Lose It Resolution

Another resolution I'm considering is a Lose It resolution. I've been testing it out. And maybe it makes the most sense if I describe the process I'm working on and then, at the end, tie it up with a written declaration. 

About three or four years ago I did a diet that worked very well for me. It was basically, when you boil it all down, severe calorie restriction. I think I did it for 2 or 3 months and lost about 30 pounds, maybe a bit more. There were other aspects to it, there were daily and weekly check ins with a coach, there were food packets or "fuelings" . . . all of which were about 100 calories. There were readings and videos, etc etc. But when you boil it down, I was eating probably 5 times a day, only 100 calories per packet, so 500 calories, and a meal that was limited to about 800 to 1000 calories. So, what? 1300 to 1500 calories a day? 

Resolved

I know that there are plenty of articles out there that talk about resolutions and how they don’t work. Go look at neighborhood gyms after New Years and then again a few months later and they are a testimony to how poorly New Years resolutions work for people. 

I think they work for me though. 

Self Care

I’m not a fan of self care. I think it’s a silly term and whenever I hear someone use the term I roll my eyes just a bit. Not enough so that anyone might notice, but it happens. Well, the other week I had a bit of an episode, an eye opener, that made me realize I need to invest in a bit of self care. 

When I was a kiddo I had back pain every so often. It was debilitating for short times. When it hit, I was down for the day. Never figured out what it was, but when I joined the Army it seemed to get a lot better. Was it all the front leaning rest building the core? All of those flutter kicks? All the workouts? The rucking? Could be, probably was. 

Still a Smoker

This one may take a bit of explanation. I met my wife at a PT group. She took my class and naturally fell for the instructor. It happens. I'm freaking dreamy and charming, especially when I workout. Don't blame her for falling for me. She's only human.

Regardless, despite the fact that we met out doing workouts, we NEVER workout together. We used to run some together, we have done a couple of races, but that was when we were dating. For the most part, especially now that we're older, we keep to our own workouts. 

Finally, We See the Payoff

Last year I had a resolution to run (at least) a 5K every month. Go take a look at my workouts (see HERE) to see the results, but suffice it to say, it's a fun resolution, I missed August which will be a good thing to focus on this year, and all in all it was a good thing to do. It got me up and active on weekends where I might not already be considering doing something, and it made my trophy wall a bit crowded with ribbons, awards and race numbers.

Today I ran a race at Sam Houston Race Park. Funnily enough, this was a race that both Julie and I signed up for last year. I don't believe she made it. I did. And I ran a 25:38 5K. Not bad. 

I remember watching several other folks turn around and head back out to run another loop for the 10K. Last year I was happy I wasn't one of them. Not sure why I so quickly signed up to do the 10K today, but I'm glad I did. 

Last year I felt tired and was glad I wasn't running a second lap. Today, after 5K, I felt I could keep going. The goal, like last month, was to go out fast(ish) and use the second half of the race as a gut check. No pacing, just go out strong and gut it out after the first half is over. 

Well . . . last year I got a 25:38 5K time. This year's 10 K time was 50:28. If I take my time for the first 5K it looks like I ran that 5K in 23:58! Almost shaved two minutes off my time. I also got almost exactly the same time as last month and the month before that! On my second mile, I was cooking!

11 more to go in 2023.

The Softening of a Hardcore Icon

I finished the rucking challenge this morning (see HERE, HERE and HERE for more).  It was quite fun, but at the same time incredibly humbling. 

The pack weight ranged from a low of 25 to a high of 70. That first day I jogged and walked and I'm not sure how I did it in that pathetic day pack. Having an ALICE pack makes all the difference for those heavy-weight rucks. I enjoyed the running ones, but I got the most out of that one long walk with 65 pounds where I went over seven miles. Lots of soul searching. 

I'll say this, I don't know how I survived the Rangers. We would do a ten-mile ruck every Friday and my pack was 60-pounds, plus we took weapons and our web gear etc. How I did it I don't know. We did a 20 miler every quarter with 45-pounds, and a 30-mile ruck once a year with 30-pounds plus our gear. Again, not sure how I survived.

Then there was Best Ranger. I ran that final marathon (plus) with an 85-pound ruck. Now, that wasn't a success at all. I got leveled after that first night, but I did finish the ruck. The highest weight I got on this challenge was 70-pounds and I only went less than 2 miles. Again, not sure how I did it. 

For the most part, the mission was a success. I thought about soldiers and suicide and my own life and I got some great workouts in. I miss running and jogging without a pack, got to speak to most of my neighbors about what the hell I was doing and why, but for the most part, the entire challenge was a success. 

I was talking about this with my neighbor the Marine. We were talking about how bad ass we once were. He a Marine (every one a bad ass), me a Ranger (just a few of us bad asses) and how we are no longer able to do those things we once did. We got to trade war stories and bond again as we always do with him talking about his son who has just joined the Marines, and my son who is thinking of joining the Army. Crazy ole world. 

Combinatory Life

I heard from a new “friend” on Goodreads - a site I don’t visit or add posts to half enough as I probably should. But this new friend, ShapeOfAFlyingDeer (maybe she’s a super friends fan!), brought up a review I did of the Eighth Commandment (see HERE). I love that book. I just re-read it this past summer. In that review that I posted on Goodreads, I have a long passage from the end of the book that I remember reading this summer and thinking it was gold. Glad to see I was consistent. 

Regardless, ShapeOfAFlyingDeer actually commented about Lawrence Sanders. She said, “he’s a master of combinatory life.” Those of you who follow this blog religiously will know I’ve been journaling to help with self-authorship (see HERE). More understanding of the “combinatory life” is probably needed as a part of that journal effort. So thanks for the assistance ShapeOfAFlyingDeer!

What is a combinatory life? Why would it fall into this framework of self-authorship? 

Let’s start with a definition. The first definition for this, which I found by looking up “combinatory play” is: 

Combinatory play is the act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another. Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist of the Twentieth Century. He developed the theory of relativity and was also a noted humanitarian. He considered it “the essential feature in productive thought”.

Another I found is:

Combinatory play is the process of considering two or more unrelated ideas, topics, images, disciplines, etc. and putting them together in a way that is new.

And finally, I found this one which includes examples:

Another example is how Archimedes figured out buoyancy while taking a bath. That is combinatory play: the ability to allow your inner genius to step in and fill in the blanks. This is inherent in all of us. As creative thinkers, we often practice combinatory play to generate original ideas.

So, what’s that mean? What’s that have to do with Sanders? There’s a lot to work with here, but if we focus just on Sanders I see that most of Sanders’ main characters, the detectives, are generally not typical police detectives. Sure, sure, Edward X Delaney is (Gosh, I love the Edward X Delaney series, that will be the next one I read during a break from school). But McNally? Todd? These are representative of his characters and generally, they are not true to form Mickey Spillane/ Mike Hammer type, detectives. 

It’s the same thing I try to do, and the same characteristics of the hero I model from Dick Francis novels. The detective hero isn’t a detective generally, they are regular people pressed into this job from the circumstances. Usually, it’s the other characteristics of their lives that help them figure out the mystery and come through in the end. 

In Dick Francis’ novels, usually, it’s their toughness from their time as jockeys. For Sanders’ novels, it’s their lifestyle and joie de vivre. In my case, it’s the character’s background in the military or their capabilities in fitness and health or workouts (I know, I know, I’m working on expanding that and making it stronger as themes go). 

Regardless, the combinatory life and combinatory play are intriguing and truthfully I’d never heard of it before. I’m thankful that ShapeOfAFlyingDeer brought it up to me. I look forward to it being a bigger part of my pursuits in my self-auth

Update Again

Someone at work asked me about my progress on my workouts (see HERE). Avid followers will remember I started a P-90X challenge for myself last year (see HERE), right after I did the running challenge (see HERE). 

One of the challenges I presently have is to run a fun run a month. Last month it was a 5K with my son. The month before that I was at the horse track at 7AM running with a mob of people. This morning I ran on a trail run with about 100 other people next to the Brazos River.

It was fun. And now I'm good to go for another month. But, I've pushed pause on P-90X. Not because of the workouts, but because of the trips. I have a trip coming up . . . one to Montana for a week, another to London and Scotland for almost three weeks. I don't want to get started on that third version of P-90 and then have to push pause. I'll just wait till I get back into the country. 

I've also lost 30 lbs in the past year. It's been wild too! I'm probably skinnier and thinner now than I was when I was just out of the Army or when I got married. It's been that long since I was at this weight. Some is the loss of muscle mass, but I'm still lifting. Most is just getting thinner and living right. The next step is to let it continue to help me run faster!

Crazy Bosses

 Bosses are crazy arn't they? I know . . . I am one. 

I have had a ton of experience with unfufillable demands or projects that can't be completed in the given timeframe. Hell, not only have I been on the receiving end of those projects, but I've delivered them. Ranger School, RIP, Battalion, Pre-Scuba, they're filled with missions that you aren't supposed to be able to complete. 

SEAL PT, where I was an instructor, we constantly gave our clients workouts that we knew they couldn't complete. "Run to the end of the parking lot, get wet and sandy, run back as a group, and form up right here in two minutes." There was no way they could do it in two minutes, much less four. But we did it to see how they would respond, or how they perform. 

I remember when I first got genuinely and truly frustrated about this side of business life. My CEO at the organization I had worked at asked for the moon, and usually, I delivered, but after a while, I started to see what he was asking was unreasonable. In some cases, it was that I didn't have enough people. In other situations, the problem came about because I have a hard time thinking more strategically for the organization. I have an easy time thinking strategically for a department or even several departments, but for an organization? That's where I run into problems.

Now I am the boss who asks too much of my direct reports. I had trouble before thinking strategically for my department, now I'm coaching others to do it. I had trouble with all of the multiple demands, now I'm the one giving them. 

I am an independent sort. I've mentioned that before on this blog. I like working alone much more than in groups. If I see the need to hire someone, I find the right person and hire them. I don't wait for permission. Now, I have to not only ask for permission but I have to justify and defend before asking. It's killing me, but I get it. 

It's hard being a boss, not because of the people you lead, rarely is it the people . . . usually it's the demands. I've done it to the bosses under me, and my boss does it to me. The trick is realizing that your boss who is giving you impossible to accomplish projects is being given his own extensive list of impossible to accomplish projects himself. 

Workouts 2022 Edition

So I finished P-90X2. My review: it's not bad. It's not as engaging as the first P-90X, but the work on core muscles is actually pretty fun. 

Those of you who follow this blog will remember that I had a goal of doing P90X (see HERE) then P-90X2 (see HERE) then P-90X3 as my newest workout goal. I'm two-thirds through.

This all started with reading a tweet from a former NFL lineman who rode his bike everyday for 100 days. I tried it too. Sadly, a trip to Alaska ruined that streak. I think I was twenty-something days in. 

Then I tried to run everyday for 100 days (see HERE). That one I completed. The next was to lift weights for 100 days. That one failed. Shoulder surgery side-lined me. But this P-90X one is going well so far.  

As much as I hated the core work, which was extensive . . . I do feel as though my core strength is substantially stronger. 

Additionally, I'll say that the upper body workout and lower body workouts were some of the best there were when you take out the stretches in the middle and you throw in some extra strength training. The other thing I didn't care for about this workout? Was that you had to buy so much equipment to support the moves. Also, there were very few "old guy" modifidiations. They were doing some tough moves and they were just,  . . . keep up. No moves for the old. Of course I also added in jogs just about everyday, but all in all I recommend it highly. 

So, why not go straight into P-90X3? Well, because I think I jacked up my shoulder. I was able to knock out 10-12 pullups at a shot in the first series. Now in the second, I'm barely getting three at a time. So, I'm giving the shoulder a break. 

Current Workout

Every now and then sparks my memory to post about workouts (see HERE). The other day I ran into my neighbor who is an avid runner and we talked for a long while about workouts. And of course compared out runs. 

Overall compared to the neighbors, I’m still doing okay. Sure one runs longer, another is more consistent, another is fast as greased lightning, but I’m hanging in there. Barely. 

The latest was a fun run. Best? Nope. But after jacking up my knee a few months back this was decent. It was a super crossed field too…. Fun runs on Thanksgiving always are… so some of this is crowd based. 

But I also came in 6th for old guys. So I’ll take that and I’ll brag to the neighbors about it.  

P-90 Two!

Avid readers will know that I finished phase 1 of a year long rotation for my workouts (see HERE). I have a little group of friends who are supporting each other and going through this journey together (see HERE).

I started P-90X 2 yesterday with a Core workout and it was killer. I'm feeling it today already. I remember I did this once before and wasn't impressed. Regardless, I'm going to finish it this time, no matter if I'm impressed or not.

Already I can see that there are far fewer pullups then in P-90X. Also it's less regimented. And worse, I miss Pam/Blam! She was there to always give the "old guy" option. No old guy option in this one. 

Also we lost one from our group. She had to bail. That's okay, we gained two others. We are a spunky little group and we are determined to finish!

FINISHED (Phase 1)

A while back I posted about my most recent workout challenge (see HERE). 

The goal was to get through P-90X from start to finish . . . and then some. What's the then some?

First of all, I had a group! Those of you in the group or the invitational can see the blow by blow (HERE). It's been fun helping to motivate others and being inspired by their notes and thoughts that they wrote to me. I wonder how many will stick around for round 2?

Back to the "then some" . . . well . . . it changed a bit throughout the three months. I was tacking on a run most days. But after killing myself on a 9 mile run with with 8 min per mile Kylie a few weeks back, I changed to elliptical workouts and 100 pushups a day for 30 days. Regardless, it was P-90X plus, and today I finished it. 

I rewarded myself by going out to brunch and having a large mocha coffee. Next will be P-90X 2!

P-90X Redux

So I had some folks ask questions about my workouts lately. You'll recall that I have at several times talked about my workouts (see here). I like to try and include them in my writing and in my novels, so why not discuss them here in my blog on writing.

My last couple of workout challenges (see here and here) were doozeys. My last was around my new running group (see here), Fort Bend Fit and our running to get ready for a marathon. Now, I'm not running a marathon. I've done enough of them to realize I don't like them. But I'm still running with them just to have a group, and to take some longer than normal runs. 

Lately, however I've gone beyond just running with the running group. I've created my own group for workouts and it's a doozey. It's composed of some Facebook friends, a couple of ladies from the running group (see the pic), a lady from my old SEAL PT group (see here), even a guy from my old Ranger Batt days, and an old friend. Together we've created an ersatz support group for workouts to help keep us going.

What's the workout? What's the challenge?

Well, ten years or so ago I completed P-90X (see here) and I really enjoyed it. It's tough, but it's a great workout. I believe I completed it three times before I decided to move on. I think I tested P-90X 2 when it came out, but I was not impressed. I'm not 6 weeks into my first 90 day workout. As a group we are going to finish this round. 

I add on a (minimum) 2 mile run with each workout, time depending. Usually I have time. I think I've missed a run twice in the last 6 weeks. Not a bad. 

I don't know about the rest of the crew, but I plan on taking a week or two off (just running) then doing P-90X 2. I don't care how much I hate it, I'm going to complete it. Then another week or so of relaxing running, and I'm going to move on to P-90X 3! After that, I should just about be done with a year, then I may try Insanity, or Beast Workout, or any of the other dozens and dozens of workouts that the group now has posted online. 

Last time it was DVD's this time it's all online, and with the little support group I've got going, I think I can do it! I'm about 25% done as it stands!

Groups of People

 In About A Boy, the narrator talks about how he organizes his life in half hour chunks. I organize my life by groups of people. 

I have the group of people I see at work. Julie, Melissa, Russell, Cami, et al. 

Then I have the group of people I run with at Fort Bend Fit, Alicia, Ruby, Maria, et al. These are my fun run friends. 

Then I have my writing friends, those who I chat to and work with on writing, Kristi, Shannon, Claire C and even Beth. 

I used to have a group that I would train for PT. This was my SEAL PT group. For almost 20 years I worked as a fitness instructor for Jack Walston at his SEAL PT bootcamp. We would yell and harry the poor silly people who wanted the military style workout experience without the 4 years of military enrollment that is usually required. 

As an instructor I kept to myself. I had a few relationships with the clients, but nothing meaningful. There are still those I keep up with, but most of the folks I was close to then have moved off as well. 

It was a fun job and I enjoyed it, not only because I was paid up to 30 dollars an hour just to yell at folks and get a good workout in. Sadly, when my job moved me away from the center of Houston out to Pasadena it just didn't fit into my schedule. The other thing that happened was that every time I tried to help the group expand, the leaders of the group took the opposite approach and the group contracted. It was frustrating to watch the group slowly dying off. Eventually, I guess I died off too. 

Regardless, I have a new group to supplant the old SEAL PT group. I started Nerd Fitness a while back to help jump start my workouts. Those of you who read this blog know that I have tried all sorts of different gimmicks, triathlons, running challenges, and on and on (see here, here, and here). Well, Nerd Fitness is just the next. 

I will say that Nerd Fitness has definitely helped my weight training. The weights I'm hefting now, although not heavier, they are killer workouts now. They leave me smoked. My running has down-shifted some, but that was what I wanted. Instead of running everyday, Drew, my personal Nerd Fitness consultant, has me running every other day. But boy have my weights been killer for the past three months. 

So, I'm trying that. I've signed up to be a Nerd Fitness consultant like Drew. I have to contact my charges at least once per day, design specific workouts and diets for them (the classes I took in nutrition a few years ago, plus my workout experience should help with that), and help keep them motivated through videos, chats, etc etc. It should be fun. I've already started with three clients, Christine, Kerry, and Morgan, and I'm hoping to find two more. Should be fun. 

If you're looking to upgrade your workouts, I would definitely recommend Nerd Fitness.

Pain and Illness

 Last year the doctor let me know that things were falling apart and breaking down on the body. So he gave me multiple medicines to fix it and keep things running smooth. One side effect of one of those drugs was painful muscle and joint soreness. Most of the statements about it told me however that it should only last a couple of weeks. So I gritted my teeth and worked through those two weeks. They were right! At the one month and 3 month checkups, all seemed to be going well. 

This last checkup, the annual checkup, they took blood and checked how the medicine was working. I got a call from the doctor yesterday. 

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

"Not really," I said. 

"No muscle aches or joint stiffness?"

"I'm sore from my workouts lately."

"Yeah," he said. "That's not the workouts. According to this chart you are in pain. Should be pretty significant too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we need to switch your meds."

So this conversation yielded several things:

First, the typical response from the family that I'm "Strong, like bull . . . Smart, like rock." Ha, ha, always funny. 

Secondly, wife seems to think it's funny that I only started complaining about the pain when told about it by the doc.

Lastly, it made me wonder just how long I've been "suffering" with pain. I think back and I've been sore for a while now, but when did the soreness from the shoulder surgery (here) and my working out again (here) blend over into this soreness and pain?

I also wonder how this affected my work relationships and friendships. Have I been short with my friends? Have I yelled or been upset and allowed my insidious pain to change my emotions? What about at work? Have I been grinning and bearing it? Has that changed how I work with folks?

I'm looking forward to the new medicine. I wonder how it will fix my work and friendships.

There is an Argument

There is an argument to be made that a post about my surgery is a bit far afield for this blog on writing, writing novels, and other writing aspects. 

Already because of my PhD program, I've branched out into Adult Education (see here). But I think that's tangential in that I am doing a TON of writing for that program. I writing papers monthly, read dozens of articles weekly, and am in the midst of writing a book/dissertation so I think I can make the argument that that is writing. 

That being said, that last post (see here) on injuries and workouts actually does have a lot to do with writing. Anyone reading this blog will know I've been struggling to write my fourth novel, tentatively titled Sunset Perfect. There was a draft I wrote where the main character had a shoulder injury. This little shoulder surgery is helping me relate to and write that draft so it's more believable and realistic. My writing about my workout challenges (see here) is an aspect of the character that I can help make him more fleshed out. 

Everything I add here is either to remember and use for writing or a direct reflection of my writing. 

Adaptive Learning and Workouts

 This may be harder than I thought. Last week I wrote about my newest little exercise challenge. My last one was running (see here) this next one is more centered on weightlifting (see here). I also wrote last week how much these things influence my past writing and novels (here) and my writing now. I have to say, that if I was looking for a challenge that was tough, extended and had the potential to only get tougher the longer it goes, this would be one. 

I worked out today and it was a killer! 

The worst part about it (well maybe not the worst) is that my new Apple Watch app can't track multiple workouts. For example, my workout today (not the one shown in the pic above) included a weight workout, a jog, and a bike ride. All that the app shows is one total workout. That's it. It would be nice to be able to switch mid-workout, between the different aspects of the workout and get data from it. 

I'm a data junkie, and a good thing too. Right now a big part of adult learning is based on a technique called "Adaptive Learning." This is the idea that learning can be tailored to the exact needs of the learner. Instead of having someone waste time with training, they might already have, the learning experience is adjusted to the learner's needs and depth. 

We have a database of all of our learners at work. Some are new to the industry, many have been there and in our database for years. If we could take that information and only provide training that is relevant to the learner then we won't waste the learner's time and energy on things they already know. 

The Apple workout app has a feature called "trends" that I'm really looking forward to utilizing. It's basically reactive adaptive learning. Taking data from 180 workouts and distilling and displaying trends that are present and could be worthwhile for the user to know. 

What's this doing on this blog? 

This is a facet of Adaptive Learning that I have not concentrated on as much. Since I was a Director of Recruiting I've always been a fan of allowing our learners own their own records. What about using the Adaptive Learning concept we could help show trends to the learner and to the administrators who send them for training. 

What trends?

I don't know yet. Already we have a project to use adaptive learning techniques to give harder more sophisticated training to learners with years of experience, and more simple quizzes and tests to learners who are newer to the industry. But what trends could we provide?

Another 100 Days

 Last month I finished my 100 Day of Running Challenge (see more here) and today my friend asked me if I had given up running for a while. 

Just the opposite really. 

It was nice to include what I learned on my 100 day running challenge into my novel this year for NaNo. It helped make the character deeper, more resilient, and helped her find the impetus and reason for change. 

I’ve started a new homemade challenge. This one follows the same 100 days that I had with my running challenge but instead of running it’s more about lifting. 

The rules I’ve made up for myself are:

• Gotta be one of my workouts that has focus and full body (ie. 24 exercises, 16 that focus on a primary muscle group, 8 that are variable)
• Every third day legs 
• Can’t run more than 50% of the workout time
• Run can’t be a solo (needs to be mixed into the lift, otherwise I’ll just run run run)
• If I do want a longish run .... sometimes you just have to have a good long run .... gotta lift first. Can’t tell ya how many times I’ve run with the intention of lifting after the run and failed to follow through. 
• If I get hurt or sore .... lift less weight and more reps ... no excuses to stop. 
• Finally, once a week minimum, take 15 to 30 minutes after to yoga stretch the muscles. 

See! Should be easy peasy lemon squeezy!

So far so good. My kiddos are joining me when they can. 16 days in and going strong! 84 more to go!

What's this have to do with writing? 

More than most might realize. I was surprised how much my last 100 days challenge played a part in developing the main character in my last novel. Though that 100 days challenge, through her, she showed vulnerability, consistency, stick-to-it-tiveness, passion and compassion. It was a far bigger part of the story than I thought. 

All of my previous novels (see here) have had exercise playing a pivotal role in the novel's story. That's because exercise and fitness has played a big part in my life. It's a big part of so many people's lives these days. This next 100 days I can tell is going to be a tough one. Let's hope it provides fodder for a great novel or two!

BOGO's and Grit

"Failure as teachable moments to identify skills and knowledge students need to add to their strengths and natural talents to achieve their goals." 

I can say this, the SEAL I worked for had a very intriguing and not very profitable business model. He never wanted to sacrifice quality for quantity. He would constantly remind us that he would rather have just three good people in the maintenance program than thirty decent or bad ones. This might be great for keeping the quality of the workouts high, but for people trying to progress from a lower starting point, for a business that has to compete with CrossFit, fun runs, gyms and a myriad of other workout options, it wasn't a growth model. 

A couple of people emailed me to discuss yesterday's post. First, why do I think the grandmother succeeded or the young man failed, or why was it not possible to determine who would and who would not have the grit and perseverance to complete the course; I think alot of it was internal. There were so many factors at play with each bootcamp that I could never have been able to determine or predict the outcome, even if I had asked for a survey prior to the class. Some people came with friends and were there as buddies, some came with children or with parents. Some had a chip on their shoulders or something to prove, others were told to be there by their parents. All of these factors as well as injury, home life, commute times, work-life, played a part in whether or not someone would ultimately graduate. The young man could have gotten to day three and felt the experience was stupid and decided to leave or perhaps his work asked him to fly to Alaska for two weeks at the last moment. The grandmother could have been there as moral support for her granddaughter and was leading the way. 

One interesting fact about all of this is that whenever the office decided to run a BOGO event, a buy one get one free, or a pay for yourself and bring a buddy for free, we would usually get 30-50% more people at the start of class, but we would ultimately lose far far more than usual. Classes that usually started with 20 ended with 15 graduates, but with the BOGO's we would have classes of 30 and only see 9 or 10 graduates. I think that had to do with financial "buy-in" and mass hysteria.  Buy-in in that if you spend $300 dollars for a two-week course you really want to get your money's worth. But if it's just $150 or if your friend picked up the whole tab, well then that's not quite as important nor as valuable to you. Mass hysteria in that once trainees started to see more and more people quit, it no longer had the same stigma as when very few people quit. 

Ultimately it's not about how many pushups you can do, it's all about how much of the yelling, the mess and the muck, the waking up with sore muscles you can endure and what each person's expected outcome expectation is. We graduated people who increased their pushup count over two weeks by going from doing only seven correct pushups to doing 10. But it was the fact that they put up with the nonsense and the drudgery that got them to graduation and then onto our maintenance program. 

Looking back on it now I should have performed some more intensive surveys regarding their rationale for wanting to take the course, then some after graduation surveys of both the graduates and the fallouts to determine if grit can be nailed down pre-bootcamp or not like Duckworth did. Now that the business is defunct I'll have to source a new bootcamp.