As each new day arrives we stand at an intersection. There are several paths we can take, including the option of not moving at all but just remaining where we are. The decisions we make as we stand at that intersection will not only dictate how that day will go but could very well affect the days that come after. We can make a decision to accomplish what we know we need to in order to advance our goals. Or we can make an excuse why we can’t.

It’s not so mysterious, we ar...e creatures of habit and if we are in the habit of making good decisions then we will live a happier more productive life. Yes we can make a choice to be happy and productive, or we can allow life to push us along. There is a huge difference in taking a rest day to recharge and just being lazy and not wanting take responsibility. Move with a purpose or rest with a purpose but make it your choice.

It's not just a step, it's a start.

Dave

Run What You Brung

When I was a teenager, almost fifty years ago, the local drag strip would have racing for the residents on Friday nights. They called it “Run What You Brung”. It was informal drag racing. This was the era of the Hot Rod, and most of the manufacturers produced a hot car or two. Those days are over, mostly because gas was about twenty eight cents a gallon then, and people could afford to drive those super fast, gas guzzling, cars. Walk and run races are informal like that. We race with the body we brought with us.

Going to races are a wonderful way to test our fitness, because we can keep track of the time it takes us to finish a measured distance. Next time we challenge that particular distance, we can try to better our previous time. It's called going for a personal record or a “PR”. This concept is what racing is all about, being stronger and faster today than the last time we raced. Some never grasp the significance of racing against themselves and feel bad about their finishing place. But if their finish time was better than their last attempt, then it's a win, because it's a new personal record.

Racing takes on a whole new meaning, once realizing that the competition is a distance or a time and not the others who came to race. Then the experience becomes amazing.

Hundreds, even thousands, of people meeting at one place with the desire to do better. Then the other racers are no longer adversaries, but a support group, since it's common for competitors to encourage each other.

I learned a lot from those Friday nights at the track. Taking things out of the car made it lighter, so it would go faster. Buying premium gas, instead of regular gas, helped me get better times. Even putting extra air in the tires gave it less rolling resistance. Lessons learned at the drag strip work well in preparing for races a foot. Eating better to shed some pounds helps us to go faster. Just as a more efficient carburetor helps the car's engine to breathe better, an aerobic training program helps our heart grow stronger, giving us more endurance. Weight training strengthens our muscles giving us more power.

Exactly like showing up to those Friday night races of long ago, when we decide to try a walking or running race, we race with the body we have, “Brung”, with us. A strong, properly trained body will perform well over the distance. If we don't do the training to prepare then it's going to be a long day.

It's not just a step, it's a start.

Dave

Lifting Cattle
There is an old proverb about a man who begins lifting and carrying a calf when it’s born. Everyday he lifts and carries the calf around until eventually he is lifting and carrying a full grown cow. Now we all know that is just a bit far fetched but it does illustrate a process. To become stronger you must lift progressively heavier weights. A simple process but there are a lot of details that must be considered to make it work the way you want it to.
Usually someone decides to lift weights, run, bike or any other physical activity to lose weight or get in better shape. Weight training is certainly a part of it but lifting cattle is not the preferred way to go about it. I’m going to address the basics of training for the purpose of losing body fat and gaining muscle. You can become thinner by eating less. You can, if you are strong enough to resist the temptation to eat, get your weight to wherever you want. You won’t necessarily be a healthier person but you will be thinner.
Muscle tissue burns calories and moves your body, so it’s desirable to build and strengthen your muscles as well as losing body fat. Then you don’t have to cut your calorie intake so much. The cow lifting shows the process but it needs to be expanded. This is the way it should work: Start with a weight that you can handle and lift it for 10 to 12 repetitions. If you really have to work for the last rep the weight is about right. Do 3 or 4 sets of those reps until the muscle you are working is exhausted. Then rest it for 48 hours. The building and strengthening happens during that rest period. The next time you lift add a pound and again work the muscle to exhaustion. Continue that process and you will have stronger, bigger muscles. Whether you weigh less and have muscle definition depends on how much and what you ate.
Now it’s important that you know muscles are composed of two types of fibers named after how they work. Slow twitch and fast twitch. You work mostly the slow twitch muscles with weight training unless you do your lifts as fast as possible. It’s easier to train all the muscle fibers with walking, running, race walking or other aerobic, now called cardio, activity. But all the fibers are not trained unless you train at different speeds. The best training for the adult athlete is a combination of long slow distance, short fast intervals of hard effort and training that combines both. You get the best of all training when you add weight or resistance training with cardio rather than just doing one or the other. A routine that works well for most is to alternate training so that you do weight training one day and aerobic or cardio training the next. Weight train 3 days a week and train aerobically 3 days a week with one day of rest from training.
Another thing you need to know is that your body uses only as much muscle fiber as it needs to move. So some of your muscle fibers are developed but only enough to do the basics. If you want to increase your endurance and strength you have to build and strengthen all the fibers so that as muscle fibers tire others can take over and carry the load or keep you moving. Strong muscles fed a healthy diet will give you amazing results. Healthy diet means real food and not chemical mixes, or highly processed food that is made up of sugar and bleached flour.
Not quite as simple as lifting a calf every day but the results you get will be much better. Exercise with intensity, eat with intelligence and you will exceed your goals.

It's not just a step, it's a start.

Dave