be able to fire or
engage the muscles at all. And if that sounds like you, you
have to be able to consciously engage the muscles in your
(06:23):
exercises before you're ready toadd load to the movement.
We also want to be working on your joint stability and also
your posture. All of these things are going to
allow your body and your form and your mechanics to get loaded
to a higher level later. And that is what's really going
(06:43):
to take you to that advanced level faster than if you brush
through this stuff because it's not super sexy.
Here are some statements. If they feel like you're
connecting with them, these might be the level that you're
at. I feel wobbly during balance
moves. I'm not sure that I'm doing this
(07:03):
right. I feel my back working during
core work and not my abs. Or I can't tell if I'm weak or
just unfamiliar with the movement.
Again, the goals of the beginnerprogram are to improve your
neuromuscular control, to build strength in supportive muscle
(07:25):
groups like your glutes, your core, your shoulders.
Learn proper form and also, and this is huge breathing
strategies, especially as we're getting older, y'all, we are
going to lose muscle mass. We are also going to drop
collagen, which is going to makethe supportive structure for our
(07:47):
pelvic floor more compromised. And people develop urinary
incontinence as a result of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Another thing that happens with people if they don't have good
breathing strategies on board, agood pressure management in
their torso or hernias. And listen, I have had four
(08:08):
major surgeries in the last couple of years.
I'm going to tell you this straight up.
You want to not have to go for surgery if you can avoid it.
I'm not saying don't go if you need it.
What I'm saying is if you can learn better breathing
strategies and pressure management and build your core
strength and not get hernias in the 1st place, that's a much
(08:29):
better place to be going from. We also want to be increasing
your confidence and building consistency into your workout
routine. If you need help with
consistency, I did a podcast recently with Heather Sumlin,
who is an incredible mental management coach and we talk all
(08:49):
about building consistency and please do go check that out
because it is packed with so many Nuggets.
Here's some ways that your ego might be interfering.
If you think you're in the beginner level, you might be
skipping beginner rogressions because they quote look easy.
You might also want to lift heavier before your form is
(09:10):
dialed in. And you might also be comparing
yourself to others and trying tocatch up with them.
But this is what we look for, this is what defines success in
a beginner program. You feeling more connected to
your body, reducing pain or discomfort during your daily
activities. And this is a big one.
(09:31):
Building trust in your form and your movement.
Knowing where your body is in space and being able to
replicate the movement over and over again is huge in terms of
agility and speed. What this is going to look like
is basic footwork, low impact drills.
(09:52):
Again, we kind of want to move through this a little bit on the
slower side because you have to be able to move your body with
coordination and you also want to be patterning, being on your
forefoot. Sprinting happens more on the
forefoot than the heel and a lotof us send a lot of time flat
footed. But I also want to put this in
your head that sprinting at Max speed, if you spend a lot of
(10:14):
time flat footed and then you want to Sprint on your forefoot,
that can be asking a lot of the structures in your feet and your
ankles. So building this U in low impact
form via ladder drills, different movement patterns
forward and backside to side on an angle, doing different things
(10:35):
with your UER body is going to give you fluency in a bunch of
different motions and that is going to build resiliency for
your body. We also want to be looking again
at coordination and reaction work.
This is also where we will be introducing you to running
drills, acceleration mechanics skills and drills are going to
(10:57):
put more weight on your forefootbuilding more spring in your
steps so you're able to produce that force to really power
forward. And here's some things that if
these connect with you, this is going to help you understand.
This is really the level that you should be at.
And again, beginner stuff with speed neutrality isn't really,
(11:18):
the sprinting isn't even really done at 100%.
I ask people for 70 to 80% of their Max Sprint speed when
they're in the stage because they're learning mechanics.
And it takes reps, it takes time.
And going at it at that pace asks less of the structures in
your knees, back, hips, feet, ankles, and reduces injury risk
(11:40):
while you're building clean mechanics that we can put to the
test later. Does this sound like you?
I lose my balance when I turn quickly.
I can't coordinate my arms and my feet.
Short sprints leave me gassed, or I'm scared of getting hurt if
I push too fast. That last one is about you
(12:01):
having more confidence in your body and its movement of
abilities. And that happens with reps,
guys. The goals for a beginner agility
and seed program are to build confidence and directional
changes, improve your joint loading tolerance, and begin
developping coordination under fatigue.
(12:22):
Right? That's another piece of this
that we don't want you fatigued while you're learning how to do
stuff. When you're tired, your body is
going to cheat movements and make you move in ways that are
not going to allow you to produce the Max amount of force
leader and that's what we want. We're setting the stage for
excellence. We're rolling out the red
carpet, we're showing up. The delivery truck is packed.
(12:43):
We're here. We just need to roll it out and
walk down that thing. We're also going to be preparing
you for more intense speed work and success in the beginner
speed and agility program. Looks like completing agility
drills without fear of injury, feeling stable and quick in
foundational movements. You will also notice improved
(13:04):
handling, footwork and reaction time.
Let's talk about what we're looking for at the intermediate
level and this is where we're going to start adding complexity
and also seed in your strength training.
We're going to be moving from body weight and light exercises
to moderate or heavier slash heavy resistance.
(13:27):
We are also going to begin unilateral strength, which means
single leg, single arm and sometimes one leg and the
opposite arm. And that's actually a really
cool thing because yes, you'll be training your muscles to work
together as a unit and patterning that, but you're also
(13:47):
going to be building a stronger fascial sling through the
backside of your body and give your whole body a lot of
support, especially use sprinters.
That is such an important piece of how you strength train.
We'll also be introducing templework and low level plyometrics.
Here's some statements that are going to help you identify if
(14:10):
you are in this category. I can do the moves, but I feel
stronger on one side. I'm not sure if I should go
heavier or slower. Here's another one.
I've hit a plateau. You've been doing your beginner
workouts and you've hit a plateau.
It is a good sign. It's time to move on.
(14:31):
The goals in this category are to increase your strength
capacity, to improve your symmetry and your efficiency,
and also to build resilience under load, which are things
like when you're decelerating, when you're landing, or if you
(14:51):
have to lift things from a awkward angle.
Because you've done all the beginner workouts until you're
fluent and all those movements you've gotten stronger with both
feet on the ground. And now we're starting to make
these things more complex. It's like this idea of posture.
Does posture create problems? And when you look at how humans
(15:11):
move, how humans are designed tomove, we're designed to move in
a bunch of different ways. O yes, we want to be lifting
with our knees and our hips morethan we want to be lifting with
our back. And also you have to be able to
pick things U if the object is to the right of you or to the
left of you, or if it's on a shelf that's at your knee height
(15:32):
or if it's overhead, you want tolift it off the shelf and bring
it down. It's training for life.
And this is where we're going tostart making those things more
complex. This is where you might find
your ego starts interfering at this level.
You might, esecially now that you're starting to make things
more complex, feel like you are lit up.
(15:54):
And you might start chasing numbers instead of chasing
quality repetitions. You might start jumping into
advanced lists without maybe mastering all the pieces of the
puzzle. You might even start feeling
like you are too advanced to do any warm up or prep.
And you will never be too advanced to skip your warm up or
(16:17):
your movement prep. Never, ever.
Not one time, not one day. You might also feel yourself
wanting to rush through tempo orisometric holds.
I find people, when they get into the intermediate level of
working out, are so excited about the variety that they're
able to do and they're so excited about their, you know,
(16:40):
movement library opening up and newfound balance and newfound
everything that they start to forget about building things
step by step. If you've got someone who's
programming for you, who's doingit intelligently and they're not
just throwing the workouts that they do at you, but they're
(17:00):
building workouts for you that build on one another.
This is really smart to stay at the workout that you're at until
you're ready to go to the next level.
Funny story, we had a friend whowas on a national bobsled team,
the Australian national bobsled team.
He made it all the way to the Olympics, which was so so cool.
(17:21):
This guy was a personal trainer and what he did was take his own
bobsled workouts and give them to his clients, like office
working clients that are menopausal women that are
probably not easy to be doing bobsled workouts.
(17:43):
But for them, it felt like it was kind of a sexy, cool, fun
thing to do. And for him, it didn't require a
lot of extra thought, right? He just gave them what he was
doing. And that is something, if you're
really watching, happens a lot in my industry.
These are the kinds of things that we're looking for.
This is what defines success at the intermediate level.
(18:06):
You will be lifting more weight with excellent form.
You'll be handling your agility with less strain.
Things are going to feel more fluent.
You're going to feel faster. You're going to be able to
execute changes of directions with a lot of control.
And because you've got better muscular strength and endurance
and cardiovascular endurance, you will be managing fatigue
(18:30):
better during long weekends or back-to-back events or even
between runs. Let's talk a little bit about
agility and speed. When you get to an intermediate
level, you are going to be starting to do multidirectional
seed drills. You're also going to be starting
to do some higher level cardiovascular training like
(18:51):
Temle runs, shorter intervals. We want to start working in some
anaerobic work into your cardiovascular stuff.
Your speed and sprinting is going to come up to 100% here,
and we're also going to be building in decelerations more.
But decelerations, just like thelifting, are going to be done in
(19:11):
multiple different directions. Here are some statements.
Again, if this connects with you, you're going to know that
you're in an intermediate level for your agility and speed
training. I can run faster, but I just
can't maintain it, or I lose rhythm when I'm fatigued, or I
(19:34):
get sloppy during drills with cones or direction changes.
Three years ago I built this amazing course called Fast and
Agile. A Whole build from can you stop
running in a forward direction when you're facing a cone?
All the way U to very complex hard drills that include
(19:55):
connection with the arm and really help handlers work on how
they're moving on course. It's been super cool.
A number of people that I've worked with that have gone
through this course have elevated their game so much that
they're competing at an international level now and I
love it. Being able to move really well,
(20:15):
but takes people to the advancedlevel is being able to control
their body when they are tired. And that just takes time and
reps and prep and more reps and more time and more conditioning
and more reps. And if you're in this category
and you want to be having crisp drills even when you're
(20:35):
fatigued, the only way that you're going to get there is to
keep going. Our goals for you in this
intermediate level are to increase your power and
acceleration, to improve your movement transitions like
stopping, starting, turning. Also to build your energy system
capacity. So recovering from sprints,
(20:56):
learning to pace yourself so that you can have energy
throughout the full run. Or if you're getting into
running or hiking, being able tomanage your outputs that you've
got energy for the whole time that you're out.
Success at the intermediate level looks like faster handling
times with control feeling smooth and agile over the course
(21:18):
of a long sequence like we're talking 2030 obstacles.
It's also going. To look like improved timing,
communication with your dog, you're going to have better
control of how your body moves, you're going to have better
speed, you're going to be able to verbally communicate better
because your cardiovascular's going to be in a better spot.
(21:39):
All these things are going to improve and this is what we're
looking for at the intermediate level.
Let's talk about some advanced stuff.
So this is where we want to be, maximizing your output and
efficiency in strength training.The advanced level stuff looks
like high load lifts. You have already dialed your
(22:01):
form in. It's gorgeous.
We have already started to work this form one leg or one arm at
a time and opposite leg and arm,lots of core stuff, and now
we're starting to load those movement patterns heavier.
We're also going to be doing plyometrics.
Plyometric is anytime you do a movement and you leave the
(22:24):
ground. So a squat is not a plyometric,
but if we come up out of the squad, you come up so fast and
hard that your feet leave the ground, that's a plyometric.
Plyometrics also look like lunging and then jumping up and
switching your feet in the air and landing with the opposite
foot forward can also look like jumping on the spot or jumping
from leg to leg. We're also going to be talking
(22:47):
about moving you into doing morepower movements, so we want to
be working on the transfer of energy from your lower to your
upper body. That is a skill and it can take
quite a while to figure out, butonce you've got it dialed in,
it's so cool to learn how to do that.
(23:07):
When I first started learning how to do that stuff, it felt so
amazing to be able to see the challenge, the lift that I was
doing. And no OK at that bottom little
part here. When I get the barbell up to my
knees, I really need to drive upand forward harder and faster,
like I need 20% more. But because I had such good use
(23:30):
of my body and I can control those things, all I had to do
was recognize where the fail point was and then turn it up.
We're also going to be looking for sports specific strength.
So agility handlers, people thatdo byte work, people that do
search and rescue stuff. Y'all are going to need
(23:50):
different kinds of programs because the tyes of movements
that we want to drill into your body to fluency, the tyes of
movements that we want to strengthen for your body and
also where the common fail points are where people get
injured in sports are different.So for your sport specifics we
want to be looking for things like acceleration.
(24:12):
Also decelerating, which looks like for people who are doing
search and rescue, walking down hills, for people that are doing
bite work, having the dog pull on you, that is also a form of
deceleration because you have tostop the movement from pulling
you forward. And we're also going to be
looking at more overhead work for people that are primarily
(24:34):
handling big dogs, but also you need some shoulder strength to
really kick butt when you're sprinting.
To work on that, There's going to be more of an emphasis on
velocity. We're going to be also
emphasizing your force production and your recovery.
Here's some statements. If you connect to these that are
going to help you, place yourself in this advanced
(24:54):
category. I feel powerful and athletic.
I know when to push and when to hold back.
I can see how. This translates to better
performance. Our goals here for you are to
maximize your strength to weightratio, to train for explosive
power and rapid recovery. The fitter that you are, the
(25:16):
quicker your recovery is going to be muscularly and also
cardiovascularly. And of course, as always, and
this goes without saying, I don't care what conversation
we're having, the goal always isto prevent injury through
well-rounded training and mobility work.
You cannot be an effective part of your team when you are
(25:38):
injured. That is the number one thing.
And also, I care about you, I really do.
And being injured in pain is notthe best way to spend a few days
or longer. Here's some things that your ego
is going to do when you hit thisadvanced level that might trip
you up. It might tell you to overtrain
(26:01):
or ignore your fatigue cues. Like you've gotten so much
locked in that even though you're tired, just like dog
training, you know when they saywhen you start thinking that
you've just got one more Rep, let's just do it one more time.
It's usually not such a great Rep.
Same thing with strength training.
(26:21):
When you start thinking I'm too tired to do this right this last
one, but if I just do it one more time I'll finish a sentence
for you. It's not going to go well.
You might also start prioritizing your performance
over long term health. What feels amazing isn't always
what's the best for your body ata later date.
(26:45):
I learned this lesson through powerlifting, actually.
And I was quite young when I didthis, like 17 to 25 roughly.
And during that time frame, you know, all of your ligaments and
joints and discs and muscles andeverything is new and fresh and
springy. And I'm very mercifully did not
get hurt. And also, the heavier I lifted,
(27:06):
the more I had not insignificantpain in my hips, in my neck, in
my back, in my arms, in my shoulders and all over the
place. When I started training.
Differently and started loading my body in a more balanced way
and focused more on my mobility and finding balance on my body,
front to back, side to side, twisting capacity, all that kind
(27:29):
of stuff. I found I was lifting much
lighter weight, like sometimes 70% of what I was lifting
before, but my body felt good because I was training
functional movement patterns. It translated into faster hiking
speeds, better cardiovascular work, it also heled me with my
snowboarding and it also heled me ick U new movement patterns
(27:53):
so much faster. Another way your.
Ego might trip you, U is to haveyou get stuck in performance
metrics instead of the purpose. Success in the stage looks like
erforming consistently at peak levels.
Also avoiding burnout and injuryduring your competitive seasons.
(28:13):
And that will be something that you have learned how to do.
It also looks like maintaining high level performance into
midlife and beyond. Just like that proverb, the best
day to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is
like right now. It's just like that.
(28:35):
If you're in your midlife feeling like Tang, I missed out.
I should have started this sooner.
You can just remember that the very next best time to plant a
tree is today. When we're looking at.
Agility and speed of the advanced level, we're looking at
advanced Sprint work, 100% sprints, longer sprints.
(28:57):
You want to increase your endurance.
For you agility athletes, I haveyou build connection and
actually verbals in because running with your arm extended
is very different than running in a straight line and you all
give cues a lot so you need to work on that or throws the
balance off. Also looks like for specific
footwork recision drills when you're tired we always want to
(29:18):
be emhasizing your reaction time, responsiveness and your
shar transitions here too. Here's some things.
That are going to help you placeyourself in this advanced level
of seed and agility. Does this sound like you?
I can hold top speed for an entire course.
I know how to pace myself and still finish strong.
(29:39):
I feel one step ahead of my dog in every turn.
The goals for you in this phase are to maximize speed and
responsiveness, minimize wasted movement.
We want to be filling all those energy gas.
Think of it like a bucket, and we want to fill all the little
holes in the bucket so that you don't have energy leaks
anywhere. You can just put every bit of
(30:01):
your effort towards being an incredible athlete.
The other goal is to maintain high output with minimal
fatigue. So building your resilience and
your overall fitness and successat this level looks like peak
performance on demand, consistent across different
terrain and trial formats. Because we are going to be
(30:22):
building your ankle strength andyour responsiveness, you'll be
able to tolerate different typesof services better.
It also looks like having confidence in your athleticism
and your recovery capacity. But listen.
If there's one thing I want you to take away from today's
episode, it's this. Being inspired.
(30:43):
By someone else's movement is a beautiful thing.
Inspiration, anywhere you can find it is a beautiful thing,
but your workout should meet your body where it's at.
There is no goal for doing the hardest workout.
I want you to think about it instead like prize.
(31:05):
The gold medal is feeling great in your body, consistently
feeling stronger, more fit and also having less or no injuries
and performing well or better with your dog.
Next time you catch. Yourself thinking I should be
doing more. Pause and ask yourself, I'm eye
training at the level that supports where I am now or am I
(31:29):
training for my ego? Another way to think about that
is if it was my dog in the situation, would I be asking
them to move to the next level if I saw them perform like X?
Choosing the right. Level is not about playing.
It's small guys. It's about playing.
It's smart and the best and fastest way for you to get from
(31:52):
a beginner level to an advanced level is to stay in the beginner
stuff until you're ready for theintermediate stuff and stay in
the intermediate stuff until you're ready for the advanced
stuff. Rushing through the workouts and
the plan is not going to get youthere faster.
It is going to always be cappingthe progress that you're making,
(32:13):
which isn't to say dial it back all the times that it's
definitely not the message that I want to send to you.
What I want to say to you is that to do the next level with a
lot of confidence and efficiency, you have to be able
to do the stuff that came beforeit.
(32:34):
Thanks so much for. Being here with me today and
choosing to spend this time investing in yourself, I hope
you feel encouraged to take action.
Even the smallest steps for willadd up in ways you cannot even
imagine yet. If this episode gave you
something to think about or lifted you up, please share it
with your friend. You really never know who might
(32:57):
need these tools today. For more information, practical
tools, and resources to help youget stronger and confident both
in and out of the ring, head on over to
caninehandlerfitness.com. You can also find all the
circles under the same name, so come on over and say hi.
I'm here to help you build the skills, knowledge, and believe
(33:19):
you need to reach your goals. Keep going, keep learning, and
most of all, keep showing up foryourself.
You've got this and I'll be herecheering for you every step of
the way.
Hey dog sport handlers, welcome to the canine Handler fitness
podcast. I'm your host Liz Joyce, your go
to expert for all things dog sport fitness.
Whether you're running, agility,doing protection work, tackling,
search and rescue, handling it tough tugger or just looking to
build Frank for a lifetime of adventures with your dog.
Remember you are half the team and I'm here to help you stay
(00:23):
strong, mobile and injury free. Join me as I breakdown the
unique demands handler fitness, speed, strength, endurance, and
everything you need to perform at your best, both in and
absolutely. Let's stay strong, stay in the
game, and keep doing what we love.
Hey there, and welcome back to the Canine Handler Fitness
podcast. I am Liz Joyce and today we're
(00:45):
answering a big question. I get all the time.
How do I know what level I'm at?Am IA beginner, intermediate or
advanced? Especially when it comes to both
strength and agility. Slash speed, which are not
always the same thing. This episode will help you
figure out where you're startingfrom and why it's a really smart
(01:08):
thing to do. Choosing the right level means
that you're not overdoing it andgetting hurt.
It also means that you're not underdoing it and getting bored
or frustrated. And lastly, that you're training
SMART for your goals, for your body, and for your life.
(01:30):
This is not about ego or being tough.
It's about showing up where you are so you can grow from there.
I always tell my clients to train themselves like they would
train their dog and to think about it like information and
not frustration. In the same way that if their
(01:52):
dog was having a hard time with an exercise that was too
advanced for them, they're not abad dog.
They didn't fail, they're not where they should be.
They're a fantastic animal. That's just an exercise that's
too advanced for them. And the thing that you do for
them is break it down and build the foundations until they can
(02:16):
do that. And I want you to think about
how you would treat your dog andbring that same compassion to
yourself. We're also going to talk about
the role of ego in choosing yourworkouts.
Because whether we realize it ornot, it is always in the room
when we choose our workouts. And listen, ego isn't all bad.
(02:40):
It's the part of you that wants to do well, prove yourself and
keep up. It's the voice that says things
like I used to be able to run a 5K no problem, I should still be
able to, or everyone else is doing the intermediate program
(03:01):
so I should too. Or I don't want to look like a
beginner. Or maybe I don't even want to
see beginner on my workout program.
And while that can be motivating, ego can also get you
hurt emotionally and physically.Ego is what pushes you to skip
the foundations, the mobility work, the form drill, the
(03:26):
strength rogressions because youwant to go faster or harder
right away. But here's the truth, when you
choose a workout based on where you want to be instead of where
you are, your body pays the price.
(03:47):
These are some signs that your ego might be choosing your
workout level for you. You choose the hard version of a
workout even though the last onefelt shaky, painful, or you
couldn't complete all the movements with confidence and
balance. You might be skipping your
warmus or mobility because it feels too easy or too slow.
(04:12):
You might be comparing your level to others instead of your
own progress. You could feel ashamed of being
labeled A beginner. You rush through workouts to
check the box instead of focusing on the quality of
movement and the type of muscular engagement that you're
able to get out of that. Let's talk about fliing the
(04:35):
script. Choosing with wisdom is choosing
the right level even when it feels lower than you want is an
act of athletic maturity and I'dargue general maturity.
It means that you're training for longevity, sustainability,
and real progress. That you're setting your future
(04:57):
self U for success. That you know today's workout is
about building and not proving. And instead of asking what level
do I think I should be at, a better question is what level
will help me feel grade, state injury free and make measurable
progress overtime because of that is what an athlete does.
(05:19):
You dog sport athletes, athletestrain with intention and not
their ego. O how do you know if the be
inner level is the right level for you?
And this is where you're going to build your base in terms of
strength training. Beginner level workouts look
like body weight exercises or light resistance.
(05:41):
Why? In this phase of working out and
strength training, you have to be focused on your motor
control. This is the phase of working out
where you're building and strengthening neuromuscular
connections, your brain and body.
If you haven't been working out for a while, or maybe you didn't
(06:01):
grow up an athlete or you haven't strength trained before,
it is not uncommon for your brain and body to have a total
like disconnect. You may not be able to fire or
engage the muscles at all. And if that sounds like you, you
have to be able to consciously engage the muscles in your
(06:23):
exercises before you're ready toadd load to the movement.
We also want to be working on your joint stability and also
your posture. All of these things are going to
allow your body and your form and your mechanics to get loaded
to a higher level later. And that is what's really going
(06:43):
to take you to that advanced level faster than if you brush
through this stuff because it's not super sexy.
Here are some statements. If they feel like you're
connecting with them, these might be the level that you're
at. I feel wobbly during balance
moves. I'm not sure that I'm doing this
(07:03):
right. I feel my back working during
core work and not my abs. Or I can't tell if I'm weak or
just unfamiliar with the movement.
Again, the goals of the beginnerprogram are to improve your
neuromuscular control, to build strength in supportive muscle
(07:25):
groups like your glutes, your core, your shoulders.
Learn proper form and also, and this is huge breathing
strategies, especially as we're getting older, y'all, we are
going to lose muscle mass. We are also going to drop
collagen, which is going to makethe supportive structure for our
(07:47):
pelvic floor more compromised. And people develop urinary
incontinence as a result of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Another thing that happens with people if they don't have good
breathing strategies on board, agood pressure management in
their torso or hernias. And listen, I have had four
(08:08):
major surgeries in the last couple of years.
I'm going to tell you this straight up.
You want to not have to go for surgery if you can avoid it.
I'm not saying don't go if you need it.
What I'm saying is if you can learn better breathing
strategies and pressure management and build your core
strength and not get hernias in the 1st place, that's a much
(08:29):
better place to be going from. We also want to be increasing
your confidence and building consistency into your workout
routine. If you need help with
consistency, I did a podcast recently with Heather Sumlin,
who is an incredible mental management coach and we talk all
(08:49):
about building consistency and please do go check that out
because it is packed with so many Nuggets.
Here's some ways that your ego might be interfering.
If you think you're in the beginner level, you might be
skipping beginner rogressions because they quote look easy.
You might also want to lift heavier before your form is
(09:10):
dialed in. And you might also be comparing
yourself to others and trying tocatch up with them.
But this is what we look for, this is what defines success in
a beginner program. You feeling more connected to
your body, reducing pain or discomfort during your daily
activities. And this is a big one.
(09:31):
Building trust in your form and your movement.
Knowing where your body is in space and being able to
replicate the movement over and over again is huge in terms of
agility and speed. What this is going to look like
is basic footwork, low impact drills.
(09:52):
Again, we kind of want to move through this a little bit on the
slower side because you have to be able to move your body with
coordination and you also want to be patterning, being on your
forefoot. Sprinting happens more on the
forefoot than the heel and a lotof us send a lot of time flat
footed. But I also want to put this in
your head that sprinting at Max speed, if you spend a lot of
(10:14):
time flat footed and then you want to Sprint on your forefoot,
that can be asking a lot of the structures in your feet and your
ankles. So building this U in low impact
form via ladder drills, different movement patterns
forward and backside to side on an angle, doing different things
(10:35):
with your UER body is going to give you fluency in a bunch of
different motions and that is going to build resiliency for
your body. We also want to be looking again
at coordination and reaction work.
This is also where we will be introducing you to running
drills, acceleration mechanics skills and drills are going to
(10:57):
put more weight on your forefootbuilding more spring in your
steps so you're able to produce that force to really power
forward. And here's some things that if
these connect with you, this is going to help you understand.
This is really the level that you should be at.
And again, beginner stuff with speed neutrality isn't really,
(11:18):
the sprinting isn't even really done at 100%.
I ask people for 70 to 80% of their Max Sprint speed when
they're in the stage because they're learning mechanics.
And it takes reps, it takes time.
And going at it at that pace asks less of the structures in
your knees, back, hips, feet, ankles, and reduces injury risk
(11:40):
while you're building clean mechanics that we can put to the
test later. Does this sound like you?
I lose my balance when I turn quickly.
I can't coordinate my arms and my feet.
Short sprints leave me gassed, or I'm scared of getting hurt if
I push too fast. That last one is about you
(12:01):
having more confidence in your body and its movement of
abilities. And that happens with reps,
guys. The goals for a beginner agility
and seed program are to build confidence and directional
changes, improve your joint loading tolerance, and begin
developping coordination under fatigue.
(12:22):
Right? That's another piece of this
that we don't want you fatigued while you're learning how to do
stuff. When you're tired, your body is
going to cheat movements and make you move in ways that are
not going to allow you to produce the Max amount of force
leader and that's what we want. We're setting the stage for
excellence. We're rolling out the red
carpet, we're showing up. The delivery truck is packed.
(12:43):
We're here. We just need to roll it out and
walk down that thing. We're also going to be preparing
you for more intense speed work and success in the beginner
speed and agility program. Looks like completing agility
drills without fear of injury, feeling stable and quick in
foundational movements. You will also notice improved
(13:04):
handling, footwork and reaction time.
Let's talk about what we're looking for at the intermediate
level and this is where we're going to start adding complexity
and also seed in your strength training.
We're going to be moving from body weight and light exercises
to moderate or heavier slash heavy resistance.
(13:27):
We are also going to begin unilateral strength, which means
single leg, single arm and sometimes one leg and the
opposite arm. And that's actually a really
cool thing because yes, you'll be training your muscles to work
together as a unit and patterning that, but you're also
(13:47):
going to be building a stronger fascial sling through the
backside of your body and give your whole body a lot of
support, especially use sprinters.
That is such an important piece of how you strength train.
We'll also be introducing templework and low level plyometrics.
Here's some statements that are going to help you identify if
(14:10):
you are in this category. I can do the moves, but I feel
stronger on one side. I'm not sure if I should go
heavier or slower. Here's another one.
I've hit a plateau. You've been doing your beginner
workouts and you've hit a plateau.
It is a good sign. It's time to move on.
(14:31):
The goals in this category are to increase your strength
capacity, to improve your symmetry and your efficiency,
and also to build resilience under load, which are things
like when you're decelerating, when you're landing, or if you
(14:51):
have to lift things from a awkward angle.
Because you've done all the beginner workouts until you're
fluent and all those movements you've gotten stronger with both
feet on the ground. And now we're starting to make
these things more complex. It's like this idea of posture.
Does posture create problems? And when you look at how humans
(15:11):
move, how humans are designed tomove, we're designed to move in
a bunch of different ways. O yes, we want to be lifting
with our knees and our hips morethan we want to be lifting with
our back. And also you have to be able to
pick things U if the object is to the right of you or to the
left of you, or if it's on a shelf that's at your knee height
(15:32):
or if it's overhead, you want tolift it off the shelf and bring
it down. It's training for life.
And this is where we're going tostart making those things more
complex. This is where you might find
your ego starts interfering at this level.
You might, esecially now that you're starting to make things
more complex, feel like you are lit up.
(15:54):
And you might start chasing numbers instead of chasing
quality repetitions. You might start jumping into
advanced lists without maybe mastering all the pieces of the
puzzle. You might even start feeling
like you are too advanced to do any warm up or prep.
And you will never be too advanced to skip your warm up or
(16:17):
your movement prep. Never, ever.
Not one time, not one day. You might also feel yourself
wanting to rush through tempo orisometric holds.
I find people, when they get into the intermediate level of
working out, are so excited about the variety that they're
able to do and they're so excited about their, you know,
(16:40):
movement library opening up and newfound balance and newfound
everything that they start to forget about building things
step by step. If you've got someone who's
programming for you, who's doingit intelligently and they're not
just throwing the workouts that they do at you, but they're
(17:00):
building workouts for you that build on one another.
This is really smart to stay at the workout that you're at until
you're ready to go to the next level.
Funny story, we had a friend whowas on a national bobsled team,
the Australian national bobsled team.
He made it all the way to the Olympics, which was so so cool.
(17:21):
This guy was a personal trainer and what he did was take his own
bobsled workouts and give them to his clients, like office
working clients that are menopausal women that are
probably not easy to be doing bobsled workouts.
(17:43):
But for them, it felt like it was kind of a sexy, cool, fun
thing to do. And for him, it didn't require a
lot of extra thought, right? He just gave them what he was
doing. And that is something, if you're
really watching, happens a lot in my industry.
These are the kinds of things that we're looking for.
This is what defines success at the intermediate level.
(18:06):
You will be lifting more weight with excellent form.
You'll be handling your agility with less strain.
Things are going to feel more fluent.
You're going to feel faster. You're going to be able to
execute changes of directions with a lot of control.
And because you've got better muscular strength and endurance
and cardiovascular endurance, you will be managing fatigue
(18:30):
better during long weekends or back-to-back events or even
between runs. Let's talk a little bit about
agility and speed. When you get to an intermediate
level, you are going to be starting to do multidirectional
seed drills. You're also going to be starting
to do some higher level cardiovascular training like
(18:51):
Temle runs, shorter intervals. We want to start working in some
anaerobic work into your cardiovascular stuff.
Your speed and sprinting is going to come up to 100% here,
and we're also going to be building in decelerations more.
But decelerations, just like thelifting, are going to be done in
(19:11):
multiple different directions. Here are some statements.
Again, if this connects with you, you're going to know that
you're in an intermediate level for your agility and speed
training. I can run faster, but I just
can't maintain it, or I lose rhythm when I'm fatigued, or I
(19:34):
get sloppy during drills with cones or direction changes.
Three years ago I built this amazing course called Fast and
Agile. A Whole build from can you stop
running in a forward direction when you're facing a cone?
All the way U to very complex hard drills that include
(19:55):
connection with the arm and really help handlers work on how
they're moving on course. It's been super cool.
A number of people that I've worked with that have gone
through this course have elevated their game so much that
they're competing at an international level now and I
love it. Being able to move really well,
(20:15):
but takes people to the advancedlevel is being able to control
their body when they are tired. And that just takes time and
reps and prep and more reps and more time and more conditioning
and more reps. And if you're in this category
and you want to be having crisp drills even when you're
(20:35):
fatigued, the only way that you're going to get there is to
keep going. Our goals for you in this
intermediate level are to increase your power and
acceleration, to improve your movement transitions like
stopping, starting, turning. Also to build your energy system
capacity. So recovering from sprints,
(20:56):
learning to pace yourself so that you can have energy
throughout the full run. Or if you're getting into
running or hiking, being able tomanage your outputs that you've
got energy for the whole time that you're out.
Success at the intermediate level looks like faster handling
times with control feeling smooth and agile over the course
(21:18):
of a long sequence like we're talking 2030 obstacles.
It's also going. To look like improved timing,
communication with your dog, you're going to have better
control of how your body moves, you're going to have better
speed, you're going to be able to verbally communicate better
because your cardiovascular's going to be in a better spot.
(21:39):
All these things are going to improve and this is what we're
looking for at the intermediate level.
Let's talk about some advanced stuff.
So this is where we want to be, maximizing your output and
efficiency in strength training.The advanced level stuff looks
like high load lifts. You have already dialed your
(22:01):
form in. It's gorgeous.
We have already started to work this form one leg or one arm at
a time and opposite leg and arm,lots of core stuff, and now
we're starting to load those movement patterns heavier.
We're also going to be doing plyometrics.
Plyometric is anytime you do a movement and you leave the
(22:24):
ground. So a squat is not a plyometric,
but if we come up out of the squad, you come up so fast and
hard that your feet leave the ground, that's a plyometric.
Plyometrics also look like lunging and then jumping up and
switching your feet in the air and landing with the opposite
foot forward can also look like jumping on the spot or jumping
from leg to leg. We're also going to be talking
(22:47):
about moving you into doing morepower movements, so we want to
be working on the transfer of energy from your lower to your
upper body. That is a skill and it can take
quite a while to figure out, butonce you've got it dialed in,
it's so cool to learn how to do that.
(23:07):
When I first started learning how to do that stuff, it felt so
amazing to be able to see the challenge, the lift that I was
doing. And no OK at that bottom little
part here. When I get the barbell up to my
knees, I really need to drive upand forward harder and faster,
like I need 20% more. But because I had such good use
(23:30):
of my body and I can control those things, all I had to do
was recognize where the fail point was and then turn it up.
We're also going to be looking for sports specific strength.
So agility handlers, people thatdo byte work, people that do
search and rescue stuff. Y'all are going to need
(23:50):
different kinds of programs because the tyes of movements
that we want to drill into your body to fluency, the tyes of
movements that we want to strengthen for your body and
also where the common fail points are where people get
injured in sports are different.So for your sport specifics we
want to be looking for things like acceleration.
(24:12):
Also decelerating, which looks like for people who are doing
search and rescue, walking down hills, for people that are doing
bite work, having the dog pull on you, that is also a form of
deceleration because you have tostop the movement from pulling
you forward. And we're also going to be
looking at more overhead work for people that are primarily
(24:34):
handling big dogs, but also you need some shoulder strength to
really kick butt when you're sprinting.
To work on that, There's going to be more of an emphasis on
velocity. We're going to be also
emphasizing your force production and your recovery.
Here's some statements. If you connect to these that are
going to help you, place yourself in this advanced
(24:54):
category. I feel powerful and athletic.
I know when to push and when to hold back.
I can see how. This translates to better
performance. Our goals here for you are to
maximize your strength to weightratio, to train for explosive
power and rapid recovery. The fitter that you are, the
(25:16):
quicker your recovery is going to be muscularly and also
cardiovascularly. And of course, as always, and
this goes without saying, I don't care what conversation
we're having, the goal always isto prevent injury through
well-rounded training and mobility work.
You cannot be an effective part of your team when you are
(25:38):
injured. That is the number one thing.
And also, I care about you, I really do.
And being injured in pain is notthe best way to spend a few days
or longer. Here's some things that your ego
is going to do when you hit thisadvanced level that might trip
you up. It might tell you to overtrain
(26:01):
or ignore your fatigue cues. Like you've gotten so much
locked in that even though you're tired, just like dog
training, you know when they saywhen you start thinking that
you've just got one more Rep, let's just do it one more time.
It's usually not such a great Rep.
Same thing with strength training.
(26:21):
When you start thinking I'm too tired to do this right this last
one, but if I just do it one more time I'll finish a sentence
for you. It's not going to go well.
You might also start prioritizing your performance
over long term health. What feels amazing isn't always
what's the best for your body ata later date.
(26:45):
I learned this lesson through powerlifting, actually.
And I was quite young when I didthis, like 17 to 25 roughly.
And during that time frame, you know, all of your ligaments and
joints and discs and muscles andeverything is new and fresh and
springy. And I'm very mercifully did not
get hurt. And also, the heavier I lifted,
(27:06):
the more I had not insignificantpain in my hips, in my neck, in
my back, in my arms, in my shoulders and all over the
place. When I started training.
Differently and started loading my body in a more balanced way
and focused more on my mobility and finding balance on my body,
front to back, side to side, twisting capacity, all that kind
(27:29):
of stuff. I found I was lifting much
lighter weight, like sometimes 70% of what I was lifting
before, but my body felt good because I was training
functional movement patterns. It translated into faster hiking
speeds, better cardiovascular work, it also heled me with my
snowboarding and it also heled me ick U new movement patterns
(27:53):
so much faster. Another way your.
Ego might trip you, U is to haveyou get stuck in performance
metrics instead of the purpose. Success in the stage looks like
erforming consistently at peak levels.
Also avoiding burnout and injuryduring your competitive seasons.
(28:13):
And that will be something that you have learned how to do.
It also looks like maintaining high level performance into
midlife and beyond. Just like that proverb, the best
day to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is
like right now. It's just like that.
(28:35):
If you're in your midlife feeling like Tang, I missed out.
I should have started this sooner.
You can just remember that the very next best time to plant a
tree is today. When we're looking at.
Agility and speed of the advanced level, we're looking at
advanced Sprint work, 100% sprints, longer sprints.
(28:57):
You want to increase your endurance.
For you agility athletes, I haveyou build connection and
actually verbals in because running with your arm extended
is very different than running in a straight line and you all
give cues a lot so you need to work on that or throws the
balance off. Also looks like for specific
footwork recision drills when you're tired we always want to
(29:18):
be emhasizing your reaction time, responsiveness and your
shar transitions here too. Here's some things.
That are going to help you placeyourself in this advanced level
of seed and agility. Does this sound like you?
I can hold top speed for an entire course.
I know how to pace myself and still finish strong.
(29:39):
I feel one step ahead of my dog in every turn.
The goals for you in this phase are to maximize speed and
responsiveness, minimize wasted movement.
We want to be filling all those energy gas.
Think of it like a bucket, and we want to fill all the little
holes in the bucket so that you don't have energy leaks
anywhere. You can just put every bit of
(30:01):
your effort towards being an incredible athlete.
The other goal is to maintain high output with minimal
fatigue. So building your resilience and
your overall fitness and successat this level looks like peak
performance on demand, consistent across different
terrain and trial formats. Because we are going to be
(30:22):
building your ankle strength andyour responsiveness, you'll be
able to tolerate different typesof services better.
It also looks like having confidence in your athleticism
and your recovery capacity. But listen.
If there's one thing I want you to take away from today's
episode, it's this. Being inspired.
(30:43):
By someone else's movement is a beautiful thing.
Inspiration, anywhere you can find it is a beautiful thing,
but your workout should meet your body where it's at.
There is no goal for doing the hardest workout.
I want you to think about it instead like prize.
(31:05):
The gold medal is feeling great in your body, consistently
feeling stronger, more fit and also having less or no injuries
and performing well or better with your dog.
Next time you catch. Yourself thinking I should be
doing more. Pause and ask yourself, I'm eye
training at the level that supports where I am now or am I
(31:29):
training for my ego? Another way to think about that
is if it was my dog in the situation, would I be asking
them to move to the next level if I saw them perform like X?
Choosing the right. Level is not about playing.
It's small guys. It's about playing.
It's smart and the best and fastest way for you to get from
(31:52):
a beginner level to an advanced level is to stay in the beginner
stuff until you're ready for theintermediate stuff and stay in
the intermediate stuff until you're ready for the advanced
stuff. Rushing through the workouts and
the plan is not going to get youthere faster.
It is going to always be cappingthe progress that you're making,
(32:13):
which isn't to say dial it back all the times that it's
definitely not the message that I want to send to you.
What I want to say to you is that to do the next level with a
lot of confidence and efficiency, you have to be able
to do the stuff that came beforeit.
(32:34):
Thanks so much for. Being here with me today and
choosing to spend this time investing in yourself, I hope
you feel encouraged to take action.
Even the smallest steps for willadd up in ways you cannot even
imagine yet. If this episode gave you
something to think about or lifted you up, please share it
with your friend. You really never know who might
(32:57):
need these tools today. For more information, practical
tools, and resources to help youget stronger and confident both
in and out of the ring, head on over to
caninehandlerfitness.com. You can also find all the
circles under the same name, so come on over and say hi.
I'm here to help you build the skills, knowledge, and believe
(33:19):
you need to reach your goals. Keep going, keep learning, and
most of all, keep showing up foryourself.
You've got this and I'll be herecheering for you every step of
the way.
Popular Podcasts
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.