"MAKE THE CLIMB"

I love fitness, but I love stories about heroes and the hero journey as well.  Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have always been interested in heroes, be they superheroes, ancient warriors, or tales of soldiers, I'll sit down and listen.  If there's a chance for me to relate fitness and heroes, it's like a dream come true.  In todays' post I'm going to do just that.  I want to talk about The Dark Knight Rises, but a very specific scene in the movie, because I feel that it relates really well to my own struggles with fitness and to those of the people that I train. 

Without giving too much away to those that haven't seen the movie, Batman is physically beaten and imprisoned underground, free to look up at the daytime sun, but never able to climb out, as many have tried.  Something is holding him back from being able to complete this task. 

Every plateau I've ever hit, every rep I've missed, and every day I don't feel like training are akin to looking up at the light, but not being able to bathe in the sun.  For my clients, I've seen this struggle as well.  They are doing fantastic, whether it's a new weight on their lifts, or steps taken toward their goals.  Then they have a setback.  Some will let this setback fuel them for next time.  They only need to regroup and collect their thoughts, attempting, with some prodding, not to beat themselves up for one mistake.  Some, despite my efforts, will continue to beat themselves up and stay in the darkness a little longer.

Anyone training with me will tell you that their legs are often sore.  I train legs hard, but in balance with the rest of the body.  Our legs are comprised of very large muscles that, when trained properly, fuel brilliant muscle growth and great amounts of weight loss.  Our legs are our locomotion and there isn't a single sport that doesn't require powerful legs.  My legs are strong, but something about approaching a new maximum on the squat rack always puts the fear back in my heart.  I have to silence these thoughts and complete the task at hand, just as Batman had to do to make the climb.  If it kills you, it kills you, but your actions must be the same in either respect.  Hopefully, we're speaking figuratively here... :)

Different people make their climb at different rates.  Several of my clients have made huge triumphs in their brief time with me.  They did this by stepping out of their comfort zones and trusting in the process.  Those that don't dare to, have yet to make the climb.

We all have our own underground prison.  A place we know how to escape, but for whatever reason, are unable to.  The answer almost always lies outside our comfort zones.  It did for Batman in the movie, and it does for us as well.  Whatever your "pit" is, you'll have to confront it. 

Interval training: Are you working hard enough?

It's an Olympic year everyone!  I was watching some of the qualifying matches for the U.S. team in both gymnastics and track and field yesterday (fantastic athletes), when, not for the first time, I asked myself why people are still breaking their backs trying to get in as much road time during the summer, or get in their "cardio for the day."  Looking at the two picture above can pretty much tell you the whole story, but let me break it down.

Muscles adapt to the stresses and types of stresses placed upon them.  Basketball and volleyball athletes train and "teach" their muscles to be able to jump very high, whereas Triathletes train their muscles to work at sub maximal levels for extended periods of time.  What happens is that a certain percentage of muscle fibers change from type 1 (slow twitch) to type 2 (fast twitch) or vice versa, given THE TRAINING STIMULUS.  Marathon runners (I'm going to pick on them for a moment) will see a reduction in their fast twitch fibers as they switch over to slow twitch to accommodate the need to run for lengthy periods of time.  This switch, by the way, is also the same on that happens as we age.  By coming in to get your "daily cardio" you are actually helping to exacerbate this condition, as noted by Robb Wolf in The Paleo Solution.  Haven't you noticed that heavy duty runners always look a bit sick?  Look at the man in the picture above.

My first experience with this was in college running NCAA Cross Country.  One day the captain of the team, towards the end of the running season, was playing lacrosse with some friends and noticed that his speed had decreased by a fair amount.  He couldn't keep up with the other players who hadn't participated in Cross Country.  Even the founder of Aerobics now recommends a combinations of strength and interval training.  Is this really the best way to train your cardiorespiratory systems?

Interval training has been shown time and time again to be the best method of training the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.  And I'm sure that all of you have, at some point, experienced interval training.  Think back to the last time you were moving.  You might have had to help carry a desk and then carry in the drawers to that desk.  How about splitting wood?  You had to split some, either with a splitter or by hand, and then stack it.  Gets your heart pumping right?  The reason that this training works so well is that LIFE HAPPENS IN INTERVALS.  We move for a bit then rest, followed by more movement.  This type of training fits in to what we are designed to do. 

So, working up to it properly and safely of course, do sprints instead of miles on the treadmill, mix in some circuits to get in your "cardio for the day".

Making the Change

Working in a gym there isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear someone talking or asking myself, or another trainer, about dieting.  It's true that most clients, and people that come into the gym for that matter, want some form of weight loss.  If I had a nickel for every time someone told me they "just wanted lose a little weight and be more toned"...well, you get the picture. 

We all want to know what the latest fad diet is and why it's different than the last South Beach/Adkins guy.  The hard truth is that we live in a country where physical activity is in decline.  I recently came across a picture of a swing set/jungle gym with the words "the Original Playstation" across the top and it made me think.  We are the first generation of adults expected to outlive our children.  Really think about that for a minute.  Scary, right? 

I'm going to tell you that it isn't about a diet.  To me a diet is a temporary thing.  You're coming to me, asking me how to change how you're eating for long enough to begin to make some changes.  As soon as those changes start to take place you're going to go back to the way things were before.  For me this really resonantes when my clients do all this work and make significant gains.  They improve flexibility, strength and stability and begin to lose some real weight.  Then, they take a vacation and come back to me as if we're starting over again. 

Now, I understand.  I have taken vacations myself.  I know what it's like to feel tempted to eat all the wrong things.  But we have to stop thinking as though the changes we wish to make are temporary.  We need to think about making changes; Lifestyle changes; Behavioral changes.

Martin Rooney talks about the Mirror Test.  He says before you go to sleep each morning look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you've done all you can today to move toward your goals.  Take an honest assessment.  Did you?  Don't beat yourself up endlessly if the answer is no, just realize that tomorrow is another day and you should try harder. 

Who do you want to be?  Really ask yourself this question.  It should take a while to think about if you've never honestly looked inside before.  What are your dreams?  Are you doing what you can to move toward them?  How can you start making the change?  Maybe it starts with replacing that bowl of cereal in the morning with a bowl of fruit, or that piece of toast with an egg instead.  Maybe it starts with taking a walk around the block after work.  What do you need to do to make your change?