Irslan Ali

Flow state

As I’ve been training for this HYROX, there are times where I feel so deeply present in the moment that thoughts literally cease

It’s like my body is going and I’m not thinking about anything; not how much I have left to go in my workout nor even about how much pain I’m in

This concept was first coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihályi and he describes flow state as when you go into a zone where time begins to move differently and you’re fully immersed with the task at hand

I’ve experienced it only a handful of times in my life before whether it was with work, creative endeavors like drawing or writing and now for the first time in my life, with exercise

Interestingly enough, flow state is the opposite of self-sabotage where the negative thoughts and inner critic that causes athletes to choke ceases

I’ve been able to cultivate it through removing substances like caffeine and getting out of my head by removing distractions like time

Just like drawing on the right side of the brain, the left side of the brain is concerned with data, numbers and logic whereas the right side is unconstrained by these limits

I know when I’m in flow state, I can do anything because my body, mind and spirit are all aligned

And I’m flying

NYC HYROX Update Week 17 & 18 / 19

A week and a half left to go…

June 6th NYC HYROX 1:08.

Photo credit: .esq

THIS is where the battle is won or lost

Yesterday, getting to my workout I already felt mentally defeated

I woke up naturally at 6 even though I set my alarm for 7:30 and decided to go back to sleep until my alarm rang

That one decision cost me because then when I woke up at 7:30, I couldn’t help but feel like I was running behind

That cascaded into how I showed up for my workout yesterday already feeling like I was losing

It showed up in my work and everywhere else

The chatter that normally wouldn’t be there during my workout was so loud saying I couldn’t do it, it was too hard, etc.

It made me realize that the battle is won before it’s ever fought

It’s won in those moments where I do choose to stick with my routine even on a Sunday and get up early

It’s won in those 4:45 am wake ups on a Monday going out for an hour run

It’s won or lost with every micro decision I make, which starts and ends with what I choose to do in the morning

If you’ve been following me a long time, you know my motto I live by is win the morning, win the day

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had to re-learn the significance of that statement

One of my favorite quotes comes from Muhammad Ali who said “It’s not climbing up the mountains that wears us out, it’s the pebbles in our feet.”

The pebbles are the 1% compromises, the chinks in the armor that wear us down over time if we’re not careful

I share this because we’re all going to have days like this because we’re not f #&king robots (yet!) and it’s not in never falling that makes us winners, it’s in choosing to get back up despite falling that does

The battle is won or lost before the fight even begins

That battle is in the morning

And as a mentor shared with me years ago, your morning starts the night before

HYROX Update Week 16/19

158.4 lbs
10.0 % bf

8:40 pace 8 miles Zone 2 145 bpm

P.S.

That Oreo milkshake came so in handy for my morning run the next day 😂

P.P.S.

That Strava was a run, not a bike ride. Not only do I not own a bike but I can barely ride one let alone for 8 miles

RPE 11/10

Growing up, my brother and I always did very well in school (my brother more so than me until I reached sophomore year of high school, up until then, I was cooked)

Any time we had a big exam come up, we’d always tell each other “It’s not about passing, that’s a given, it’s about getting a 100.” And not a 93 because even though both are A’s, one’s is where there’s nothing left to get

Similarly, I’ve seen my brother carry this mindset into his work today as a pancreatic liver and cancer surgeon and I’ve seen myself carry this mindset into everything I do also whether it’s from work or even my own fitness like this HYROX I’m competing in less than a month away in NYC

It’s never about finishing, it’s always about giving every single thing I have and leaving it all out there on the field and not just on game day but every day with every training session

This is the same mindset I share with our clients especially when they have events like marathons that they’re training for; I’ll encourage them to go from having a goal of finishing to stretching themselves with a time they want to hit

1:08 is my HYROX goal and for me, I’ve been saying it for the last 4 months so everything’s on the line and there’s so much at stake for me hitting this goal

There’s a true risk of failure too and that’s the game, that’s how it is in fitness, in business and in any other area of our life

It’s so dang competitive and being able to do this in one area will translate into every other one also

So every time I work out and there’s a hard workout to do, my goal is never to finish, it’s always to do an RPE 11

If you’re not familiar with RPE it stands for rate of perceived exertion and a 10/10 is where you feel like you’re tapped out

For me, it’s an 11/10 it’s the mindset that there’s always more I can be, do and give

This picture of me was taken by my sister on Easter when we were with family celebrating and I was passed out on the couch

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen my brother in this exact same pose!

The late nights, early mornings and hard hard work all leading up to an event that makes or breaks it

LFG!!!

HYROX update week 14/19

This is a back and forth with my own HYROX coach

You’ll notice I asked him what it would take to hit a 58:30 (about 10 mins down from my original goal of 1:08) and he said I’d have to go from running a 4 min km down to a 3:40 (since his time is 58:12 for the pro division)

So then I said okay cool I’m going to see if I can gradually get down there and he said that I’ll regret it

I didn’t argue with him or challenge him, I accepted his guidance unquestionably

He tells me to jump, I ask how high

That’s my greatest super power, I’M INSANELY COACHABLE and refuse to be egotistical like I know something since I’ve been in the fitness industry professionally since I was 19 years old (I’m 30 now for some context)

As you can see I have many many many questions for my coach BUT I never once question my coach

He’s not only hit a sub 60 HYROX but he’s helped others hit it too, which qualifies the athletes for world championships

I wanted to share this because I f #&king practice what I preach

This is what it takes to achieve the craziest goals you set for yourself

I didn’t start this HYROX training wanting to be the #1 NYC HYROX Champion and that’s what it became after I saw what I’m capable of

Remember, this journey for me started a few months ago in early February doing my first one hour HYROX class that I only got 20 mins through before I threw in the towel because I couldn’t handle it

To now where I’m looking at elite pro athlete times of sub 60

I kept doing what I felt like I can’t until I got to a point where I can’t f #&king stop

LFG!!!! June 6th 💪🏽

p.s. he lives in Thailand and I’ve gotten more value from working with him over the past four weeks than anything else I’ve done over the past few months in person

p.p.s.

Never skip late night chai with rus (biscoff cookies in this case LOL)

Life happens…

HYROX update week 13/19…

This past Friday morning, I woke up, took a cold shower and immediately walked into my closet door head first and experienced some of the sharpest pain for a good 5s…

The right side of my cranium went entirely numb and I developed this wound you see here…

Friday was thankfully my off day from my hyrox training and I consulted with my brother who’s a doctor and he said I should be okay as long as I wasn’t experiencing any vomiting, dizziness or headaches…

So the next day I proceeded to run a 10k in 40 mins going one kilometer on, 60s off at a 4 km pace…

Then I woke up this morning and drove to Long Island like I normally do on Sundays and I just casually touched my wound to feel it and I felt what I can only describe as a nerve shooting in that same area that felt numb and no pain…

So before going to Whole Foods, I went to an Urgent Care and turns out that I might have struck a superficial nerve and might have a very very very mild concussion…

After getting the ok from that doctor to exercise, I just completed another hyrox session that my coach had programmed in for me today…

While training for this hyrox, I’ve now landed in the urgent care / hospital twice (the first time was because I thought I was having a heart attack after doing a hyrox class in Arizona no joke) and life has definitely happened…

It’s during times like this where there’s an urge to quit, I’ve felt it almost every week since beginning whether it was because of how much time it’s taking up or due to overall health reasons like the ones mentioned above…

I’ve discovered however that like any goal not only are these roadblocks not going to stop me, they’re the very reasons behind why I’m going to hit my 1:08 time goal…

I’ve been able to build a self-belief so strong through the process of training that nothing is stopping me at this point and I truly feel the winds behind my back…

I wanted to share this because when we’re working towards any goal, things are going to happen; life’s going to happen and it’s not about what happens, it’s about what we do and who we choose to be…

I choose to be unstoppable…

This is a bit embarrassing seeing what I used to look like vs now. I am still not where I want to be yet but I’m getting there!

Getting into a car accident after leaving the gym a few years ago messed up my back, my neck and shoulder. Having gone through shoulder surgery, separated my other shoulder and broke my elbow 3x, I was barely able to do body weight push ups…

It didn’t help that after getting sober, I began to eat whatever I wanted and began packing on the lbs…

After failing to do it on my own with strict dieting, I finally caved to getting help from this clown, who wouldn’t stop messaging me on Facebook lmao.

The only regret I have is, I wish I started this sooner. Since starting up with him in August, I’m down 45 lbs and reached my goal weight I haven’t been at in years…

I have been getting a lot of compliments from many coworkers and asking how I did it. I proudly said “all natural, ZERO supplements or weight loss supplements, walking walking walking dieting, working out and documenting what I eat”.

I’m starting to feel like myself, I have tons of energy and now have even more of a strict routine.
It feels great to get back into shape, having been a former athlete, playing ice hockey my whole life and getting back to feeling like myself again…

As I’m approaching 40 (just turned 38 lol), I feel like I got my life back and the best is still ahead of me.

The support was exactly what I needed and that’s one thing about Irslan’s program that
I really appreciated. He was always building me up it was never negative…he kept telling me “trust me bro”. And I guess now I have to 🤦🏼‍♂️

Irslan and I have built a friendship during this journey on the side of nutrition and working out as well- except for some times when I’d send him some menus on a Friday night and not hear
back from him until an hour and half later when I’d be in bed at that point! Haha just kidding…but not really 🤣🤣🤣🤣

If I can start turning things around after everything I’ve been through, then anybody can!! I wouldn’t have been here without my wife, Danielle, who is sick of this diet and taking the progress photos every Saturday 🤣. So thanks babe! Lmao