Thursday, February 17, 2011

i WILL do this

3,8 km Swim + 180 km Bike + 42,2 km Run




A 4000 meters early-morning swim waits for me tomorrow. Before I go to the office.

Sometimes I need the extra motivation (and some caffeine) to make it really happen! ;)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Only 15 minutes!...or the missing Intensity Factor (part 2)

Now you know that you need to “stress” your body, and then let it heal and rebuild to make it stronger. On Part 1 we covered that concept. But you might be thinking: “How can 15 minutes be enough? Can I really just train for such a short period of time?”

The quick answer is YES!
Absolutely!

I am sure many of you have attended fitness courses or gyms where they train you for at least 45 minutes up to 1 hour. They have probably told you that less time than that is useless.

Well, it is not true.

Most probably, they train people that way because it is a convenient way to organize courses or gym hours. The focus is on how to use the gym space in the best way, not really on how to provide effective training to clients. In some other cases, unfortunately, it is because they do not know any better and “that is the way everybody does it”.

But I am sure you do not want to follow the masses blindly. You want to get results without wasting time. So let’s see why only 15 minutes can work for you.

Fitness improvement is not related only to training time.
What really matters is the total amount of “stress” (stimulus) you apply to your body. Not the total amount of time you spend in your workout. Actually, the duration (training time) is just one of three variables that you can play with in order to stimulate (stress) your body.

Let’s go into a bit more detail.
The three variables or factors you can use to design your training program are:
1. Duration Factor: the total amount of training dedicated per workout (i.e. 45 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, etc)
2. Frequency Factor: the number of times a workout or set of workouts is repeated within a cycle (i.e. once a day, twice a week, twice a day, etc)
3. Intensity Factor: how hard you go (i.e easy, moderate, uncomfortable, difficult, all-out effort)

If you combine these three factors you get the total volume of stress or stimulus that you apply on your body.

Yes! It is time for another formula!

Volume of Stress (training stimulus) = Duration x Frequency x Intensity

Notice that I am not adding these. These variables are multipliers. In other words, once you increase only one of these factors, the resulting volume of stress gets increased much more.

Was that too much math?
Sorry!

Let me try again.
By mixing these three factors properly, you can generate the needed stress for your body. If you increase one of them greatly, while keeping the other two low, you get a sufficient training stimulus.

See where I am getting at?

If you have no time to train (duration), just increase the intensity (how hard you go) and you will still obtain a solid stimulus to improve your fitness levels. Actually, you can also increase the frequency, as it is much easier to insert a little bit of training in your agenda everyday (or almost everyday) than to find large amounts of free time three days a week.

But there is more good news.

Recent studies (high-intensity training) have demonstrated that training with great intensity for short periods of time produce the fastest results in terms of fat burning and cardiovascular conditioning.

So train hard! Focus!
Make every second count!
And you will get results.


You'll get very noticeable results. Rapidly!
You will see your fat melting incredibly fast (start saving some money to renew your clothes...you'll need much smaller sizes). Not only that. Your whole cardiovascular system will also become fitter. You will be able to play sports, hike in the outdoors, and dance for much longer. Live more!

Cool, huh?

Training with intensity is so powerful because the effects of the training last much longer than your actual workout time. It happens because the oxygen deficit you create in your body during the workout needs to be compensated after you have finished training.

You know the feeling.  
Hard breathing and accelerated heartbeats when you use the stairs instead of the elevator. Even after you have stopped. Even after a long time (specially if you are not in decent shape!).

This is your body working (hard) to compensate and adapt. As a result, your body keeps burning fat while you are working, driving, cooking, watching TV, or surfing the net.

And yes, you end up burning more calories even when you are sleeping!
A miracle!

These incredible results are due to what is technically called EPOC or “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption” which is a great way to improve your metabolism, burn fat, and make you fitter (more on this in future posts). And high intensity training has been proven to increase EPOC much more than normal, easy-going aerobic conditioning.

So change your paradigm.
You do not need one hour or more of easy training to become Superfit!
Use this new concept to your advantage.

Train for 15 minutes.
(no more excuses to be sedentary!)
But make each second really count.
Go for it! Gasp for air!
Test your limits!

I think you’ll learn to love the feeling.
And I am sure you’ll love the results!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Whenever Possible...

...train hard. Train damn hard!



Running along La Seine

But look for the beauty.
Go out and look for it.
Notice it.







Explore new places.
Listen to new sounds.
(and also to your hard breathing!)


Get immersed in the feeling.
(Ipods strictly forbidden!)
Jardin des Tuileries - Louvre Museum

La Tour Eiffel
Choose a challenge.
But make it fun.
Be creative.











Do it differently.
Don't just follow the masses.
Escaliers Tour Eiffel
Create your own path.
(you will avoid waiting lines, too)
 
Running up the stairs of Eiffel Tower












You might find inspiration along the way.
So pay attention. 



Be aware.



Enjoy the moment.
(and catch your breath!)
2nd platform - Eiffel Tower                     










Absorve the view.

View of Paris from Eiffel Tower






Breath.
Keep breathing.
And store the energy.
(you'll need it to run back home!)






Beauty recharges you in many ways.
It is free.
And it can be anywhere.
You do not have to be in Paris to find it.
So...
Whenever Possible...
Look for the beauty.
Notice it.
Create it.
Choose it.

"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" O. Wilde

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Only 15 minutes!...or the missing Intensity Factor (part 1)

So you would like to be in shape but you do not have time to train?
Good news and bad news for you.

Good news first.
You only need 15 minutes a day to be in good shape.

And if you say you do not have 15 minutes for yourself, please (!) go look for help. Now. You might not need a Superfit Project, but a Life-Changing Project. 

Anyways, most probably you are not in such a critical condition, and you just need to find the 15 minutes by cutting time spent on the internet or watching TV. But I leave the time management to you.

Now the bad news.
It is hard training. More than you can imagine now.
Trust me when I say that these 15 minutes – if done right - will seem very long and almost too hard.

But, after all, it is only 15 minutes. So I am sure you can handle them.
You’ll think you’ll die, but you won’t. Promised!

(caution note: if you have a heart condition, please don’t go full intensity in your training, as I might not be able to keep my previous promise! Seriously speaking, always consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program.)

Let me now try to explain why this works.
As many of you probably already know, to improve your fitness levels, you need to stress your body a bit and then let it rest and recover. Only after rest and full recovery take place, the body can become fitter and stronger.

The body actually adapts to the stress by becoming stronger, so it can handle it much better the next time. As a result, you end up running faster, jumping higher, and lifting heavier weights. Or as the Olympic motto says: "Citius, Altius, Fortius".

Got the idea? Cool machine we have, eh?

I love the simplicity of formulas to summarize things, so this is the first one for you:

Improved fitness levels = Stress (from training) + Recovery
                   
Keep it in mind. I will return to this many times in future posts.


In part 2 of this post I will write about a few more principles on training with intensity (bear with me), and then on part 3 (finally) I will give you some concrete examples on how to put the workouts together.

Stay tuned!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Building New Habits

All right, first week and a half of training has passed by fast. Really fast.
And the motivation is high. Really high.

I have been swimming, cycling, and running in a somehow structured manner. I have managed also to dedicate some time to two other sports that I am still learning, but that are quickly becoming new big passions of mine: cross-country skiing and free climbing.

But juggling with all these activities has been difficult. Time management has not been easy at all. I have been working very long hours in the past two weeks to deliver projects with very short timelines. Late dinners and small parties with friends have reduced my sleeping time, too.

Well, I guess I must openly confess that I have not been able to train as much or as hard as I had planned to do.

All the training related activities: waking up earlier, preparing equipment, putting clean clothes in the gym bag, taking very sweaty clothes out of the same bag (as soon as possible!), preparing better food, getting the right playlists in my Ipod (very important!), and many others have only added more chaos to an already hectic work-life schedule.

Honestly, it has been a big hassle!

Wait a minute! Am I complaining? Looking for excuses?

Truth is that my life-work-training schedule is not going to change anytime soon. Unless I win the lottery, but I guess I should increase my probabilities by buying the tickets in the first place! But I digress… The point is that this is what I have in front of me. I knew it from the beginning. It was part of the contract. And it was also a big part of the challenge that attracted me to this Superfit Project in the first place. So I should just get used to it and find the best way to put as much training as I can in a normal (well, ok, almost normal!) life.

New habits take time to build. Not much, though. Just 21 days. That's what scientist have found. But if it is actually 21 days or 30 or even 50, once you build a new habit, things get easier and many things start falling into place almost by themselves. You sense it. Becomes part of your life. It now feels like it is engrained in your skin. Like magic!

For me it’s not been 21 days, yet. So maybe this is why I have been struggling (no magic for me so far!). I do not trust science blindly, but in any case I will just keep building this new habit until I get into the rhythm of things. Maybe it will take a bit more than what scientists say, but for sure I will keep enjoying all this new craziness.

So here is the lesson for me, for us:

Whenever you are starting a Superfit Project, stick to your goal.
Stick firmly to it.
Face the challenging new game field and tasks.
But stick to your project.
Adapt it when needed.
But do stick to it.
Build the habit and try to follow this new rhythm in your life.
Keep doing it until the music, until the magic, carries you completely.

Next time I’ll be writing about how to train with only 15 minutes available per day. That’s how much training I will be able do in each of the following six days as I am currently on the plane for a work trip in lovely Paris!

In the meantime, go out and start building your new habit!

Have fun!