Get organized

Whaaaaat's happening?

So, has this ever happened to you? You are ready to do some work. You are motivated, maybe you go to a gym, maybe you go to the park, maybe you are working out at home. You are putting in the effort to make a change for the better. Only, when the time comes to actually start working, you find yourself at a loss as to what you should do. Maybe you pick up some weights, maybe you spend some time on a cardio machine, maybe you see someone doing something that you've never seen before and you try that a few times. After about an hour of directionless effort, you stretch (or not) and call it a day. This is almost guaranteed to happen if you jump into a workout without a plan. This is why I have to write down my workouts prior to getting started. I've been the guy aimlessly wandering the gym moving stuff around.

 Write it down.

Before you start working, sit down, get something to write with/on and jot down the plan. Here is an easy structure to follow:
Warm up: This is to get your heart rate up and your joints loose. It should be hard, but not exhausting. You should be sweating afterward.
Skill: Pick one physical skill you want to improve and spend 10-15 minutes executing said skill.
Work: This is the workout. You work hard here. It is important to have a specific number of repetitions or time or distance or weight to quantify your work, otherwise you run the risk of being the above-mentioned confused guy or gal.
Cool down/stretch: Spend some time stretching your trouble areas.

Here is my plan from yesterday:

Warmup: 3 rounds of 5 minutes (or the length of whatever song is playing) jumping rope and 20 kettle bell swings
Skill: Free standing handstand practice. I started against the wall and eventually moved into the middle of the floor, where I am still only getting about 5 seconds of handstand before I crash. Damnit.
Work: Find a hill, find something heavy and walk/run up said hill with said heavy object 10 times. Rest as necessary, but do it 10 times. I used a heavy bag, normally used for boxing. This sucked.
Stretch: Focused on my hips, back and hamstrings, as they are my tight areas and they just got worked hard on the hill.

Now, that is just a sample workout. The same structure can be used over and over, just filling in different exercises and skills. Here are some other ideas you can choose from when programming your next workout.

• Tabata - a time constraint that can be used with any movement. Example: Tabata situps. Using a timer or watch/clock, do as many situps as you can in 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this cycle 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. You should be smoked by the end. Pick 2-4 movements (push ups, squats, running, jumping, etc) and you have your work planned for the day.
• On the Minute - Once again, need a time keeper. Pick one or two movements and do a certain number at the beginning of each minute for 10 minutes. Example: do 10 burpees (a pushup followed by a jump) every minute for 10 minutes.
• Breathing ladder - Pick a movement. I like Kettle bell swings, but anything works. Do one swing (or whatever) and then take one deep, controlled breath, then do two swings, then two breaths, all the way to twenty swings and twenty breaths, then back down to one and one. The goal is to maintain controlled breathing the whole time.

 

That's it for now. So get out there and be your own personal trainer! And as always, hit up the comments section and let me know your results.

 

Jack

 

PS - Log your Efforts. I started logging my workouts and food intake in a journal and noticed that I became more organized in my workouts and more diligent about what I ate. I make sure to write it down after I've done it, so it is almost like a reward. I also log quality of sleep, mood in the morning, stress level and any comments or thoughts I have about the day's work. It is a good habit to start if you want to be accountable to yourself. Worth a try.

 

 



Work on your weakness

Welcome back.

I know I mentioned this last time, but today I want to spend some time talking about one of the key ways to get better: working on your weaknesses.

We all have strengths and weaknesses. For a long time, I lacked coordination and upper body strength. The tendency for most of us is to avoid doing things that we don't do well. If I am a bad swimmer than I choose not to go swimming. If doubt my coordination then I avoid doing things that require coordination. You get the idea. You would be amazed how many times I've heard someone say "I'm not in good enough shape to work out." Does anyone else think that logic is a little fuzzy?

The truth is that nobody is born with skill. Sure, some things might come easier to a few people, but one thing that holds true for anyone who ever got better is that they worked hard at something. Jordan went home after missing the cut for his high school basketball team and said "I guess I'm not good enough to play basketball." Not true. He worked his tail off making his weaknesses into strengths. My point is, don't give up just because something doesn't come naturally. If you are overweight, do something about it. If you don't know how to swim, take lessons. If you can't do one pull up, buy a $20 pull up bar and put it in a door frame in your house that sees a lot of traffic. Make a pledge to yourself that every time you pass the bar you will do x number of pull ups (or jumping pull ups, or negatives, or just hang from the bar for 5 seconds.) Whatever your level is, challenge yourself.

I want you to try a little activity. Write down three things that you would consider weaknesses. (push ups, pull ups, running, jumping, juggling, whatever) Once a day for the next week, perform one of those activities at a level that you find challenging. Don't let failure get you down. My high school basketball coach had us do a drill one time where we were told to dribble two basketballs with both hands as fast and as low as we could for one minute. Some guys maintained control for the whole minute, others did not. After the minute, he asked us to raise our hand if we kept control the whole time. I raised my hand. He then explained that if we didn't lose control, or fail, than we were not pushing ourselves hard enough. In other words, failure is just a symptom of trying hard. If we fear failure than we are crippled and will ultimately never get better at anything. You'd be amazed how gratifying it is to overcome something that you previously though you could not do.

I'm working on doing a free standing hand stand. So far I've managed a 5 second hold before I come toppling down. But I am getting better. So, what are you working on? Please post your efforts.

Get some,

Jack

PS - Safety note: make sure that when you fail, you don't do so in a particularly spectacular fashion. For example, if you are bad at cliff diving, I would not recommend jumping off a cliff once a day for the next week. Maybe find a pool somewhere and utilize their diving board, you crazy mofo.

WGNYDXA7RSHN

Want to be better?

Hey out there,

Lets start off with who I am and why I'm starting this blog; my name is Jack and fitness is part of my life. I'm not the guy you see doing bicep curls in the mirror. Nor am I the guy you see wearing brightly colored spandex riding a bike down the street. No, I embrace fitness in all forms and welcome variety and challenge into my routine. I believe that your fitness should not be broken down into a "10 week beach body workout" or a "pain free ab sculpting routine" but instead a life long journey to be better, both mentally and physically. Try new things, keep what you like, discard what you don't.

As this blog progresses, I will be posting ideas to keep my your (and my) fitness life moving forward, to get better every day. You might be the world champion on the elliptical machine, but can you jump? Can you do a pull up? Maybe you can do a million push ups, but you cant throw a ball to save your life. My goal is to make you a well rounded athlete that can pick up a new activity with ease.

Now maybe you are thinking "I'm not an athlete at all." Maybe you are thinking "I'm already good at my sport." Maybe you only want to look good in the mirror and don't really want to work that hard. In any case, there are numerous reasons to try new things when it comes to fitness. One, they are most often fun. At least the learning phase is fun. Some physical activities, especially new ones, will come with some pain, ie; the first time I tried boxing. It was just pad work (no getting punched in the face) but my sides were incredibly sore the next day. Two, trying and learning new exercises, games, sports, etc. is good for the mind. When we stop learning its like putting our brains into neutral. I like to keep mine engaged and moving forward. Finally, branching out into different arenas of motion will keep you from getting bogged down or reaching a plateau in your fitness. You will constantly be adapting to new challenges.

Here a few habits that you can try to add to your daily routine:

• Take the stairs. When you have the choice, avoid the escalator/elevator/moving sidewalk.
• Walk, don't drive. If you are going to dinner/the store/the circus and it is a mile or less away, driving is just lazy. Plus, you won't have to park and you'll save money on gas. If you buy groceries, carrying them back will be a workout in itself.
• Once a week, find time to try something new. My girlfriend and I take turns picking the activity. It can be anything, from dancing class to yoga to spin class to going to a pumpkin patch (not really a workout but its fun and outside).
• Get your heart rate up every day. This can be quick. I like to spend 2 minutes in the morning swinging a kettle bell (you will see these a lot around here) or doing some quick yoga or whatever else get me moving. The point is you should never go a day without elevating your heart rate. Even on my lazy, never-put-on-real-clothes days I do a little something that gets my pulse racing.

That does it for now. Check back soon for more. And remember, if you aren't getting better today, you are getting worse. And nobody wants that.

Get out and get some.

Jack

PS - Please, comment and post your ideas and habits for getting better every day. I love hearing how different people get after it!