Tag Archives: fitness

Putting the work into a workout

Sometimes it’s ok to just go through the motions of a workout. Put your time in and get it done.

Maintenance.

But other times need to be dedicated and focused. Maintenance doesn’t move you forward. Status quo doesn’t invite growth.

Sometimes what needs to be consistent is effort. Sometimes dedication means putting in extra time, extra energy, extra focus.

I guess that I’m not just talking about working out.

Morning Jog

I’ve never been a fan of running. My running joke is that the only reason to run is that the there is someone chasing me… and he’s bigger than me, and angry at me. I’ll run on a treadmill, but only when I’m preoccupied with watching a show or listening to a book or a podcast.

That said, I really enjoyed my run this morning, twice around Alice Lake. I understand the appeal of running, it just hasn’t been something I really enjoy doing. Yesterday I went for a ride, and it was a challenging 10km but I could have easily done another 10km, and I hadn’t even taken water with me.

But this morning I did two laps of the lake and while it wasn’t long or hard, I would have really had to push myself to do a third lap. I’m not a runner, unless you are chasing me, angry, and want to harm me. Could I have kept going? Yes, I just didn’t want to.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy my morning jog. That just means that running is not my favourite thing. Could I run faster? Yes, but I won’t. Could I go longer? Yes, but I won’t?

Will I complain about having to run because my options while camping are limited? No. I absolutely enjoyed my morning jog, and I’ll make the most of it next time too.

A break and a lapse

Well I ended up taking just over a week off of my Daily Ink, with plans to do some writing outside of this space. I didn’t. I did have a wonderful break, including from social media, and I’ve been very slow to return. I also listened to a couple books for pleasure and truly enjoyed the break.

That said, I really didn’t write anything at all, and I’ve let my email completely pile up. I don’t feel bad about this, it has felt good to let go of things. Even today I slept in, had a really slow start and am sitting with my laptop in my back yard enjoying the sun and sipping coffee as I type. So while I’m going to make some observations about how I’ve wasted some of my time, I’m not doing so with any guilt, I’m just making observations around my expectations versus reality.

Writing: In about 9 days of not writing daily here, I ended up making 3 notes in my phone regarding the other writing I wanted to do. I can’t say that it wasn’t on my mind but without a routine and setting time to intentionally sit and write, it just never happened. I planned to do what I’m doing now, enjoying the sun outside while writing, but I never actually dedicated specific time to do so. My rest and relaxation never seemed to include taking time to write.

Meditation and exercise: I missed 2 days of meditation and 2 days of exercise (one of them being the same day) thanks to not having a regular routine. I had a long streak on my Calm app broken, but I started a new one yesterday. Last nights workout was minimal and it took me way too long to do so little. Again the lack of a routine hurt me. Still with respect to exercise, 5 days of workouts in a week is pretty good and I usually take at least one day off anyway.

Diet: I’m not on a diet, but I try to eat well and for the start of the year I was regularly doing intermittent fasting (14 hours minimum) 5 days a week. Covid ended that and I’ve never really recovered, but the amount of junk I’ve eaten the last week is horrible. I forget to eat then gorge on junk and my upset stomach has been telling me that I need to get my eating under control.

Social Media: I didn’t miss it. Not even Twitter. I thought I was going to take a break from news as well, but I didn’t although I should have. I’m disheartened by social media right now. It is polarized to the point the facts and reality no longer matter. Call-out culture, angry Karen videos, quick fixes, miss-information, anger, hate, pandemic fear… it seeps into my timelines and make me want to close my accounts.

The week+ of being off is over, and “I’m back”. While I enjoyed the break, I look forward to building a more consistent routine of fitness, meditation, and writing again, with a hesitation to spend much time on social media for a while yet. It’s funny, I thought I would need to stop writing here to get into the mood to write elsewhere, but in reality I need to keep writing and just choose to write more, (and actually make it part of my routine). I’ve enjoyed myself during this break, but I also lapsed a bit in the routines that I’ve built over the past year and a half, and I’m ready to build these positive routines back into my summer schedule.

Maintenance mode

For the last couple weeks my fitness regimen has been about doing the bare minimum. I have at least 2 days of working out before taking a day off, and when I come back from a day off, I double my knee Physio exercises to make up for the lost day. I do an abdominal exercise between Physio sets. I do my cardio, but don’t push it with respect to effort, (I do this before my Physio). And then I pick just one body part and do three sets of a single exercise for those muscles, and I’m done.

Sometimes we need to just maintain the habit of doing something, without worrying about constantly getting better. Because the alternative is breaking the habit and going backwards. That was my old pattern. Rather than playing the long game of consistently staying healthy and keeping a good schedule, I’d go all-in and dedicate a month or two to ‘getting fit’, then I’d get busy. I’d stop the fitness habit, and ‘let things slide’ until the next health-kick of one to three months comes along… until the next busy schedule when I can’t find the time.

Maintainance mode is tough. It isn’t just going through the motions, it’s an effort that’s actually harder than when you are motivated and push your body hard. It is more difficult to do just one set of something like chin ups, when you are doing it just to get it done, rather than feeling inspired. It’s challenging to not waste time between sets, and to keep going when your heart rate is elevated but your enthusiasm isn’t.

Convincing yourself that you are doing something good for yourself when all you are really doing is maintaining the status quo is uninspiring. But so is doing nothing. So are excuses. So is the feeling of disappointment when you let things slide. Letting things slide is easier. It isn’t better. Sometimes the hard work is just showing up.

The trick is tracking the habit and not breaking it. The key is that you make the cost of breaking the habit feel more painful than not doing so. My motivation to write this is that it’s 6:20am, I’ve been up for over an hour and I haven’t done my workout yet. I am procrastinating and yet I know I’m going to work out. I know that I must… even if my energy level is low. Even if I’m just going through the motions.

Motivation isn’t hard when you are inspired. Motivation is tested when inspiration is lacking. Motivation is easy when you feel enthusiastic, but not when it is driven by a desire to just keep the habit going. That’s when the excuses creep in. What’s one more day off going to hurt? Turns out it’s easy to make that justification in the moment, but it ends up being a deal breaker; It changes a habit into an old habit; It undermines future goals and possibilities.

Maintainance mode sounds like you are just turning on the cruise control and letting things happen on their own… just going through the motions. In fact, maintainance mode is a slog, it’s work, it’s staying the course when you want to drift. It’s the hard work of being motivated when motivation is lacking. It’s the difference between keeping a habit and remembering the habit you wish you kept.

Now it’s time to work out.

Use video to monitor slow progress

I broke my knee cap in late February. This is an injury with a minimum 6 week recovery. I’m well past 3 months, and while I was fortunate to have suffered very little with pain since about the second day after the injury, I still can’t run on it. Last Sunday I had a video physio appointment and I’m now on a daily regimen of strengthening exercises. I’m already seeing improvements in strength and balance but I know this will still take a while.

I’ve also been working on handstands for a while now. I had hoped that before the end of last month I would have been able to hold a 30 second, unsupported handstand. I’ve built up my strength and am now at the point where I can easily hold my weight for that amount of time (and more). However, the balance of an unsupported handstand is very challenging. I’m still a ways away from my goal. My physio gave me a tip, and I’ve got a new exercise to build up strength and balance using my forearms. I’m already seeing progress, but it is slow.

Slow progress is to be expected, but it can still feel frustrating at times. Day to day the improvements aren’t always noticeable. One thing I’ve noticed with my handstands is that video helps. Video allows me to see where I’ve come from, and how much I’ve improved. This is very helpful to inspire me to keep going, even when the progress continues to be slow.

https://twitter.com/datruss/status/1243331006767210497?s=20

https://twitter.com/datruss/status/1249596233078829056?s=20

Fit, not fit for 52

I’m not behind where I should be or need to be. I don’t have someone I should be comparing myself to, other then me yesterday and me before that.

I don’t need to feel behind, feel I’m not where I should be, feel I’ll never be fit enough.

I’m fit, not just fit for 52.

I need to feel that I’m committed to getting better. I need to feel that incremental improvements are not just good enough, they are my goal. I need to feel good about where I am now, and where I’m going.

I don’t have a marathon to run, I’m not getting on a court, a playing field, and I’m definitely not entering a ring. I am taking care of a back that aches daily, and needs me to stay limber. I am working on my recovery from a knee injury. I am becoming stronger, fitter, and I’m working on my core to help me age gracefully. I am snacking less, eating more healthy, and taking vitamin supplements that my body needs.

It’s important to have goals. It’s important to care for my future self. But it’s important not to be too hard on my current self about all the ways I could and should be in a better place than I am now.

I don’t need my age, my current abilities and deficits, or somebody else’s progress compared to me to change how I feel about myself right now.

Putting unrealistic expectations on myself doesn’t make the journey enjoyable. I’m fit today. I plan to stay fit. But if I’m realistic I also need to recognize that the fittest me at 72 won’t be as fit as I am now at 52. So while taking care of myself and making small improvements is my current goal, maintainance and healthy living is the ultimate target.

Yes, age is just a construct, but aging is inevitable. The alternative really sucks. Think about it, we aren’t on a journey to any finish line, it’s the journey itself that matters.

Future Success

Future success comes from the habit of pushing yourself beyond what you can do today. I can have goals, and I can make plans, and I can talk about what I want to do. I can ‘do’ all of these things, but it is actions and effort that make the difference.

Here I am failing to do handstand push-ups against the wall.


I scraped some skin off me knee on that last fall. However, that last fall came after 3 successful reps. That’s 3 more than I did on the first set. I’m getting there. That doesn’t mean the failures feel good. That doesn’t mean the next 3 will feel easy… yet. I have a lot of hard work and effort to get there.

Six weeks ago, if you told me that I could do something like this, I would have ‘No, waaay too hard!’:


But that’s only 32 days after trying to do just this:


After sharing my fail video above, Kelly Christopherson tweeted:


The reality is that Kelly and Jonathan Sclater have been inspiring me as well. We are sharing our efforts publicly and push each other: To keep improving; To appreciate effort and hard work; and, To recognize our incremental improvements;

My future includes being able to do a 30 second, unassisted handstand. I failed at reaching this goal on my original two timelines. My next timeline is aggressive and I might not make that either. But it will happen. The journey will include more failures, and false starts, and frustration.

I started by saying, ‘Future success comes from the habit of pushing yourself beyond what you can do today.’ If I’m going to push myself beyond my comfort zone, I’m going to reach failure points. But last months failed attempts got me where I am now, and tomorrow’s failures will bring me future success.

What’s your Walk-up music?

If you’ve ever watched a boxing match, a UFC fight, or even fake wrestling, you know that fighters come in to ‘Walk-out music’. They have a song that pumps them up and gets them ‘Ready to Rumble’. These Walk-out/Walk-up/Walk-in songs energize you and get you ready for ‘game time’. Almost everyone knows this one.

John Spencer asked on Twitter: “If teachers had walk-up music when they started class, what would you walk-up song be?”

The resulting thread of replies is fun to check out!

I went with a song that’s very new to me, but that I love to do workout sets to, Tujamo ‘s ‘Drop that Low (When I dip)’.


A former students reminded me in a response to my tweet that for last year’s grad my walk-up music to the stage was ‘Rock Lobster’ by the B-52’s. I responded, “That was old school me, this is new school me 🤣“.

I have a small playlist on my phone called ‘All On Repeat’. These are songs I like to listen to over and over again when I work out.

Just recently, I shared a video of myself working on my handstands listening to Kesha’s ‘Your Love is My Drug’. My plank music is Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’. And my chin-up music, along with other exercises, rotate between ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A., ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ by The Verve, and again my new favourite, Tujamo ‘s ‘Drop that Low (When I dip)’.

I also have music that I listen to when I write. I always chose music either with no lyrics, or with lyrics that are easy to ignore. Enya is a favourite, especially songs from her album, ‘Memories of Trees’. My current go to is a bit more frenetic, Michael Denny’s ‘Nerve Centre’ available on the Calm (meditation) App. I’m listening to this as I write, now.

Music stimulates my mind, and it sets positive moods for me. When you look at my eclectic selection of songs above, they give no indication that I grew up loving Led Zeppelin (still my favourite band – and ‘No’, not a password recovery answer to retrieve any of my passwords), as well as Boston, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones. But I also grew up on Bob Marley, Blondie, and Boney M. I’ve also grown to love musical theatre songs, thanks to a family that is obsessed with them.

My tastes vary considerably, and my workout songs are far from classic rock, but they really do ‘Pump me up‘ and motivate me to push myself. So what about you?

What’s your Walk-up music? If you had ‘game time’ music to put you into a mood to do your best, what would it be?

Missing the target

Today was to be the day. The last day of my 30 Day challenge to do a 30 second unsupported handstand. But I’m not there yet. I’ve already written about the challenge of making Incremental Improvements:

“We are often enamoured by the quick fix, the easy answer, fast and obvious results. But these quick rewards are not always available. Sometimes it’s the slow incremental changes that make us better, stronger, and more resilient. Sometimes we need to work through things slowly and properly in order to see the results we really want.”

The fact is that I’m getting stronger and closer to my goal. However I also have to be honest and say that I haven’t given it 100% of my effort. If I’m even more honest, this is something I tried and failed to do a year ago. A few days ago my Facebook memory from last year was a video of me doing a handstand against the wall and sharing that I wanted to do a one-minute handstand by the end of June ’19. I obviously failed or I wouldn’t have been doing a similar challenge again.

I’m on a good path and I’ll get there. I’ll set another goal. I’ll – share – my – progress, and I’ve got my buddy, Kelly, working – alongside me. I’ve missed my target, but my goal is within sight, and I’ll get there. I will continue to work on my strength, but I haven’t focussed enough on my balance. Working on strength has more tangible and rewarding results, so I’m not surprised that I put my focus there. Now it’s time to focus on the less glamorous aspects, where falling again and again are part of the learning.

The next time I share my road to a handstand here, it will be to show that I’ve achieved my goal… and I’m putting a note on my calendar that I want to reach that goal 30 days from today.

https://twitter.com/datruss/status/1252973978118844427?s=21

It’s not a failure if it leads to success

I love this video:

https://youtu.be/0cF2LyYGDWA

It reminds me that the path to success isn’t always easy, and failure isn’t failure when it leads to success.

On a personal note, I started a 30 Day Challenge to do a 30 second freestanding handstand.

Progress until last night was pretty good:

https://twitter.com/datruss/status/1243331006767210497

https://twitter.com/datruss/status/1245227496930340864

But last night didn’t go as well as I hoped:

But here’s the thing, I’m pushing myself pretty hard. Also, I just want to handstand for 30 seconds but I’m actually doing the training to walk on my hands. On top of that, I’m trying to do a 5 step plan in 30 days, and 1/3 the way through I’m on step 3.

I need to slow down. The videos show me that my core is a weak spot. My shoulder no longer hurts, but it isn’t fully recovered from an injury. I’m going to hit my goal if I’m smart, and don’t rush, and if I do every step really well before moving on. Back to step 2 I go.

Meanwhile at work, I see similar things happening. With Covid-19 shutting down schools, we have educators scrambling to figure out how to teach students online and from a distance. All around me I see teachers trying to do too much, too fast, and getting frustrated. I shared this on Twitter recently:

When everything is so new and so challenging, mistakes will be made. Those mistakes will not be seen as failures in the long run if we learn, grow, and improve ourselves along the way.