Less Is More: Stop Wasting Your Life By Endlessly Working Out
It surely won’t take much to convince you that we live in a society that has become too busy for it’s own good. We are constantly looking to get things done faster and more efficiently so that we’ll have time to… well, do more things. More, more, more is the mantra of Western society and it has permeated fitness and nutritional lives too.
photo credit: WTL photos
I’ve come to realise that what’s important is what’s important. Everything else is optional. What I mean by this is, if we cull from our lives that which is secondary and focus on what is of first importance, then we’ll be getting less but more important things done. Then we’ll truly see that everything else is fluff.
Working out and eating right is important. Working out every day and eating absolutely no unhealthy food, is not important. It just isn’t.
For those that are striving for a better, healthier body, without wasting their lives, ignoring the unimportant is of utmost importance. In the book First Things First, Stephen Covey asks the question, “How many people on their deathbed wish they’d spent more time at the office?”. A great question for sure, but I’m also going to add to it for all those who find themselves labeled as health or fitness nuts, how many wish they’d spent more time in the gym?
The conventional wisdom of the day will probably make you react by saying you will indeed wish you’d spent more time in the gym. And don’t get me wrong, I encourage consistent regular fitness, and for people who have spent their spare time watching TV and eating junk food, and haven’t set foot in a gym, they probably should have this thought on their death bed! But if you really think about it, lying there on your death bed you’ll be reminiscing about what you could have done that would count.
Spending time in a gym, or hour-long runs, or whatever other fitness method you use, are not activities that reward you the more you do it. Yes, you should keep active, lift weights, run the odd sprint and do plenty of walking. And if you truly enjoy it then don’t let me stop you from doing it every day. But know this, there is a point when you reach the optimum level of fitness activites after which you begin going back down the other side of the bell curve.
photo credit: Drewski Mac
Don’t waste time being ultra fit if it means letting life pass you by.
Yes, being too much of a “fitness freak” is actually detrimental to your health. Our bones, our muscles, our ligaments all need time to restore and repair. Remember those times when you woke up feeling sick and you had a workout anyway? You would probably have done better to sleep in another hour or two.
Even if you are benefiting from the extra workout, or Hitler diet, you’re probably hurting yourself (or others) in other ways.
What about that time you refrained from eating the main dish at a meal with friends or family because “you’re on a diet”. You would probably have done better to indulge for one meal and enjoy the therapeutic benefits that fellowship and sharing food together bring.
You don’t have to be guilty when you skip a workout!
The worst thing about being a fitness freak is that you voluntarily take on the feeling of guilt whenever you don’t go 100%. Listen folks, a life of always feeling guilty for not working out enough, or not eating the right foods, is not a life at all. Life is to be enjoyed and while we were made to have a purpose and be busy doing that, there are definitely times where relaxation (even laziness) and indulgence are part of living.
Besides, your purpose in life is not to be continually working out! Fitness and nutrition, among other things, are tools that will empower you to live out that purpose.
So, how about skipping today’s workout?
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Be Easy on Your Calves
Yes, animals need to be looked after, especially young ones, but the calves I’m talking about are your lower legs. We’ve all had calf pain. I remember growing up I used to have painful calves in the evenings – I’d call them growing pains. But then when I still had those pains in my late teens when I’d obviously stopped growing (upwards), I realised that they probably weren’t growing pains! I actually don’t know what they are, but I do think that we need to take care of our calves.
Why? Well, it would be pretty painful walking with a damaged calf. Muscles hold your skeleton together in a way and if they’re temporarily damaged or strained, then simple activities can be excruciating. And no-one likes to be in pain!
The calf muscle sort of has three heads. There are two muscles, the soleus and the gastrocnemius. The gastrocnemius has two heads in a way, that are at the rear of the leg, and the soleus goes around the front of the leg and the sides. Without these two muscles we’d have trouble walking. There has to be a certain amount of flexibility in these muscles so that we can perform every day activities. A test you can do to see how flexible you are is to place your toes 12cm away from the wall, then bend your knee so it touches the wall. If it touches, good! If not, you’ll have to work on it! Another test is to put your foot up against the wall with the heel on the ground at a 45 degree angle. You should be able to touch your knee to the wall or at least straighten it out.
I think it is important to train these muscles. It is essential that they are strong so that you can perform every day tasks. The most simple of calf exercises are the calf raises. Because there are three sort of heads to the muscles, there are three ways to do this exercise. Firstly, stand with your feet hip width apart and facing forwards. Rise up onto your toes about 6 times. You should feel something! Then turn your toes out (like a dancer) and do the same thing. Thirdly, turn your toes inward – think pigeon – and rise up 6 times again. By now you’ll probably be feeling the burn. The calf muscle is delicate, so take care not to overdo it! If 6 times is too many, take it down a few. After a few squats or other exercises, repeat these sets 2 more times. Doing this every day will ensure your calves stay healthy and strong – but in order to take ultimate care of them, make sure you stretch them out afterwards. Do this by putting your toes up against the wall and feeling the muscle stretch out. Even siting on the floor with your legs outstretched and pulling your toes back towards you is an effective stretch. Only stretch until you can feel it – not so that it hurts!
Taking care of your calves is much easier than the animals. A little bit of attention every few days can go a long way!
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Double Kettlebell Swing
I like kettlebells. Ever since I bought my lovely 26 pounders I’ve really enjoyed working out. It took me a while to work up to the amount of reps I wanted to do – but now I’m getting there and wondering if I need the next size up…
Anyways… I like most of Mike Mahler’s exercises that he has in the fat-loss beginner program. Most… I don’t really like the double kettlebell clean – but maybe I’m just doing it wrong. I really like the double KB swing though. Its really effective. I can feel it working the entire backs of my legs, my back, my arms, my chest and my abs. Its great. I substitute it for the clean usually. And do heaps of reps cos I like it.
It took me a while to perfect it. (And I don’t think I have it absolutely perfect…) But when I started I could only use one kettlebell – and that is ok! The swing is an incremental exercise. Much like any other… but still, working with one kettlebell when you start is just fine if you can feel it working. If you can only manage 4 reps, thats fine if you can feel it working. Even when you are up to using really heavy kettlebells and you’re doing a huge amount of reps – it can still be increased. When you get to the point that you can’t really feel it, then either increase the weight or the amount of reps. Its all about development!
So, how to do them? I like to stand with my feet wider than shoulder distance apart. My two kettlebells are right in the centre of my feet, side by side. Bend down and pick them up, then basically just swing. Swing them back so they go out beyond your feet, then up so your arms are horizontal and parallel with the ground. Do this several times – as many as you can stand. Six is a good number – and 12 is a good goal. Whatever you do, make sure you have a good hold on the kettlebells! Last thing you want is to let go of them at the top of the trajectory and have them fly through a window! I like to use glove type things to help my grip. Make sure you keep your arms straight the whole way through so you avoid injury. Also, if you can’t quite get horizontal, that doesn’t matter too much. Work your way up to it.
Some people like to only use the swing. That is their entire workout. I would say its a great idea – but be wary of saying something is the be-all and end-all of everything. There has to be a balance. The swing is a great workout and does work everything – but don’t rely on just that!
Give it a try today. If you like it, use it! If you don’t, work at it until it feels more comfortable. Can’t hurt to give it a go! Just make sure you have a spotter handy.
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The Boxer’s Jump Rope Workout
I talked about the humble jump rope last week. Far from a children’s toy, the skipping rope (as it’s sometimes called) is one of the most effective exercise tools you could use.
But you can’t just skip for 30 minutes non-stop and call it your cardio session
If you’ve ever tried skipping though, you’ll soon find you can’t just skip non-stop for 25 minutes (for example). It’s just not physically possible. Unless you’ve worked yourself up to that level over a long period of time, you can only go for a few minutes before you’ll get too tired to go on.
So what should a solid jump rope workout look like?
A great workout would be a HIIT skipping workout. In simple terms it would involve making use of the down time when you’re not skipping by doing various other non-cardio exercises such as press ups, chin ups, sit ups, crunches or dips.
For example:
- Skip for 2 minutes
- Do 10 press ups
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 12 crunches
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 7 pull ups
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 10 press ups
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 12 crunches
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 7 pull ups
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 10 press ups
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 12 crunches
- Skip for another 2 minutes
- Do 7 pull ups
Now this workout can of course be rearranged in multiple ways, but I think you get the general point. Instead of doing nothing in between skipping sessions you can use the time to do bodyweight exercises. That way your heart rate is staying up during the entire workout which makes a very gruelling cardio session, trust me!
It is also a good idea to do different types of skipping to add some variety to the mix. Try skipping on one leg, jogging on the spot, or doing side-straddle where you jump from side to side as your skipping (this can really get your abs going too).
And you know what the best thing is about this workout?
All you need is a skipping rope!*
*You will also need a chinning bar to do the pull ups so if you don’t have access to one, why not consider this product?
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