I’ve absolutely loved Desk, the writing app by John Saddington. It works great, looks fantastic, and motivates me to write as much as I can. I still think in shorter posts – thanks for that, Twitter. And interestingly, I feel it’s John’s previous app, Pressgram, that is also part of why I write shorter posts. What I’m trying to say is John has strengthened my writing muscles. He provides excellent tools and inspiration to write more and write better. 

We all have a story to tell. We all won’t become famous, it’s (obviously) not the point. But I think a lot of people consider “writing” for the professionals. There is so much value gained when you’re forced to write your thoughts and publish them to the world. It’s not about how many people read your stuff, but it’s about taking a stance, telling a story, helping others and yourself grow.

John shot the video in possible the coolest coffee shop in America, Barista Parlor, where I visited on my trip to Nashville in September.

Desk – Simple Desktop Publishing from John Saddington on Vimeo.

I’m that guy. That guy that parks the furthest from the front door. I probably won’t make me healthier. I don’t do it because I’m worried about someone dinging the side of my Ford Fusion. I do it so I can whisper to myself each day, “No one will out work me.”

I believe we talk to ourselves daily. Have you ever noticed? Are there themes in your internal dialogue? Early in the morning, if I’ve had my time in the Bible I hear patterns and certain sections come to mind at certain parts of the day or in certain situations. When I sit at my desk to do exercise programming, I have other thoughts I use to get the work done. And when I pull into the work parking lot, I take my usual parking spot as a reminder that I’m willing to work harder. I’m willing to take the tough route. Not that the extra 20 parking stalls jount will make a huge difference. But the message I want in my head is that I’ll do the work, the hard work, all the work all the time.

I’m sitting in Fiddleheads in Cedarburg. Katie and I are reading and drinking good coffee. My Pocket app is fill unloaded and I’m reading about exercise science and a little bit of tech stuff to prep for a work project for Katie. As I am reading, the table next to me, three middle-aged ladies, start talking about exercise, walking, and their desk jobs. They try to move more. But sometimes they just get into a very important document that requires an bunch of attention to detail. Sometimes they could go two to three hours without standing up. They start to stand up out of their chairs, demonstratimg the pain they feel when they get up. I felt vey bad for them, I want to help. I need to learn.

Worksite wellness has been an interest of mine for years. What I know is that work places are often very unhealthy. It’s not intentional, it’s probably not even noticeable to employers or employees alike. But health professionals like me cringe. “I can stand for two to three hours without standing up.”

The answer isn’t a stand up desk. That was the first thing I thought about. I think that would certainly help. But the answer starts with education, awareness, and then a commitment to health. The culture at work needs to change. We need businesses to understand that their greatest asset is their employees. If that is the case, how do we help them succeed? How do we provide for their health? Because if we do, how far can they go? How happy will they be?

Today I’m writing about myself. I enjoy reflecting on my clients and their stories, but today I can’t help but think of the workout I put together for my TRX-KB class. I’ve never felt my arms shake that much during a workout. I was on TRX doing chest press and I literally felt my arms failing me.

There is a lot of science in exercise. We know a ton about the body and its response to physical activity. But sometimes things just add up and you don’t know what is going on. I’ve done similar workouts for over three months, and this one was throwing me for a loop. It makes me think about my clients and how I respond when they aren’t quite “on.” Sometimes there simply isn’t an explanation. Even at 3:30, nine hours after my workout, I can feel the affect. To be honest, I’m kind of dreading the soreness I expect tomorrow.

Sarah sent me this message today.

I’m so excited that they are excited.

Working out is hard. Excuses are easy. When life gets in the way, when life gets difficult, many people find ways to skip the gym. Yesterday a client tested me that a meeting had been scheduled for him and he needed to reschedule. He and I meet three times per week. Wouldn’t it be easy to say, “the other two times this week will do. That’s enough for me.”

Nope.

He asked if I had any other times available. We made it work.

Wanna know an even cooler part? His wife trains with me also. She had a conflict also. And lunch plans. She changed the lunch plans so she and I could still train together. This husband and wife want to get it done!

I’ve said it before, life is a series of adjustments. I admire the people in life who take adversity in stride and make their adjustments to keep pursuing their goals.

“Where did you learn that one?”

Over the weekend I did some homework. I have quite a few clients that can’t do all the jumping and pounding of the typical HIIT workouts. So I decided to learn some new exercises in the battle ropes.

Dennis is one of my favorite clients. He’s 69 years old and he works out like he’s 39. I often complement that his motor runs high. No matter what I throw at him, his approach to our workouts is always the same: “Ok, fine. I can do that.”

Do you know the fastest way to increase people’s heart rate? Make them go uphill. Or up stairs. Here, Dennis is doing a core component of our workout. I have him do one or two flights of stairs (sometimes with weight, sometimes without) and rest accordingly before we repeat. Sometimes I overload him and he has to rest on the bench outside the staircase. But today, he crushed this set at the end of our workout.

Sports provide the perfect analogies for life. That’s why when I was thinking about the title for my original blog, I landed on Hans’ Game Plan. Each week, the Green Bay Packers have a game plan. They’ve scouted the opponent, they know their own team’s strengths and weaknesses, and the result is a game plan for Sunday’s competition. Coach McCarthy can’t prepare for (literally) every situation the team will face on game day. But he has plays he wants to run. He has defensive objectives to try to stop a certain facet of the opponent’s offense. If they have to run a 2-minute drill or get a 2-point conversion, those plays are mostly scripted. They have a plan.

Wellness should be executed the same way. What are your strengths? Where are you weak? What is your objective for next 30 days? The next six months? Where do you want to be in one year? You don’t have to have a marathon or Ironman on your calendar to justify this type of training. But the Packers take their opponent seriously, and they gave a game plan. Do you?

For this 30-day challenge, I have developed a game plan to strengthen my creative muscles. Through iPhone pictures and written words, I’m telling my fitness story here on my blog. I am going to tell the story of my clients at Pinnacle Health and Fitness.I’m sharing pieces of my training philosophy. I’m working on my fitness brand. The original inspiration for this is nanowrimo. But as a true artist, I know the rules and now I’m breaking them. I’m not a fiction writer. I’m an exercise specialist. And this is my game plan.

Family Camp just gets better and better. As the kids get older, all new experiences become possible. The kids are familiar with the routine, they have a better idea what they want to do and are open to new adventures. This year was nice because Katie and Christian were both with us. Last year our littlest boy was only four weeks old. Wow, family camp with all five of us!

One of our first adventures was Monday night at the campfire. Rain had been teasing us for a few hours, and after the fire was lit, the showers began. Linda and Jeff tried to outlast it, but then the skies opened. I just bought a brand new rain jacket so I was excited for the challenge, plus I had to keep my fire going. I’m proud to report that my fire (to the amazement of at least one neighbor!) withstood the downpour. Norah took the opportunity to drink water off the roof. Everyone was under the over-hang of the cabins. It was a fun few minutes. Then in stopped and we enjoyed the evening.

Sorin (age 5), Christian (13 months)

One of my greatest memories from this year was Sorin making his firs camp friend. He met Nate in children’s ministry. Nate and his family were staying a couple cabins away. In fact, his mom Jill was the one who was complementing me on keeping my fire going the night of the rain showers! Each night we had a campfire – that’s Jeff’s rule at camp (I fully support this rule). And by the last couple nights, Sorin and Nate were running back and forth from our fire to Nate’s cabin, in the dark, playing as little boys will do.

Sorin and Nate

Another great memory with Sorin was shooting 22’s. I didn’t know how he’d do as far as concentrating on the activity. I didn’t know if he’d be able to see the target through the scope. His instructor, Chuck, was great. I’ll never forget seeing Sorin load the action on that little gun. “Yeah, Baby!” were his words when that shell came flying out and a fresh one loaded. I was plugging away at my target but I didn’t know if Sorin was hitting his. Chuck said he could see a hole top right. “Well that’s good,” I thought. But then I looked through my scope over at Sorin’s target – he had hit about eight shots in the middle! He was doing it! He was hitting that target all on his own!

14 hits!

With Norah, our big adventure was a canoe ride. I love that view of her on the front of the canoe, this year sporting her pink Milwaukee Brewers baseball hat. We went to the east side of the lake, then the west. Then I noticed the prayer walk and I had an idea. I asked her if she wanted to get out and hike along the prayer walk while I stayed in the canoe and paddled along side. Silly, right? But memorable. And for a four year old, kind of adventurous. I was shocked when she said she was up for the idea. She came to the first bench along the prayer walk and started spelling out the Bible verse since she can’t read yet. It was a great hike. She’s certainly the adventurous one of the family.

Norah and Katie

Katie and I got some nice time together also. I lined up some babysitters (there were a few grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Megan Carr available!) and we took out the paddleboards. We went out to the rock and on the way back, Katie wanted us to each jump in to make sure we could get back on them, you know… in case we ever had to do a rescue. The water was refreshing and it was easier than I thought to get back on those things.

“A snake!!”

We talk about (for the first time) that it’s not really a vacation. With kids 5, 4, and 1 there’s just so much hands-on parenting we have to do. We love this. But sometimes you look across camp and see other couples that get to hang (a lot!) with other couples, no kids in sight. I’ll appreciate what I have, but I’m looking forward to those years more than a little bit.

We didn’t get to fish and next year Sorin and Norah will probably bring bikes. Things to look forward to. But 2014 had a lot of play, just enough adventure, great memories with great family and friends. We can’t get enough of camp. Sorin said he wanted to stay there for a month. It’s an honor to keep building these experiences with the family.