Let's Get Physical
-Or How to Live Your Best Life on Just 24 Hours a Day- Part 3
Think: What I’m Thinking About
We’re still on Line of Effort (LOE)-1 (Body), and this week I want to focus on exercise.
Again, I am not licensed to give exercise advice, but I do get to work with a crew of top-notch strength and conditioning coaches, physical therapists, and athletic trainers, and I ask them a lot of questions. I’ve also spent my adult life in special operations units which demand a high level of fitness, and have competed in over sixty ultramarathons. None of this means that I know a lot, but I have learned a thing or two along the way.
I talk to a lot of people who tell me that they wish they had time to work out.
After last week’s admonishment to focus on sleep, I was asked, “How am I supposed to get more sleep and make time to exercise?”
It’s hard. No doubt about it.
But, the alternative is pretty bleak.
A lot of people sacrifice sleep, exercise, nutrition, and health care to work. They do this in order to -at some future point- be able to make time for the things they want to do.
The danger is that you may wind up like another tragic Greek figure who found a place in Hades not too far from our buddy Sisyphus.
Tantalus was a king. He was famed for his great wealth, but not for his intelligence. When invited to dine at Mt. Olympus, Tantalus decided to test the all-knowing power of the gods by bringing a stew featuring his own son, Pelops as the protein source. Of course, the gods knew; and boy, were they pissed. They all refused to eat except Demeter who, still upset about her lost daughter, Persephone, sampled a chunk of Pelops' shoulder.
The gods reconstituted Pelops and gave him an ivory shoulder replacement, but Tantalus was sent to Hades where he was forced to stand in water up to his neck with fruit trees growing above him. That doesn’t sound so bad, but anytime he tried to drink or grab a piece of fruit, the water shrank away and the limbs moved just out of his grasp. (Yes, this is where we get the word tantalize from.)
The moral of this story, of course, is to never put your child in a stew.
But, in our context, it is to be careful not to put off the things you want to do for so long that when you finally have the time, you can’t do them because they are out of your reach.
Depending on your current level of fitness and your goals, the time you need to devote to a fitness program will vary greatly.
But, if you aren’t currently participating in a fitness program, the best one is the one you will consistently complete.
The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-paced aerobic activity and two strength training sessions (roughly 30 minutes each) per week.
That breaks down to thirty minutes per day. You can find thirty minutes per day.
At the low end, that’s a walk after dinner every day- take the dog. Throw in a few sets of pushups and other body-weight exercises throughout the day.
Of course, that’s the minimum, and that’s not why we are here.
Set a fitness related SMART goal. I don’t care if it is to walk a 5K or win a 100K. Make it:
Specific- Finish a 10K
Measurable - in less that one hour
Attainable - It should not be easy, but it must be achievable with hard work.
Relevant - Aligned with your Sky Anchor and long range goals, or at least not in opposition to them.
Time-Based - No later than Feb. 1st. (find a local 10K that falls in your time window and sign up.
Another option is to do a workout that helps prepare you for the sport you like to do when you do have time. If you like to ski in the winter or hunt in the fall or kayak in the spring, select a workout that will start preparing you now by focusing on sport-specific movement patterns.
When ever possible, for your strength training, focus on compound movements. These work multiple muscle groups at the same time and provide more bang for your training time. This article offers some good suggestions for beginners and intermediate weight training compound exercises.
If I had to pick only one event that I could do for exercise it would be rucking. Get a backpack, load it up and go. You get cardio and weight-bearing all in one.
This website offers some good tips on ruck workouts and how to get started.
Next week we’ll talk turkey and other food.
Read: Metabolic Efficiency Training: Teaching the Body to Burn More Fat by Bob Seebohar
This is a fascinating book. I have recently been diving into heart rate training focused heavily on slow Zone 2 efforts to build a solid base, as I work my way back to running ultramarathons after a pretty significant hiatus.
The ideas in this book line up with the other research I have been doing on the topic, but focus on training from a nutrition perspective that I hadn’t considered. At the core of the book is the idea that athletes should periodize their meals as we periodize training. The other key takeaway is that the best way to become fat adapted is to focus on Zone 2 cardio.
Write:
I have decided to shift this segment from talking about my writing to answering questions that you write to me. Mostly because prior to now, no one had asked any questions, but after last week’s email, I received several. This is a habit that I would like to encourage. Ask me anything and I will try to answer both honestly and briefly.
Steve from Schenectady* writes: “I’m really enjoying these bulletins. My wife Julie signed me up. I usually don’t read a lot, but I know I need to start pushing boulders. Keep the emails coming. What prompted you to start them?”
Thanks for the question, Steve. Growing up I was an absolutely average kid. If we’re being honest, probably slightly below average. I joined the Marines at seventeen to make a man of myself and very quickly learned several things:
Work ethic trumps intelligence.
You can find out anything from a book.
Pay close attention to the things that work and the things that don’t- That’s how you gain experience.
Work hard enough long enough, keep reading, learning, and paying attention and you will develop wisdom.
The more wisdom you share, the more you learn, and the more quickly others can get to wisdom.
That’s about it.
I get to work every day with massively talented special operations Marines. I wanted to start sharing some of the things I discuss with them, with you Steve, Julie, and whoever else is interested.
Another driving factor behind this weekly email that I don’t believe I have yet mentioned, is that I have a memoir coming out in about a year that will chronicle my time in special operations. I know you will want to pick up a copy for you and Julie, so I’ll keep reminding you as we get closer.
* Steve may or may not be from Schenectady, he didn’t say. But I have been listening to replays of the American Top Forty with Casey Kasem, and Steve from Schenectady sounds like a guy who could use a long-distance dedication.
Repeat: Words of inspiration from those who said it best:
¨The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.¨ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.¨ ― Vince Lombardi Jr
¨A year from now you may wish you had started today.¨ – Karen Lamb
¨Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security.¨— J. F. K.
¨A feeble body weakens the mind.¨ - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
¨If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.¨ — Hippocrates
Here is a question for you next week. I'm targeting my first ultra in July (30 miler). Do you have any advice or lessons learned that you think would be valuable to share to myself and everyone else?