I love the mornings.  Maybe itʻs my obsession with musicals like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma, or the Friendʻs Episode with Joey singing, “Morning’s here, the morning’s here, sunshine is here…”

Can you tell I love mornings?

But mornings can be tough, even if you are a person who’s up with the roosters.  And you also know how great the rest of your day is when you have an awesome morning.  You feel more productive at work and are focused during your training sessions.

Regardless if you are someone who trains consistently or someone who just wants to live a healthier and active life, we all want to start the mornings on a good note.

This morning routine will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes.  If you are someone who finds themselves rushing out of the doors, then you may have to set your ʻopportunityʻ clock a bit earlier.

1.  Bed Stretch

Lions, tigers, and bears do this naturally.  By the way, how many of you said, “Oh my”  in your head?

Laying in your bed,  extend your arms above your head and press your heels towards the wall in front of you.  Last thing let out a big ROAR.

Don’t think I do it? You can ask my wife.

If I was to channel my inner yogi-ness, I would call it ‘The Bed Hastasana”. Yea, I went there.

2.  Drink up

No, I’m not talking about popping a bottle of Heineken open and sucking ‘em up.  But after your mighty ROAR and getting out of bed to of course use the bathroom.  Drink a glass of water.

People forget how important hydration is when it comes to proper body and brain function.  Remember it’s been hopefully 6-8 hours since you went to sleep, and more than likely your body has a need for water.

3.  Awake the Kū Within

This is when we prime the body for the day, get your blood flowing, and wake up the nervous system.  This can be as quick as you want to make it but to give you an idea of what Iʻm talking about give this short mini circuit a try.  Remember, this isnʻt meant for you to get all nuts.

Take it easy tigah!

You are waking up up your body and opening your Mana Account for the day:

Perform 2 rounds:

Body weight Squats w. Arms Extended Above Head – 10 reps

Push Ups – 10-15 reps

Jumping Jacks – 20 reps

Now if you have a bit more time and want to work on overall mobility and activating your Mana then try this warm-up routine a put together during my time at the University of Redlands.Perform 10 of each exercise.

4.  A Kū Breakfast

I know in the past, I talked about Intermittent Fasting (IF) and gave up on breakfast.  It was a great experiment and I had results, but I love waking up and eating breakfast.

So unless you are following a specialized diet such as IF, then you should be eating breakfast.

My family calls me a mongoose because every morning I must have my eggs.  You donʻt have to eat eggs, but I do recommend that you have some sort of protein source of at least 10-30 grams. Of course, healthy fats and carbs are important but many times people grab for bagel or pastry rather than taking time to cook something up.

Aipaʻs Typical Breakfast:

3 Whole Eggs
1 Clove Garlic Chopped
1/4 an Avocado if any
Handful of Spinach
*Omelet cooked in 1Tbsp of coconut oil
1/3 cup of Coachʻs Oats

Now if you are in a rush and need something fast you can mix up a Morning Smoothie.  I give solid recipes in an earlier post called, Morning Muscle.

5.  Coffee

There has been a few people I’ve talked to who are trying to lessen their Coffee drinking.  Yes, I’m a coffee addict but starting the morning with a cup of coffee will help bring energy and clarity.  Yes, too much caffeine can be bad.  But, too much of anything can be bad.

If you don’t want coffee, then green tea will also do the job.

6. KŪ!

Now that you opened your Mana Account, had your breakfast and jolt of energy, it is now time to be Kū! Go out an make a difference.

Enjoy a day of productivity, positivity, and dominate any obstacle.  Starting off the morning right creates a catalyst for success.

Give this routine a try and let me know how it worked for you.

Be Kū,

AIPA

Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. Sayʻs to “Bring it!”

The gym isn’t only a facilitator of movement or a place to build muscle and strength, it’s also a tool that can build character.

This morning I woke up and began reading my usual morning articles and came across this quote that inspired me to write this post before I headed out for work.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller

There are some of us who look at a gym as a sacred place, a place that deserves respect and honor.  My dad once told me a story when he was a young man watching one of his cousins kicking around a soda can.  Then one of his aunties said, “Eh, stop kicking the can.”

“Why?” My dad’s cousin replied.

“Did you enjoy your soda?” She asked.

“Ya.”

“Did it make you feel good?”

“Ya.”

“Then why you disrespect something that brought you joy and happiness by kicking it around?”

You see, there are those out there who take advantage of what gives them strength, muscle, fitness, health, and confidence.  They leave their weights all over, chalk is thrown on the ground, and dumbbells out of order on the rack.  No respect.

So does keeping the gym clean and in order help build character? Of course it does.  Why do you think your mom always told you to clean your room.  Because it’s your kuleana, responsibility.

Silent Chaos

The part of Helen Keller’s quote that grabbed me was, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.”  This where the gym comes in for me when I train, and when I coach.

Every time you exercise you may face challenges, come up with excuses, experience pain, doubt yourself, feel intimidated and frustrated.  There’s a constant battle going on within you.  It can get very loud and crowded in your head.  No one else can hear it or feel what you are feeling, just you.

So the question is – What are you going to do about it?

Building the strength you want or the physique you desire is not an easy thing to do.  There’s no magic pill, supplement, or diet that’ll make it easy.  The Kū Coaching Philosophy shares what is needed; Determination, Dedication, and Discipline.

There’s never a quiet moment in the gym.

Even when there is silence, there is chaos.

Imagine if you could hear what everyone thinks about while working out; the insecurities, excuses, whining, anger, frustration, joy, happiness, struggle, and you get the idea.  It’ll be extremely loud.

But it’s those moments while training “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

Aloha

Be Kū

Building a Kū body has become my lifeʻs mission for myself.

Iʻm often asked how I came across the idea of “Build a Kū body”.

Life is all about constant growth and learning.  Albert Einstein said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”  Becoming Kū has been an evolving philosophy because as life goes one we experience and learn more not only about life itself, but most of all ourselves.  Or so that is the intention.

The inspiration behind Building a Kū Body is to share my story and experience towards building a strong body, mind, and soul.  Many of us focus on one or two areas while the other slowly drifts away like a seed in the wind and takes root in a distant place.

I came to the realization I wanted to give more to others when I became the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Redlands.  As much as I hope I left a lasting impression on the student-athletes I trained and the colleagues I coached with, they have definitely left a lasting impression on me.  My short-lived time there, before I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life of leaving, was awe-inspiring and helped me create my mission to build a Kū body.  So with that said, Mahalo.

Development of your body, mind, and spirit does not automatically happen.  Just like if you want to lose weight or build muscle, you have to work.  Or building a successful business, you have to take initiative.  Or building a strong relationship with others, you have to have Aloha.

You must be Kū, take a stand, be strong, transform, and push forward towards bettering yourself and the community you live in.

My code behind Building a Kū Body is simple and straight forward.  Itʻs actually my philosophy when it comes to coaching, training, and living.

Team Kū Philosophy – The 3 Ds

Yes, Iʻm building a Team.  Who wants in?

As a Strength Coach, people in the industry will always want to know what your philosophy of training is.  They look for if you are more into olympic lifting, power lifting, crossfit, circuit training, etc.  The list goes on and on.  But I approach things a bit differently.

You can have the best training program but if you donʻt have these 3 Ds within you and the athletes or anyone you work with, then that ʻbestʻ training program doesn’t matter.

These 3 Ds go towards every aspect of life.

To be Kū physically, mentally, and spiritually you must have have these 3 Ds.

DETERMINATION

Be honest with yourself and make the decision to want to be Kū.  Find YOUR purpose or reason to start building a Kū body.  Each of our lives are unique. Like the saying goes, “You are the creator of your own destiny.”  With determination comes mental toughness, and with mental toughness comes extreme desire and success.  You have to want it first.

DEDICATION

Once you  are determined, itʻs up to you to commit yourself to build a Kū body.  It is your kuleana, responsiblity, to approach each day with a purpose towards achieving the goal of constant improvement and growth, not only as an individual but also in your family and community.  Part of being Kū, is not only for the betterment of ourselves, but to also give to others.  Remember, “to live is to give,” and I believe we all have something to offer in this thing we call Life.

DISCIPLINE

It is essential to possess a strong work ethic, self-discipline, and humility in order to succeed in life.  Building a Kū body takes time, perseverance, and ahonui, patience.  With discipline, you keep yourself on the right path.  There will be challenging times where you may want to throw in the towel.  Trust me, it’ll happen.  But being discipline is about doing what must be done, not what you want to do.

By applying these 3 Ds to life, will get you on your journey towards becoming Kū.

Which is why I’m building Team Kū and recruiting anyone and everyone who wants to be the creator of their own destiny while building a stronger body, mind, and spirit.

Achieving greatness can’t be done alone.

It takes a team.

Leave a comment below to show some love and take your place on Team Kū.  

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I ka ʻolelo no ke ola, i ka ʻolelo no kamake
In speech is life, in speech is death.

“Why did you choose writing as a way to make a difference,” a high school student asked me once.

It was an interesting question, because behind everything you do there must be a purpose.  I was a bit caught off guard by the question but I put together a thought that made total sense to me.

You see, words can create emotions.  Think of a time you may have read a book and began to cry.  I’ll admit, I have.  If you read Tuesday’s with Morrie and didn’t cry, you don’t have a heart.  Or what about a time you read something that made you laugh.

No one was making you cry, no one was making you laugh, but yet you still felt an emotion.  That is why I write, to stir an emotion within you to take action.  To inspire, motivate, and make you feel Kū.

In ancient Hawaiian culture, words could cause life or death.  They could start or end a war.

All because of emotions.  

Think of times when you heard someone give a speech.  What sort of emotions did it stir inside of you? I remember hearing inspiring speeches before a football game and even before a workout session.

I’ve been trying to use my words to inspire other to grab a hold of their lives to build a Kū body.  I’m not just talking about a stronger body, but also a stronger mind and soul.  It’s what creates a complete and fulfilling life.  There is something we can all offer in this life time, but I feel many don’t find their true calling or are afraid of living it out.  It’s too hard and challenging, they are comfortable and think it’s good enough.

Not YOU.

You want more.  You believe you have so much more to offer and truly want to make a difference in yourself, your family, the community, and like my family always says, “Go big or go home,” so why not make a difference in the world.

A Step Away From the Keyboard

Last week, I had the opportunity to share my stories, thoughts, my philosophy behind building a Kū body, and my book Aloha to You at Na Mea Hawaii for PONO TODAY.

Although the crowd was small and the majority were family and friends, it still showed me a lot.    My family and friends have never really seen me in that setting. I never really sat down to share with them my stories and thoughts about what it means to build a Kū body, which is something I have been writing and talking about for the past 2 years.

While I sat in front of an intimate audience, during my talk it all dawned on me on just how much words can really have an effect on another’s soul.

Like I mentioned in my talk, I was once told a sign of a great man is how well he can tell stories, and that was my goal for the night.  To tell stories that evoked thought and made others think of their own stories.

Mind Your Words

Itʻs important to be mindful of your words.  Not just the words you say but also the words you think.  Words can hold so much mana and have an effect on yourself and those you connect with, good or bad.

This is all part of building a Kū body.

When you speak to others, speak with aloha.

When you think to yourself, speak with aloha.

It can be difficult to constantly speak and share aloha.  Sometimes there are those days where you just not having the best day.  It happens to everyone.  I’m not telling you that you HAVE to be all flowery positive, and filled with Aloha 24/7.  No.

But what I am saying is that we, you and I, must be mindful of the words we use in order to be aware of the possible effect we are having on our inner and outer world.

I’ve been lacking on my blog mainly because my mind has been going crazy thinking about my ‘Build a Ku Body‘ talk at Na Mea Hawaii for PONO TODAY.

Last night before bed, my wife asked me to share with her a quick overview of what I’ll be talking about which actually helped out a lot because it created more thoughts.  Yes, she’s the smart one out of the couple, that’s why I call her the boss.

Building a Ku body is a lifestyle.

It’s about choosing to continuously grow each day.  To be Ku, is to be strong, take a stand, to achieve, transform, be grounded, to rise, to be YOU.

We are all here for a unique purpose.  But in order to fulfill the purpose, we must build a Ku body.  That is growing and building a strong body, mind, and soul.

In my last post, You Can’t Give Aloha, my mom especially was perplexed by the idea of not being able to give Aloha.  I believe this is the missing piece of Aloha, especially in today’s society with the young and old.

I covered many of these thoughts in my book, Aloha to You, but like I mentioned, it’s continuously growing and evolving.

To build a Ku body does not only mean to go forward with strength and courage, but to also live with compassion.  It’s about remembering and perpetuating the past, living in the now, and looking towards the horizon.

I’m happy to be sharing my stories and thoughts of Build a Ku Body tomorrow for the workshop series, PONO TODAY.

If you are in Hawaii and would like to cruise with me for a night of strength, mana, and aloha, please feel free to come to Na Mea Hawaii at Ward Center (click here for directions).  The event starts from 6:30PM to 8:00PM.

Here is the official flyer for the event, feel free to bring your family and friends, Aloha to you: