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Weights, sets, reps, steps, heart rate, sheep, the mentions of Roxanne in the song Roxanne…

Having a boatload of numbers to track is a sure way to make this whole fitness thing an overwhelming experience. Unless you’re super motivated by numbers, the less you have to track, the better.

After all, the goal is to find ways to make fitness a part of your life. And the way to do it is to remove all the friction you can.

So, what’s the absolute minimum you should track with your workouts?

Workout intensity. Aim for 7-9 out of 10 for most workouts, depending on how you feel. 1 being Jeff Lebowski and 10 being Beatrix Kiddo.

Would it be useful to track weights, sets, reps and whatnot? Sure, if you like tracking them and find doing so keeps you motivated.

But if you find the thought of tracking everything as appealing as thrusting your hand into a full-speed ceiling fan, don’t do it.

As long as you’re making each workout challenging by tracking the intensity, you’ll be fine.

-J

ps. How can I make the daily emails more valuable to you? The main reason for these daily emails is to cut through the usual fitness bullshit and help you reclaim your strength and energy with an approach that works for you. With that in mind, this is an invitation for your feedback. Reply and let me know the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thank you in advance!

The reason for strength training isn’t to get better at strength training. Or to chase some uninspiring exercise goal or number just because someone (probably on the internet) decided it was important for whatever reason.

The reason for strength training is to be able to do a full day on the fresh powder and not feel like you went through a snow groomer.

To feel confident about joining your friends for a hike without having a full-blown panic attack about whether everyone has to unexpectedly camp in the wilderness because of you.

To help move your mum’s grand piano without worrying about your lower back.

Or to mow the lawn using a push mower while your kids take turns pretending to be Juha Kankkunen on top of the internal combustion engine. Because, for whatever reason, they’re really into 80s rally drivers. Actually, this probably isn’t a good idea. I mean, why can’t they pick a modern driver?

Here’s where it is at.

The further you narrow your goals, and the more external to the training itself you make these goals, the easier it is to find the internal motivation to show up.

-J

ps. This is the last new coaching client call-out for January. Internalise your external goals. And then make them a reality by having a plan, knowledge, support and accountability to show up.

If you’re a tired outdoor enthusiast over 40 who wants to reclaim your strength and energy in the next 12 weeks, hit me up. I’ll help you reach your goals with an approach that works with your life.

If that makes you feel all kinds of excited, reply, and we can see if and how this coaching program might be a good fit for you.

It has a negative effect on everything we do.

Patience, productivity, activity levels and eating habits dive deeply into the abyss when we’re not getting enough sleep.

How many of our health and fitness troubles would become irrelevant if we’d just sleep better?

-J

How often do you evaluate routines that you consider insignificant or even good?

Since stopping my afternoon coffee habit, I’ve realised how much of a hindrance it actually was to the usual flow of the day.

Most pieces of the day, at least on work days, had to slot around that performance of making and drinking coffee.

That, and the coffee rarely went down on its own. If there were cookies or something else sweet in the house, I’d have a borderline paranormal sixth sense of finding them.

Now, instead of feeling the thought of coffee pull me away from whatever I am engaged in at the time (family, work etc.), I can more easily focus on what matters.

I feel kind of liberated. And not in a kinky way.

-J

I had it all planned out yesterday:

Get up for 5 minutes on every hour of sitting for some movement/exercise (6 x 5min)

Do a 30-minute strength workout before picking up the kids from daycare.

In reality, I did two 5-minute bouts of exercise during the day and missed the workout as we left early to get the kids.

Instead of my brilliant 30-minute workout, I did random sets of push and pull-ups throughout the late afternoon. And once the kids went to bed, I did some kettlebell swings while doing the grocery order for the week.

Here’s where it’s at.

Plans are nice. But it’s just as important to know how to adjust your approach to health and fitness when life demands it. Not by stopping altogether. But by finding another way.

While also accepting that, unlike yesterday, finding another way on some days means accepting that there isn’t another way. And being able to let it go to come back tomorrow.

-J

Housekeeping: I am taking on new coaching clients this week. I am looking for 5 outdoor enthusiasts over 40 who want to reclaim their strength and energy, with a dose of swagger.

For years, you’ve prioritised your work and the needs of other people ahead of your own wellbeing. And it’s left you feeling tired.

If that makes you feel all kinds of excited, reply, and we can see if and how this coaching program might be a good fit for you.

Now, here’s today’s blog…

If the thought of repeating the same weekly workouts is as thrilling as watching a bowl of onion soup spin in the microwave, here’s an idea.

Have a list of six different workouts and number them from one to six. Roll a dice and do the workout corresponding to the number you roll.

Even more variety?

Have a list of six different rep ranges and number those too. Once you roll the workout, roll the dice again to get the rep range.

Roll again if you get the same workout/rep range two days in a row.

If you don’t feel like doing the workout/rep range you rolled, roll again.

If you still don’t feel like doing the workout/rep range you rolled, set the dice on fire and chop some firewood.

-J

I went through some of my old notes and found these from 2017/2018 when I took improv classes. Unsurprisingly, some of them ring true for health and fitness (and life) as well:

Slow down. Be present. Don’t think you have to “take” the scene somewhere.

Sometimes you are in a funk that feels like it lasts forever. Days, weeks, months, even. But it will pass. Just be brave and get into scenes to kick out the funk.

If this is true, what else is true?

Keep your character consistent.

When you relax and loosen up, good shit happens.

Here’s why this matters:

Improving your health and fitness is not about bending your life into limbo and trying to fit your life into shiny rules, the latest trends, or crisp hacks and tricks. Yes, eating mostly wholefoods and being active daily are “rules” worth absorbing. But.

A lasting change happens when you create an anthology of health and fitness principles that bend with where you’re at any given time.

How to spot a good principle? It’s often applicable to not only health and fitness but life in general.

-J

I ask my online coaching clients that question every single week.

Every new insight you get about yourself and the process itself is a brick into your personal wall of health and fitness knowledge.

All these brick-sized insights you collect are specific to you. And the thicker your wall of knowledge gets, the more resilient it is to life’s JUDO! NECK! CHOP! moments.

Instead of getting derailed altogether, you build confidence to adjust your approach to health and fitness based on whatever is happening around you.

-J

Challenge according to who? You’re the best judge of your workout intensity. It’s about what you feel. Not about what Miriam does on YouTube.

What felt easy two days ago might feel hard today. Or the other way around. Depending on the calibration of your life’s blistering madness at any given point.

A good intensity for most workouts is somewhere around eight out of ten. Some are going to be less. Very few need to be ten.

“Good” meaning, enough to progress without feeling like a heap of overboiled tagliatelle afterwards.

-J

It’s tough, if not impossible, to live at the peak 365 days a year. Not some universal peak, but the peak you’ve defined for yourself.

After all, it’s a peak for a reason.

But, you can likely set a permanent camp about four weeks out of the peak. And compared to the peak, you can live in that camp with relatively little effort once you get there.

Now, whether you ever need to go to the peak is another story. But just knowing that you could get there with a four-week warning comes with its own kind of swagger.

-J