Every year during the month of January I tend to notice a pattern of conversation cropping up with many of the folks I tend to help.
You see, half of the folks I work will come in every couple of weeks or so, with the remaining half somewhere around once a month.
The point of that being there is often a good amount of checking in happening, as we get on the same page out what their life and body as they know it has been like in the last two to four weeks.
Now over the years I have learned it best to lead with the following acknowledgment as the first few weeks of January tend to unfold…
December can be a hard month for maintaining habits and routines of wellbeing, not to mention attempting to take on a new one.
Unless you are an all out hermit, most routines both old and new just tend to go out the window as the different social and celebratory demands of the darkest month of the year falls upon us… all the while coinciding with the end of most businesses fiscal year.
Just leading with this acknowledgement has made the whole process of checking in, and with that focusing on how to “get back on” track all the easier for just about everyone.
And, it is that process of “getting back on track” that I want to touch on.
You see, often times folks will begin to compensate for the rough month of December, and they often do so by taking on both more regular as well as more rigorous exercise.
Unfortunately, what I observe is that although some may have the best of intentions, the assumptions that many folks have about what effective exercise is, how to go about it, and with that how much, how often and how hard to push it… are often terribly off the mark with what actually tends to work.
At times, the approach they are taking is either setting them up for burnout, and at times even injury. Other times, the approach taken will leave them have no prayer at achieving whatever it is
So, if exercise is something that you are looking to take on in the coming year, and ideally every year beyond that you are graced to enjoy… then here are a handful of common talking points that I tend to have with folks about setting themselves up for success with regular and rigorous exercise.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO FOR EXERCISE?
It does not matter if you are looking to get stronger, lose body fat, tone your body, or have an eye more on your longevity… the most important form for exercise for any of us to get in is strength training.
Yes, all of us will do very well with getting in regular exercise that is both rhythmic and aerobically demanding. In fact, we all seem to need to take this on very regularly in order to simply be well… period.
Commonly referred to as cardio, this activity does not require a spin bike or an elliptical or even by taking up running. While some have a high enough level of fitness to allow jogging at a pace to check the box here, this level of work can generally be obtained by brisk walking and light hiking.
However, while this form of exercise will help your blood pressure, your sleep, your mental health, your mental clarity, your digestion and even regularity of defecation… walking and hiking (no matter how brisk) will not make you a powerful, resilient human being that looks good in a bathing suit.
BUT WHAT ABOUT BURNING THE FAT OFF?
Well, your best bet to losing weight is really to eat less calories… not attempt to burn off the excess ones that may have somehow fallen down the hatch.
That last sentence is about as in depth as I ever find myself being willing to give advice when it comes to ones diet and weight lose. If I were pressed to form a second one, it would be…
The best strategy tends to be build muscle and then decide how much you want to suffer to reveal it.
Yes, making friends with hunger is absolutely a required part of losing weight.
Yes, there are many, many folks out there that are attempting to burn the calories they tend to habitually over eat and drink… off. These folks will either not succeed, or incur all sorts of aches, pains and problems in the process of attempting this week in and week out.
Essentially, they end up hanging out with me… and other folks like me.
That said, interval training is a powerful thing, and will have a positive effect on your metabolism. However, if we put a heart rate monitor on you, and the scientist only got to see it… not what you were doing… then they would have no idea if you just did sprint repeats up a hill or bleachers, or if you just did a few sets of deadlifts.
Translation… the calorie burn is the same, however the effects on your well being are not equal.
So… prioritize the strength training, walk a lot, and do not worry about the cardio.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU EXERCISE?
For most of us, we need to exercise every day.
This is just what tends to work well.
The people that do this, tend to both feel good and look good. Exercise is part of their daily rhythms… it is worked into their general work, meal and bathing routines.
Folks that do this tend to take on different things on different days, and all with an intensity similar to manual labor. Afterall, they are going to be doing it again the next day, so best to not get carried away.
That said, plenty of folks do very well with working out three times a week. However, within those three times they are doing some very strenuous things, and on the other days if we were to look at a step count they are getting some where around 10,000 steps a day.
So, if you are not one of those 10,000 step count folks… consider the every day thing.
HOW MUCH OR HOW LONG SHOULD I EXERCISE?
It is not as much as most folks would think.
For the people that are exercising every day, 20-30 minutes in total time is probably plenty. This exercise, although still challenging, tends to be more moderate in intensity… and so the rest periods between any exercise can be shorter without the quality of the movement being sacrificed.
Get in, get out, get it done… move on.
For the folks that are doing things more three times a week, they will be aiming to accomplish more within any given session. And with that, the more strenuous work that they are able to take on tends to require longer rest periods between sets. So, these workouts tend to take longer.
It probably caps out at 60 minutes though… beyond that one is typically working hard, but the work is not very impressive.
SHOULD I WORK TO FAILURE?
Never.
Training to failure is literally training your muscles to fail.
After all, you get what you train.
Strength training, and with that any exercise… done well… is practicing straining well.
Strength is composure under duress.
So, learning to strain well, is learning to understand your limits and capacity… and quit while you are ahead.
That said, if you goal is get enormous muscles then you will absolutely need to pump them full of blood, work through the burn… and often times train them to all out failure. Absolutely, without a shred of doubt this is the cookbook recipe for making muscles grow larger than they typically would be.
And then, there is that whole “need to push it to the limit thing” that some of us seem to contend with in this lifetime.
Some of us a bit more than others…
Essentially, this is just matter of either maturity or mental health… or both.
Yes, going a bit berserk is quite likely a part of grieving for plenty of us… However, in those cases just go run up the mountain, sit at the top, weep, and then come back down.
If you need to do that more than once that would not be odd, and may be quite beneficial in giving you balance in the rest of your life.
However, if you need to do that every day, day in day out… then you probably need the other kind of therapy or therapist.
IF I AM SORE, DOES THAT MEAN I AM NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH?
You do not need to be sore in order to get stronger, and transform your body.
Not to mention maintain it…
Yes, it is typical to experience soreness initially whenever a new exercise is taken on, or a jump in how much you are able to do of that exercise occurs.
However, this soreness should not typically occur beyond these instances.
Soreness of that kind that happens on a regular basis tends to indicate a training or technique error… or both.
If you are curious about what sort of reps, sets and overall training volume tends to be helpful… then click on the links HERE, and HERE.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO SEE A CHANGE?
It takes as long as it takes.
After all, if you are looking to cultivate a garden you are in it for the long haul. For more on that, see HERE.
Truly, it is amazing what any of us can achieve in a years time… when work is done well. For more on that, see HERE.
Further more, a general consensus amongst world class coaches across athletic endeavors is that it takes ten years to make a champion.
Ten years…
If you balk at that time frame then keep in mind that I would expect you to also hope to be both alive and well within ten years time.
So, if you are going to be around anyway… why would you not want to be as good as you can be?
If that last sentence does not move you to take responsibility for your own well being… then perhaps you are in need of a different process than exercise my good friend.
I hope you find the above helpful… and I hope you’re comfortable, able and well.