Category Archives: exercise

Dip and Recover

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I hope you’re in the business of improving. Who isn’t, right? We work hard on our craft, our hobby, our family, our relationships. We put in the time and we put in the work. But sometimes our upwards trajectory gets stifled. It can be very discouraging. I had that yesterday.

I’ve started to swim in preparation for my first triathlon. The last five week’s I’ve been in the pool working on stroke technique and cardiovascular endurance with tremendous learning and improvement. Learners see great improvements in the first stage of training a new skill. Literally every workout has been better than the previous. This culminated with my first full Masters swim class last Thursday which went better than I thought it would go.

And then yesterday happened.

It was like I had never done any of the drills before. It was like I had never swam five minutes straight before. It was like I had never practiced any of my technique before. To say it was a discouraging workout is an understatement. And I knew it 10 minutes into the workout.

 

Upward trajectory, good training

Monday

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Tuesday – the Dip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I stayed in the pool. I worked through some adversity, only to finish the workout disappointed and confused. Once I was out of the pool, showered up and into the rest of my day, only then was I able to process the experience as a simple down-tick in the game plan. I’m not in trouble. I haven’t regressed. This is all part of the learning and training process.

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Wednesday – true growth and training effect

If you’ve been knocked down, I encourage you to walk away and process what happened. Revisit your game plan and show up to work the next day.  Do you know someone who needs to read these words? Please share using the buttons below.

Set-up

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A few weeks ago I had to go to the ophthalmologist (eye doctor, for those keeping score at home) because one eye was very red, infected, painful, all of the above.  She looked around, put some drops in, and concluded I probably was using dirty contacts.  It was good that there was nothing worse, but it was also a wake up call to take better care of my contacts.  She sent me home with new instructions for daily clearing my contacts.  Why am I sharing this?  Because the actual protocol was for me to physically rub my contacts when I took them in or out of their case and then empty the solution in the case each time I used it.  The problem of me was that I would never remember to change the solution until after I put my contacts away for the day.  It wasn’t until I changed my routine and emptied the solution right after putting the contacts in for the day that I was able to be successful in my new eye care.

planning-ahead

I’m going though something similar with my new swim workouts.  Our house is set up such that the kids’ rooms are right next to our room and the mud room, which is our entrance to the garage.  I cant simply get out of the house at 5:15am.  I need to have my swim bag packed, my change of clothes and shower stuff packed, and even my garage door opener out of my car and by the front door so that I don’t open the inside door and risk waking up my (precious:) sleeping daughter.  The first couple weeks of swimming were stressful just in the prep I had to do the night before!

I’m finding that so many things in life are better experienced when you go through the set up in advance.  I’ll admit: I’m not a good planner.  I fly by the seat of my pants more than I’d like to admit.  I’ve trained for full and half marathons – that takes some planning.  I’m 30 days away from finishing a graduate degree in kinesiology – that took some planning and disciplined study.  But some of the smaller day-to-day or week-to-week planning issues are a struggle for me.  But life is a series of adjustments and I’m learning to adjust my habits, my routines, my preparations so that I can be successful in new and challenging ways.

Not only does it take some planning to get out of the house in the morning to swim, but it also takes some planning so that I get a good workout when I get in the water.  I’m not a swimmer.  I don’t know swim workouts, I don’t even know some of the lingo as I spend time with swimmers and research swim training.  So planning my workouts is essential if I’m going to expect to improve as fast as I’d like.

This all plays into a new theme in my life.  Every Monday morning I’ve spent some disciplined time prepping for the week.  Now I’m looking at some of the other areas of life that require set up to be successful.  Do you have any areas of life that could use a little more set up?

iCan iWill

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On Tuesday I wrote about the importance of having a calendar component to your training.  My training philosophy is such that you need an event on the calendar to put your training into context.  This is consistent with goal-setting theories and intuitively we all know that putting a finish line on the calendar and having a goal is a great way to keep a person motivated and effortful.

So now that you have a calendar with a goal circled, you have a plan.  What’s next?  You look at the calendar and say to yourself, “iCan.”  But you look at your training partner and say “iWill.”

  • I will train.
  • I will be here.
  • I will work hard and smart.
  • I will compete and get better.

Having community in your training offers two benefits to reaching your goal.  First, it gives you come accountability.  Saying “I will…” forces you to make a commitment and now you’re on the record.  It’s not a coach or a trainer looking over your shoulder, barking orders, pushing you harder than necessary.  Rather it’s a peer, a friend by your side in the battle with you.  Training runs get long by yourself.  I love putting my ear buds in and listening to my iPod shuffle, but having a running partner, a biking partner, or a friend in the pool lane next to you makes any workout not only more challenging but more enjoyable.

That’s the second benefit to training with a partner.  It’s more fun!  Being relational and training with other people is what most people remember after the training is over, when the race is done.  I won’t get all nostalgic here, but I miss my high school teammates quite often.  That camaraderie from the practice field to the locker room to the game field, training is so rich when you have others by your side.  Of course with team sports that’s a lot easier to accomplish.  But as we get older it seems like our sports and activities are more individual in nature.  I’m a runner – solo.  I’m learning how to bike and swim – solo.  Therein lies the challenge.

I struggle a little bit here.  I kind of like training alone.  Part of it is my time commitments with juggling work and grad school.  But honestly most of it is (a) I’m a loner by nature, and (b) I don’t have a lot of runner friends.

My challenge to you is this:  keep your eyes and mind open to identifying a training partner.  I commit to do the same.  I will stretch myself, think outside my comfort zone (which is very comfy right now) and try to find a teammate, maybe a team.  I expect this to happen as I get to know the guys at the pool.  As I continue to train for triathlons, I expect to find some other run, bike, and swim training partners.

Have you thought about these aspects of training before?  Do you use a calendar?  Do you have a training partner or a training team?  

Training Philosophy: iCal iCan

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When you workout as much as I do (which is not a ton) and talk about fitness as much as I do (my favorite subject), you realize that people who workout just for the sake of working out are few and far between.  You will never hear me discourage anyone from working out and doing what works for them.  But going to the gym to lift weights?  Getting on a treadmill with no end in mind?  And the step machine?!  Hey, any activity is good and maybe you’re doing it because you just know you should… but I don’t think it’s sustainable.

iCal iCan

I have this training philosophy: iCal iCan.  If I put something meaningful on the calendar, I can accomplish it.  No, four to five workouts on the calendar for three months straight doesn’t count.  I mean you need to put an event on the calendar.  “But Hans, I’m not a runner.”  Fine.  Then put together some kind of event together where you perform, where you complete, where you see if all your training and workouts have paid off.  This may take some creative thinking and planning.  I can help with that.  But I believe having context to your training is essential for anyone to adhere to a routine.

As most of you know, I’ve been a runner for over seven years.  Katie and I have made this a pretty big part of our lives.  I’ve run multiple full and half marathons, and each time it was this date on the calendar that allowed me to stay motivated for months at a time in pursuit of this single goal.  When you take this philosophy a step further, you realize that each workout has a purpose.  Each workout has an objective that fits into the framework of your training plan and contributes to your body adjusting to different workloads so that you can cross that finish line as fast as possible.  If this sounds too hardcore for you, I’m ok with that.  But we all can understand that in anything we do, a goal plus a plan is a recipe for success.  We work hard at work to get that next promotion.  We study in school to finish a class, pass a test, or graduate with a degree.  We do projects around the house with an end in mind – there’s a goal, so there’s a plan.  Health and fitness are no different:  iCal, iCan.

 

Building and the Resistance

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I’m building a new model for care in the medical field. The original idea wasn’t mine, but I’ve adopted it and made my adjustments. The campaign is called Exercise is Medicine. It’s an initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine. The idea is that people listen to their doctors and will respond if their doctors recommend that they get more physical activity. Just about all of us need more physical activity in our lives and doctors don’t have the time (or usually the expertise) to monitor a person’s fitness. I launched the initiative for Madison in January. I have two doctors that I’m working with and I’m happy with the dialog we’ve started and the program we have in place. The only problem: none of the recommendations have lead to exercise prescription.

The Resistance

Have you ever felt the Resistance?

If you have ever tried to do something creative, or something that would benefit other people, or something that would make your a healthier or better person, you have felt Resistance. Resistance, according to Steven Pressfield, is what tells us that we’re not good enough, that we are going to fail, that we’ll blow it, that we don’t actually want these good things anyway.

The Resistance for me right now is that next hurdle. How do I make some simple adjustments and get some clients to sign up for our program? How much information should I be sharing with the doctors? I put a lot of work into setting up the program, establishing the relationships with the doctors and making the ask for them to participate. It was exciting to launch the program but now I’ve entered the Resistance. The excitement is gone. Momentum has been lost. I’m questioning if this will work and even if so, what’s my next move?

Building a business, establishing relationships, determining your next move all take time. It’s a disciplined practice to plan and execute and I often find it therapeutic to just write it out like this blog post and share it.

Have you had any experience with the Resistance? What kinds of processes do you go through when you’re building something for the first time?

 

Tipping Point

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What will be the tipping point for this country to value and pursue their health? You can’t refute (a) the health status of our country (33% overweight, another 33% obese) or (b) the science of how we get healthier. It literally blows me away that our country, the most powerful one in the world, is this unhealthy! It’s embarrassing and it needs to change. I think one of the most powerful arguments for why we need people in this country to exercise and be healthy was written by my friend Spence. Basically, he says you need to be healthy because your friends and your family need you. And they need you to be focused and working like a champ.

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Winter Training

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My brother works as a financial advisor and is often talking to me about investments, planning ahead for retirement, and the kids’ college funds. He knows that in your 40’s and 50’s it’s too late to start saving for retirement.  The time to do the work is now.  Putting money away, making solid investment decisions, and being disciplined now means you can enjoy the benefits of that hard work in the end Continue reading →

Exercise is Medicine Launches in Madison

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Yesterday we officially launched Exercise is Medicine in Madison.  This has been a dream of mine for years, and an active project of mine for a few months now.  The premise is that when you visit your doctor for your regular check-ups, you would be asked about your level of physical activity.  You’re used to getting blood pressure taken, the doctor pokes and prods on your body, and now we want them to ask you how much you move each week.  If you aren’t active enough, your doctor should prescribe exercise or physical activity.

Exercise is Medicine

But doctors cant’t manage that prescription and they certainly can’t handle the management after the program has started.  So the idea is to team up with local exercise specialists and personal trainers to do this work.  I have two doctors who are very interested in this campaign by the American College of Sports Medicine and they’ve agreed to be in my pilot program, which is also a project for an independent study course this semester.  As I finish my graduate degree in Kinesiology, this project will certainly by my seminal work.  I’m very excited for this to launch this week and develop over the next couple months into a real model for the health care field.

 

I have a few ideas about blogging this process because if it goes as planned, other doctors and trainers will get involved.  My hope is to establish it as a viable program that can be implemented at numerous hospitals or even with individual doctors.

 

Turkey Trot Training

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Let’s think ahead: Thanksgiving Day!  I know it’s over a month away, but here’s the deal.  If you’re anything like me (and my family), the food simply doesn’t get any better than that 4th Thursday in November.  With all that food comes a little bit of guilt because all that food isn’t being negated by some physical activity.  Well have you ever thought of running a Turkey Trot?  You know, those Thanksgiving Day runs of 5 or 10K.  Those runs that give you the ability to eat guilt-free the rest of Thanksgiving Day!

I think 2012 is the perfect year for you to complete your first 5K (3.1 miles for all you Americans).  I’ve put together a training plan so that you can do it and feel good about it.  It isn’t designed for you to go fast – it’s designed so that you can get to the finish line… and then on to that turkey and stuffing!

This plan is assuming you’ve done NO running up ’til this point.  You can start this on Monday and I’ll get you to the finish line.  The program consists of five weeks of training, three days per week.  You can do that, right?

Each number is obviously miles.  For first-time runners that may seem like a lot.  Let me say this: you will be so surprised at how fast (and well) your body adapts to the stress you put on it.  And as always, you can send me a question via this form and I’ll coach you through it.

What what do you say?  Are you up for your first 5K?!  You’ve got all the tools – your move.

Training Openings Fall 2012

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Yesterday ended a wonderful three-day Labor Day weekend. I could sure get used to those! It’s the unofficial end of summer which means two things: school and football. Sure, everyone makes a big deal out of New Year’s resolutions during that first week of January but the reality is that so many of us work on a school calendar… either we’re in school or our kids are.

The fall semester for me involves three big components: work, school, and business. I’m still in the business of helping people lead healthy and active lifestyles. Graduate school has continued to remind me how important this work is. Getting involved with the science of exercise, psychology, and physiology has ignited a fresh fire for this industry, and I look forward to sharing that with my readers this semester. But for now, it’s important for me to let you know that I have some training spot open for the fall semester.

I currently have two training sessions open Monday mornings. My biomechanics class will be meeting then and we’re actually still deciding if that will be 8:50-10:30 or 10:00-11:40. Either way – I have time for your health and wellness! So if you or anyone you know needs a personal trainer, head over to Hire Hans and let’s get started on your fitness plan.