Fast and Furious Fitness

As the saying goes, the tough get going. I say yes, that’s true, but I’d end it this way “get on with it, and get the job done”.

Now, the point of the post is not to prove how tough I am (or not). . .What I AM trying to do though is explain what I do when things get tough, and how to dig deep down, and find the motivation you need to move ahead. I’ve written about this one many a times before, but I always seem to be able to write more about it. Which makes sense if you think about it - no two days are exactly the same in terms of how you feel, perform, etc, so it stands to reason that there are any different things one can do to keep motivated.

Anyway, today definitely started out as one of the “slow” days for me in all ways (both work wise and in terms of exercise). The weather’s been gloomy here over the last couple of months, and much like anywhere else in the Northern hemisphere, there have been record low temperatures here as well. Add into the mix the fact that I wasn’t feeling the best today (overly tired, slight cold, etc etc), and you have the perfect recipe for feeling down, cancelling one’s workout, and continuing to feel down.

But, my discipline does not allow me to take a day off unless I REALLY need it, so off I went to start my routine after a few cups of green tea. I’m goal-oriented, and don’t usually back off when I set a target for myself (which in this case is 500 skips with the rope EVERY workout), so off to the races with me it was.

Started off with a few stretches to get the blood flowing, then picked up the rope and gave it a few twirls. Did some warm up skips, then started off with sets of 100. Today being a tough day, these sets seemed harder than they normally are, but what I did was congratulate myself after every set (I told myself, CONGRATS! Your moving towards the goal, slowly, but steadily). Now on “good” days, I rarely need to do this; I usually just knock the sets off without even bothering to think about them, but today wasn’t one of them.

Anyhow, my routine went thus: Around 40 “warmup” skips, 2 sets of 100, 30, 30, 2 sets of 100, and then 4 sets of 20 to end things off. Total of 540 skips if you count the ones after the warmups, and nearing 600 in total if one counts all of them. That number also includes 400 done in 4 sets, which ain’t a bad combination of figures either. Thus, I ended up with MORE skips than I normally do. Granted, I took more time over them today, but hey, the important thing is I got them done, no matter what. And THAT is what I am trying to point out - do what it takes, but get the job done as it should be. This principle doesn’t just apply to exercise; it applies to each and every facet of your life.

After the skips, I finished off with some tough yoga stretches, which I’m getting better at daily. Got up, toweled off (you know you’ve had a decent workout when your sweating hard at this time of the year), and now here I am, writing to you.

At the end of the day, I got a pretty good workout in anyway, despite the fact that I wasn’t feeling like a billion bucks, or even close to it when I started. Not feeling the best right now either, but I’m satisfied I got the job done. More importantly, I’m glad though that I did not skip my routine today - it is of utmost importance to stick to one’s routine without fail as far as possible, as that will increase the number of overall good days you have.

So, try congratulating yourself (literally) after each set, or each rep on your bad days, and keep moving towards the finish line; you might find you actually turn a bad day into a good one. If congratulating yourself doesn’t rock the boat for you, do what it takes - but get the job done.

When the going gets tough, do what it takes - but get the job done. I think that one sounds the best amongst the three options we’ve outlined.

And that, my friends, is that for today. As always, train well, and get fit - FAST!

Rahul

All,

A very happy New Year to you, no matter where you might be!

It’s officially the 1st of January here where I’m at, so we’re definitely “into” the New Year now. After the celebrations last night (for those of you that did celebrate and party hard), it’s now time to wake up, get moving, and get “back to business”, as they say. And thats the way I like it.

Anyway, what I’m going to talk about today is perserverance in all areas of your life, be it training-wise, or even other regards (work, relationships etc). Perseverance is probably one of the most, if not THE most important factors that will determine your success in whatever you do. I don’t think I need to explain the why’s here, but I’ll try and explain what exactly I mean by perseverance anyway.

In my book, perserverance can be broken down into three main categories (which are inter-related, of course): -

1. Keep trying/striving, no matter what the odds are; in other words, NEVER GIVE UP. Doesn’t really sound too complicated, but to put this in perspective, let me give you an example from Mother Nature itself. I was watching a show on Discovery the other day “Surviving the Drought” (by the way, thats one of my favorite channels). This show is set in the African jungle, and as the title says, it’s about how the animals survive the long, hot summers until the rain arrives. Anyway, part of the show was about a pride of lionesses along with their cubs, trying to survive the long summer. One day, the lionesses decide to try and hunt buffaloes (which they generally avoid, due to their huge size), but things go wrong, and the herd stampedes, and manages to get away. Which is fine, and that happens quite a lot in the animal kingdom, but the problem was that one of the lion cubs got caught up in the stampede, and managed to get his hind legs broken. Ouch! No doctors here to fix that problem, so he’s pretty much gotta live with it, and move on with life the best he can.

So, they then show the pride moving on, looking for more game etc, and they also show the little lion cub trying to move along with his front paws only, dragging pretty much his entire body along with him. Naturally we know his days are numbered, but try telling that to him. He moved through the best part of the show along with the pride, despite the disability. Despite the fact that the other cubs were getting stronger and bigger daily, and he was getting worse day by day. You could see the effort he made to just MOVE, but the little cub just DIDN’T GIVE UP. He kept trying, until he just couldn’t move any longer, and his mother had to eventually leave him to die. Kind of poignant, but this embodies the sprirt of perserverance perfectly, and explains it better than I ever could. Enough said on that one.

2. Discipline, and application of the right amount of effort. This part is self-explanatory. Don’t miss workouts unless you HAVE to (no “I’m feeling tired” etc when you know you should be training), and when you train, make the time count. Don’t just go through the motions, but work every exercise, every set, every rep like it’s your last. There is a huge difference between training HARD, and simply going through the motions. The latter is guaranteed to produce little, or no lasting results, but stick to the first path, and you’ll do great.

3. Last, but by no means least, patience. Patience is the mother of all virtues (we’ve all heard that one), and it is so for a good reason. Things happen at a certain speed (provided the first two principles are adhered to), but trying to speed up the process doesn’t really work in the long run. Be patient, stick to your routine, and don’t get frustrated. Can’t do 500, or even 100 squats in a row?? No problem, start off with 50 a day, and stick to that for a month - and THEN see where you are after that month. Want to jump rope for 3 minutes straight, but can’t even get 10 reps down correctly? Work on getting 10, then 20, then 30. . . in a month or so, you’ll be surprising yourself with what you can do.

So, that, my friends is my understanding of perserverance, and also the “moral” of the post for today. Follow the above three pricinples, and you’ll be amazed at what you manage to achieve this year.

All for now. As always, get FIT - FAST!

Rahul