Tag Archives: workout

Team Sport Roots

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Some days in the gym can feel really strong. My buddy and I were both having one of those workouts yesterday. We both lifted a little heavier than we usually do, and felt strong throughout our sets.

We were discussing how working out with someone is a real motivator compared to working out on our own. It was at this point that I realized we had something in common, and that’s playing competitive team sports.

For both of us, working out with someone and doing more than we would on our own is not about showing off, it has much more to do with giving our best for the team. He’s relying on me to perform well, and I’m wanting to do the same for him.

When you’ve played team sports, you understand that the team relies on you and there is a kind of pressure to be better than if you were just doing the practice, workout, or even game for yourself. There is a mutual understanding that ‘we rely on each other’, and that not giving full effort is letting down everyone, not just yourself.

I wonder if this is something felt greater in people who have been on a competitive team compared to someone else? I wonder if people who choose solo sports rather than team sports get that same boost from some else? Or if they just innately feel that extra push and don’t need an outside influence?

I for one thrive on it. Most of my workouts happen alone, at home, in my basement. There are days I push, and days I kind of just go through the motions. But when I’ve got a workout buddy, that’s the motivation I need to thrive and have a really good workout every time!

Workout buddy

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I work out at home. Getting up and just having to go to my basement with no commute time to and from the gym is great. There is minimal resistance, I have no excuse, and I I’ve averaged working out more than 6 days a week over this year. If I had to travel to a gym, I wouldn’t keep that average up.

That said, it’s awesome to do a workout with a buddy. There are added motivations to really push when: you have someone next to you working hard; you know that they will spot you if you are struggling; and, admittedly it’s just easier to push yourself when you’ve got an audience.

I am doing a week long trail at my buddy’s gym and went for a workout this morning. We did a chest workout. It was fast, and yet it was more comprehensive than what I do at home, and I worked harder than I usually do at home. Realizing this is making me rethink my workout schedule. I don’t want to pay monthly fees for a gym I rarely use, I also don’t want to disrupt my morning routine or wake up even earlier to add 30 minutes commute time to my routine.

Not sure I can get the best of both worlds, but for at least a couple more times in the next week, I hope I get to work out with a buddy!

Sunday VO2 Max

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I started doing Max VO2 training almost every Sunday a few months ago. I say ‘almost’ because my vacations this summer included a few misses, but as I head into the school year this will become the norm. However I’m struggling a bit with motivation right now because the Norwegian 4X4 Protocol I’ve been doing is really hard.

I always feel great having finished it, but dang it’s just not fun to start. 4-minutes at about 85-95% heart rate max, followed by 3-minutes recovery, four times. The total protocol is 28 minutes, but I can’t just get on a treadmill and go at 85-95% without getting winded and having to stop or slow down, so I add a 4-minute warmup which puts this workout at 32 minutes.

You might wonder, if it sucks so much why do it? Why do I bother? Because increasing Max VO2, (your maximum oxygen intake during exercise), is one of the absolute best things you can do to increase healthspan and lifespan.

See this Tweet by Dr. Rhonda Patrick:

Here is her podcast on The Longevity & Brain Benefits of Vigorous Exercise | Dr. Rhonda Patrick:

Writing this is my last bit of procrastination before getting on the treadmill… I’ve got to figure out a habit routine that makes getting this workout started easier!

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PS. I’m keenly aware that I’ve written about this a couple times already (here and here), but it’s what’s on my mind and it’s something I hope I can inspire others to do!

Norwegian Protocol

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I’m procrastinating. I should have got on the treadmill a couple hours ago, but I’m wasting time and avoiding it. Sundays have become my Norwegian Protocol days: 4-minutes running at the maximum speed that I can maintain for the full 4-minutes, followed by 3 minutes at a very slow walk to recover. It takes me 32 minutes because I start with a 4-minute warm up.

This is one of the best ways to improve Max VO₂, which is the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can absorb during exercise. This is a measure of aerobic fitness and has one of the highest correlations with health-span, meaning maintaining good health at an order age.

This is my tenth Sunday in a row that I am doing this. And today it’s messing with my mind. I know it’s only 16 minutes at my maximum speed. I know I’ll feel great when I’ve finished. But the idea right now of willingly stepping on that treadmill knowing that I’m gonna put myself through this is something I’m suffering with right now.

I need to get past this mind game I’m playing with myself. The reality is that when I played water polo almost every workout was harder than this. I am a crappy, inefficient swimmer, and I trained at a pretty high-level. What that means is every workout I was the last person in my lane; the last person to finish a swim set; and, I worked as hard or harder than anyone else in the pool. I know how to push my body hard… that’s what I have to remind myself as I get older.

Because I’m not on a team anymore, I’m not training with a group of people who I don’t want to let down. It’s just me. Me and this once a week push for a measly 16 minutes broken into 4 sets. This is my reminder that I know how to push, how to mentally psych myself up to do something hard.

However, right now I’m kicking myself for doing a quad and glute workout yesterday. My hip flexors are sore and I don’t want to get on that treadmill… and yet I will, so this procrastination delay is just torturing myself for no reason. It’s time to rip the metaphorical bandaid off and get my butt on the treadmill.

Norwegian Protocol, here I come!

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*Update* – Protocol completed. First time that I’ve done all four sprints at 8.2MPH (7.31 Minute mile or 13.2KMH). But I’m not writing this update just to share that I pushed myself, I’m also sharing to make a point: I feel great now and the pain of procrastination wasn’t worth it! I gained nothing but mental anguish by delaying my workout.

VO2 Max

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When it comes to health and fitness, the two people I follow and learn from the most are Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Peter Attia. Recently I’ve been hearing them both talk about how important your Maximum VO2 is to improving you health. VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb and use during exercise. It is a great measure of both your aerobic fitness level and your overall health.

Here, Dr. Patrick shares information about a VO2 study as well as the Norwegian Protocol, to help improve VO2 Max:

I usually do 20 minutes of cardio, but yesterday I tried this protocol, and did 31 minutes on the treadmill: 3 minutes warmup, followed by: 4 minutes high intensity and 3 minutes cool down, repeated 4 times. It’s challenging, but totally doable. I’m going to commit to doing this at least once a week.

I was not going to get a heart monitoring watch until I retired, but I think I’ve changed my mind. I’d like to get one because my tracking has not been great and I’d really like to ensure that when I’m trying to get my heart rate up past 80%, I’m actually getting it there and not just guessing. I also want to get my maximum VO2 measured so that I can have a baseline for where I am.

Today I’m not pushing like that again, my hips feel tight and I might just walk on the treadmill and increase the incline as I loosen up. One and maybe sometimes two Norwegian protocols a week will be enough. They aren’t fun. But if I’m going to commit to daily exercise anyway, at least once a week I should make sure I’m doing something to really push myself and maximize outcomes.

Watch the video above, and think about how you can exercise your way into being healthier… and quite literally younger at heart.

The push

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I’ve been in a workout slump recently. I haven’t stopped working out, it’s just my effort has waned. I’m finding it hard to push myself and get the most out of my workouts. I know it’s just a phase and I’ll get through it, but it’s lasting a bit longer than I hoped.

I mention it because it builds a little fear in me. The lack of drive, of push, scares me a bit. It whispers in my ear, ‘you are getting old’, it says to me, ‘you aren’t an athlete anymore’.

It hits me when I’m doing a short sprint on the treadmill and there is 30 seconds left and I want to shorten the sprint time… Not push through, not muscle it, just end it early. It hits me when I’m on my 3rd set with weights, and I start the set thinking I can get 8 reps, then at 4 reps I’ve already decided I can only do 6… and then I do 5. Or when I know I have more gas in my tank and still I leave a few reps undone, because while I wasn’t at full fatigue, my mind said ‘that’s good enough’, and I can’t push myself anymore.

Part of it might be that I’ve been working out on my own too much and I need some external motivation. It might also just be a slump. But it eats away at my confidence. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes the next push experience harder.

I’m confident that I’ll find my focus again, and I know that the fact that I’m still showing up and not letting this discourage my commitment is a real positive. But I have to say that this slump has been mentally challenging for me. I want to feel I’ve left nothing in reserves after I finish a set or a sprint. I want to really feel ‘the push’ again.

Last lazy day

Well today I did a whole lot of nothing. I came down to the basement do a workout 3 hours ago, and I have successfully completed a 10 minute row, less than 10 minutes of stretching, and an abdominal workout that lasted the length of a 2 minute and 40 second song. Hey, this might not be a typical workout… but I didn’t skip the day. Not every workout needs to be at 100%.

I listened to a part of a podcast, watched a few TikToks, and I’m writing this lying on my back next to a magnetic toy where I successfully made a couple DNA strands out of triangles. 

I’ve spoken about playing with geometry before, this ‘playing’ was the most productive part of my day.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the new school year and the pace for the next month will be anything but lazy. So, I look at my 3 hours of ‘wasted’ time as time very well wasted. Today was the calm before the storm. Batteries are charging, and I’m taking full advantage of my last lazy day, not even caring that I’m mixing my metaphors. 🤪

Now off to pick up pizza, ain’t no way my wife and I are cooking tonight! 😀

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To all the educators out there, I wish you a fabulous year of teaching and learning ahead!

Procrastinating workouts

It took me hours to get myself working out today. Everything was an excuse, or a delay. Now that I’ve done it, I feel great (physically).

This is why I like morning workouts before work, there is a deadline I have to meet, and so I meet it. On holidays, it suddenly becomes something to put off until later. The problem now is that I’m heading back into a smokey location, and won’t have the convenience of my home gym. I also won’t have my bike. So I’ll need to figure out a routine that doesn’t involve me breathing heavily in smokey air. I might have to resort to hikes, walks, and a regimen of sit-ups and push-ups… and schedule these so that I actually do them.

I feel so unproductive, even after getting my workout done, when I spend half the day thinking about and delaying my workout, even if I get other things done in the process. So, this is my ‘out loud’ commitment to do better. And to be specific, doing better means setting a time for my workout, then sticking to it!

Aches and pains

I do a lot to take care of myself and for the most part, I feel good about my progress. But today I feel old.

I usually take in the attitude that age is just a number. I’m as young as I believe that I am. Today my age wins.

Saturday on my 5km walk with my wife, she decided to jog for some of it. I enjoy jogging at my wife’s pace and thought nothing of it. I will run on my treadmill faster than this, and for longer than the two sections we jogged for. Sunday after my archery I did an 8 minute leg workout that I usually do, and added about 4 reps of an assisted pistol squat, because I’m very slowly trying to get myself to the point that I can do these.

But by Sunday night my knee was hurting. I don’t know why, but think it might be running on uneven terrain rather than on the treadmill, or trying the pistol squat after my 8 minute workout, when my legs are fatigued. Then I got a hip cramp that night.

After this my shoulders and back tightened up and for the first time in several months I felt shoulder pain. I only did one exercise with my arms that was slightly different than my usual routine, and I intentionally did it with light weights since it was new. Besides, it was a bicep exercise, not a shoulder one.

This ache caused me to tense up my upper back and the tension between my shoulder blades was so tight, I had to push my back into doorway jams to work the kinks out several times during the day… basically using the corners of the doorway to massage the knots out of my upper back.

Old. That’s the feeling this morning. I feel like the rust has formed on my joints, and the whole machine is seizing up. This morning I’ll ride my stationary bike for 20 leisurely minutes, do some stretching, and that will be my workout. Tomorrow I have a massage booked and it will be a painful one. A lot of deep tissue work on my upper back, and hamstring work because my tight hamstrings tend to be the root of my leg and hip issues.

Maybe after that I can remember why I work so hard to take care of myself, remember to spend more time stretching, and start to feel young again. Maybe I need reminders like this to refocus me. When I don’t exercise, my back pain becomes chronic. But I have to say that it’s not fun to ache in several places at once, and while exercise usually keeps the rust away, right now this machine feels old and rusty.

This morning my age is getting the best of me… but I’m not done feeling young. I’ll work my way back to healthy, and oil these joints back to fully operational again. The alternative to this is being lazy and letting myself fall back into a life of daily pain, and feeling even older than I do today. No, I’d rather keep active and find my way back to feeling young again.

When is your next workout?

Even without dealing with a pandemic, this is a crazy time of year for educators. I will avoid sharing what time I’m writing this, but let’s just say it has been a long day! I bet 2/3rds or more educators can’t believe it’s only Thursday, and not the weekend yet!

So with all the craziness of September, who has time for a workout?

You do!

Until January 2019, my pattern was to stop working out during my busy times at school, like September and report card time. Then I realized that fair weather fitness wasn’t fitness. I decided that if I wanted to be healthy, I had to be consistent. So I stopped letting ‘busy’ stop me from working out.

The result: more energy, and more to give! More vibrancy, and a great feeling that I’m actually caring for both my current and future self.

Busy times aren’t times to push heavy weights, run longer, or ride faster. Its dedicating small windows of time to self care. It’s about raising the heartbeat, walking when you’re too tired to run, and maintaining a level of fitness at a time when it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself.

If fitness isn’t a priority when you are ‘too busy’ then it’s not a priority. Period.

You deserve to treat yourself better than that. So, when is your next workout?