Fit Commitment

Sometimes the Fitness Movement is dumb, says the consummate fitness professional.   Dumb because in the myriad of options and gimmicks available, the joy of moving for its own sake gets lost.  If complex periodized programs, fancy gyms or expensive equipment work for you, then great, keep it up.  If not, simple unstructured activities like blasting  Santana and boogeying around the living room, running through every puddle you can find, or yodeling like tarzan atop a big hill are fun, cheap, easy and great exercise.  Plus it feels great to let ‘er rip.

What about you? How might you bust a move?

Earlier this year I wrote about the joys of running at 5:00 AM in the dark with my Petzl headlamp. Yes, I was serious and yes I did admit to being a wee bit mad.  Sadly,   its all irreleavant now anyway as I started a new job this past September – one that involves a commute long enough for two venti-sized travel mugs full of good strong tea – and  my whole life has been turned upside down.

I love my new job, but the culture where I work highly values commitment and dedication.  So much so that booking an hour a day for lunch, (which for me means exercise) has been a real struggle, and I find myself often feeling as though I need to defend it.

The past few weeks have been chockablock full of meetings (which means way too much time sitting) with no time to think, reflect or plan, except when I am exercising. And so it has struck me that this one hour a day I set aside has become extremely valuable not just for my own personal health. Its also enhancing my work productivity significantly by creating space where I can think, sort through things, really consider options, proritize, plan and reflect. Consequently, I feel way more vibrant and alive in the afternoon. Well until about three anyway, when my chin inexplicably and involuntarily finds its way to my chest.  Coincidentally, it seems to happen at the same time my eyelids close. In a meeting no less.

I”d like to tell you that I take off out running out the door and immediately loose myself in the sky, the trees and the fresh air, but the truth is I do some of both. I sort, file, organize and create space in my work brain, and I have some truly zen-fully-present-fully-alive Eckart Tolle moments.

The bottom line is my time huffing and puffing on the exercise bike, rowing maching and trails actually makes me better at my job.  Its not only good for me, its good for my work.  Nevermind that no one would work with me if I didn’t exercise an hour a day because I’d be so intolerable.

I miss starting my day off feeling like a  Bering Sea Crab Boat Captain, but I am finding real joy and relief in exercising midday to. Our bodies were meant to move, and God knows my brain can use all the extra oxygen I can circulate. I think we should celebrate some form of exercise or movement as a necessary part of our work day, don’t you?

I’ve been in a slump lately. I was fortunate enough to have four whole complete days off in a row over the Canada Day long weekend. Heaven right? Well its supposed to be, but instead I crashed and burned. I got out of bed on Saturday morning audibly groaning at the idea of running, or doing anything for that matter. Plus my right Achilles Tendon insisted on loudly reminding me that its propelled me through an active life for more than 42 years.

So instead of dragging my sorry ass down the road, I headed for the gym with my IPOD, and jumped on one of the Spinning bikes, something I haven’t done in eons.  The first 10 minutes were so pathetic I may as well have been reading a cookbook, but once Aerosmith started belting out Sweet Emotion, I was pumping my quads like mad to ascend the biggest ass hill I could muster.  Before I could fully recover I cranked up U2, I Will Follow and hummed along as fast as my short legs would go.  And Sia’s Breathe Me?  That’s gotta be the best ride through the desert I’ve ever had.  (Well second best, but that’s another story)

It was 70 minutes later, when I finally dialed in Pearl Jam, Just Breathe and simmered down, my clothes drenched, a puddle of sweat on the floor. It was the best, and toughest, workout I’ve had in sometime, and I felt fantastic – wholly and completely alive.  I went home and thoroughly enjoyed cleaning and organizing closets. Really, I did.

Its so easy to fall into a rut, like a hamster in a treadmill, going, going, going….  heading out the door everyday, running down the same road, at the same speed. Sometimes, like a car that’s idling too high, the best remedy might be to just hit the gas pedal, blow out the cobwebs and go for it.  Who knows where you’ll end up?  It sure worked for me.  This time anyway.  And wow my closets look great.

How about you?  Ever tried this route?

I find it painful to go to the gym. Not so much because I don’t like cardio equipment, fans and TVs, but because its extremely difficult to watch people essentially wasting time by unknowingly performing ineffective, or worse yet potentially harmful, exercises without offering up some assistance. Especially as I am an extroverted Fitness Yackadactyl (creature defined by a well defined and constantly moving set of jaw muscles, or in this blogger’s case, fingers).

I was reminded of this the other day while driving to work and listening to CBC. I heard about something called ROWE, or Results Only Work Environment.  The tagline, ‘where people are paid for productivity and not time spent,’ expresses the underlying premise of getting the job done, rather than putting in a prerequisite number of hours.

So, how does this apply to fitness you ask? We can increase productivity and decrease time at the gym by applying ROWE to exercise. The key is to select exercises and activities that give you the most bang for your time-spent buck. Here are some tips for constructing your Results Only Workout. 

Build your fitness program around 4 key cornerstones: Cardiovascular, Strength, Flexibility and Nourishment

Cardiovascular – In order to achieve results you must elevate your heart rate to 70 – 85% of your HR MAX. I can explain this at length if you are interested, or you can aim to work at an intensity where your heart and breathing rates are high enough you are able to carry on a conversation, but JUST barely. Never mind all the Fat Burning Zone, jargon, which warrants a post of its own. Just get your heart rate up and keep it up everyday for 30 – 50 minutes, remembering you can do this in intermittent bouts. Heart Rate Monitors are fabulous for helping with this, but if you don’t want to spend $100 ask me about taking your own pulse manually. Its free.

Strength – If you want maximum benefit for minimum time, perform one set of 12 reps of these four exercises: Chest Press or Push Up, Mid or Bent Over Row, Squat or Lunge and Dead Bug.  You will hit all the major muscle groups in the body with these four exercises.  Also, note the single set training has proven to be effectiveprovided your one set is a good one.  Remember, you MUST lift to momentary muscle fatigue in 12 or less reps.  This means you are not able to complete another rep while maintaining perfect form. If you are curling A two LB dumbbell 40 times, its much too light and you’re wearing out your joints, and not making a good use of your time.

NB – Generally weight exercises that involve bouncing, momentum, twisting of the spine, or bending over while hanging on to weights are NOT a good idea.

Flexibility - Stretch each major muscle group in the body and hold for 15 – 30 seconds without bouncing. Emphasize areas that are typically tight – hamstrings, hipflexors, calves, pecs and back of the neck. Yoga Sun Salutations are also a complete practice, so performing four Sun Series A and Sun Series B is a great way to target key tight spots.

NB – Generally, stretches that involve bouncing or wincing are not a good idea. You should never feel pain in a joint, only gentle tension in a muscle.

Nourishment – When it comes to eating focus your efforts on what you need to do, rather than obsessing about what you don’t. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Take time to slowly chew your food and pay attention to how what you are eating makes you feel.

And don’t forget to breathe!

I need to come clean. Literally and figuratively. These are my feet at the end of this morning’s run. What’s wrong with this picture?

1. Well for starters my feet are shaped like dinner plates. They are as wide as they are long, making  it very difficult to find shoes that fit. Wouldn’t you know the only ones that work, without causing my toenails to fall off, a plight common for runners, cost $180.00, hence the replacement delay.
2. Its June. I am standing in the middle of a puddle and I am chilly. I could obsess, but I’ll try to get over this wet west coast spring.
3. My runners are disintegrating, yet I haven’t found the time to get a new pair.
4. My socks are so ripe they could take off down the road by themselves. Maybe that’s where they go.
5. You can’t see it, but the truth is I run at 5:15 AM because my running clothes are older than my daughter. (She’s 13)

All this might not be so bad, but last week I wrote a post about self care as though I had it mastered. Clearly, I have some work to do before I can walk my own talk. Sigh. Don’t you love it when you discover you are full of you know what? Or does it only happen to me?

This week I am going to order new running shoes, buy 10 pairs of brand new pristine white running socks, and I am going to buy two new running outfits to replace my current collection of hand me downs, and ancient stinky mix-and-match get ups.

If there was a “What not the Wear” for exercise, I would be an ideal first contestant. Any fitness fashionitas out there with advice?

How about you?  Inspired to initiate your own self care affair?

N.B. – Truth be known?  I do exercise every day. I’ve nailed that part of my life.  But much of what I write about smelling the roses, mindfulness, self care and body image, I’m writing because I need to remind myself out loud, so I can be held accountable.

I’ve been a single parent for quite some time, and so I have an idea how difficult it is to make exercise a priority when kids come first – as they should.  There are times when caring for our children trumps everything else, making it easy to forget taking care of ourselves can enable us to take better care of all those we love.

Sometimes it helps me to remember the spiel at the beginning of all flights. You know the one…

“In the unlikely event of depressurization, an oxygen mask will fall from the console directly above you…”  And always the flight attendant goes on to describe how if you are traveling with a small child, you should place your own mask on before assisting your child. 

It seems completely counter intuitive, but yet when you really think about it, its not. Your child needs you. I think taking care of your our own health, so we can better assist our children, and others we care about, is not as selfish as we sometimes think.

I could be writing a predictable post about the importance of SMART goal setting when it comes to your fit pursuits.  You know the drill. Goals are essentially important when it comes to fitness. They need to be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and they need to consider a Time Frame. Blah, blah, blah.

Instead, I want to tell you that after twenty some years of training and coaching individuals to get active and stay active, success in maintaining physical activity and a healthy lifestyle has little to do with goals and everything to do with learning to love exercise and just getting the job done.

Action goals, like being active every day, eating more fruits and vegetables, weight training 3 times per week, or running your first 10 K are great motivators. However, performance goals, like getting your body fat down to 14%, weighing below 130 pounds or running a sub 4 hour marathon can, and often are, particularly as we get older, a great source of disappointment.

Being active every day, you will inevitably lose weight, build muscle, improve your health and create positive momentum in other areas of your life. We need to do this because it feels so damn good, and improves our health, instead of what we hope it will make us look like, or how we hope we might perform.

I think we need to spend less time concocting intricate goals and more time just getting our bodies moving.

I woke up yesterday with my shoulder glued to my neck. Contributing factors might include stress, couch surfing over the long weekend while visiting family, and that other thing that’s happening to all of us; the one we like to deny. My hair dresser describes it so elegantly.

“Your hair is changing texture.”

My over 40 year old brain takes minute to register and translate. ~ My hair is turning grey, my connective tissue is losing elasticity and there are two pieces of shredded wheat sprouting in the neighborhood of my chin(s). Sigh.

My gratitude practice for today involves being thankful that the acuteness of my vision has faded to a point where I can no longer really see the grey, or the shredded wheat.  However, I definitely notice waking up with aches and pains. It makes me acutely aware I can’t keep pounding out the injury-free miles like I used to, without including some other form of non weight bearing activities like cycling or rowing.

The benefits of cross training, or incorporating a variety of activities, include significantly decreased risk of injury, decreased aches and pains associated with overuse, increased performance, enhanced enthusiasm and interest, ability to overcome plateaus, more energy and the ability to work the body fully. In my case, the pulling motion used in rowing helps to mitigate the forward posture I assume while running, and regular targeted yoga practice helps to lengthen my neck, chest, shoulder and hip muscles, which are all tightening as a result of running, age, and too much sitting in front of the computer. All of this translates into preventative maintenance for my body, enabling me to sustain my active life as long as possible.

But this isn’t just for us over- the-hillers. It’s about threshold. With each mile or muscle movement, we are adding to the wear and tear on our joints and connective tissues. Cross training is preventative maintenance. By using different areas of the body in different ways we can spread the use and reverse some of the habitual postures, thereby extending the life of our body’s precious moving parts and pieces. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.

So…. my  yoga routine fell apart last week, as did my cross training regimen, because I was traveling.  At this point in my life all it takes is a week of falling of the cross training wagon, and my sternocleidomastoid sounds the alarm: cross train, stretch, do yoga and breathe.

 NB – I am also thankful for hairdressers, estheticians, and registered massage therapists.

Even the thought of trying to fit exercise, or anything (like blog writing), into an already crazy busy life can be enough to ellicit stress palpitations. Its often unrealisitic for many of us, including me, to block off an hour or more per day for fitness, but there are some creative ways to ’fit it in’ and achieve maximum results with minimal small bursts. The key is simplicity. Pick a few effective exercises and activities that do not require much in the way of staging or equipment, and insert them into small windows of opportunity.

The three pillars of any fitness program are cardiovascular activity, strength training and flexibility, all of which can be done anywhere in short spurts. Here’s how.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovacular exercise, such as walking, running or cycling does not need to be continous. Research has shown a 10 minute walk in the morning, another 10 minutes at lunch and another 10 in the afternoon can be just as effective as a 30 minute workout.  These interludes are also likely to increase productivity and relieve stress.

Strength Training

Single set strength training has proven to be effective. You can achieve the health benefits of strength training by performing as few as four exercises, three times per week. One set each of push-ups, squats, bent over rows and a dynamite core exercise will cover every major muscle group in the body and won’t take you more than five minutes.

Flexibility

Stretches can easily be done throughout the day pretty much anywhere, including at your desk. Taking pause to do this can also be a great way to alleviate stress and mitigate the effects of sitting all day.  A series of about eight stretches held for 30 seconds each is all you need. Key muscles groups to hit are hamstrings, hipflexors, calves, chest, back and neck.

I also find it helpful to set up exercise cues and eliminate potential excuses.  Here are a few of my tricks:

• leave a yoga mat unrolled in my bedroom 
• keep another rolled up in a corner of my office
• store a bag of exercise clothes at work
• leave my running shoes in the middle of the way in the front hall
• do hamstring and hipflexor stretches (seated or standing) while waiting for my computer to boot up
• stretch my neck in a variety of directions while reading my hundreds of emails
• go for a tea/coffee walk in the morning and afternoon on days when I am in my office
• squeeze in a set of ball squats or push ups on my exercise ball, which doubles as a chair
• leave my dumbells and Reebok Step in the middle of the living room (did I mention I am divorced?)

While this intermittent approach to exercise is not endorsed by all fitness/yoga/Pilates professionals, I can tell you for me its the only way to blast through the time barrier.  What about you?  Any tips to add?   Interested in some proven power-packed-no-time-wasted exercises to pepper your day?   I’m considering developing a free e-book, complete with photos and do-it-yourself instructions.  Let me know.

Fitness has, in many ways, become a bad word, eliciting images of pain, torture, agony and penance in pursuit of an often unreachable goal.  What fun is that? Its no wonder many of us don’t succeed, or even get off the starting block. Yet, others seem hopelessly addicted, running, biking, swimming, and pumping iron every chance they get. What’s their secret?

I can’t speak for every enthusiast, but I can tell you for me exercise truly is one of the greatest joys of my life, and that’s what keeps me coming back day after day, year after year.  

Here are eleven of my secrets:

• I do things I love.  I know this sounds simple in theory, but I find it all too easy to get caught up in what I think I should be doing.  Case in point: inspired many years ago watching my brother compete in an Ironman, I decided I was destined to be a triathlete, despite not knowing how to swim.  This would have been a great goal if I loved swimming, but I hated it.  Staring at the bottom of the pool with no one to talk to, lap after lap, bored me to tears.  It took  a year of purgatory before I realized running down the road with the wind in my hair, or catching a wave in my kayak makes me happy, but swimming does not.
• I do not measure my worth as a person with a number on the scale, an image in the mirror, a BMI number, or the results of a fitness assessment.  These can be useful tools to create motivation and satisfaction through measuring achievement.  Period.
• I avoid gyms.  This may seem bizarre coming from a fitness professional, but I believe fitness needs to enhance your life in very specific ways.  Even if its pouring rain, blowing sideways, and gusting 100 KM an hour, which is does often where I come from, a run outside is so much more alive, and invigorating then endlessly pounding out miles on a treadmill.  
• I never, ever, ever make exercise punishment for something I ate or didn’t to. Penance is never fun.
• Whether its yoga, Pilates or strength training, I take it outside every chance I get, preferably in nature.   Staring up at the clouds in Warrior Pose is much more invigorating than looking into big florescent lights.
• I insist on exercise being a stress reliever, not a stress generator.  This sounds simple as well, but there have been many times where I’ve gotten carried away with a marathon, or half marathon goal. While these can be great training motivators, I am much more careful about which ones I select, and where in my life I place them.  (Okay, honesty check  – this one is still a work in progress 
• When it comes to exercise, variety is the spice of life.  Doing the same exercise routine day after day is like eating peas every night for dinner.  Day one and two might be okay, but day five is hell. Change it up, before it gets boring. I am continually trying new things, and ensuring I incorporate variety every way I can: from the routes I run, to the number of reps and sets I do and the exercises I chose.
• Just like so many things in life you get out, what you put in, so if you really don’t have it today, then don’t try it. If I am low energy, or not feeling 100% I find altering my plans and replacing a run with a walk and some restorative yoga allows me to actually get into what I am doing and enjoy it,  instead of mentally kicking my own butt down the road, hating every minute. I feel satisfied, rather than berated.
• I endeavor to be fully present when I exercise,  and use exercise as a training ground for bringing presence to the rest of my life (another work in progress). When I actually soak up the sounds of the birds, the smell of the wet Douglas Fir, the wind in my ears, and the feeling of my own heart thumping, something amazing happens.  My mind is peaceful, and that’s so much more rewarding than catching CNN whilst grinding away on an elliptical trainer.
• I remind myself I need to have more fun, and being fit enough to try things like surfing is fun.
• And finally, I focus on how fitness will make me feel, not how I hope it will make me look.

There is true joy in exercise, and with a little perseverance you to can find it, but not in the mirror, or on the pages of a fitness magazine.  Its inside you.  Its not an end goal, but rather a way to live your life.  Once you do, you’ll never look back.