After enjoying a great Christmas with our daughter Nicole and her boyfriend Michael who both travelled from London England this year to be with us in Calgary for the Holiday Season, I just thought I’d share a few random thoughts on this Boxing Day that I often speak to when asked about health and fitness. So here goes, in no particular order, enjoy:
- It's really about being fit for life. Think about your body like a car. Once you park a car for a while, it may be harder to start, or maybe it will never start again. But if you just keep driving it, it'll probably keep going. Your body likes to be driven. My father who’s 88, walk/jogs every morning because he says as long as he’s moving, he’s living. And my friend Link Lindquisty, who’s the oldest person to climb all three sides of Mt Ventoux in one day (at the age of 85), plans on running the Western States 100 mile race when he turns 100! He only has 15 years to go, and every day he asks himself if what he does on that day will contribute to his goal.
- You want fitness that you can actually use. Why do any exercise without a purpose? People that hit the gym with no purpose usually give up on their program, especially at this time of year when the “New Year’s Resolution” group shows up. If you’re going to commit to an exercise program, do it with purpose. For example, when I’m in my gym, the purpose is to do exercises that improve my cycling. So if you’re going to get fit, have a reason why you’re making such a commitment and do it in support of something you love. Chances are you’ll stick to your program.
- You are what you eat. If you eat and drink garbage, don’t be surprised if you perform like garbage.
- Vacations aren’t a time to break from your good habits. It’s an opportunity to get into an even better routine. During my personal time off this year, I raced two Gran Fondos, competed in the toughest amateur cycling event in the world, rode up Mt Ventoux 3 times in 4 days and still enjoyed the South of France with my wife. This may be considered extreme by many, but so often I see people neglect, or in some cases abuse their bodies as soon as they go on vacation. Refer to point #1.
- How to rest. This is something I'm still trying to do better. Going full steam all the time is not always the most productive approach to achieve or maintain good fitness because you're always trying to catch-up with recovery.
- You have to do different stuff. When you reach a certain level in any sport, you become so efficient the effort level really diminishes. Your body has adapted. For example, I recently introduced Rebounding into my exercise program as it helps my power output and core development for cycling, in addition to maintaining healthy bone density because it provides a non-impact, load-bearing activity.
- Above everything, sleep. I’ve made this a New Year’s Resolution three times in the past five years and I still get too little. It’s on my list again for this year. We all need around 8 hours, ‘nuff said.
- I know people that eat healthier than me, and if they don't get their sprouted bread, they nearly go into a seizure. By comparison, I can eat “Pulled Pork and Sweet Potato Fries” at my local pub once in a while and it won't put me into toxic shock. It's like if a car is too high-performance, like a Bugatti Veyron that can only operate on 100 Octane. I’d rather be the BMW, because if you fill it with regular gas once in a while, it may cough and burp a little, but it's still gonna keep running.
- Chew your food more. That'll probably do more for your ability to absorb nutrients from your food than just about anything.
- It's always more enjoyable to train with other people. It's more stimulating, and it will also push you because you have accountability. My step-brother, Gerry Patterson and I competed in Haute Route last summer and although we never said it directly to each other, we had our own little battle going on, where we pushed each other harder than if we were riding by ourselves. You don’t want to be the guy that said, “This hurts too much, so I’m just going to take it easy now”.
- Fear is an unbelievable motivator. Once you understand as a motivator, you can use fear to your benefit. Nothing struck more fear into me this year than making the commitment to compete in Haute Route. Its reputation for being the hardest amateur cycling event in the world motivated every participant to train with a heightened sense of purpose and commitment. Find a goal that scares the hell out of you and watch how focused you become.
- And if you aren't able to be scared, you’ve probably never pushed yourself past what you thought was possible.
- We are our own greatest inhibitors. People don't want to do new things if they think there’s a chance that they’re not going to be good or someone is going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, (fall off the bike and get back on), and try stuff that you've never done in order to be the best you can be.
- Schedule your training, you owe it to yourself. If your health and fitness is a life-long priority you’ll make it happen, otherwise, you’ll just make excuses.
- And finally, if you're still doing it, you’ve won already!
Enjoy the Ride….Rob
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