It’s been a couple of months since my last post. The reason for it was, among other things, work. I’ve been swamped and tired and didn’t really stop myself to even think. Last week, as I was surfing through an interminable pile of e-mails with an urgency here, an urgency there and the urgent need to plan ahead for work I had an epiphany. I basically took my fitness programming and applied it to my own life.
An epiphany alright
I’m not alone. And what’s happening to my blog is what most people suffer with their workouts. I, of course, had a myriad of reasons and
Overworked and tired. Never good for your fitness edeavors. Photo by Tim Caynes
excuses that stopped me from doing something I really enjoy, which was writing this blog (all valid excuses of course, at least in my mind), and I’m sure that the same has happened to you. Be it in your workouts, projects, social life, etc.
Well, as of today I’m saying fuck it. I’m not letting work cut out into something that makes me happy. It just won’t. I’m sure it’ll be hard some days, but I’m keeping it from affecting things that do me well. How will I be doing that? Well, I’m planning ahead, I’m programming my week as if it were a fitness endeavor.
Let’s call it programming, cause it’s more fitnessy
This is kind of building a training program for me, a friend or a client. First order of business: what are the main things that a happy week for me has to have? In no particular order these are spending time with friends and family, having time for my girlfriend (and sexy-time, you have to have sexy-times), working out, writing this blog and successfully promoting it, having a successful work week and keeping up with my reading (I haven’t grabbed a book in ages). Putting this together was of course a big deal, there are only 24 hours every day, and only 7 days to a week. All other things are miscellaneous and not really important (although time consuming). This other stuff is: videogames, housekeeping and future projects, all those go in the back-burner, I’ll keep them active, but once I’m satisfied with the bigger things.
So, as of now, a regular week for me may look something like this:
Monday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, cooking a whole week’s worth of lunches, miscellaneous.
Tuesday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, misc.
Wed: Work, Social life (girlfriend/friends/family).
Thu: Work, working out, promoting blog post, social life (as misc.).
Fri: Work, working out, social life.
Sat: Writing a blog post, social life and either misc. or whatever I missed doing on the rest of the week (yes, I’m flexible like that).
Sunday: Social life and misc. because you need to rest.
I know, I might’ve become a rocket scientist (not!). But doing this keeps me objective and driven. It helps me build good habits and focused. And this is important. Know what you’re doing, I’ll let you keep the why’s to yourself.
Think it as your workout program
What has this to do with fitness (which is after all, the whole point of this blog)? It’s simple, plan ahead for the most important things (to you)
However you workout, have fun. It’s fitness, not talking to your boss! Photo by Arya Ziai
and let the rest fill up where and when you can. Prioritize on what will help you keep forward. If you want draw parallels, see it this way:
Work: this is something I have to do whether I’m enjoying it or not at the moment. This takes up almost 1/3 of the week. If I don’t do it I can’t make rent, eat, basically, it’s what keeps the rest going. Work in your fitness endeavor is what you have to do to do whatever you want to do later. In my case it’s strength training (I’m not competing, so that’s an advantage when I prioritize). This can be meal planning for you, strength work, and road work, whatever it is that you don’t necessarily enjoy (it’s better if you do though) but must do in order to achieve your goals.
Working out and social life: It takes a big piece of the pie as well, 4 regular day of around an hour each. It’s something I enjoy and am good at. It not going to feed me nor pay my bills, but it keeps me sane. This is the part of your workout you regularly enjoy. A favorite exercise? A meal? A TV show? Whatever works for you. But take it seriously.
Writing the blog and promoting it: It may take a long time before this blog takes off and I become a fitness/internet success. If it happens, that’s awesome, and I’m sure it eventually will. This in my training is technique work. I started sucking at hand balancing. Today I’m not particularly any good, but I’m getting there (I’ll let you know, I have managed to keep a 7 second free standing handstand). In your life this is anything you want to become better at. It needs regular practice and work. It’s not always fun, but it’s always satisfying when you get a little bit ahead. Think in what you wish you could do and work towards it!
Miscellaneous: this is something that can or can’t be there. If it can be squeezed in, great, if it can’t, well, that’s ok as well. You’ve probably covered a ton anyways. This won’t really drive your goals nor your life, and the worst mistake I’ve done in several occasions was letting this take too much of my time. In your training this is assistance work. It’s there to assist. But it won’t be what makes you great or progress. Call it your 3rd bicep exercise. It will help your pull-up, but it won’t make that big a difference.
So there you have it. I’ve decided to retake life by the proverbial horns and guide it again. No more bullshit. After I clock out I’m still driven and moving forward, no matter how shitty my workday may’ve been. This will always keep me smiling.
In a nutshell – since you probably skipped the whole thing anyways!
So, after almost a 1000 words, here’s my epiphanic life lesson in a nutshell (fitness written):
Plan ahead and strategize by priorities (this by the way is called Goal-setting and successful programming).
The biggest amount of your training time should go to whatever’s going to keep you in the race (and improving).
Keep working in what you enjoy and improving on it. Keep being driven by it.
Take time to practice and improve on what will bring the biggest satisfactions (like a handstand if that’s your thing, it may be marathon running).
Assistance work may be fun. But remember, it has to assist your goals, don’t confuse it with the important stuff (I’m looking at your 3rd bicep exercise of the week, or your 4th calve exercise).
I know, I know “well, duh!” but sometimes we need to be either called out or hit ourselves with a wall to wake up and pick up the pace again! So here’s what life taught me about programming and the need to plan ahead.