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The Power of The High Five

You’ve seen it at sporting events, on TV, or at our children’s game-times, and we even do it here at the MPT dojo. The High-Five is a key part of North American sports culture and beyond. There are several stories about the origin of the High-Five, all of which are interesting in themselves, but I’d prefer to talk about what the High-Five currently represents, and why it could play an important role at the MPT dojo.

The High-Five is often seen, and used, as a gesture of greeting, elation, celebration or congratulation in our society. However, once you look at it more closely, the High-Five has a deeper meaning and a wider effect.

Have you ever noticed what happens in a basketball game after a player makes a free throw? Regardless of whether they make the shot or miss it, the players around the teammate who’s made the shot, give him /her a fist bump or High-Five.

Why is that?

A study was conducted on NBA players which recorded the number of times they touched one another in a game (fist bump, high five or a pat on the backside). In 50 minutes of play, they saw a total of a minute-and-a-half of touches made between teammates. Now, given the fact that each touch was maybe a hundredth of a second, you can see that this adds up to a lot of touches overall.

What researchers found was astonishing. They looked at the teams with the largest number of touches and saw that these teams actually placed higher overall in the standings. Not only that, but teams with the largest number of touches also had better stats on passing, and setting picks. In other words, their team-interaction had improved their performance.

So what does that tell us about High-Fives, and why we should be doing them more often, both in our day-to-day lives and at the dojo?

1. It is a gesture of interaction with other humans that celebrate our togetherness.

2. It is a great way to communicate and to display positive feedback.

3. Just like the handshake, the action of slapping your hand on someone else’s signifies a physical connection.

4. Athletes who High-Five have been shown to perform better.

5. It’s an energized/energetic act.

6. It promotes positive reinforcement.

7. The High-Five is an instantaneous way of telling a person that they are important, and deserve your personal attention.

8. Tactile communication is known to increase cooperation, to convey positive emotions, and to provide a sign of trust—which was illustrated in the study conducted with NBA players.

You see, the secret to the High-Five is in the touch. Not only is it the greatest way to increase social camaraderie, but it establishes a hands-on (you might say) connection with your fellow human being. At the dojo, in order to help you reach your goals, we need to find ways to connect with you. And giving you a High-Five is one way to do this, when we see you arriving, during a workout, or afterward as you leave.

One of my hopes is to see people connecting with one another, and for me, myself, to connect at a stronger level with each of you. The High-Five helps bridge this gap and starts the valuable process of relationship-building.

A process which can:
• Help you better achieve your goals.
• Give you something to believe in.
• Create an environment for your growth.
• Give you social ease.
• Give you peace of mind.
• Allow you to express a philosophy.
• Provide you with a feeling of service.

So here’s my October challenge to you. I call it the “30-Day High-Five Challenge.”

Can you High-Five a person you don’t know every day for 30 days? Make eye contact, raise your hand, and make palm to palm contact followed by a greeting, or some sort of positive affirmation.

The second part is to High-Five at least 5 people every day. If you’re a teacher, stand at the entrance and give out High-Fives. If you’re a business owner, greet your employees with a High-Five, and if you’re a worker, greet your co-workers with a High-Five.

Before self-doubt creeps in, ask yourself, “Would the difficulties of doing this outweigh the benefits?” The answer lies in the 30-day challenge.

Dedicated to your fitness,
Maki Riddington

#teammpt
#tfwvancouver
#highfivechallenge

Dojo Class Etiquette at MPT

You were probably taught to make eye contact while speaking to someone, to say, “please,” and “thank you,” to keep your elbows off the table, and to extend a firm hand shake. Congratulations – if you practice these! You’re a generally well -mannered human being. But do you know which hand to cough into, from which side to approach and exit your chair at the dinner table, or the difference between pointing at someone, as opposed to pointing at something.

There are many minor etiquette rules you might break on a daily basis without causing offence, but when it comes to behaviour at the gym, do you know the basic rules of etiquette observed here?

At MPT we abide by a simple set of etiquette principles: Keep your socializing to before-and-after class – not during the session. It’s rude, disruptive and suggests that you are more important than everyone else around you. As a coach/trainer, when I’m demonstrating or explaining various exercises I expect your undivided attention, and this also means your ‘quiet’ attention. At MPT we encourage interaction during classes as it helps build camaraderie. However, there is a fine line between friendly interaction, and consistently talking to the point that it becomes disruptive to the flow of the class, and instructions need to be repeated several times over. The last thing I want to do is call someone, or people out in front of everyone, as I’m not a big fan of public slamming. However, if I see that my position, and the interests of others in the class, are not being respected, it may become an option that I will exercise.

I may be taking the risk of sounding old-fashioned (though it actually has nothing to do with “fashion” and everything to do with manners and respect for others), but this needs to be said:It’s not ok, to be late for a class. It’s rude, inconsiderate and selfish. I know this may sound unduly harsh to some, yet it is the honest truth. That we all live busy lives, is a given, so it’s more of a cop-out than it is an excuse. The truth is that some people no longer even pretend that they think your time is as important as theirs.

To clarify, I’m not talking about being two or three minutes late, I’m referring to a ‘habit’ of being five to ten minutes late on a regular basis. I understand life is not always a smooth routine, and things come up that are out of our control. However, if you’re committed to taking part in an event that’s been scheduled and requires punctuality, please make every effort to be on time.

Here are some other rules of etiquette that you can follow at the MPT dojo.

1. Check your ego at the door.
2. Be consistent and be on time.
3. Respect this dojo and respect each other.
4. You can be tired, but don’t act tired.
5. Be better than you were yesterday.
6. Eat real food. Do not diet.
7. “Train” here. “Exercise” somewhere else.
8. Don’t count the reps: make the reps count.
9. Put your excuses and weights away.
10. PR’s are meant to be broken.

I can honestly guarantee you that if everyone who is a student at the MPT dojo followed these guidelines on a consistent basis, their experience and results would be beyond anything they could ever expect.

Dedicated to your fitness,
Maki Riddington
#noexcuses
#teammpt
#tfwvancouver

When Misfortune Strikes

When I was a boy growing up, I believed good things only happened to good people, and bad things happened to bad people. When I became an adult I soon realized that bad things happen to good people, and good things can happen to bad people. Of course, the opposite can be true as well. But we’re left asking the proverbial question, “WHY?”

One could conclude, by watching the news or reading a newspaper, that the world is, objectively speaking, full of misery and misfortune. But I learned this past weekend, personally speaking, that when misfortune strikes there’s always a lesson to be learned. Often times we refuse to see the lesson because we’re so weighed down by the event and caught up in feeling miserable about it.

This past weekend the Riddington’s were ready to go on our very first camping trip as a family. Both my wife Catherine and I both grew up in families that camped, so we aren’t strangers to the wonderful world of tents, camp fires and canned food. But this past weekend, misfortune paid us a visit, and we paid its steep toll. But it left me with some insightful lessons.

The story began on Thursday evening.