Editor’s note: just like in church, omit brackets [for short form].
I got involved in this blogging racket so I could track my WODs and evaluate my: approach to training, form, nutrition, mood, style, etc. I also wanted to see how much of a role exercise took in my day-to-day life. Like I’ve mentioned before, I post everything I do on here [with the exception of walking – still haven’t figured out how to make that exciting for the reader]. After reading through the 20 weeks of posts and going through my red book, I put together a spreadsheet that shows the time commitment of all the WODs I’ve done.
Crazy huh? In the words of the double rainbow guy, what does this mean? So intense! For me, it means I was able to improve my performance by dedicating less than 2% of my waking hours to training. Up until 1.5 yrs ago I was consistently working out 12-20 hrs/week, getting sick 1x/month, feeling sore and tired on the reg, icing my knees daily, and stuffing my face with carbs every 3 hours. During that time, I did what I felt was best for my body’s performance. Health took a back seat and “free time” (or fun) didn’t fit into the plan. Yet when my gf at the time asked me where my six pack was, I had no comeback! It was a dark time my friends; and given all that training, I was still a middle-of-the-packer. To that end, I’ll take today’s training regimen [placed in top 20% of field in both races this year] over the pre-primal era every day of the week!
So how does this apply to the aspiring-to-be-fit guy or gal? As mentioned in a bunch of other posts, you don’t have to dedicate much training time [2 hrs = 0.5 x Red Sox game, 1 day’s worth of commuting for the average American, 2 Jersey Shore episodes, 1 broadcast’s worth of non-game action during an NFL program, a week’s worth of “snooze” time (or 2 days if you’re LL), 480 magical experiences with Rick Petino, etc.] to be healthy and fit. I see tons of people out there [jogging down the street, power walking on the sidewalk, doing cardio at the gym, etc.] who have the best intentions and almost certainly dedicate more time and effort to fitness than I do. Yet where are the results? Unfortunately, (like I did) we approach exercise given what we know/are told and we are a misinformed group. So try something a little unconventional and see if it works for you. I’ll always evaluate/tinker/experiment/analyze what I’m doing, but won’t go back to the soft and fragile days of the endurance phase. Just in case I haven’t thrown in enough cliches to convince you, I’ll sum it up by asking: why bang your head against the wall when you can have your cake and eat it too?
Eat well and exercise hard, but not too often.
-In health and consequent free time
