TANGO ALPHA — Take Action this summer Teammates! Australian boxer Mark DeMori, knows how to have fun and stay in shape. His fitness equipment: the Perfect Pushup Mobile (2 pounds light) and Perfect Handles. Here he is on the deck of a yacht off the Greek isles! HOOYAH Mark!

Last week’s blog outlined TANGO ALPHA and how to define your objective.  Next up:

2. Understand the purpose of the objective – the weaker the purpose, the weaker your determination will be in accomplishing your goal. In accomplishing any goal, your ability to persevere is your key to success – it’s all about persistence, and the purpose of your goal will power your persistence.

Example: I want to lose 20 pounds to look better in a swimsuit – that’s not a very compelling purpose – however, if you said I want to lose 20lbs because I’ll be able to live longer and do the things  ____ that matter to me (explain exactly what those things are – hike a mountain, run a race, set an example for my kids, attract someone who cares about being in shape as much as I do, etc.), then you’ve got the building blocks of a stronger purpose that will fuel you when feel like slacking on your goal.

What are your building blocks?

CHARLE MIKE — ALDEN

Teammates, Part II from Mark de Mori – thanks again mate! I look forward to following your success. CHARLIE MIKE — Alden

“My big breakthrough came when I out boxed big favourite and former heavy weight title challenger Ed Mahone in early 2008, I put in a performance you would not have thought possible after watching my first few professional fights and attracted the attention of one of the worlds top promoters Don King. This was my ticket to USA and it was everything I had worked so hard for and dreamt of. 

Up until the last few weeks I continued to train myself in the style mentioned, but thanks to my sponsor Alan Burns and a contact I made I now find myself in Oxnard California, training full time and a drastically different program with World Crown Sports training team. 

The biggest change is the quantity of sessions, we train at least twice a day and sometimes three, which is not that bad when the only thing I have to worry about each day is training and what time MTV is showing the new Jersey Shore episode. 

 The first two weeks were a struggle, We did weight training, boxing, running and agility work, I hated all of it. The part I do like however is all my meals for the day are brought to my fridge every morning. I had never trained this hard or this often, I hit the wall, got insomnia, hated training, felt like I was going backwards and was definitely not my usual jovial self.

Three days of rest was the prescription to cure me, I think I slept more in those three days than the previous two weeks, I started again feeling fresh, but soon felt tired and run down again. I stuck at it despite not enjoying it, because my other option was to get a real job, and that was much scarier than fighting 12 rounds against a prime Mike Tyson to me. 

So I continue on, because I know this trip is make or break, and the training team in charge know more than I do, and true to their word, by week 5 I started to keep up, the high rep (20 reps) weight training doesn’t seem like someone has a blowtorch on my muscles anymore and the running has , while certainly not enjoyable, become bearable. 

“Those who run seem to have all the fun,” sung by Madonna in whatever song it was, (the testosterone in me refuses to let me look it up) always pops into my head when I’m running, my lungs are burning, my legs feel like prosthetics made out of lead and I feel like punching Madonna in the face. 

Well it’s week 8 and I feel like a new fighter, there is no area I don’t feel like I have improved on, I am extremely glad I kept an open mind and reminded myself If I don’t evolve and adapt I become extinct. 

The real test of the training will be when I finally step into the ring for the first time since July 31 2009, but I am confident I will make the explosive impact I am training for. ”

Mark de Mori

www.twitter.com/markdemori

www.worldcrownsports.com: www.twitter.com/worldcrownsport

Teammates, you’ve met Mark de Mori before on CHARLIE MIKE. His professional story just keeps getting better — when you see him fighting on TV soon, you’ll say you knew him when! Mark is going to take us through his professional boxing career and he will also create the Mark de Mori 21-day workout! HOOYAH! Thanks Mark. Alden Mills

“My professional boxing career started in 2004, in Australia: it feels like a life time ago. It all started after a stop/start amateur career that never really saw me scale any great heights due to the fact I wasn’t training hard enough and I was usually fighting grown men while still a teenager. After eleven amateur fights I decided I just didn’t care enough to make all the sacrifices to get in the ring and I gave it away. 

A few years passed where I gave into other people’s ideas of what I should focus on in life and I found I missed boxing more and more, so without a clue what I was doing but armed with some knockout power, I moved across the country aged 21 to start my career as a professional heavyweight. 

Weighing in at around 260 pounds when I restarted training it was very challenging, many times in those first  few weeks I wondered if this comeback was such a great idea, surely just getting some tattoos and gold boxing gloves on a chain would satisfy my tough guy urge?  At this stage I was still yet to develop the mental strength necessary for the life of a professional fighter. 

While I was successful in every fight bar one by 2007, I was not making the improvements I needed to make any sort of impact on the boxing world. I had a few different trainers and tried lots of different methods with mixed results, basically I couldn’t see myself making the millions to compensate for the likely brain damage that would ensue as I became a drooling old man. 

I decided to stop trying other peoples methods and do my own thing, sounds like a bad idea I know, but with a better attitude to training I started studying my favourite fighters on YouTube.com and dvd every day, mimicking them in the gym and trying new things I had noted from the video sessions, at this point in time I had decided to change my weight training from a bodybuilding style, which is all I knew, to a full body program focused more on maximal strength as some research I read claimed it would also improve my hand and foot speed. 

My own plan worked extremely well, I was improving hugely in a short time, faster and fitter, without feeling burnt out and stale, I also became much more disciplined with my diet, aiming to keep leaner and lighter, my fighting weight went from around 240 to 230 and people noticed the difference in my performances. One of the biggest differences in my training and the conventional boxer is I decided running was not important. I know some very fit heavyweights who did not do the normal slow running boxers believe in, my disdain for running may have had something to do with me accepting this plan with open arms like a long lost friend. 

Part II:  My big breakthrough came when I out boxed big favourite and former heavy weight title challenger Ed Mahone in early 2008 — stay tuned for the next installment.”

Mark de Mori @markdemori on Twitter

Why should an extreme athlete use Perfect Products?

Every once in a while I get a question – actually, it’s more like an off the cuff quip – from an “extreme athlete” that their conditioning needs require more than what the Perfect Pushup and/or Perfect Pullup can offer them. Thanks Mark “The Dominator” de Mori [http://markdemori.com/] an Australian fighter, for the lastest question. I’m not surprised by the response, after all, these men and women may not be personal trainers, but they have lots of personal training experience from their extensive workout routines…break – I categorize an “extreme athlete” as anyone who works our religiously 6 or more times a week with a minimum periodicity of 2hrs/workout session – I get their reaction, but they NEED to get my response, because training fundamentals don’t change just because you workout longer and harder than someone else – what changes is the length of rest, intensity, duration, muscle loads, and nutrition requirements – what doesn’t change is movement patterns.

If you run a 20k – does your stride change if you run 100k? Now, you can increase the challenge of a movement pattern by adding increased balanced and resistance loads, but the fundamental natural movement of the body doesn’t change! In the case of the Pushup or the Pullup, your arms: joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, nerves – have a natural tendency toward rotation whether you’re pushing or pulling – and that tendency doesn’t go away if you workout for 2 mins a day or 2 hrs a day. So to all you extreme athletes out there – I applaud you for your tenacity – HOOYAH! Now, DON’T FORGET YOUR FUNDAMENTALS: TRAIN THE WAY YOUR BODY IS DESIGNED TO MOVE!

CHARLIE MIKE — ALDEN