How To Keep Motivated

If you look at the core of fitness you’ll find motivation.  Motivation drives everything else.  Yes, I know, we all think fitness is about exercise and diet, but it’s really about motivation.  Think about it, we all know that we can get fit by eating better and exercising more.  So why are many of us still unfit?  Well, because it’s hard to translate what we know into what we do.  I know that the extra piece of chocolate is bad for me, but it looks so tasty but the reward for eating it is immediate and the bad health consequences seem so remote.  I know skipping my workout is bad for me but come on, it’s just one workout and the reward for working out seems so distant and vague.  What’s good health for the rest of my life compared to an hour more of playing video games right now?

It sounds silly when you put it that way but for many people, including myself, motivation is an issue.  I used to have a horrible time with motivation, and I still had issues with it when it came to eating even in the past couple of years.  I knew I needed to eat just a little bit better if I wanted to lose weight, but I could never motivate myself enough to make those final few changes.  So here are a few things that I’ve found work really well for me:

Daily Reminder

Schedule a daily email or task that arrives every morning.  There are numerous ways to do this.  For example, I have a task in Microsoft Outlook called “improve myself”.  This task has a daily reminder which means it pops up every morning when I log into my PC and switch Outlook on.  Right at the top of the task I’ve written down my top reasons for wanting to stay fit and lose those remaining few lbs.  This way I start out my day every morning with a reminder of why I do the things I do.

Keepsake

In the old days, knights would go into battle carrying a keepsake of their ladies back home.  Even today, soldiers go to war carrying pictures, toys and other items that remind them of their lives back home.  Why do they do this?  Because in a horrible environment like war, it helps to have something to motivate you, something to remind you of what you’re fighting for and why you should work hard to stay alive and come back home.

Now I’m not trying to compare a struggle for health with the horrors of war, but the idea itself still works.  Keep something on you at all times that will remind you of why staying fit is worth it and why that extra serving of dessert is not.  For me, it’s my wedding band.  Wearing it and looking at it reminds me of why I want to lose the weight and stay fit.  It reminds me of the years and years I want to spend with my wife and how being healthy will make those years far happier.

Immediate Rewards

Don’t keep reminding yourself of long term goals, reward yourself in the short term as well.  Make sure your healthy life doesn’t feel like a prison by incorporating some rewards.  For me, I love chocolate.  So after a great week of being healthy, I like rewarding with myself with a piece or two of chocolate.  I work hard to make sure that doesn’t out of hand and turn into a chocolate binge, but the reward makes me feel like I’m not depriving myself.

###

What are you doing to motivate yourself?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

100 Push Up Challenge

I read about this on Get Fit Slowly and liked the idea as a way of introducing people to working out. You can find out more about the program here:

Hundred Pushup Challenge

The Basics

Essentially, it’s a 6 week program that challenges you to do 100 pushups. It includes gradual training routines that increase in difficulty every week and are tailored to different fitness levels.

Does It Work?

Sure. It seems pretty straightforward. However, keep in mind that it’s not a complete workout. This site really focuses on just pushups, and while pushups are a great exercise, they leave out quite a few muscle groups. So this is a neat way to change up your workout for a few weeks, but it’s not really what I would recommend for a normal routine.

###

No, that guy in the picture has nothing to do with the 100 push up challenge.  I just saw the pic on flickr and really liked it.  Talk about getting your family involved with your workout….

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Workout At The Beach

One of the misconceptions about workouts is that they have to happen at the gym or at home. I sometimes wonder why that is. I’ve often blogged about workouts at other places such as a hotel room. So why not extend that a bit further? If I can workout in a hotel room, can’t I also work out at the park? How about at the beach?

It’s All The Same

All of these places are excellent for working out. They keep us interested and motivated. Even better, many of them come equipped with exercise machines. For example, the local park around my work has an exercise track with 12 exercise stations set up along it. You can run or walk from station to station and simply follow the directions at each station that will explain what you need to do.

Bring Equipment

How often have you seen people go to the beach and bring a whole car load of “stuff”? It can be anything from towels to beach balls. Well, why not include a few small weights, a resistance band and maybe a jump rope. It’s not that much compared to that hibachi grill you’re lugging around.

Change It Up

Change is one of the key ingredients for a healthy life. You don’t want your body to get used to a routine, even if that routine does have some exercise in it. That’s why it’s great to change things up every once in a while. Do a calisthenics workout at the beach, do the track workout at the park. Whatever it is, take a break from your normal routine and challenge your body in a different way.

###

This weekend I’m planning to go hiking. If you happen to be in the same park and see me doing some pushups in the middle of the trail, now you know why.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Reader Suggestion - The Morning Workout

Susan wrote in a few days ago with some questions about workouts.  As part of our discussion, she shared with me her morning routine.  I was really impressed with it.  It’s short and yet very complete; a perfect way to start out the day.

Step 1 - Hindu Press Up

I have no idea where these got their name, but they’re an excellent combination of exercise and stretch.  they’re not as difficult as regular push ups but they involve more muscle groups.  Susan does 10 of these.

You can see a video of them here.

Step 2 - Lunges

Good ole’ lunges, the exercise everyone should do.  Susan does 10 of these total, five for each side.

I found this video on YouTube.  It’s one of the better lunge instruction videos I have ever seen.

Step 3 - Crunches

The lunges are followed by 10 crunches in a slow, controlled pace.

Here again, is a great instructional video on YouTube.

That’s it.  It takes less than 5 minutes and it’s a great way to wake up in the morning.  Note that this isn’t a substitute for a real workout, it’s just a good way to start out your day.

###

Got any favorite workouts?  Send them my way and I’ll be happy to post them.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

How To Setup A Company Fitness Challenge

I work out at an office gym. It’s a small place which is shared by multiple office buildings around it. That means most of the people I work out with are high tech professionals taking time out of their day to get in a workout. Most people at this gym workout alone. It’s rare to see people working out together since most of the gym goers here lead pretty busy lives and it’s hard to coordinate with friends or coworkers. So I was a bit surprised to see a personal trainer at this gym leading a group of about 5 people through a pretty challenging workout. Even more surprising, an hour after this group started, another group of 5 showed up and took their places. Ever the curious one, I asked them what was going on.

A Company Challenge

They explained to me that this was a company sponsored event.  The company they worked for hired a personal trainer and was encouraging people to go to the gym with this trainer 3 to 4 times a week.  I thought this was a great idea and asked them who had come up with it and how they managed to convince the company to go with it.  Here’s what they said.

First, The Idea

The person who originally came up with this idea was an engineer.  He used to be an athlete in college but had done very little physical exercise since then.  Because he spent such long hours at work, he decided that the work day was the best time for him to work out.  However, he needed two things.  First, he wanted to make sure his boss was ok with him taking off an hour every day.  Second, he needed motivation.  He had tried working out on his own before but never stuck with it.  He decided that the best way to accomplish both goals would be some kind of company project.  Working out with other people would provide him with motivation and making it an official company project would make it easier to get permission.

Second, The Plan

In order to accomplish his goals, our engineer came up with a project plan.  He outlined what he wanted to do and then presented it to his boss.  His idea was simple.  The company would provide a sign up sheet where groups of employees would sign up together to work out.  These groups or teams would work out together 3 times a week.

He justified his idea in multiple ways.  First, it would be a good team building exercise.  Working out together builds strong bonds as people support each other.  That’s good for overall company productivity.  Second, this would help build cross departmental ties and communication.  The teams would consist of people from multiple departments and, as people do, they would keep talking about work even as they worked out.  So engineers would talk to sales, marketing would talk to support and IT would finally talk to something other than computers.  Finally, he showed his boss multiple studies about lower health care costs and higher productivity from people who worked out and were in good shape.

Step 3, Good Response

His boss was impressed.  The plan was well thought out and the benefits seemed clear.  He agreed to a short trial but he actually added one more thing, a personal trainer.  The company found a trainer who would come to the office gym and lead the employee groups through their workouts.  They thought this would make the workouts more structured and productive.

Step 4, Turnout

Out of a company of 100 people, 20 signed up.  That meant 4 groups of 5 each.  The program had an 80% turnout rate.  That means that, on average, 4 people would show up for each session.

Step 5, Costs

The company, which now has 150 people, currently has 30 people participating in the program.  The trainer costs $50 per hour.  There are 18 sessions a week for a total of $3600 a month.  Total annual costs for the company are $45,000, not including work time lost, which I will discuss in a second.

Step 6, Results

On average, the 30 participants have lost 8lbs.  They’ve also increased their muscle tone, lowered their blood pressure and their cholesterol plus they’ve decreased their body fat.  All in all, great progress for 6 months of work.  The company itself says that, while the program has not run long enough to really measure, they’ve already seen increased morale, better communication and higher productivity from the people participating in the program.  On a related note, the company says the people who participate in the program are taking less sick days than their coworkers.  Overall, the company believes they are getting more out of the program than they are putting in and they’re planning to keep the program going indefinitely.

Recommendations

Some tips for those looking to start programs like this at their own offices:

• Have a plan - Don’t just walk up to your boss and say “can you give me time off to go work out?”  Have an idea of what you’re trying to implement with enough details to make it seem real.
• Show the benefits - Tell your employers WHY they should do this, not just why you want it.  There has to be something in it for them.
• Show proof - Bring in articles discussing health care costs.  Show studies on productivity.  Whatever you have, use it to make your points real.
• Put it in terms they understand - Companies care about their bottom line, not your waistline.  So if you’re going to convince them, make sure you’re talking about things they care about.  How will this increase productivity?  How much will it cost?  What will we save? and so on.

###

One guy with a good idea managed to get time off from work and a personal trainer.  He got his motivation and the company got a happier, healthier and more productive workforce.  Sounds like a win / win all around.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Weekend Roundup - Tip Jar Edition

I spoke on Wednesday about eating more at home and I mentioned the fact that my wife and I were trying to cut down on our expenses. Several readers responded with emails asking me if we were ok and a few offered to help by clicking on ads. While I appreciate the sentiment, I would like to urge people NOT to do this. The people who advertise through Google do so on good faith with the belief that readers who click on their ads are sincerely interested in their products. To falsely click on ads destroys that good faith and undermines one of the basic pieces on infrastructure on which blogs run.

If you’re really interested in an ad then by all means click on it. If you want to help out 60 in 3 then share these articles with friends and family or through social networks like StumbleUpon, Digg, Yahoo Buzz and so on; there are buttons at the bottom of every post to help you do that.  Otherwise, don’t worry about it. My wife and I are fine and I’m just happy to be here sharing my ideas and thoughts with you all.

As a follow up on this thought, I’d like to direct you to the following article entitled “Ads Are NOT The New Online Tip Jar” from Get Rich Slowly. Not only is this a great blog about personal finance and productivity, but JD is also an amazing writer and he articulated these thoughts much better than I could.
@Get Rich Slowly

And if you want more reasons to make your own food, how about this article from the Diet Blog about “food finds worse than a fly in your soup“? One look at that chicken head made me happy to be a vegetarian.
@The Diet Blog

I usually recommend many small meals throughout the day since that’s the approach that works for me. It keeps me full and stops me from snacking. However, I’m always open to alternatives, like this article from the IF Life that talks about intermittent fasting. It’s an interesting idea and one I just might try one of these days. Just remember, the best eating plan is the one that works for you. Quantity and quality matter more than how often you eat. So if you like many small meals or one big meal, that’s fine. Pick the one that works for you and focus on what you’re eating rather than when you eat it.
@The IF Life

And finally, from the Daily Galaxy, some thoughts about extending the human lifespan. Is it possible to stop aging? Is there a gene that causes again and if so, can we reverse it? Some really interesting thoughts here, especially in light of all the research lately that shows that the effects of again are largely dependent on our habits as opposed to being inevitable.
@The Daily Galaxy

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Help! I’m Stuck!

When I first started working out, I could barely lift the bar with no weight on it.  Yep, I was that out of shape.  However, like most guys (do women have these issues too?) I felt a little embarrassed about this, especially when the folks around me at the gym were bench pressing entire cars (or at least it seemed like it at the time).  So my second week at the gym, I loaded up the bar with 20lbs on each side, lay down on the bench, picked that bar up, lowered it down to my chest and… nothing!

I’m sorry, were you thinking that this post was going to be some inspirational story where I tell you how I overcame my fear of weights by trying something I thought was impossible?  Oh no, this is the post where I tell you about how I spend 10 minutes with a bar across my chest because I was an idiot.

10 Minutes!

Yep, I lay there for 10 minutes trying to hoist that bar of my chest and nothing.  I couldn’t lift it.  I couldn’t even get it moving, much less lift it back up and onto the supports.  Of course, being a guy, I didn’t ask anyone for help.  Oh no, I just lay there hoping that somehow I would develop the strength to get this weight off my chest before I died of dehydration.  10 minutes of pure shame and desperation.  Finally, a fellow gym goer came by and said “need a spot with that?”  Now that’s kindness right there folks.  He didn’t say “hey dummy, need me to lift that light weight off your chest because you obviously can’t?”  Nope, instead he let me keep the tattered shreds of my dignity by asking if I needed a spot, as though this was a common every day occurrence.  I said “I suppose so, if you got the time” although I probably should have said “oh god yes, get this thing off of me!” and the kindly man lifted that bar up, releasing me from my predicament.

Oh The Shame!

I didn’t go back to the gym for a week.  I figured I was now known as “that idiot who tried to lift too much and got stuck”.  People would surely point and laugh when I walked in.  Little girls would walk up to me and say “Hey mister, need a spot?” and then they would giggle and walk away.  How could I return to this place where I had made a complete fool of myself?

You Know What?

Actually, it wasn’t so bad.  No one remembered or at least no one said anything, and I went back to lifting just the bar with no weights no it.  Slowly and gradually, I added a bit more weight and then a bit more and a bit more and so on.

So What?

So why am I telling you this?  Because I was talking to a friend the other day who said she was embarassed to go to the gym.  She felt fat and out of shape and thought people would make fun of her.  It was difficult for her to expose herself to that kind of potential embarassment and so she simply didn’t go.  So I told her that today, I would tell the whole world the most embarassing things that have ever happened to me at the gym.  Because you know what?  It’s really not that bad.  Everyone is a beginner at some point.  Everyone is out of shape when they start.  Heck, if you were in shape, you wouldn’t be thinking of starting to work out, right?

Believe me, we’ve all been there.  We’ve all been embarrassed and we’ve all felt like the whole world was making fun of us.  It gets better folks, it really does.  One day you find yourself not being afraid anymore.  So please, don’t use your fear as an excuse to not work out.  No one at the gym is out to judge you (and if they are, change gyms).  They’re there to help, support and encourage you.  We’re all rooting for you, so why not come out and join us?  I’ll be waiting by the bench press, just in case you need a spot

###

And in case you’re curious, the second most embarassing thing I’ve ever done at the gym was fall of the treadmill while walking at 3mph and the third most embarassing thing was dropping a weight on my head because I was laughing too hard.  The fourth involved locker rooms, showers and missing clothes and no, I will not go into details.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!