L.I.F.T.

I just got back from a trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to visit my family and attend my grandma’s 89th birthday celebration.  It was awesome!

While I was there, I got to go sledding with my nieces, who are 6 and 10, my sister, and my fiancee Mary.  We had the best time sledding down the snow-covered hills, and then sprinting back to the top.

When it was all said and done, everyone was totally wiped out, and starving!  Mary remarked on how hungry she was.

Sledding is one of those types of play where you just don’t realize how hard you’re really “working.”  You’re also challenging your stabilizing musculature, running uphill on a slippery, uneven surface.

So if you’re in a place where there’s snow – GO OUTSIDE AND GO SLEDDING!  Go every day!  Have fun!  You might end up with washboard abs in the process!

Researchers explain and show that they “understand” motivation by describing it in terms of ego/task-orientation, or extrinsic/intrinsic scales.  However, none of those examples really explains what motivation is, or how to affect or effect it.

But this research is like saying “an apple is red, or it can be green.”  “People who stick to workout plans have high intrinsic motivation.”  So what?  You’ve just described a quality of the thing, not the cause.  Why can these folks develop intrinsic motivation (or have it inherently), or task orientation, while others don’t or have a really hard time doing so?

Recent research is showing that you can alter task/ego orientation by altering the motivational climate the person is in.  For instance, you can create an environment that supports a focus on individual achievement according to your own ability level.  This information helps once you have someone working out, but how do you get them off the couch to begin with?!

Why is it that some people are highly motivated to exercise and others not at all?  And why is it that when some people start exercising, they stop immediately?  Even for people whom you know have a very strong reason (high intrinsic or extrinsic motivation) to exercise (heart patients, etc.), the old habits always win.  I think it’s more than inertia.  That’s too simplistic an answer.

Commercials give us huge insight into how to make people do things they otherwise wouldn’t do.  Buy the “thighmaster,” “perfect pushup,” “p90x.”  But even then, most of those things turn into clothes hangers after about a month.  What motivates people to buy those things is a desire to have what they see.  I think there’s a direct link between seeing and believing, which is why TV is so effective.  Social pressure, and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Death) add to that visual effect.

It still doesn’t answer why some stick while others falter.

Hi there!

In this post I’d like to pose a question.  What are you looking for in physical fitness, in the gym, in exercise, diet, etc.?

Most of the commercials on TV these days point us toward what they want us to look for in our physical fitness goals.  They want us to desire washboard abs (six-, twelve-, or twenty-four packs), toned butts and thighs, abs of steel, big guns, ripped somethings, huge pecs, perfect feet, toenails of steel, hair of Clorox…ok, I’m losing it.

Anyway, I’m interested in what people are really looking for, or really need, in their lives to help them exercise.  What motivates you (or doesn’t) to exercise, whether it be walking regularly, or going to the gym, or attending a particular class?

Are you looking to be in better physical health (e.g., lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, etc.)?  Are you looking to get stronger, or have larger or more-defined muscles?  Are  you trying to slim down, lose body-fat?  Or maybe you want to perform better at your sport.

Is there something different you’re looking for?  Are you looking for a deeper connection with your body?  This is the goal of many practitioners of yoga, and many general gym-goers too.  Are you looking for motivation?  I’ve had many clients in the past who essentially needed a personal trainer to help to motivate themselves to work out.

Or, are you looking for something completely different from what I’ve listed here.  Maybe you aren’t looking for anything at all…you’re completely satisfied with your current level of health and fitness.

If you have the time, please comment and let me know what it is you look for in your physical fitness or diet goals.  If I can help you in any way, let me know that, too!

Thanks!

Josh

The grip of popular media is powerful.  Commercials tell you what you should do, wear, eat, look like, smell like, enjoy, think – about everything.  Meanwhile, our “science-based” culture emphasizes means/averages for everything.  How’s your blood pressure?  Is it “normal?”

What about your cholesterol, blood sugar, temperature, physiognomy, physiology, anatomy, mood, temperament, etc.?

Are you eating the RDA of your vitamins?  5 fruits and veggies a day?

While these measures can be useful guides, they can also divert us from what I believe is the most important business of life – to constantly be becoming who you are.

You are a unique organism on this planet.  While you may share the characteristics of your fellow human beings, there are probably many ways in which you are significantly different from them.  Here are a few possible areas of divergence:

• Your bone structure
• Your muscular composition
• Your response to stress
• Your predisposition for different diseases
• Your natural energy level
• Your temperament
• Your preferred bedtime – your unique Circadian and other rhythms

These are just a few, very basic, areas where you might be very different from everyone you know.

That being said, I think it’s important to be who you are.  Be as much who you are as you can be.  Explore all of the things that really grab you.  Do the activities that you find most interesting.  Read the books and see the movies that appeal to you the most.  Forget what the “critics” say.  They’re just trying to convince you to like what they like, or to buy what they sell.

And don’t think twice about it.

If you’re engaging in an exercise program, do the exercise that speaks to you the most.  Yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, weightlifting…whatever appeals to you.  I will give you the easiest tool for getting back in touch with your body through exercise – track your heart rate.

I use the Timex Ironman Triathlon (and no, they aren’t paying me for saying that).  It’s a great wristwatch, and comes with a heart rate strap.  And for the quality and features, it’s CHEAP!

Figure out your target heart rate zone, and exercise in 1-minute heart rate intervals.  One minute of work in your target zone, followed by one minute of rest.  Go through four or six times.  Or, go steady-state for a certain amount of time.  Switch it up.  Have fun.  Learn to tell by the way you feel where your heart rate is registering.

Another great thing you can do with your heart rate is tell whether or not you should take another day off from your workout.  If you take your resting heart rate every morning when you wake up (preferably before you rise), and figure out what your own personal “normal” is, you’ll know that you should take a day off when your resting heart rate is 5 beats above or below that number.

If you need proof of your inherent uniqueness, read the book Biochemical Individuality, by Roger Williams.

Well, we’ve now seen The Perfect Pushup, and the Perfect Pullup, and Six, Ten, Twelve, and Twenty Minute Abs…Buns, Thighs, Abs, and Glutes of Steel…The Powerhouse, the Core, the Corehouse, the Powercore…Functional Movement, Functional Screening, Functional Wunctional, and Conjunction Junction what’s your function?

We’ve also seen Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Pilates, Sotai, Orthobionomy, Yoga, Power Yoga, Yogalates, Sweaty Yoga, Yo-GURT, Muscle Energy Technique, Muscle Activation Technique, Muscle Activation Therapy, Active Release Techniques, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation…

Still, there’s Crossfit, Kettlebells (RKC and Girevoy), Clubbells, Flowmax, Escalating Density Training, High Intensity Training, Superslow, Evolutionary Fitness, German Volume Training, Bodyweight, Olympic Lifts, Gymnastics Training, Interval Training, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, Boot Camp…

Then again, there’s Jogging, Jazzercise, Zumba, Taebo, Hip Hop, Kickboxing, Boxing, Belly Dancing, Striptease, Bodypump, Spinning, Cranking, Super Abs…

Eh…

What’s the PERFECT workout?

Pick one and do it for six weeks.  Go through them all like that, then let me know!

Thanks