Sunday 20 November 2016

What Are You Learning?

It is possible that my interest in learning stems from my experience as a classroom teacher. Or it may be that my interest in learning was always there, and it was merely reflected in the teaching. I suspect the second thought is more accurate. At any rate, I like learning and I am interested in how we learn. The wellness journey my family and I have been on over the past few years has highlighted the importance of learning about wellness - actively, and purposefully.

I believe we gain more than just information when we actively seek out new knowledge. We gain an entirely new (and improved) outlook on life in general and our own life in particular. I am convinced that we need to learn how to find good resources and become proficient at internalizing that information – whether by reading, watching a video, or talking to a coach or mentor. The more new information we can capture, the better. What I am really saying is that a significant part of our own wellness involves learning about a variety of things.

Through introspection, we can learn about our personal physical health, our stressors and de-stressors, and we can evaluate the progress we are making in our own personal wellness. Through other people - coaches, trainers, mentors, friends/family members - we can learn through their experiences and shared wisdom. Finally, through external resources - books, magazine and Internet articles, videos, etc. - we can choose from a virtually limitless range of specific topics.

What I'm driving at is this: you might learn helpful wellness things by accident, or by osmosis, but if you make it a priority to grow in what you know about your own wellness, I think you gain the ability to manage your own wellness over time. I personally know a number of people who have essentially reversed declining physical health and atrophy by leaving the metaphorical siding they were parked on and switching onto a main track where they are now testing the limits of a more active life. In fact, after nearly a year on this new track, one person I am thinking of still has not found their new "limits" - they continue to build endurance and strength, and to make progress. And that does not even begin to describe how their quality of life has improved.

Learning about your own physical status and making a plan to develop your personal wellness entirely lies within your power. Go for it! Be an active learner and become a student of your own wellness.

Tuesday 11 October 2016

Intrepidus

Intrepid derives from the Latin word intrepidus, itself formed by the combination of the prefix in- (meaning "not") and trepidus, meaning "alarmed." [Excerpt from http://www.merriam-webster.com]

This week, I want to offer a new word to you, or, at least, to breathe some new life into an old word: Intrepid. The dictionary defines it for us, but we can really boil its meaning to not being too afraid to do things. If you are intrepid, you are not afraid to set out on a challenge. You might have fears, but they don't stop you from going out and trying things. Do you get that? It's not the absence of fear; it's the setting out in spite of your fears. Or misgivings. Or doubts. That's why you often see the word intrepid used to describe explorers and adventurers.

So why this word now? Fair question. Here's what happened. . .

I was putting together some goal-setting ideas for the blog when I was interrupted by the following email, from my Mom, Marilyn, who is just south of 80 and lives with Parkinson's Disease:

     NEWSFLASH!!

     THIS AFTERNOON I ARRIVED IN BRANDON (ON MY VIRTUAL WALK)!!!!

     It took me 10 months and 10 days.


That is a 150-kilometer trek, by the way. Mom hasn't just kept up with her walking from the February fitness challenge, she has increased her pace and daily range. And, twice per week, she heads down to the gym for fitness classes.

I still stand by the goal-setting process, but it can wait a week. Intrepid adventurers and their accomplishments must be celebrated. So - Marilyn - CONGRATULATIONS on reaching Brandon in your virtual walk!!

What a great example of setting goals and knocking them off. One more goal achieved. I believe she was last seen heading east. . .


A final irony: when Marilyn reads this blog's title, she will immediately understand it - she knows Latin!

Tuesday 4 October 2016

What Happens When You Set Goals

A few months ago, I put together a worksheet to help translate my fitness vision into short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. Great idea, that worksheet. I basically forgot about it for a few weeks and my vision was just as blurry (well, the fitness vision), and my goals were more like a wishful thinking list.

So I pulled the worksheet out, got some feedback, and made a few tweaks. Then I tried it. There was no parade, and no heavenly choir sang. It was just a worksheet and I - well, I guess I just worked on it. It was not difficult, it was just work. And then my session was over and I stuffed the sheets into my backpack to take to work, in case I had a quiet lunch break one day. A few ideas were bouncing around in my head, but I was a bit disappointed that there had been no magical enlightenment.

What I did not realize then was that I had only started the process. The worksheet is just a paper; it is not the process. I realize now that, by sitting down with the paper and a pen and spending some focused time thinking and reflecting, my vision and goal thinking had been activated. Over the next few weeks, I became aware of specific goals that suddenly popped into my mind. I put these on sticky notes so I wouldn't lose them. When I sat down the second time, I had lots of goals and was able to organize them more coherently over time.

To me, the most interesting thing about the process so far is that the goals have led almost directly to specific workouts which are way more focused than anything I would have tried before. I'm not saying that YOU have to do my specific workouts, but what I discovered in my situation was that my goals led directly to the activities I am now planning to do.  That is the takeaway, and why this basic process should be more or less universal.

So, what do we know? Well, thinking about your personal fitness/wellness vision and setting goals begins a process that allows those ideas to percolate. Over time - a month or so, in my case - you discard a few less important goals and identify other, more important goals.  And these goals lead directly to some very specific activities or workouts which will propel you toward your goal.

What happens when you set goals, then, is that you are able to make thoughtful choices about specific activities. You are in a position to EXECUTE. That is half the battle. When you know what to do, all you have to do is do it. It is now in the hands of your self-discipline.

I hope you are willing to start a vision-casting and goal-setting exercise. The process will help you define where you want to go and how to get there. All you have to do is do it.

Friday 23 September 2016

Chugging Along

The theme for this week is "Chugging Along." Not very splashy or exciting, but I believe most of us are doing exactly that: chugging along. What I mean is that we go through extended periods of time where we just keep executing our plan. If the plan was to walk, we are walking; if it was doing varied workouts through the week, we go through our workout routines. No-one is really watching. No-one is throwing us a parade.  No-one is writing about us in the newspaper.

We are chugging along with our wellness or fitness plans, sans fanfare. But that is perfectly fine. I would coach people to stock up on encouragement from their fitness buddies, and develop the attitude of diligent, self-governed action. You work on your fitness plan on your own, as it were. Once in awhile, you might pass some cheerleaders, but the more you can do your thing - chugging along, not needing regular recognition for your effort - the better off you will be. Or, at least, the more self-sufficient. While I believe encouragement is critical for all of us, my observation is that constant encouragement creates dependency. Appropriate, well-timed encouragement along with proper skill instruction and as-needed corrective feedback creates self-sufficiency and confidence. And that, more or less, amounts to good coaching.

Back to chugging along. This is the non-glamorous, real-world side of building and maintaining your wellness and fitness. Here are some examples of chugging along that have inspired me in the past week or so:

  • a friend training for a running event and he's not feeling the love
  • my Mom, who is still walking, in spite of Parkinson's Disease
  • another friend who did an amazing number of pushups to support a good cause
  • a high school student who joined cross-country to improve his running ability
  • even I have found myself chugging along, alternating between a couple of different workouts through the week
  • two ladies who meet regularly to improve their swimming strokes
  • a guy and his young family, who all participated in a 5k run last weekend
Rest assured, you will probably spend much of your life in between "parades" which celebrate your amazing and inspiring example. In other words, you will simply be chugging along. I hope that you are inspired by a vision. I hope you have plan to follow.  And, I hope you get enough periodic encouragement to keep you chugging along.

Monday 12 September 2016

Parkinson Superwalk 2016

I got a text message recently from my brother. The message included a picture of his whole family who were participating in one the Parkinson Superwalk events. This was a new event to me, but I got a few take-aways from his message and from what I learned about the event.

First, very cool to see a whole family participating in an event together. What a great way to build family memories - you're having a great time and supporting a good cause.

Second, it is encouraging to see learn about another event supporting Canadians living with Parkinson's Disease. Since getting involved in the 10,000 Kettlebells for Parkinson's challenge last February, I've been paying more attention, and have heard of golf tournaments and other fund-raising projects.

Above all, I see that even youngsters are realizing how they can contribute to a cause. They are leveraging their abilities to generate money to support a cause. If you think about it (I hope you will, especially if you are a parent), that is a pretty powerful lesson for a young person to learn. I have seen a lot of apathy these days, but this might be an antidote: Get your kids (or students, or young friends) involved in an activity where they spend or - maybe more accurately, invest - their talents and abilities. Realizing that their efforts, combined with the efforts of others and the resources of still others, can accomplish amazing things is a powerful lesson. Effort plus collaboration leads to greater accomplishment. And that is agency - the ability to make things happen. If you learn, especially at an early age, that you have agency, your chances of becoming apathetic drop.

So, when you hear about an event where you can participate at your own level, but you can leverage your abilities (your participation) along with others to achieve a greater result, you don't need me to tell you to GO FOR IT!

By the way, I have 18 more days of 22 Push-Ups to go in the challenge Alex threw at me last week. Email me if you are also willing to contribute to the 22 Push-Up Challenge. It will be encouraging.

Wednesday 7 September 2016

Vision and Goal-Setting Update

The Vision and Goal-Setting project continues, thanks to some feedback and ideas from the test crew. I will keep you updated and let you know when the resource is ready to release.

By the way, I just got challenged to do the 22 Pushup Challenge. Thanks, Alex. I think. Your great video demo sold me. Then I read up on the idea and I think it is a worthwhile way to support Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans, and First Responders.

You can read up about by clicking the link above, or Google "22 pushup challenge".

Don't forget to keep working on your vision and goals. It will guide you forward.

Tuesday 30 August 2016

Goal-Setting Exercise

The June 6 (2016) blog post was about "Vision". I suggested that we need to establish a realistic appraisal of our basic physical condition, as well as how Ready, Willing, and Able we are to step up our activity level.

Using that as a starting point, I challenged you to cast a vision of your new, fitter self at several points in the future (one month, three months, six months, a year, two years, five years). These are arbitrary, but give us a range of close-up and more distant focus.

Several of my friends and I are piloting a Vision-Casting exercise that pairs the June 6 blog post with a worksheet to help define vision and set concrete goals. I have discovered that these two processes (vision-casting and goal-setting) are interrelated, in the sense that thinking about one tends to give precision to the other. So far, a clearer fitness vision and more specific goals have been "evolving".

I plan to have the feedback-tweaked worksheet available here in a week or so. My challenge would be for you to re-read the Vision blog and put some serious thought into actually casting a vision and creating specific fitness goals. Don't forget about the February Fitness Challenge!

By the way, I survived the triathlon!

Monday 22 August 2016

Give it a Tri!

Sorry for the cheesy title, but the point of this blog is to push you to identify some new fitness challenge and give it a try. Step out of your comfort zone a bit. As always, be sure that you are medically fit by checking with your physician, but, assuming your body is up to the challenge, go for it.

Why should you give it a try? Because if you're anything like me, you have sometimes limited yourself by a lack of confidence, fear of failure, or the lack of an inspired vision of yourself. Here's another question: where has it [not stepping out of your comfort zone] gotten you? Probably resigned to a life of luke-warm satisfaction with your physical well-being. And what about your confidence? If you're cruising life with your "Safety" on, have you tried enough challenging things to have achieved enough of them to be confident in your ability?

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my instructors challenged us to choose good goals, because even if we didn't always reach them, our goal set us in motion in the direction of our goal. So you may set a goal of a half-marathon. You might accomplish that, or you might only manage 10k. Come on - 10k is not a failure; 10k is an accomplishment! And it has pushed you farther in the direction of your goal than you would have ever gone before.

My mind is presently caught up with our local triathlon which runs tomorrow (as I write this). I go into it confident that I can complete the event, but I'm amazed to see how easily thoughts of "You haven't trained enough" or "That time [one of my time targets] is not a realistic goal" keep intruding. It's like there is a barrage of self-doubt trying to undermine my confidence. In the past, I would have listened to those doubts more, but I think I've gotten to a place where this event is more about something I am doing for myself than something where I want to impress others. And I have to say that I feel pretty good about that, on balance.

I attribute this change (and it really is a change in attitude for me) to a few things. First, I'm older (and wiser) than I was. Take that for what it's worth! Second, with some encouragement and counter-encouragement (or you could say mutual encouragement), I have let people talk me into fitness activities that I would only have imagined trying even though part of me was thinking, "Man, I'd like to be able to do that!" Nonetheless, I wouldn't have felt confident enough to try on my own. Hat tip here to both my brother and my daughter for their challenge/encouragement - thanks to you guys! Third, I have come to realize that I really do enjoy being active and working on fitness. I have learned some new lessons and realized that most of the "limits" I put on myself were essentially limits in my own head. This has freed me up to take more of a "Let's see what happens if I try [x, y, or z]". For me, the biggest area of new attempts has been with level of intensity: Intervals and sprints. Full-out sets of Kettlebell swings. Or the infamous burpee challenge. And I survived.

So here's my parting shot: with your physician's approval, step out of your comfort zone and push a limit. Set a goal beyond your current abilities, get some appropriate coaching (if you need it) and stretch yourself toward the new goal. And so what if you don't quite make it. You'll probably be at least part-way there, and almost certainly past your old limit. Become a limit-pusher. Push the envelope. Stretch your limits, work hard and become better. I want to hear from you in October with stories about limits pushed and new goals achieved.

Give that a tri!

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Limits and Goals

Back on June 6, I did a blog about Vision. I suggested that vision is something that you mindfully create, rather than just some mental image that pops into your head. I defined a fitness vision as "…how you see your personal fitness/wellness at some defined point in the future...", and suggested that you arbitrarily pick some time points in both your short-term future and your longer-term future.

So… did you do it? Did you spend some time creating a vision for your future, fitter self? If not, my encouragement is that you give it another try. We are not in the habit of doing this, so we might need a reminder or two. Here's your reminder: give it a try. You can re-read that blog for the full story, but it's important to let those creative, imaginative ideas flow. And here's why I bring it up.

I will assume that, if you are reading this, you are either closely related to me OR you have at least a passing interest in personal development. You would at least like to see yourself being more physically fit. I think we usually assume that, along with greater physical fitness will come other good outcomes like lower stress, better health, higher quality of life. There are no guarantees, but I will take my chances on the idea that improving my own physical fitness will enhance my life in a variety of areas.

How does a vision of improving our personal fitness relate to goals and limits? I would argue that we often unconsciously or even consciously set limits on what we can do. For a variety of reasons, I suspect that we set those limits well below what we physically are capable of. I think we get in the habit of setting "safe" limits that are so easy and safe as to be essentially meaningless. We blur the distinction between limits and goals with the effect that even the goals we set are so safe and achievable that accomplishing them is so lame it's underwhelming. We set limits on what we think we can do that are so low (relative to our ability) that we basically prevent ourselves from pushing forward to the next level. In fact, we might start to slip backward.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that, many times, we are so much in "Limit" mode that we don't even sit down to consider our own vision of where we would like to be at various points in the future. And setting a goal would be, to quote Brother Maynard and the Book of Armaments, "right out." So we don't set goals - not meaningful ones, anyway. And we don't think seriously about where we would like to be down the road.

I am saying that it is easy to allow our thinking to become "limited". We talk ourselves into not likely being able to do certain things (i.e., we limit our scope of performance). Then, even if we do set goals, we undercut our ability so much that there is no risk or challenge. With these nothing-ventured, nothing-gained goals, there is little sense of accomplishment when we achieve the goal. We don't inspire ourselves and we likely don't inspire anyone else. And THAT is pretty boring. Did I mention uninspiring?

My challenge for all of us is to find a way to revitalize our thinking by challenging our physical abilities (we need to be realistic, given our current health and fitness and such). We need to shift our Limit-oriented thinking from, "I can only do [x]…" or "I can't do that…" to "I’m not sure if I can do [x] but I'd like to try it and see. I might even try [x and y]". That is more goal-oriented thinking, and it is also introducing a challenge component into it. You have to work (i.e., try hard) to accomplish the goal. You might have to practice or train.

Here's an experiment to explore this concept:

1. Find a friend, relative or co-worker who has taken on a physical challenge - like a non-walker who starts walking daily, or someone who decides to take a swimming class or dance class or train for and participate in a road run or triathlon. Ask them if they regret setting that goal and accomplishing it.

2. Find a friend, relative or co-worker who has not taken on a physical challenge or pushed themselves to accomplish some kind of fitness or wellness objective. Ask them if they have any regrets about their choice.


Don't be the person who lives with regrets because they allow Limit-oriented thinking to govern their approach to their personal fitness and wellness. Take this opportunity seriously to find an encourager who can challenge you to become more Goal-oriented, and to set more meaningful fitness/wellness goals. When you accomplish those goals, you will truly inspire yourself and those around you.

And if you don't accomplish the goal fully, who cares? So you tried to run 5k and only made it 4k before you had to start walking and running. Boo-hoo! You made it 4k! That is a meaningful accomplishment for most people. Celebrate it. Try again in a few days. Learn how to train smartly and safely. Get some coaching. Keep at it. Work hard. Enjoy your rest days. And let all of this percolate as you brew up a great new vision for yourself!

Monday 8 August 2016

Slump!

Around 2004 or so. . . I was training for my first triathlon. What a risk I was taking - could I do it? What if I embarrased myself? If you've ever tried this, you will know exactly what I mean.

Anyway, I read a great book by Eric Harr called Triathlon Training In Four Hours A Week: From Beginner to Finish Line in Just Six Weeks. Aside from the fact that I thought it was a great book for a newbie, it was very readable. It contributed to one of my most enduring memories of that whole training season. "Slump!"

Let me explain. During the leadup to the event, I came down with a cold. One of those nasty summer colds that squeezes your eyes out and makes you ache all over. But wait! There was something in the book about colds. Flip, flip, flip. . . He talked about colds during training. Aha! There it is - the section talking about dealing with colds.  The author pointed to a crazy sounding concoction of vegetables and fruit that should put your cold on the run:

Alexandria's Amazing Tonic (p. 198). You can probably find the recipe if you want the details, but it had these things in it: beets, grapefruit, oranges, lemon, carrots, celery, fresh ginger (a 2" x 2" piece!), an onion, and garlic. And here's why I'm even telling you about it. This was the single-most memorable experience of my whole triathlon training experience (other than the wetsuit incident - and EVERYONE has had a wetsuit incident!).

I grabbed the book and started gathering the ingredients.  Which caught the attention of one curious and observant ten-year old boy who is genetically related to me. He watched, and I gathered. And I cut and peeled and popped all this stuff in the blender. And he watched. And I put the lid on the blender and hit start. And he watched. And I watched because this was getting interesting. The ingredients reverse-engineered into a purple-pink mixture which looked hauntingly like apple sauce, but oddly more dangerous.

Moment one was when the lid came off and the "fragrance" of this concoction hit us both. Moment two was when my son uttered the fateful words: "It looks like Slump!" You don't have to have seen this to imagine it. Purple apple sauce which kind of tries to remain standing where you poured it but it fails, kind of in rings or ripples of failure that spread out from the centre. I might just as well have poured it onto a plate.

By now the next move was painfully obvious: I had to ingest this stuff. I say "ingest" because it wasn't clear if I should eat it or drink it. Nor was it clear whether the stuff was actually edible, considering what had gone into the blender.

Well, I decided to dive in and go for it. With my attentive audience now fully waiting for the inevitable, I threw caution to the wind, grabbed the glass (which made an ominous milk-shakey kind of "toonk" sound), and chugged back a mouthful of the stuff.

There really are no words for what I experienced. Even with a severe head cold, I can say that I certainly tasted some health-imbuing flavors. I think I tasted fire. And maybe gasoline. Even a ten-year-old can be impressed by a parent from time to time, as in, "No way, Dad - you didn't really DO that!" That one mouthful was the only one I could manage, and the experience got chalked up to "Too terrible to ever do again."

But my curiosity did nag at me. Why did this guy put such a gut-wrenching and repulsive recipe into a book and why did the publisher let it stay in there? So, I had to re-read that part of the book. And that's when I spotted the word "juicer." It would have gone better for me had I read this later, after my audience had left the room but, no, I had to mutter the word out loud. These ingredients were supposed to be JUICED in a juicer, not BLENDED in a blender. I know what you're thinking. . . honest mistake. Okay, you were really thinking, "idiot" which I have to confess probably fits. Not the first time, not the last time on that.

Sometimes, you just have to laugh at yourself. If you're dumb enough to do these kinds of things with your kids watching, there is nowhere to hide. I have never had the courage to try the recipe again (even in a JUICER, which I now have). I Just can't get past the mental image of that purple stuff slumped there menacingly in the glass.

Taunting me.

Monday 1 August 2016

And now a word. . .

And now a word about a simple thing: a word of encouragement. First of all, welcome back to the blog!  I enjoyed a much-needed break!

This week's blog is really an attempt to shine the light on a strategy that will enrich your life: Encouragement. You have undoubtedly experienced the impact of this, one way or another, in your own life. And you'll notice that I referred to it as a "strategy". That means I think of it as an action. Something that people do.

I also said that you have probably experienced the impact of encouragement. You can probably think of a time someone encouraged you, and you probably still remember how it lifted you up a bit. Think of the Grinch when his heart got 3 sizes bigger. The word "encouragement" embodies the idea of heartening, thereby making stronger (a la our friend, the Grinch). When you encourage someone, you invest something in them which makes them stronger and gives them more "oomph", to use a clinical term. Haha!

Conversely, blowing an opportunity to encourage can result in disappointment to the non-encouraged person. And, unfortunately, there are specific and destructive things that we can do which actively discourage someone. Don't be THAT guy, eh!

Why this was on my mind in the first place emerged in the past week. June and July were busy for me, with a few additional stressors. Coincidentally, Cross-Swim had ended in June and I think I was experiencing a bit of a let-down from that. So the workouts were a bit aimless again.

My friend texted a few times to see if I wanted to go for a bike ride with him (like a training ride). Once I was finally able to coordinate a time, off we went and had an excellent ride and visit. We talked shop about our bikes (his is actually a real road bike, while mine is a sort of a Franken-Bike which my son thinks looks like a moose. Well, okay, it does look like a moose, but that's not the point). I shared a few ideas about setting up his bike - seat angle/height/position, handle bar rotation, etc. I don't know if it was helpful but I enjoyed sharing what I had learned and two things he did encouraged me: first, he kept asking me to ride, and second, he seemed interested in what I had to say about the bike setup. After our second ride, he had some feedback on the bike adjustments and commented that I had encouraged him by going out for the ride. So that was pretty cool. I guess it's symbiotic encouragement - each helped the other and both are better off. And it did kind of lift my spirits to get back out and grind the gears.

And then, just when I was thinking about getting back to the drawing board for the blog, my wife passed along a message that one of her colleagues was (patiently) waiting and looking forward to the blog starting up again. Wow! Just when I had started wondering if anyone was out there. . . I find out that at least one person is. And that was encouraging to me. I may be taking liberties, but I get the feeling that the blog may be encouraging to that person also. So, again, it's symbiotic - each helps the other and both are better off.

My message is this: never forget that you have opportunities (some find you, and some you make) throughout your day to strategically "hearten" other people. You know what it does for you when they hearten you, and you also know how it feels when you could have used a lift and didn't get one. . .

So, thanks to the encouragers. If this blog could influence people, it's goal would be to challenge and encourage the readers sufficiently so that they become stronger, more effective people.

Those are the kind of people I like to have around me.

Monday 4 July 2016

Scheduled Break

The blog will be taking a scheduled break for the month of July.  Thanks for following along, and see you back in August!

Richard

Monday 27 June 2016

"Ride Don't Hide"

This weekend I had a chance to participate in "Ride Don't Hide", an annual community bike ride hosted by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The goal of the event is to create awareness about the stigma surrounding mental illness. By working together as communities, the event raises money which allows the CMHA to support mental health initiatives across Canada. I believe 35 Canadian communities hosted events this year.

One of the biggest obstacles encountered by people who experience mental illness is insensitivity from people who don't understand. I won't make excuses for the insensitive, but I will suggest that their lack of sensitivity probably stems from lack of knowledge or "awareness" of how difficult life can be for people who suffer from mental illness. And, by the way, approximately one in five Canadians will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime.

That is what the Ride is all about. Putting the word out that we should be informed about mental illness, AND that we can raise money to support programs that help people in our very own communities who need it. Mental illnesses are not always visible at first glance, so it is natural to assume that someone who looks "fine" feels "fine". We are not always in the position of knowing that a person may be struggling. And, even if we do know that, we are not always in a position to actually or appropriately help. But we are always in a position to be respectful and considerate to EVERYONE we encounter.

So my advice is this: always be respectful and considerate. By approaching the people in your world in this manner, you stand the best chance of not adding to someone else's misery. By approaching people this way, you may (unknowingly) be the person who turns another's bad day into a not-so-bad day. And what would happen if you were the kind of person who left a trail of happy debris in your wake? What if you were the kind of person who actually encouraged people and made their world a bit better. Now that would be some kind of legacy to leave, wouldn't it?

I'll wrap up with my personal highlight from today's ride which, by the way, was almost entirely completed in the rain. A family entered in the ride and on our way in (about 2km out from the finish), our group came up on the mother and her young daughter. This youngster had been face-painted earlier, so she was already pretty well-decorated. She was riding along on her little bicycle and was pedaling madly along (at a very high RPM).  I thought her little training wheels were going to burn right off the bike, but she was motoring down the road through the rain with her mom. We cheered her on as we went by and gradually the sound of the training wheels faded.  A few minutes later, at the finish line, we heard the squawk of the OPP cruiser and saw it coming slowly into the parking lot, lights ablaze, and a little girl on a tiny bike with training wheels zooming along just behind. The whole crowd cheered and I felt like I was at the Olympics. This youngster will probably remember that cheering crowd for the rest of her life.



You are always part of the crowd.  Cheer for others.


Monday 20 June 2016

Happy Father's Day (Condensed)

A radio station I listened to once ran the following contest: condense an entire novel into a short, snappy phrase. It was hilarious and some of the entries were truly brilliant.

In the spirit of that contest, and in celebration of Father's Day, this week's blog is my attempt to honour fathers in the most condensed form:


Talk's cheap. Be a good example.

Happy Father's Day week, dads!

Monday 13 June 2016

A Lot To Chew On

I think last week's blog on developing a vision was a lot to chew on. My experience is that vision-casting gives you the best result when you take a few (or a lot of) passes through the process. Each pass through the exercise - I mean the vision-casting exercise this time - each pass lets you increase the resolution and clarity of the vision. So don't worry about doing it all at once. Just give it a try and plan to revise it later. Especially in these days of "instant" texting and type-assist, the idea of writing something, then revising (and revising and revising) seems to be so unpopular that it now seems foreign.

I am basically saying that you need to break out of the modern "instant" writing mode and intentionally plan to revise and develop your vision over time. It needs to be flexible and adjustable, so it can fit the twists and turns of your life. What is important, though, is that you START the process. Be realistic and reasonable, but possibly your very biggest challenge will be to actually SEE YOURSELF - as DIFFERENT. When you think of the process of change (personal change), your biggest enemy at the beginning is momentum: you are very possibly in an established pattern of poor habits, inactivity and/or unhealthy nutrition. Your daily routines are established, and they have momentum - they will resist changing speed or direction.

Your first task may simply be to identify and start shaking up your current routines, so that you can begin to gradually change them. I said "gradually" - at least, within reason. If your attempts to change are so radical or uncomfortable to you that you quit, then you will be inclined to give up. So I recommend, once you have determined that you are going to shake things up, that you make small, incremental changes that will let you slowly but surely change your current self into the future, fitter self you have envisioned. Imagine a ratchet, getting tighter one click at a time, but NOT GIVING UP THE PROGRESS MADE.

There you have it. Getting started is difficult. Making changes is difficult. Accomplishing challenging goals is difficult. But all of these things allow us to strive for something better, for objectives we cannot accomplish unless we make ourselves better. My final thought this week is this: your envisioned self should be starting to entice you. It should be calling you toward it. As you develop and refine the vision of your future, fitter self, this vision will begin to sharpen the contrast between where you want to be and where you are now. And THAT contrast should be the fuel that motivates you to change.

Monday 6 June 2016

Vision

A vision could loosely be described as something you see in your mind’s eye. In a way, a vision is something that you have to think up. I believe this can (or should) be a deliberate, mindful process, as opposed to some random idea which just pops into your head. So, to bring the discussion out of the ether, let’s talk fitness vision: a Fitness Vision is how you see your personal fitness/wellness at some defined point in the future. And let’s define a few of those future points so we can get a reasonable sense of change over time. These are completely arbitrary, and you could pick your own points. I chose these to give some higher resolution in the near future and more of a zoomed out look as we look further ahead (think acceleration curve).

1. ­Today: We all need to start with where we are currently at. We need a realistic appraisal. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. We need that brutally honest evaluation of:

- our basic physical health and readiness for exercise/activity

- our willingness (enthusiasm and motivation) for exercise/activity

- our current physical ability, including our mobility, flexibility, agility, strength, etc.

Whatever we are going to set out to do needs to be reasonably and realistically connected to how ready, willing and able we are to engage in some activity. If you haven’t been active for a while, see a doctor and tell them you intend to become more active – ask if they have any concerns given your current state. This is not your “vision”, per se, but it is the starting point from which your vision of your future “fitter” self is built. It is your push-off-from-here point.

2. One Month: How do you see your activity level in a month? Are you seeing yourself active once per week? Twice per week? Three times per week? This is about how YOU see YOURSELF in a month. Start conservative, but cast a vision of how active you want to be in a month. Once you have established a vision, you can build a plan and then execute it (tune in later for that discussion).

3. Three Months: How do you see yourself and your activity level three months from now? Seriously? If you are struggling to see this (i.e., to envision your active self), you will definitely struggle with making it happen. So be bold, and cast a vision for how you would like to see yourself in three months. Be reasonable, but be progressive; don’t be satisfied with staying at the same one-month level forever. Your three-month vision should extend your reach!

4. Six Months: By six months, it is reasonable that you should be more flexible, more agile, and have noticeably better endurance. Does your vision have you taking on bigger challenges and working toward more substantial goals? It should. As your vision moves further downfield, so to speak, into the future, envision yourself progressively getting better, no matter what level you started at. Keep in mind that, if you are newer to exercise, your goals should be scaled appropriately. “Exercise activity” should gently and gradually stretch you out of your existing comfort zone. Your body will recover on your rest days. Your comfort zone will actually shift upward, so you can do MORE in your comfort zone. Does your six-month vision take into account the fact that you are increasingly able to do MORE activity, with MORE intensity? Establish a vision that includes continuous, steady growth and progress. Fitness goals can probably be increased as you go, because, by this time, you are probably slowly but continuously getting better.

5. One Year: Where do you see yourself in a year from now? Does your vision include you having joined any teams, activities or fitness classes? Are you including regular activity in your daily routine? Do you think about it and plan for it on a regular basis a year from now? And have you made any other healthy lifestyle choices, for example, changing eating habits or leaving behind some less-than-good-for-you activities?

6. Two Years: Can you even see yourself two years from now? Keep the idea of progressively stretching your comfort zone and gradually introducing healthy activities and lifestyle choices into your life. Most people don’t need to radically upend their life, but some do. Prioritize “taking good care of your physical health” and “making healthy lifestyle choices”. If you’re far from these now, your fitness vision may require radical changes. But here’s a thought to ponder: is it ever a bad idea to invest in your own wellness?

7. Five Years: You’re on your own for this one! I certainly can’t tell you what your vision for yourself should look like five years out, but I certainly can tell you that if you HAVE a five-year vision for yourself - and if it’s a good one - there’s a WAY better chance that you will look like your envisioned self than if you DON’T HAVE a vision!


Ancient wisdom says that a vision is so important that people will literally perish if they don’t have one. So my recommendation is that you become a Visionary.  Put some thought into this, and develop a Fitness Vision of how you would like to see yourself in the future.

And then, GO FOR IT!!

Monday 30 May 2016

Knowing What to Do Is Important

Last week, I suggested that not knowing what to do for exercise is a motivation-killer. In general, I think not knowing, or not being confident in, whatever we are doing causes us to take our foot off the gas pedal, so to speak. I personally find it difficult to throw myself into something when I feel like I don't know what to do. As a former classroom teacher, I saw plenty of this, right from Kindergarten through Grade 12. I believe we owe it to those we teach, guide, coach or mentor to provide well-thought-out, purposeful instruction and the clearest possible directions. I have observed that "lack of motivation" in students is often a direct result of them not clearly knowing what to do. It follows that those of us in any kind of "knowledge transfer" role should explain and demonstrate what we are teaching, and monitor our learners' performance to make sure they are progressing toward the learning objective.

I have most appreciated the coaches who have made sure that I understood what I was supposed to be doing (like my current Cross-Swim instructors). Especially when it was something new. I want to learn new things. I'm usually pretty quick on the uptake, too. And when a coach makes sure I do activities with the proper form, the proper emphasis and with an understanding of the purpose and objective of the activity, my confidence grows and, with it, my motivation.

I think we all need to be inspired from time to time in our exercise life. What inspires me, personally, is when ordinary people step up their game and accomplish challenges that were set before them. I get inspired because I realize that I'm also pretty ordinary, so if they can accomplish something cool, then maybe I can too. That makes me want to try. It motivates me. It challenges me to put myself out there and take a fitness class, or go for a run or bike ride (in public!), or even register for a competition.

Much of this starts with a vision and a plan of some kind. Sounds like a good topic for next week's blog...

Tuesday 24 May 2016

Getting Started

[Preamble: When I sat down to write this, I didn't know what to talk about exactly. Once I got going, though, I realized that this topic is close to my heart, and it was difficult to keep it short. So you get your money's worth this week. And there will definootly be spin-offs from this one!]

I've spoken with a few different people in the past few weeks about getting started with regular exercise. They have done exercise - even stuck at it for a few weeks - but they haven't been able to turn it into a regular habit. I have a few thoughts about this:

1. You won't do what you don't want to do. Most people want to be fit, and some also want to be active. My view is that we ultimately do what we want to do. When I say "want to do", what I mean is "are committed to doing." Ergo, if we are not active or exercising, we have not committed to doing it. You can commit to something you don't want to do, like laundry. The key is that you need enough self-discipline to bridge the gap. Self-discipline involves making a decision (a thought process) and executing (a behaviour) that decision.  Notice what's missing? Feelings. Of course you often don't "feel" like exercising, but if you are self-discplined, you can choosing to do it because you committed to do it. Over time, you'll worry less about the feelings.

2. Not knowing what do (for exercise) is a big motivation-killer. If you're relatively new to exercise, you may not know what (which exercises) to do. That makes it really difficult to actually step up and do anything. Or, if you checked the Internet, you could have too many exercises to choose from. How do you know? You will need a plan that is reasonable for your basic fitness level, your interest level, and the time you have available. You will need a reasonable goal to work toward. And you really should have a fitness mentor who can guide you and answer your questions. Stay tuned to the blog, because I am planning to write more about this specific topic of how to get yourself started and established.

3. New exercisers risk muscle-strain or even injuries due to lack of form. Another big motivation killer. You may have had a gung-ho moment and started your exercise program with 20 minutes of skipping, or as many pushups or pullups as you could do. I personally did this once when I let my brother (Infantry officer) talk me into doing cross-fit with him. I learned that chin-ups to TMF means you do chin-ups until you can't do them any more (Total Muscle Failure). But you're still trying to do as many as you can in the time, so you keep trying. It was two weeks before I could either fully straighten or fully flex my arms. In my case, it was not so much the bad form as the intensity without any base preparation. I recovered, but my motivation took a hit. My worry for Noobies is that they will inadvertently hurt their lower back. So be careful and take it easy as you are getting started. I'll be saying more about this also.

4. Core strength and stability is. . . UNDERRATED! I know, I know. I've been hearing about core strength training (CST) forever. And I basically ignored it because CST seemed intimidating and a bit too serious for me. I mean, if you intentionally do CST, doesn't that make you kind of a serious athlete, and shouldn't you be competing or something. I thought CST was right up there with weight-lifting, for goodness sake! What I discovered, quite accidentally, is that if you sign yourself up for a crazy fitness challenge like doing kettlebell swings, and then do another month with a burpee challenge, you will massively tune up your core strength, not to mention your cardiovascular fitness. Serendipity in action. Without actually realizing it, I was doing CST. And, let me tell you, it was tough but rewarding. I didn't realize how rewarding until I resumed my summer workout activities and saw a considerable jump in performance. My outlook on personal fitness has morphed to the position that building your core strength gives you the platform for all other training. It strengthens and stabilizes everything from your hips to your shoulders. When you walk or run, things that used to slosh all over the place hold their position. I believe this firmed up torso allows you to waste less energy trying to hold your innards in place!

5. Lack of a vision for your exercise/activity over time is a big motivation-killer. If you can't see where you are going, or how that fits into where you have been and where you want to be, exercise is rather aimless. Don't get me wrong - the activity and cardiovascular workouts are not likely bad for you (as long as you have good form), but it is hard to keep yourself going. Almost everyone I talked to after the February challenge went through a bit of a let-down and a fitness wilderness after the challenge ended. Why? Because we had a vision during the month and it motivated us; after the challenge was over, the vision faded and, with it, our motivation. What I'm driving at is this: you need to cast a vision for your overall well-being and fitness. It should include any big fitness events like races or triathlons or bike excursions or hikes. And then you need to sit down with someone who has some exercise experience and map out out some ideas for improving your fitness over the year. Be flexible, but build in variety and make sure that you employ activities which will build the strength, stability and stamina (what a great alliteration!!) you will need for your planned events. Write this down and keep a rough record of what happened - did you stick to the plan? Did you gradually raise your effort level as you got stronger/fitter? My conclusion here is the converse of my starting point: A vision for exercise/activity over time is a motivator!!

6. An appropriate plan PLUS some coaching on basic form PLUS regular encouragement can keep you motivated, active and satisfied (more or less) with your activity. This is what I am all about when it comes to personal fitness. You don't need just any old plan. What you need is a plan which is appropriate for you. It needs to suit you so that your workouts are more or less enjoyable (at least they should not deter you from doing more workouts!). You also need a fitness mentor who can simultaneously wield a mean whistle and an encouraging comment. Your fitness mentor needs to respect you, and you need to trust them. You essentially submit yourself to your fitness mentor's wisdom and knowledge, and allow them to correct your initial form and movement errors. Ask lots of questions, so you understand why you are doing what you are doing. All this potentially gives you a HUGE advantage over trying to motivate yourself: learning from another's experience. You don't have to try 50 exercises to find a good combination - your mentor can listen to you and put together something that is probably quite suitable, even the first time around. With a bit of tweaking. . . it's magical. Okay, I overstated that. But it's way better than you would come up with on your inexperienced own. And, on top of getting some good workout ideas and guidance on safe, correct form, your fitness mentor is always close by with some encouragement. Or trash-talk, if appropriate.

Well, now you have it.  You're ready to get started and become established.

Monday 16 May 2016

More "Work" than "Out"

I have mentioned our Cross-Swim instructors before, but I have to mention them again. I thought, at some point, I'd feel like I was getting better at the workouts. Like, I'd just show up, hop into the pool and breeze through the swim stuff, then hop back out on to the deck to blaze through the deck stuff. Maybe I'd even break a light sweat. . .

You'd think that only 20 of something should really be no big deal. Sure, I'll just do 20 medicine ball slams, then I'll swim a happy 50 meters. . . Wait a sec! I'm still huffing and puffing. While the objective of the instructors (I believe) is not to torture us, I think they have a mastermind strategy to program the hour with more work than we can possibly do. Sort of a "Here's the bar - see if you can jump over it!" approach. I used to think they were just kind of pushing us toward some magical amount of work. And once we'd finished that amount of work, we could sort of coast our way in.

I've been at it for the better part of a year now, and, like I said, I thought I would have hit that "Phew, this isn't so bad" zone by now. The dark truth is beginning to dawn on me. There is no "Phew, this isn't so bad" zone. It is like the perfect storm of challenge, intensity and variety. And I'm learning that this storm is moving. It's not like you're going to exercise your way through it and out the other side. Oh, no - that would be too easy. You get into the weekly exercise storms and they move along with you. They (the instructors) keep challenging you, and keep cranking up the intensity. And the constant variety means you never know what your going to get hit with in any given workout.

It feels like there is way more "work" than "out". There are small breaks between the work, but not what you'd call a rest. So what have I been learning from all this? For starters, I think I'm seeing that when the instructors keep raising the expectation bar, you work harder. I'd like to think that this results, over time, in better performance. I notice I still "feel" tired, but I can swim tired, whereas six months ago, I couldn't. I notice that I can do more reps when I feel like quitting than I could before. But I still feel like quitting. Above all, I notice that I am continuing to learn things about form and technique. Like my swim kick, for example. With a few pointers, the instructors have helped me actually squeeze a bit of propulsion out of my kick! And I can even kick for a couple of pool lengths now. A few tips can save a BUNCH of energy.

This week's post is really just a celebration (so to speak) of the WORK in workout. We should expect results when we invest work into a physical activity. We should not expect a parade. Average people, doing average things, however, can achieve extraordinary results by putting in a good effort when they work. I believe this is more of an axiom for life in general.  But, as it relates to exercise or physical activity, working hard at a level which is challenging for you - whatever your level is - should take you to a new heights of performance and well-being. If your activity is walking, working hard at it will be allow you to walk farther and feel better doing it. If your activity is playing baseball, working hard at it will enable you to do more and do it better. Get some coaching to fine-tune your technique, and let your hard work really take you somewhere.

Hard work, more hard work, even more hard work, and gradual, unavoidable personal growth - that's what inspires and challenges me. I hope it will inspire and challenge you.

Monday 9 May 2016

Happy Mother's Day!

On Mother's Day, 2016, I'd like to give a shout-out to Moms. And my own Mom, in particular. First of all, she was good sport enough to take part in a fitness challenge. I could be wrong, but I think this was the first time she has embarked on something like this. And she's seen seven decades and some. After the February challenge came and went, I remember her commenting on the walking and I realized. . . she was still doing it! And she is still going! A few towns have come up in the windshield and are fading in the rear-view mirror on her virtual walk east.

She has even added a new trick to the routine: a mini exercise bike. It's really just a small set of pedals, but she can pedal while she watches TV and talks on the phone. Talk about multi-tasking! While she continues to have a few health issues, including cataracts and poor balance, she was commenting to me the other day that she feels physically fit for the first time in ages. We can hear it in her voice, too, which is stronger. And now that the weather is nice, she is able to walk around outside ("real" walking, not just the virtual hallway walking").

I know that my Mom's example has already been inspiring to others. I hope that whatever kind of fitness activity you set before yourself in February got you in the spirit of exercise and that you have continued being active.

Monday 2 May 2016

Up Your Workout Intensity

I just read an interesting article which talks about the value of brief (one minute), high-intensity workouts. Basically, researchers at McMaster University's Kinesiology department found that three 20-second bursts of all-out exercise three times per week for 12 weeks yielded the same results as 150 minutes of continuous exercise per week for 12 weeks:  a 19% increase in cardiovascular fitness.

What????  1 minute per week for 12 weeks yielded the same increase in CV fitness as 150 minutes per week for 12 weeks?  Yes.

Read about it yourself, here:  Link to CBC article on McMaster Study

The researcher noted that this high-intensity workout is not for everyone, but, if you're up for an intense pace and very high effort, you get a great bang for your buck.

One of the reasons this research is being done is that a factor in people not exercising is lack of time. This research suggests that, even if you only have a few minutes, you can do a productive workout.

Food for thought. . . I am personally starting to focus more on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as a more efficient way to train. From what I can tell, there are noticeable gains in fitness and, presumably, you reduce the risk of repetitive stress-type injuries, say from running and running and running.

Let me know what you think.  Comments?

By the way, these McMaster cats have been doing some interesting research.  Here's another of their stories:  Link to CBC article on other McMaster Study

Monday 25 April 2016

Motivation by Challenge

[Yes - I forgot to post this early this morning. Sorry!]

April is almost over. Spring has sprung. We have had a chance to recover from a couple of fitness challenges, and now we're settling into the mundane, day after day challenge of staying active. I had some ideas in mind for my own summer training, but it took me nearly two weeks to adjust to the end of the fitness "challenges." I have not really done a sustained activity like that before, and, as it turned out, we ended up doing two, back-to-back. On my own, I know I would have NEVER done a fitness challenge. Now that I have tried it, though, I see how a good fitness challenge can motivate you to achieve much more than you ever thought.

The first thing I have learned from all of these recent fitness challenges is that I need a bit of time to shift gears when I'm winding down one training phase and winding up another. After the Kettlebells and then the Burpees, my body decided that I needed time to relax and take a break. But I also needed time to reflect on some new training objectives and come up with a plan for moving forward. I decided that two consecutive pedal-to-the-medal training blocks is a lot (and, since I'm not a professional athlete, I don't NEED to dedicate my entire life to training). The result was that, after the Burpees, I wandered aimlessly through the next two weeks. I felt a bit restless, but could only muster a half-hearted effort. So I'm now just calling those weeks a training holiday.

That little break was actually very nice. It gave me time to rethink my next training block and mix it up a bit. I even had a chance to try a run and was really pleased that all the Kettlebells, Burpees and Cross-Swim seem to have got me ready for the summer run season. Second take-away: basic core strength training and some cardio can significantly improve your performance in other activities even without "training" in that activity! That was a cool effect.

This leads to the third thing I learned: a fitness challenge really does push you beyond the point where you would stop on your own. I had a Kettlebell target and that kept me focused. The Burpees were a new thing, but once we figured out how much we could do, new targets kept us going. In the same way, when you do a fitness class, you basically put yourself under the coach's guidance and they push you beyond your personal I-want-to-stop point. Accepting a challenge has the potential to make you better. Having other buddies along for the ride encourages you to keep your commitment. And, at the end of the day (or training block), you have accomplished something fantastic.

Keep up the good work. Take a break if you need it, but don't stop altogether. Look what you've already accomplished!

Monday 18 April 2016

Now That The Dust Has Cleared. . .

February's fitness challenge is now officially in the rear-view mirror. Aside from the ongoing fitness benefits, we have an exciting update to pass along. The 10,000 Kettlebells for Parkinson's challenge raised $3,403.33 which will support Parkinson's research.

Not only do we think that is fantastic, but the Royal University Hospital Foundation also thinks it is fantastic!

On behalf of our family, I would like to say a huge Thank You to everybody who participated and everybody who donated to the RUH Foundation. We were so pleased by how well this was received. Although the 10,000 Kettlebell challenge is done, you can still make donations to the RUH Foundation. If interested in making a donation, please visit www.ruhf.org or call 1-306-655-1984.

I have heard from many participants who continue to work away on one fitness project or another. A number of us are shifting now into sport-specific training for summer events. I can personally say that this is the best shape I have ever been in rolling into the summer season!

Thanks again, everyone. Have a great summer! Tune in on Mondays for the weekly blogs - you can even sign up to get them via email.

Best wishes,

Richard

Monday 11 April 2016

Protein Powder - A Brief Explanation

First of all, if you prefer the graphic novel edition of this story, follow this SHORTCUT: scroll to the bottom of the post and click the graphic. Have fun!


Now that's out of the whey (sorry), I'm going to give you a very brief summary about where commercially-produced protein powder comes from. Short answer: a cow. More specifically, a cow's milk.

Note: I present the following links to give you a start on your own research. As I have told my students, with any online search, you get what you get. Anyone can create a website [case in point, this blog!!], and you are entirely responsible for evaluating the credibility and accuracy of the information you find online. I have done my best to present a variety of sources, but this list is neither exhaustive nor fully representative. This is a starting point for you to jump in.

As with almost anything, you will find extreme views both for and against any kind of food supplement - well, any kind of food, actually! I will say there are people who swear by protein powder and people who swear at you for using it [I took some editorial license on that last bit]. I am not pushing anyone to use protein powder, and, like I mentioned earlier, your best bet is always a well-balanced, nutritious diet. Bla bla bla bla bla. . . Let's get on with the story!

I'm not going to rewrite the whole story of protein powder here. Any online search will yield many strong views for or against protein powder and/or protein supplements. I am addressing the specific question of what whey protein powder (the most common protein powder source) is. I have identified a few articles related to that topic and pulled out a few of the key points from each. I encourage you to do your own research and keep learning about topics which relate to your own wellness.

The Articles:
1. http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/protein-powder
  • addresses the question of whether you need protein powders
  • looks at what they are (their origin) and who might benefit from using them
  • appears fairly balanced to me - decide for yourself

2. http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/supplements/whey-protein
  • explains the connection of Miss Muffet to this story
  • distinguishes whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate. Hint: one form is more pure
  • discusses how the protein powder works
  • identifies both benefits and risks

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein
  • any of my students will probably recoil when they see that I referenced Wikipedia (because anyone can say anything on Wikipedia and you might read it before the community fixes the weirdness. . .). However, as I also told them, it should not be your ONLY source of info and it should not be your MOST IMPORTANT source of info
  • the article presents a lot of interesting info and my approach is to use it as a springboard to further research: for example, do some more searching into "whey" and "caseins", and not just following the Wikipedia links!
  • having said that - pretty interesting. We learn that whey protein starts off as a byproduct of the cheese-making process!

So, I'm going to do two things, one now and one in the near future. The now thing is I'm just going to summarize some of he hoopla about protein powder:
  • Protein powder is processed from a byproduct of the milk-to-cheese process
  • After filtering, concentrating, drying and packaging, it is sold as a more concentrated and - what do you know? -  lower-carbohydrate protein supplement
  • All things being equal, if you eat a well-balanced diet of nutritious foods, you probably don't need protein powder, but there are exceptions (detailed nicely in the WebMD article above)
  • Protein powder supplements will provide extra protein with a low proportion of carbohydrate, so, from a protein point of view, they are an efficient source of protein
  • The point is that you may or may not really need it - read the articles and do your own research to see if it looks like a good option for you
  • As with any kind of nutrition, I am not qualified to recommend anything beyond what our food guide (or, actually, my new favorite - the Brazilian food guide) recommends, so talk to a registered dietitian if you have questions
Here's the near-future thing I am going to do. I know it is a risk (like egg-on-the-face), but I am going to ask a registered dietitian to look over these last few posts and give me their feedback, pardon the pun. If I need to re-align things, I will.

Thanks for following along. I hope I have provoked your thinking. Stay tuned, because we will definitely be coming back to this as time goes on. I also want to have the aforementioned dietitian write a piece or two for the blog.



SHORTCUT BRINGS YOU HERE!
Here's where you would have arrived (sooner!) if you had taken the shortcut I offered at the very beginning. The picture which tells the whole story!!

See what is protein powder made of

Monday 4 April 2016

Protein Powder Revisited

Some of you may remember the Great Protein Powder Experiment from mid-February. It involved a large number of blending devices and created a substantial layer of powdery dust. But the data was conclusive: we created protein powder. The data also indicated that what we had really created was carbohydrate powder! Commercial protein powder runs about 3:1 protein-to-carbohydrate. Our powder had nearly the same protein content (well, about 80% of target), but we had LOTS of carbohydrate. We had a 1:5 protein-to-carbohydrate ratio. Technically, it would be more accurate to say a 5:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio!

So, after the dust cleared (literally), I looked into the whole protein powder issue more closely. First, I learned that, in many cases, an active person doing modest exercise does not NEED protein powder. If you eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet, you are probably getting the protein your body needs. The implication is that, regardless of your activity level, you need protein. There is a tipping point, though, where a high level of physical activity puts you in a bit of a protein deficit, so that is where the commercially-produced protein powders come in.

If you are engaging in regular, high-intensity exercise where you are really making your large muscles work hard, your protein needs will be higher. Food is a great choice here. Thank you, Captain Obvious. What I mean, though, is that planning your food intake to include high-protein foods will be important for you if you are doing strenuous workouts. You have other nutritional needs, but it is THIS scenario where protein supplements come in. If you can deliver high protein without packing a large carbohydrate punch, you will be providing rocket fuel for your muscles (okay, that was taking a liberty) without adding too much extra. . . let's call it "stuffing". At 3:1, the protein powder gives you relatively a lot of protein without much carbohydrate. So it is simply a more efficient protein source if it's just protein you want.

An after-workout smoothie made with 2% milk, a banana, and some protein powder will give you a great boost - the milk has calories (energy) without too much fat, the banana contains slow-releasing sugars/energy, and the protein powder provides some easily-digestible protein. And it tastes pretty awesome after an hour of variations on a theme by Burpee.

There's way more to say, but I'm sure you're done reading for now. This article was really just food for thought (sorry), to whet your appetite (sorry, again) about the idea of protein supplements. I have decided to do a follow-up piece on what the stuff actually is (the commercially-produced protein powder) and where it comes from. My question, after we created our own protein powder and looked into its nutritional makeup, was this: "What is the real protein powder (high-protein, low carbohydrate) made of?" The answer may surprise you. Unless you've been talking to Miss Muffet.

Thursday 31 March 2016

The Burpee Challenge

It's the end of March, and that has brought us to the end of the Burpee Challenge month. We heard about the challenge, put together a rogue team, and inserted our team into the action! It has not unexpectedly been a grueling, tough sled, but we managed to finish strong. Kristi outdid possibly every human on the planet with her last day total of 281! So between the two of us, we managed to crank out 4501 burpees this month.  That's 4501 points for our team!!

What have I learned?

1. Burpees ARE grueling, but your body adapts. I don't hate burpees any more.  I don't love or even like them, but I know I can do them and they aren't going to beat me.

2. Pacing yourself (say, sets of 10 with a 10-15 second rest between) also lets you complete more than you could if you just did them straight.

3. Having a challenge helps motivate and, well, challenge you to step up and achieve.

4. Having someone like, say, your daughter, crank out burpees in incredible numbers definitely challenges you to step up your game.

5. I'm feeling a bit disappointed now that this challenge is over.

6. It is time to transition to summer training activities. For me, that will be some sport-specific training. But with the kettlebells in February and the burpees in March, I feel like I'm starting at a way better place than ever before for this time of year. Bring it on!!

7. I learned that, while we've been blasting away on the burpees, Mom has continued her virtual walk, passing the second town and continuing eastward. That is also an inspiration!

Monday 28 March 2016

Keeping Busy In-Between

After the Kettlebell Challenge was finished, we were lucky enough to get the "opportunity" to work on a team to do as many burpees as possible during the month of March. As they say, everyone loves to hate burpees, but I have to admit it has been kind of fun to make these "enjoyable" exercises part of my daily routine. I say "kind of" because the fun is now "kind of" wearing off. Glad there are only six days left!

Once March 31st comes and goes, I don't think they will be part of my daily routine, but I have learned a few things. First, when you start doing these - I mean when you first put burpees into your exercise routine - they make you feel pretty terrible. It's a high-intensity shock to your system. You are overwhelmed by thinking how good it would feel to STOP. Second, I learned that you fairly quickly adapt to it and can do more than you thought (you still feel pretty terrible, but you can actually do quite a few burpees while feeling this way). Third, I learned that strategy comes into play. Fourth, I learned what "100 burpees for time" means. Fifth, I learned that, even though the world's most interesting man does not always do burpees, when he does, even he has negative thoughts about them. Finally, I learned that I am more competitive than I thought!

Here are my takeaways:

Burpees are really intense, but jumping in and going for it yields a pretty quick adaptation: I can do way more than when I started three weeks ago. Another takeaway has been learning the strategy of pacing myself. For example, I've learned that I can crank out quite a few burpees using Tabata-style sets of 20 seconds with 10 second rests. I also tried sets of 40 seconds with 15 second rests, and that worked even better.

I am pretty sure I won't continue daily burpees after this challenge. But I now don't fear them, and I like the idea of adding burpees to the "popsicle stick cup" - my daughter's cool trick to randomize your workout. You draw a stick (with an exercise written on it) at random from the cup, and then you do the exercise. It adds variety and keeps your interest up. I should also say that my daughter has not only challenged and inspired me, but also a few of our burpee challenge teammates.

Our biggest challenge now is what to do after March. Looks like people will be developing their own training goals and activities, but I think we're going to try to keep the network alive with mutual updates, challenges, encouragement (and smack-talk, of course). When we get the final numbers from the burpee challenge, I'll post them here. Should be fun to see how many burpees got cranked out!

Saturday 26 March 2016

Marilyn Reaches Next Town!

I just talked with Mom today and she announced that she has reached Elkhorn, the next town in her virtual walk east. That makes a total of 37km! I also realized that, even though we hadn't been talking about her exercise, she has been faithfully walking on, even after the February fitness challenge ended.

That's dedication! I think the biggest contributor to her continuing to walk is how she has been feeling - which is alot better.

So - yet again - way to go, Mom!!

By the way, the hospital foundation put a short story about Mom on their Facebook page.

Sunday 20 March 2016

Missing Cross-Swim this week. . .

Our schools have their March Break this week, and that has affected schedules. In particular, both of the Cross-Swim classes I take were cancelled for the week. In the scheme of things, that is not a big deal, but I found myself experiencing a sort of withdrawal effect. I missed the classes. Don't get me wrong - they aren't exactly fun. In fact, they are often the opposite of fun. I have learned that you CAN sweat at a swimming pool! But the instructors are great. We have three instructors and, while they appear to be pleasant, kind people on the outside, they seem to enjoy pushing us through whatever grueling workout they have come up with each week. They make us endure a mix of high-intensity exercises with some moderate-intensity "cool-downs" in between. It's an hour of huffing and puffing (not so easy when part of your workout is in the water).

But we keep going back, and that's what has me intrigued. I look forward to class. I want to go. I make sure I ate an appropriate amount (usually, just a small amount) several hours before class because I really don't want to revisit the meal. I make sure to drink lots of water beforehand. I sometimes pop a nutrition ball on the way there so I have that little bit of reserve. . .

So why is it so motivating? I basically go out of my way, plan nutrition, hydration and even activities around it. What I think has happened is that I know an hour after class, I will feel great. I mean awesome! On-fire! My body leaves the pool craving "a pile of protein with some veggies". And I have feel that my metabolism is revved way up. I guess it is that natural endorphin high people talk about. I experienced the same kind of exercise separation anxiety a few times before - when I was training for triathlon events.

My conclusion is that, at some point, your priority shifts and you are not just randomly or aimlessly working out; you are on a mission. You are aiming for something. You see progress. Your workouts become more and more coherent. You are focused on getting better, getting faster, increasing your strength and stamina. You want to test yourself. And the "doing well" becomes a priority that you are actually willing to restructure your life in order to accomplish.

This is a pretty powerful motivator, but if you REALLY want to turbo-charge your motivation, add in a couple of workout buddies. Pick them carefully, because (imho) you need a combination of encouragement and smack-talk. Sometimes you need no words at all - just a quick text to inform you that one of your workout buddies was up at 7 am doing burpees. They don't even have to say anything - the little updates through the week are all it really takes. But a bit of smack-talk is kind of fun, so don't forget to sprinkle a dash of that on your workout buddies from time to time.

So I'm going to miss Cross-Swim this week. I will do my best to taper my eating a bit so I don't have to undo it when we get back to the pool!

Monday 14 March 2016

You Need a Food Guide

CBC's website had a provocative article last week (March 5, 2016). Here is a link to their article which I recommend you read for background. The article references Jean-Claude Moubarac, a Canadian researcher who helped Brazil produce new dietary guidelines in 2014. According to the article, Moubarac stated that the Brazillian food guide focuses on how food is processed. Other highlights include an emphasis on fresh, minimally-processed foods and cooking meals from scratch to enjoy with family and friends. Here is a link to Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population (English .pdf version).

That is an interesting perspective. At an intuitive level, it really seems to make sense. I am not a dietitian. I'm just a guy who is learning about nutrition and healthy eating. Fresh food, home-cooked meals, limited salt and sugar. . . how can you go wrong? I like this approach, and it's emphasis on minimizing the processed foods. The challenge is this:  we live busy lives, and we don't always have time to shop for ingredients, prepare the food, and then construct a wonderful, fresh home-cooked meal.  Maybe we can leverage what we have learned about fitting healthy activities into our life and extend those principles to our nutrition lifestyle.

I think we need to consider re-orienting our whole view of food and nutrition. As I said in the title, we need a food guide. I'm not going to quibble about which one you use. The point is that we should always be becoming more knowledgeable about good nutrition, and more skillful at preparing nutritionally-informed food. Just like many of you challenged yourself in the fitness realm last month, keep raising the bar on your food preparation.

Learn more about what is in the food you eat. Learn how to program your food intake to meet your nutritional demands. Obviously, if you are working out regularly, you will need more energy. But don't just settle for a pile of food containing x calories - select combinations of foods which provide a good balance in terms of what makes up those calories. Learn about quality. Learn about how to build a diet that maximizes energy efficiently, that actually works for and with your body. I'm not talking here about simply going on a "weight-loss" diet.  I'm talking about a general nutritional-intake plan. And, if you like data and data analysis, you should take a look at the following really interesting (imho) website. It provides nutritional data for different types of food, and presents a variety of indices and graphics to visualize relevant aspects of food nutrition. I think you'll find it to be a helpful tool if you want to learn more about food. Here is the link: website about nutrition facts.

Stick with a food guide and become an informed "consumer"!

Monday 7 March 2016

Diet - Not What You Think

Today's post is about diet. Not about dieting. Diet. In terms of food and diet, my personal experience is that two things change when you start to exercise. It appears (to me) that the first change gradually occurs, almost without you realizing it. The second phases itself in - also gradually - until one day you realize that both of these things have changed and your food intake and diet are different.


Change One:  Awareness (re-awareness) of food's nutritional values
For the most part, Canadians are well-informed about healthy nutrition. As a group, I would say we are well-informed about many of aspects of wellness. IMHO (In my humble opinion), what we almost globally do is fail to act on the good things we know to do. So. . . I pretty much KNOW what is good to eat and what is not good to eat. At times in my life when I have been deliberately and purposefully more active, one of the first effects beyond the actual exercise is that I start thinking about what I'm eating. I start hearing a nagging voice in my head when I pig out (consume an excess of) the deep fried stuff, or the soft-drinks or the super-salty things like some chips. The voice gets louder the more intense the exercise or the more there is a performance aspect (such as a training for a triathlon). The curious thing to me is that somehow, being in exercise mode makes me think about what I already knew but had not been thinking about. I also start looking more at nutrition labels and actually evaluating what is in the food.

Change Two:  Appetite changes and specific hungers
Once I have been in "workout mode" for a while, especially after I have crossed over into workouts that last more than hour a few times a week, my appetite noticeably changes. It is not that I feel hungrier, although sometimes I do. More exactly, I notice that my body wants protein and vegetables. In my case, I am aware that I want to eat freshly cooked cuts of meat like mostly chicken or pork, although beef has hit my radar also. The point is, it is always fresh cuts that I am craving. I have also had cravings for broccoli (which I already quite like) and one day I just HAD to have spinach!  My appetite for bread and potatoes - both of which I LOVE - has decreased noticeably, and I'm eating more rice (thanks to Jeba and Nelson for showing us a whole lot of interesting new ways to cook rice).


My explanation for all this is that, somehow, under exercise load, my body uses more of certain types of nutrients (and less of others) and basically places nutrient-specific orders to my appetite. As for the awareness side of things, I suspect that diet and nutrition are relevant to exercise and overall wellness (sorry, Captain Obvious). Okay, so I actually know that. What I suspect, then, is that there is a variant of the Ziegarnik Effect (I knew you'd want to look it up) at play; thoughts about healthy, nutritious foods begin to intrude into my general food thinking. I start feeling almost uneasy or guilty until and unless I reprogram my eating to more healthy choices. I already knew most of the information, but was not acting on it. I think that - the not acting on it - is what was causing the unease.


Well, that's a lot to chew on. I'll sign off, but I will be revisiting this in the future. I would like to get some thoughts from a dietician for a future post, and you can bet on a follow-up to "The Great Protein Powder Experiment".

Saturday 5 March 2016

The Plan For Blog Posts

I've had a few people wondering, so I thought it would be fair for me to give you the plan for blog posts.  I'm going to do one scheduled blog post per week.  These will be posted in the middle of the night on Sundays, so they will be live for Monday mornings.

If you would like an email notification, sign up using the "Follow Me By Email" link at the right.

Also, if you would like to suggest a topic or - better - if you'd like to contribute a post, please let me know!

Richard

Thursday 3 March 2016

Burpees - you asked. . .

I mentioned burpees the other day, and the question arose, "What is a burpee?"  Short answer:  a high-intensity exercise with many variations.  I couldn't tell you what a "standard" burpee is, because I don't know and I haven't found an authoritative expert who can say.  Here are a couple of examples - there are thousands, and each one is probably slightly different.  Each one probably also tells you what is wrong with the other guy's variation and what is superior about their variation.

Burpee example 1

Burpee example 2

As always, you need to evaluate your own physical ability to do any exercise before trying it.  Having a coach watch and guide you through the first few is important so you have good form and avoid injuring yourself.  A coach can also give you some modifications if you are not ready for the full-blown exercise or if you are rehabbing an injury.

This is a demanding, high-intensity physical exercise.  It is cheap, in that you don't need fancy equipment.  It falls into the category of "body-weight" exercises, where you work against your own body weight as resistance.  Burpees build strength and stamina. You will find different approaches to executing a burpee workout, but many people choose a time (say, 30 seconds) and try to do as many burpees in that time as possible.  After a short break, maybe another 20-30 seconds, they do another batch.  And they keep going.  And going.  And going. . . Alternately, you can use a Tabata format:  20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise followed by a 10 second break, then repeat this "round" 4 times.  Or 8.  Or more.  After about the third round of this, you are probably huffing and puffing about as hard as your lungs can go.  The best part about doing this exercise is stopping doing it.

Have fun!