We Have One Shot at This

I've been away for awhile and, admittedly, it has been an odd and difficult last several weeks. In this time though, I've had the fortune (some at least) of a new realization. This new - yet so obvious - notion is that we really just have one chance to get ourselves right. 

What kind of pressure is that?

My grandmother very recently passed away after having lost a bout with pneumonia, a bout that largely occurred because of inactivity. For as amazing of a woman as she was (and she truly was), many of her health issues were self-imposed. Over time, each issues compounded the next issue, until there was no more overcoming the adversity.

I realized over the last couple of weeks that we have to be in charge of our bodies, and if we're not at least trying, we're failing ourselves and doing our bodies a great and potentially great injustice. In the wake of a personal tragedy, me and others close to me have found some newly added motivation to push ourselves to be in the best shape and best health that we can possibly achieve.

These sort of life events put into perspective the broader impacts of simply not taking the best care of yourself that you possibly can. I mean, just think about the ramifications and effects that would be had if you suddenly fell ill. What would happen to the people that depend on you? How would the people that are dear to us be impacted? It's a new and very personal motivation that is simply something that had never truly occurred to me in any meaningful way. 

I find that I've been working out harder, dieting better, and focusing more on those things that it takes to pursue the fitness levels needed to be at my best not just for me but for the people around me too. I urge you to take some time to think about the people close to you too and to harness them close to fuel your motivations. We only have one shot at a healthy and fit body and we might never know what kind of impact can be felt if we don't take the time to maintain and build upon what we have. 

This kind of thinking is truly brand new to me. Of course, I still have all of the same goals as I've already set, but there are certainly a completely new set of motivations that will hopefully allow me to be there for the family and friends I have now and new additions in the future.

Times are Tough, But Keep Pushing!

Wow, it's been way too long since I've written to you on Pursue Fit. Between the holidays, work getting crazy, and all sorts of other commitments, I've hardly found time to piece thoughts together either here or on our Twitter (@Pursue_Fit) for Pursue Fit's readers and followers. I can't promise it will be easier with the frenzy that December brings, but one thing I can assure you is that the training regimen has remained the same.

It can be so darn difficult, but the same thoughts always pop back in my brain: remember why you started!

Right now is the easiest time of the year to slack off on the commitments that you have made to yourself. It's true, the proof is in the gym attendance, which is so much lower than three weeks ago even. We have the holidays, colder weather, work, shopping, parties, family, etc. But let me take just a few moments to remind you about a few things regarding your training.

1. Remember that you have made an investment in yourself that no one else has. There is no one that can take that investment away from you, except for you. Keep up the fight and keep up the discipline to achieve your goals and mold yourself into the you that you can be.


2. It's cold outside right now! The quickest way to get warm is not to snuggle back up under the blankets, but to get your body moving! 30 minutes of cardio will get your body warmer and you'll feel satisfied that you did.


3. The greatest stories always revolve around overcoming obstacles. There are plenty of obstacles in our lives without us imposing even more on ourselves. Take a survey of what's stopping you, develop a plan, and execute your plan. It's easier with a big support network, but that's not always in reach for others. Own your moment and own your life. Overcome the seemingly insurmountable. Michael Jordan said "Limits, like fears, are illusions". We'll come back to that in a future post, but understand that illusions are meant to be seen through and pushed aside.


4. Stop saying I can't and start saying I will. Until you break past that mindset, your dreams to run a 5K will never have a glimpse at finishing a marathon. Once you get to 'I will', you are unstoppable, you are on a mission. You will run out your last mile, you will get that last rep, you will NOT give up until you break your mold and realize that the old you was never any match for the current you.

Pursue Fit Around the Clock

Hey readers!

I appreciate all of the clicks and reads on this blog. In order to better connect with you, please feel free to reach out and connect to Pursue Fit anytime.

You can email the blog at: pursueyourfit@gmail.com. I'll take the time to read and reply to each of your emails and would love to hear from you about any of the following:

• Suggestions for the site
• New topics to cover
• 'Read-aheads' for future posts
• Posts you might like to submit

You can also follow Pursue Fit on twitter with the handle @Pursue_Fit. Be sure to follow Pursue Fit on Twitter, as additional content is added to that profile on a daily basis than what is posted to this blog.

One last important note, one of the goals of Pursue Fit is to empowers you to find what motivates you to pursue your fitness goals. As such, I openly invite anyone to email Pursue Fit at any time if you need an extra bit of motivation, a pep talk email, or even just a couple workout ideas to get you out of a workout block.

Know that you can look to Pursue Fit as a partner to help you get to your goals. We know that getting there is a long journey, and a journey that might never actually complete. Since this can be arduous, it is often helpful to have a resource you can refer to for a little inspiration and boost.

Please let Pursue Fit know anything else that can be done to help you out on your way.

Please Make Fitness Fun!

Tony Horton made a plea in P90X3 to 'please make fitness fun!'. Gotta say something I find myself saying pretty darn often, Tony Horton's totally right. For nearly all of the population, working out is not their job and, thus, many people even see it as a hobby. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, right? When they're not fun anymore, no matter how challenging or enriching, they just cease to be a part of our daily rituals. 

So many people quit because the workouts fall out of habit, but what might be one of the causes of that? At the root, I think that it really does have to do with not having fun. Of course, there are other things that are very powerful drivers like needs for improved health or self-esteem. Those might take precedence on the 'Fitness Hierarchy of Needs', but there certainly is a place for fun on there. When it comes to a point in the early morning, how many times have we probably thought, 'dang, this going to be a serious drag' as opposed to 'Wow! Can't wait to do 5 sets of 24 lunges!' I'd like to think that the second one crosses my mind more often than not, but when the former hits my brain first, that's the sure-fire indicator that it's time to switch up what I'm doing. 

Speaking personally, I find that there are a number of programs that I've simply stopped doing a few weeks in just because I got bored with all of the repetition of the same routines and lack of diversity. I'd become sluggish and generally lost any enthusiasm to wake up early to get going for the gym. To me, the best programs are the ones that keep challenging you by trying to keep the training fresh by introducing different exercise pairings, schedule variations, and more imagination and do all of this early and often. New ways of challenging me, equals continued excitement for the day's workout. 

Regardless of whether or not you're a gym goer or a runner, etc., there are so many great, fun ways to keep fitness in our lives. All sorts of lower intensity activities like yoga to higher intensity activities like rock-wall climbing and whitewater rafting can be channeled to fight the good fight and incorporate physical activity into our lives. Not just any physical activity though, amazingly fun activities that challenge our minds and bodies. Sometimes the overall goal is to just keep moving, but we need to find something that charges us to move. 

However, I will add that proper physical training (whether it be cardio or resistance) is certainly a force multiplier that will help you excel at the things you love to do, thereby, upping your enjoyment of the sport or activity you've been enjoying!

In my daily routines, I've found that playing on organized teams (or even with the pick-up football crew) has become a motivator for pushing hard in the gym. Once we find something that we love to do, something to apply our fitness to, it seems natural, in a way, to use our desire to excel at that activity and use it as motivation for training. The premise of this almost seems to be physical activity begets more physical activity. If so, I like that idea. 

Coming full circle though, we have to find what makes us happy and what we find fun and challenging. What one person finds fun will not necessarily drive someone else. I think what I typically find fun is the general progress, the pursuit, of meeting the goals I set for myself. Setting benchmarks doesn't necessarily excite someone who finds lifting iron dumbbells completely overrated, no matter the program. This, again, brings us back to one of the above statements: just keep moving. Once we stop moving, we start regressing. 

If you're at a point where you need to find a little motivation, my suggestion is to think about the physical activities that you find the most fun to do. Don't just think about how to find ways to do them, but think about how to get even better at doing them once you start (or even before you start). This is this week's main charge from Pursue Fit. We've focused on a lot of introspection this past week! My apologies for that, but the mental side of fitness is such a crucial component to your overall success, so please do find the time to think and plan out your fitness.

The Status Symbol of Being Fit

The below quote has stuck with me for a long time. This line is attributed to well-known bodybuilder Ashley Horner  and there is just something about it truly resonates with me and is something I've come to use for some sort of motivation when the daily grind slows me down. Check this quote out:

I've shown this quote to different people and has received a couple different reactions. Some friends thought it to be spot-on while others even found it a tad bit arrogant. I've reflected a bit and while I whole-heartedly agree with what she's saying, I would address that what's being said here is actually proud, vice arrogant, and that's a completely different ballgame.

Is a well-built physique a status symbol? Absolutely, yes. If you go back to the very first Pursue Fit post (found here), this is something we touch on, at least as one of my personal motivations. Speaking for me (and I'm sure many others to some extent), a lot of the heroes we looked up to in movies, sports, etc. likely had very chiseled physiques, and I think that at a young age we make associations that show that to be something to be proud of and something that is fundamentally good that we should be driven to attain.

That should be piled on further to the discussion of hard work. For me, a high level of fitness is almost all about achieving a higher level of what I deem to be 'good'. To achieve this means relentless hard work and the fruits you harvest from that hard work result in a product that is uniquely yours and yours alone. This is your body and you've worked so hard to get to where you are and to get to where you want to be that your results are a source of pride. The only person that can take that away from you is you and it requires just as relentless of a pursuit to keep it as it did to get there.

Ultimately, all of your work and all of your results still boils down to one very fundamental premise and that's being truly happy with you. While I believe that a well-built physique is a status symbol, it's also important to point out that the definition of a well-built physique can be very relative and open to interpretation. It has often been said or alluded to in Pursue Fit but fitness is not anyone else's fitness it's your fitness.

Fitness doesn't just show someone a bit about who we are, it can sometimes scream it. Our physique lets others know that you have commitment, vision, and self-respect. This brings us full circle to the physique operating as a status symbol. Sometimes all we have before we speak to anyone or before anyone knows us are simply the first impressions we give off by your own appearance and that can make or break a personal/professional relationship in some cases. People will make a read on us and then develop core assumptions before the first words are ever spoken. All this to mean that our own fitness can be a true tool or ally in some cases in marching forward in other aspects of our lives.

This belief is a powerful motivator for me and is part of a complex picture of what gets me up early in the morning to start training. Fitness means different things to different people, but that's really the point of it, isn't it? The point is about transforming yourself into the good that you want be. It's not about being anyone else version of good, it's about developing and pushing you to be satisfied with yourself.

While I'm interested in whether or not you agree with what is being said here, it is much more important for us to sometimes have these conversations with ourselves. We need to ask ourselves questions like what is it mean to me to be fit or why is this lifestyle so important to me? If anything, I just hope that this post challenges us to take a step back for a second to evaluate and then re-affirm to ourselves why we drive ourselves.

Thanks for checking out today's post. Any comments are always welcome!

Headphones In, World Off

All bad workouts begin with forgetting an iPod, headphones, or an updated workout playlist. Overhead music at a gym can't account for your specific tastes and what motivates you to be at your best. I imagine it's much of the same way for so many runners, I'm more of a silent runner myself, but still, without the proper ambiance, your workout can start to feel pretty unsuccessful. 

Aristotle once wrote:

"Music directly represents the passions of the soul. If one listens to the wrong kind of music, he will become the wrong kind of person."

I like what Aristotle is saying here. No matter what your musical tastes are or no matter what it is that motivates you when you get your workouts in, the music you listen to is your tool that helps drive you that much more.

The right songs and the right playlists can whip us back into focus and push us through one more set and one last mile. For me, music is that boost of adrenaline to overcome the obstacles that are in front of me. Time and time again, the right song and the follow-on ability to block out the rest of the world and focus on the moment right in front of me is exactly what I need to push me through.

Now that I think about it while I'm typing this out, there has been no other dietary supplement that has had quite the same impact on my overall health and fitness than the musical sound waves have supplemented me. The right multi-vitamin, protein, or amino supplements only mean as much as the work that you put in. Without that work, we do not get that change that we seek. So, over everything else, I prioritize those things that push me to do my workouts that much more effectively.

A Muscle and Fitness article from a few years ago ranked the top 25 workout songs across all genres. Here are the top 10:

1) "Welcome to the Jungle," Guns N' Roses
2) "Enter Sandman," Metallica
3) "Back in Black," AC/DC
4) "Fight the Power," Public Enemy
5) "Eye of the Tiger," Survivor
6) “Hit ‘Em Up,” 2Pac
7) "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana
8) "Mama Said Knock You Out," LL Cool J
9) “Gonna Fly Now,” Bill Conti/The Rocky Orchestra
10) “1812 Overture,” Pyotr Tchaikovsky

For the entire list: 25 Best Workout Songs of All Time

Admittedly, only three of these are on my entire workout playlist, though all perhaps unarguably deserve a spot in the all time top 10. To give you a bit of a peak behind the curtain, my tastes are a bit harder for the gym, but these are the songs that get me pushing myself.

1) "Coming Undone," Korn

2) "Metalingus," Alter Bridge

3) "I Walk Alone," Saliva

4) "Original Don," Maor Lazer

5) "The Clincher," Chevelle

6) "Southtown," P.O.D.

7) "This Fire Burns," Killswitch Engage

8) "Psychosocial," Slipknot

9) "Magnolia Blvd," Butcher Babies

10) "Knights of Cydonia," Muse

Please share any of your top 10 workout songs below. Personally, I always welcome new additions to the playlist and any of your favorites might also help motivate others Pursue Fit readers too!

Total Body Circuit Workout (Birthday Edition)

Hey Pursue Fit Readers!

The most common roadblock we always face to meeting our fitness goals is the fight against time. We all lead very busy and packed lives and it's not easy to find time for a workout every day. One of the most significant contributors to our overall success is our ability to make fitness a habit, but without time, it's difficult to form a habit.

With that being said, check out the below workout that Pursue Fit put together. It's a total body circuit trainer that hits cardio, resistance, and core workouts. Timing this all out the workouts can range from about 15-20 minutes in length. Admittedly, it does not necessarily give you the same effect as 30 minutes running or a gym session, but the brevity ensures that you have time in your day to burn some calories. Here's how it works:

• You'll notice that there are cardio, resistance, and ab workouts and each corresponds to a day/month/year combination. Everyone has two numbers to choose from for each workout. I went ahead and used a birth date as a simple example. Say that your birthday is on October 17, 1994 (10/17/94), you would take each number and do the corresponding workout in order.
• Do each circuit of six workouts at least 3 times. 18 total sets should be enough to put you in that 15-20 minute range, but certainly feel free to grind out additional sets if time permits or if you made quick work and finished well before that 15-20 minute mark.
• Birth date is only used as an example. You can put a date combination for the current date, a milestone date in your life, or any random combination of numbers!

Cardio (Month)

0: 60 Jumping Jacks

1: 60 seconds jump rope

2: 45 seconds burpees

3: 20 box jumps

4: 30 plyometric lunges

5: 60 seconds mountain climbers

6: 30 Jump knee tucks

7: 60 seconds sprint-squat (3 seconds sprint-1 squat)

8: 45 seconds high knee spring

9: 45 seconds butt-kick springs

Resistance (Day)

0: 30 push-ups

1: 15 pull-ups

2: 15 two arm shoulder press

3: 15 dips

4: 30 body-weight squats

5: 12 plyometric push-ups

6: 25 body-weight squats into calf raise

7: 45 seconds wall squat

8: 20 step-ups

9: 10 handstand push-ups

Core (Year)

0: 25 In-Outs

1: 45 seconds high plank

2: 45 seconds low plank

3: 50 oblique twists

4: 30 second planks

5: 15 side-plank oblique-ups (per side)

6: 25 seated leg lifts

7: 50 lying flutter kicks

8: 25 sit-ups

9: 25 bicycle crunches

One of Pursue Fit's biggest aims to find ways to encourage you to get your workouts in and achieve your fitness goals. I hope that you enjoy this challenge and incorporate it (or any variations to it you make) to keep building on the positive habits that you have already established!