Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Making fitness a priority


I have decided to make fitness a priority. 

Not just because of the sweet, sweet gains. Not because I’m vain and want mirrors to shatter on the edges of my startlingly chiseled rectus abdominis, and certainly not because I have too much time to kill.

The reality is I am making it a priority because I know it has the potential to supplement, power, and drive all other aspects of my life. Steve Kamb, author of the fitness/health website Nerd Fitness, recently published an article talking about this very topic and his personal experience with it: Why You Need to BeSelfish And Put Fitness First (contains some adult language). I highly recommend Nerd Fitness to anyone wanting to get fit, and especially those that are nerds at heart like me, and enjoy thinking of things in the context of our nerdom. In brief, he relates how he has put fitness first the past 13 months, and seen remarkable changes in his life, not just physically, but in all aspects. Some of the key points:

  •  Simply, if you put fitness first, you will get fit.
    • "Not today" or "I can’t" are not even options.
  • You will be forced to be efficient to make time for your health.
    • At work, at home, everywhere. And you’ll have the energy to do it!
  •  You will save money in the long run (efficiency is key)
  • You will realize that you have more time than you thought.
    • You will find what has been taking your time and what isn’t a priority to you.


Sure, it sounds all well and good. But you actually have to do it. So many of us are convinced that there just isn’t the time or means to do it. But there is! Our lives feel packed to the brim and overflowing, but a lot of that is perception and a lot of that is unnecessary (hardest word to spell ever) garbage that doesn’t reflect what we truly want out of our lives or for ourselves. There is a way to do it. We could complain all year long about how we wish we could stick with it/be healthier/start eating better, or we could make the commitment and necessary sacrifices to do it. One point of advice that was particularly helpful to me from the Nerd Fitness article was to stop thinking about fitness in terms of days and weeks, and think about it in terms of months and years. It’s about months and years. This is a lifestyle, with real benefits, but you have to live it.

In my personal experience, and I would expect many people can relate, I would work out consistently for a few months, and feel the best I’ve ever felt. I would say things like “I just feel so much better when I’m working out!” or “I know that when I’m working out and getting enough sleep I am at my best: positive, energized, confident - I need to keep this up!” Then, inevitably, the late night study session or sleepy mid-week-workout-wimp-out occurs, and I’m off my game. One thing leads to the next, and before I know it I’m sitting at my computer 4 months later wondering where all the time has gone, and resembling the chair-bound blimp people in the movie WALL-E. I can no longer accept “I just want to relax” or “I need to skip the gym to get this work done” as excuses for not being committed to my health. If I ever do accept these things, then I will never get to where I want to be.

This all of course is in the context of being the healthiest I can. So, in case of an injury or medical situation, I will obviously do what I need to and limit what I need in order to get better and keep making progress. That brings us back to thinking in terms of years, not weeks.

Lastly, I will say that this has much more to do with my being as a whole than my physical body. If I want to succeed and excel in the physical realm I need to interact with it in an optimal and efficient way. By making fitness a priority, it begins to filter out the excess garbage (as Steve Kamb says, "yes, you’ll probably need to give up a few crappy TV shows"), builds discipline, and clears my mind and only facilitates my conversations in my spirit. When I think about my body ‘as a temple’, I don’t think about it all religious-y with the idea that I have to make it pretty for Jesus to come live inside. But instead, it makes much more sense to think about it in the context of 1) yes a temple should be beautiful and well maintained, but mainly 2) if things are supposed to get done and business is supposed to be taken care of, the temple must be clean and efficient and able to move. It makes me think of Howl’s moving castle, but more elegant of a machine perhaps.




What are your thoughts about making fitness a priority? What are your reasons for not being able to? I am trying to convince you that you should care about it, why aren’t you convinced? Why are you convinced?


Live long and prosper,

1 comment:

  1. Great post, Michael! I'm going to try this one more time!! This is attempt #403 to post a comment... Attempts 1-299 were the best... it's all just downhill from attempt 300!
    I tried a new method for getting my groove on when it came to starting up a regular routine this winter. I set my winter goals--which were to swim 2x/wk, lift 3x/wk, and run a minimum of 3x/wk. I found that going from 0-2 workouts a week to a consistent 8 workouts a week was daunting. After all, I have to be a mom, go to school, work a few part time jobs, coach some hockey, feed the dog, watch my kids' sporting events, and wash all that dirty underwear that keeps reproducing in the clothes hamper! I didn't have the time or energy to work out!
    So this was my approach this year (never tried it before. This was my beta-test). I swam. Twice a week. Every week. Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel, for over a month. I didn't worry about lifting, I didn't worry about running. I just did that one thing twice a week. And then it sort of became a habit, and I almost looked forward to it (almost--if you've ever had Bethany give you a swim workout, you'll know what I mean by that!! Hahahaa!). When I felt groovy with the swimming, I added the lifting. 3x/wk, every week. Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel. It was a bit harder to be consistent at first and I dropped a few workouts the first two weeks, but I always got in at least 2 lifts and 2 swims. Grooving along, now... Finally, I recently added the run to the mix. I am up to 7 workouts a week, every week (I still have to find the time for one more run each week...). For some reason this approach has worked for me. I have also found that in order for this to work, I've had to make a few sacrifices... I get up at 5 AM every day now--which I know for some is not early--but if you know anything about me, you know the last thing in the world I want to do is get up early. I HATE getting up early. HATE it. I can no longer stay up until 2 AM watching TV or doing laundry or crocheting... but like you said, one may have to give up a few crappy TV shows in order to find the time to work out. I've found it, and I don't think I'll be changing it :)
    Thanks for the post!

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