Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Superfit Project

I  have no time.  It is too difficult and painful.

These are the two most common excuses people give me for not doing any kind of sport or being physically active.

Both are based on misconceptions.

Even the busiest person can find 15 minutes a day to train. And that can be more than enough if it is done in the right way and with consistency. Seriously, 15 minutes a day!

If it is done in the right way, then it is neither extremely difficult nor painful.  Just challenging. But as with all things in life, challenges are a great way to stimulate radical improvements. And challenges can be fun, too.

So why are so many people unhealthy and overweight? And why are so few people fit enough to enjoy a hike in the outdoors or to play sports with friends or family?

It is not lack of time or ability.

I think it is lack of knowledge and motivation. But I believe once some knowledge is acquired (or provided), then things look possible, goals seem reachable, and the powerful fuel of motivation starts flowing. And it usually flows forcefully, carrying enough power to ignite a virtuous cycle of greater curiosity, increased knowledge, better actions, faster results, and then again,  more motivation to reach even higher goals.

Simple!

This kind of virtuous cycle is what I have tried to ignite in the people I have coached in the last ten years. No matter what the goal was – from losing a few kilos, run the first marathon (or get a personal record in it), all the way up to performing at a competitive level in the grueling Ironman Triathlon - the founding principle has been always the same: start the cycle, keep it running, and then let the results amaze you!

Coaching, as you might have guessed already, it is a big passion of mine. I do not know why or exactly when (I was 10-12 years old?) I started reading and researching  about how to drive athletic performance. The thing is that even if it is not my formal academic preparation or my job, I love doing it. But I also love playing sports and being active myself.  The funny thing is that with the long hours of my normal job and many other life distractions, I have kept my own passion for sports and fitness dormant. Very dormant. In reality, I have been active, but not at a level that I really enjoy.

I have realized that I have been using the two common misconceptions of “I have no time” and “It is too difficult”  of other people as my own excuses to unconsciously sabotage my own fitness and health levels, and most importantly, to almost abandon one of my biggest passions. 

Not good.

So I have decided to comeback to sports at the level I enjoy: I have recently registered to do my first Ironman Triathlon. In July 3, 2011, I will be doing for the first time in my life 3,8km of swimming, 180 km of cycling, and 42 km of running. One discipline immediately after the other. All in one day.

To prepare a race like that in about a year is doable. To do it in five months seems almost impossible. Even more when you normally put long hours at work.

Why do it then?

Because it is not impossible. Just seems like it, and that makes it scary, exciting, and highly motivating. Fun!

Yes, this blog is going to be about my preparation for the Ironman, but not really. It is actually going to be about how to reach superior levels of fitness and health, even with little time available. It is going to be about what I usually call a SUPERFIT PROJECT and how to execute it in a busy world.

And why would you be willing to dedicate your precious time to read about something like this?

Because if you have been reading up to here, most probably you found something that got your interest. Maybe you also have a SUPERFIT PROJECT inside of you waiting to be lived: losing weight, running a 10K, a marathon, first sprint triathlon, climbing a mountain…anything. If you have the desire to experience a SUPERFIT PROJECT, then I am sure you can obtain good ideas and information from this blog on how to make it possible. And my deep hope is that once you find out that it is actually possible, you will be flooded by excitement and motivation that will make you go out and start to make things really happen.

That’s it. Now, just get ready to follow me in what I aim to make a blog with weekly postings about my successes and failures during my SUPERFIT PROJECT to becoming an Ironman.

Hope you will enjoy it as much as I will.