The worst push ups ever!

Before the middle schools in the meet took the track, the high school team was still completing their practice. There was a group of 20 or so male athletes on the infield grass. They were going through a series of conditioning drills which included lunges, squats, reverse crunches, planks, and more. Their form was terrible and they really looked like they were just going through the motions, thinking about how fast they could get through the exercises and not focusing on quality and getting the benefit from the time they spent. Especially when the coach turned his back.

One exercise really caught my attention though. The worst push ups EVER! Bodies were flopping around, middles sagging, butts up in the air. One participant was pretty tall and from a distance looked like he had a bit of muscle on his frame and he probably had the poorest form of all. His arms were moving and his chest was coming up, but the rest of his body was staying on the ground. His waist and legs never left the ground the whole time. Imagine Gumby doing a push up, how’s that for a visual?

These are high school athletes?

A couple of lessons here:

1. Focus on quality. Don’t just blast through the workout to say you’re done. Think about your goal and how the workout is getting you a step closer. If your goal is to get it over with, blowing through the workout as quick as possible so you can get back to your cell phone and catch that all-important text message, then follow the high schoolers routine. If you really want to get stronger, do it right. It doesn’t take much longer. Everything else is just a waste of time.

2. Learn do exercise properly. Maybe they didn’t know they were doing it all wrong. Maybe nobody ever worked with them to show them how to get the most from the exercise. Maybe you’ve never had that help either. If you’re not sure if you’re getting the most from your workout program, ask for help.

If you want to know the right way to do a push up, here are a couple of examples that anyone can do!

Rather than close the center, we kept the center open and let our members know that some of the equipment would not be available. We have another location a couple miles away and members could go there instead. Alternatively, we promoted this as an opportunity for people to try something different with their program. It’s an opportunity to change from having a “routine” to something exciting and different.

The carpeting process was scheduled to last three days. On day 1, members came in at 5 AM and a few were shell-shocked. They wandered around trying to figure out what to do, randomly pulling a cable here and doing a rep there. A few said, “I can’t do anything today”. One nearly climbed over a few cardio machines that were pushed together just to get to the one machine he uses every single day. He looked quite relieved and proud that he did the same thing as yesterday, and the day before, and the days and weeks before that.

Your body is a pretty amazing system. It adapts to the positive stress of exercise. When you place a load on the body it adapts to that load by getting stronger. Soon, the body sees that load as normal and unless you place a different stress on the body it hits a plateau.

If you do the same walk on the treadmill, at the same speed, for the same distance, over the same duration, your results will not improve. That program will work at first, but the Law of Dimishing Returns says that sooner or later the result will be zero. My point is that you need to keep the body guessing as to what’s coming next.

Take a look at your personal program.

Are you still doing the same thing you’ve been doing for weeks, months, years? If so, turn it upside down, make it tougher, and get ready to see results!

• Are you doing just cardio? Add weights
• Are you just doing weights? Add cardio
• Are you doing your cardio at the same intensity? Maybe you’re ready for interval training?
• How about trying a total body exercise like swimming?

Need help creating a new program to get the results you’re looking for? Give me a call at (630) 269-8992!

I still remember watching TV on New Year’s Day 2000 and seeing this commercial.   Y2K didn’t stop this guy from living his life.  He didn’t let the imminent end of the world ruin his fitness.  What will you be doing to make 2010 your best year ever?

The Iceman is coming!

“What’s the Iceman”, you ask?

Iceman is a 27-mile point to point mountain bike race that I’ve done nearly every year for the past 20 years.  It’s held in the first week of November, regardless of the weather, and I’ve done it in wind, rain, snow, and less frequently, warm sunny temps.  It draws over 2000 participants to Michigan’s North Woods as one of the largest races in the US.

It’s one of those things that for both me and my family has created good memories that will last a lifetime.  It’s one of those examples of how fitness has made a difference in my life and why I have a passion for helping others improve their fitness so they can create their own memories.

I’ve written about the Iceman before on this blog and in two separate magazines in the Chicago area and Michigan.  Since it’s coming up this week I thought I’d share that story with you again.

To be meaningful, your goal has to have a few components: 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timebound

No weak goals allowed.  Lose 10 pounds doesn’t cut it here.  Why?  There’s no timeframe and no relevance.  By when do you want to lose 10 pounds?  For what reason?  Is the goal attainable in your timeframe?

Lose 10 pounds in ten weeks so you can fit into that favorite little black dress to go to your high school reunion. 

Now, that’s a goal.  You know what is to be accomplished (specific), you know when it is to be accomplished (measurable), it’s not outrageous but challenging (attainable), why it’s important (relevant), and has a reasonable deadline (timebound).

Why is the goal important?  A good goal will help you make sure you stick to the plan.  We all have a reason for working out.  There’s something that we want to do that we cannot do today, and introducing exercise and proper nutrition is a tool that can help you reach your goal.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, get your copy of 10 Reasons Most Fitness Programs Fail.

For me, it was anything but demoralizing. I felt incredible as I rode the 22km climb with an average incline of 7.7%, sometimes kicking up to over 11%. I rode the entire climb with a giant, stupid grin on my face because I could hardly believe I pedaling my bike up one of the most iconic climbs in cycling. It took 2:15 to get to the top. I spent almost an hour on the summit before making the ripping fast descent in 20 minutes to the town of Bedoin in the valley below. I trained hard leading up to the trip and it paid off.

The Ventoux will be used in this year’s Tour de France this Saturday, July 25. never before has a climb this large been featured this late, with the race’s final day coming on Sunday. With a massive climb like this on the penultimate day, there could be fireworks among the leaders.

Be sure to watch it on Versus

Is something standing in the way of your success?

Bobby didn’t think so. Neither should you.

In fact, he finds time to get his workout, as does the First Lady, nearly every day. It’s part of their lifestyle.

Did you get your workout? Or, were you busier than the President?

I grew up racing bicycles, starting with BMX and travelling around the US, transitioning to mountain bikes, and this past year trying my legs at road bike criterium racing. Each race brings back different emotions, but one is special to me.

The Iceman.

I’ve done the Iceman 16 times. It’s a 27 mile journey through Northern Michigan’s sandy hilly terrain, held during the first weekend of November. I’ve done it in 50 degree temps, and I’ve done it in 10 degrees with 5″ of snow on the ground. I broke the seat off my bike one year just a few miles into the event and finished the entire race standing up (it was torture, but I couldn’t bring myself to quit…and I wasn’t last). Five of the races have been with my daughters on a tandem mountain bike.

I’ve written about the race for both Windy City Sports and Michigan Sports & Fitness. You can find the first of the two stories right here (sorry, the page is formatted strangely, but the words are still there)

I’ve been in hundreds, maybe thousands of races over my lifetime. The five that I’ve completed with Rachael and Sara are my proudest. They’ve grown too big for the tandem tag-a-long bike, so this year’s race won’t quite be the same, but I’ll always have the memories. Maybe someday they’ll ride alongside on their own bikes. Hopefully someday they’ll be strong enough to finish the race ahead of me!

For me, fitness is a means to an end. It’s a way to develop memories like this.

How will fitness make a difference for you?