Category: Brainstorms

Athletic Lab

Working with @coachmatthunter at @athleticlab has been game changing (13 months). Matt is not your ordinary coach, he was super interested in my sport as well as knew that a strength and conditioning program for any other sport wouldn’t fit my needs. He started with a traditional evaluation of my goals, history, sport, injury past, etc., then came to the park to watch and record all aspects of my riding to really analyze what he needed to know in order to write my specific programming.

Matt trains and competes in his sport while coaching other athletes full-time. As a fellow elite athlete, he understands the demands of sport and how specific each sport is in regards to an individualized approach.

This understanding and analytical athletic mindset has manifested in great results from the programming and testing we’ve done together. We both are into data and seeing what’s working and what’s not. We use @trainwithpush bands and @polarglobal heart monitors to track our progress and monitor our goals and progression.

As a professional athlete going on 12 years, you’d think this would all be common practice for me. Contrary to that belief, BMX is just now breaking through the shell of conditioning to think of itself as not a sport. It was very common to be mocked, judged, and/or made fun of for training and eating well within the bmx community. Now as our sport as been accepted into the @olympics and the @usacycling has a BMX team, this old mindset is shifting.

I’m excited to see what changes come from within the sport of BMX as the years go on but I do know I’m stoked to have found this new passion for fitness over the last few years and will continue to learn, work, and share it with others. 💪🏽💚✌️

-Josh P.

Add Fat & Eliminate Sugars

“The benefits of introducing higher levels of fat into your diet are going to be erased and even made worse, if you don’t at the same time cut sugars and carbs. The higher fiber carbs not withstanding.” Dr David Perlmutter, Neurologist

That being said, fat is so crucial for brain health. The beneficial fat, not damaged, refined, hydrogenated, fried, industrial, high/pro-inflammatory vegetable oils. Things like avocados, avocado oil, coconut oil, grassfed butter, nuts, olives and olive oil, full-fat coconut products with no sugar, raw 100% cacao, and grass-fed ghee.

Here is a salad with pasture raised chicken, avocado, olives, mixed veggies, some spices, and @primalkitchenfoods avocado oil based dressing all on a bed of red and green leaf lettuce. All organic and no added sugars.

Great meal to feel light but full before or after an exercise or sport. Healthy brain fats, clean quality protein, and minimal carbohydrates with plenty of nutrient dense, fiber-rich veggies. 💚✌️

Chiropractic Care

Being an athlete brings along a lot of physical and mental stress. Especially being a bmx freestyle athlete. As a BMX rider, we are conditioned to get up and try again when we fall down. And, we are really good at that despite any pain we’re under.

We’ve also been conditioned to think training wasn’t “cool” or a necessary effort for what we do and that you’re a “jock” if you do train.

Over the years dealing with many injuries as well as life or death health situations, I’ve learned the importance of the mind and body connection as a way to combat injuries and speed the recovery process when injuries do set in, as well prevent disease to some degree.

The biggest two motivations for me were tearing my ACL and being diagnosed with multiple brain tumors over the last 8 years. I still live with 4 tumors in my skull today but I’m healthier and stronger than ever, both on and off my bike.

Not only have I learned to consume health promoting foods, ditch harmful food-like products and toxins that destroy our brains, and get serious about training for my sport and overall health benefits, I’ve learned to utilize treatments like chiropractic work.

When collaborating with any medical or health professional, I first and foremost look at what they represent and if they walk their talk. Dr. Matt (@919spine) is a great example of walking his talk and I’m proud to be one of his athletes. 💪🏽💚✌️

-Josh P.

Love

“True love is a soles recognition of its counterparts in another” Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers

Corny, but true.

The woman responsible for the majority of my content, helping me organize my businesses, keeping me sane, my ying to my yang, adding spice to my life, joining me in exploring new possibilities in personal and business life and development, having in depth life conversations about consciousness, aliens, and all things related health, fixing my body when it gets injuries, and so much more. It goes without saying I’m truly grateful for our relationship and I look forward to all the greatness coming our way that we’ve both worked so hard to create, both individually and together. I firmly believe in a support network in your immediate life and @jciake is a major component of that. Thanks for all you do, what’s to come, and for being you.

-Josh P.

📸 @jciake timer

Fear Disguised as Practicality

“So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it. I’m saying, I’m the proof that you can ask the universe for it.” -Jim Carey

This resonates with me so much. Although I pursued my dream 100%, I battled with fear and anxiety in regards to not doing what others expected me to do. Although my family and friends supported me every step of the way, I still had that society voice in my head saying it was the wrong path because I chose to drop out of school and get my GED, disregard college because I didn’t believe in it, not have a “grown up job”, actually enjoy what I did/do, and not have any guarantee of a future or stability.

Once I began to foster the belief that my inner being and desires were correct, listen to my intuition, and full heartedly commit to what I love to do and brought me the most joy, the fear, worry, and anxieties all were stripped away. I had/have a desire to accomplish something bigger than the norm and what most believe to not be capable of doing, continue along that path pursuing progressive goals, and help others do the same. I also have begun to understand my purpose for my life and legacy is, for one, much bigger than me and any accomplishment tor success, and two, the driving force behind my motivation to push through hardships, which I have had many along the way.

I share all I share and do all I do because I want you all to believe in yourself, even if you feel you are alone. You are never alone. There are many many of us out there even if some are scared to shine through the void of being heard due to fear of judgment or failure. I was once there but saw so much positivity from owning my reality, sharing it with others, and collaborating with many forms of motivation to get past my fears and do what I wanted and indirectly started to see I was helping others along the way.

The point of this post is to share the fact that if a kid from Cape Cod that comes from no money, no upper hand at life, a rough up brining, and battling death multiple times along the way with only a dream and motivation to pursue that dream can do it, so can all of you. It starts with a belief and manifests with action. I am grateful for my love for BMX and all its shown me in and about life.

-Josh P.

Growing Past Expectations

People have these perceptions/ expectations of how they view you in life and expect you to show up as. When you work on self growth and development, you acknowledge you’re not the same “you” as you were yesterday, let alone years before.

You’re a new version of you and others tend to not like the “new you”. That’s ok. We’re all on our own journey in our human experience on this planet earth that we call home. You’re not responsible for how others act, think, or feel about you or anything for that matter. You’re responsible for YOU and only you.

Don’t feel bad that others haven’t got to a place of open-mindedness to the world of change and love. Just keep doing YOU and stay true to your inner being and what it gravitates towards. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

A Change In Priorities

Starting & operating my own health coaching business, continuing to work on my non-profit event with the Athlete Recovery Fund, and prioritizing my training, I haven’t been able to ride as often as I’d like. But that’s ok because I’m still riding and maintaining a professional level.

With time, priorities change and life is always evolving. Although I ride at the same level as when I was solely providing for myself off BMX, there’s no pressure to ride any way other than what I want. I still love it as much as ever and push myself to maintain that level with some progression mixed in.

That being said, it’s a really cool feeling to be pursuing new found passions of promoting nutrition, fitness, and mindset techniques to help people become as well as they possibly can while utilizing my love and hard work over the years to bring this information to the people in a fun and exciting manner through BMX

Moving forward, I’m still creating partnerships with brands and corporations to fuel my riding/training lifestyle while being able to reach more people along the way with my passion for healthy living. As for competing, if it makes sense then I’ll compete. If not, I don’t NEED to.

I’m in a really cool place in life where I have nothing but gratitude for the opportunities my hard work and experiences have led me to along with the belief to make it all possible.

-Josh P.

Stay Hydrated

I used to drink copious amounts of soda when I was a teenager-early twenties because it was cheap and I was addicted to sugar.

Nowadays, I value my brain and performance on and off the bike so much more that I prioritize my health by staying hydrated.

Did you know quality salt helps you stay hydrated? Not the white table salt that’s heated, treated with chemicals, and stripped of all important minerals that contribute to hydration. I use Redman’s Real Salt

I add a pinch or two to my water during riding/training and in my protein shakes afterwards. I also add some throughout the day on all my food. Tastes better and helps the body in so many ways beyond simple hydration. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Fail & I Fail Some More

We, as BMX athletes, fail more times in a day than people are willing to in a lifetime. BMX teaches us how to get up when we fall and try again. Not to look at it as a failure, rather a learning opportunity.

The difference between “failure” and “success” is the information we gather and the choices we make moving forward. It’s all just information for us to utilize to reach our next success.

Assess what happened and how you want to move forward. This applies to any aspect of life. Success is not easy, quick, or overnight for anyone. There is a lot of background effort to reach that success. Yes, some success are easier than others. But, that’s also built off of the foundation created over time.

When you fall down in any respect of life, don’t be discouraged. Be motivated to use that as an opportunity to learn and grow. Just like any trick, success takes patience, effort, and conscious thinking and self-awareness. 💚✌️

Taken from this Vlog:

-Josh P.

Single Leg Hurdle Jumps

Developes: knee, calf and ankle strength, balance, shock absorption of the knee and ankle joint and reaction time.

Purpose: increase explosive strength, coordination and reaction time.

Goal: using mainly the ball of your foot, hop over hurdle, land softly and quickly transition into next hop without pause. Do not hit hurdles.

BMX Benefits: pop, landing absorption, pump, technical tricks (footjam, etc.), and catching tailwhips.

-Josh P.