Category: Daily

It’s common to be curious about our relationship with money. And to acknowledge that if our current attitude toward the almighty dollar isn’t serving us well, it’s always possible to change it for the better. To save more, give more to important causes, and generally be a little more aware of in which direction we throw the slices of our hard-earned bread.

What’s not so common is riding this same curiosity to probe our relationship with health and fitness.

Have you ever thought of why you do, or don’t do, certain things for your health? Or why you might think of yourself as “not athletic”, “uncoordinated” or even “lazy”?

Who’s shaped your attitude and mindset about health and fitness? Is it your own doing, that of your parents and other influences you’ve had, or perhaps the conditioning of the society you live in?

Because if the way you approach your health and fitness isn’t serving you well, you have the power to change it.

-J

So much of our current existence revolves around vanity. We sacrifice everything for our looks. Both individually and collectively.

One day it’ll all boomerang back to us. And it’ll likely be a boomerang with razorblades glued to it.

Nothing wrong with wanting to look good. But there’s a graceful and not-so-graceful ways to go about it.

-J

No one wants to get and feel old. But it’s better than the alternative.

And how our aging curve looks is primarily up to us.

What we decide to do today reflects our tomorrow.

-J

It’s addictive to put your faith into a new workout program, fitness hack or whatever else is in vogue. To pour your hope into thinking that one of those is the missing link between you and your goals.

Even when you know this is only your mind’s flathead screwdriver twisting your thoughts into submission. Because damn you gullible human psychology.

Drill into what’s stopping you from reaching your health and fitness goals. Reduce your struggle down to the first principle.

More than a new workout, you’ll likely need encouragement, support, structure and discipline to do the things you already know you should do.

Acknowledging that helps you stop chasing the nonsense that the Internet hopes to force-feed you.

-J

It sucks in so many ways.

K, that’s all from me today.

But seriously, there are days and weeks where you’ve got so much going on that finding time for anything except work and life stuff is borderline impossible. Regardless of how loudly Tim Ferriss might scoff at you for not optimising your day.

Obviously, not being able to do any exercise isn’t great for anyone. And so my usual line is, “if it’s important, you’ll find the time.” Regardless of how little that time might be.

To make things more manageable, we can redefine what it means to workout during those my hair is on fire and for some reason I find myself at an oil refinery and hey why am I suddenly on the Titanic – times in our life.

We can redefine working out as manual labour, done wherever, whenever, for a few minutes throughout the day.

This reframe can help fit five minutes of “manual labour” into each hour. Put a kettlebell, a backpack etc., next to your desk and do squats, carries, marches, crawls, push ups, rows, planks or walk the stairs for five minutes once an hour.

Is it ideal? Meh. Does it matter? Because it sure is better than doing nothing.

Just remember to wear pants.

-J

You already know the one thing to track with your workouts. But what about all the other things that lead to a more energetic and healthier life?

The total time of daily physical activity. Averaging >60 minutes a day. It doesn’t have to be just workouts or other measurable activities. Anything that elevates your heart rate counts. Anything.

And yes, it’s probably a stretch for most people with young kids and a sedentary job. Still, a worthy goal.

Sleep. Averaging >7 hours of good quality sleep each night.

Food. I’ll use Michael Pollan’s quote here. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” >80% of the time. If you have 21 meals a week, make 17 about real food.

Mind. Find something to do that helps you disconnect and get into your flow zone. Then try to do a little bit of that each day.

Here’s where it’s at.

We don’t really have to track anything as long as we’re mindful of our choices and actions. Some weeks and months are better than others. Most of this evens out over time as long as we pay attention.

-J

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