Time for a one-minute fitness challenge

 

I’d say that most fitness guys tend to be structured and rigid at times with their fitness training.  Like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for example as training days regardless of whatever else in life may be going on.  Or three sets of eight reps for each exercise regardless of how you’re feeling.  I used to always say that Monday at 5:00 pm was International Bench Press Day at gyms across the country.  There may only be partial truth to any of what I’ve said but undoubtedly there’s truth to be had in it.

We’re creatures of habit and whether it’s by how God created us or learned, we find comfort in doing what we’ve done, over and over, until something kicks us in the behind to do or try something different.

If I’m not speaking for you, I’m speaking for me, although I must admit that my fitness training structure and rigidness can best be described as intensity laced.  Not that this is ideal or preferred but merely my fitness training personality playing out in my workouts.

Another creature of habit mindset is that more is better.  So, for example, if doing one hundred burpees is good, two hundred of them must be better and 300, 400, 500 or 1,000 must be best.  Running three miles is good, running five miles is better, and running eight miles is best.  Take your favorite fitness activity and plug it in to this equation and tell me if it’s true for you.  Not that you necessarily do it, but only that you think it.

Well, in my gracefully aging journey, I finally hit age 70 and this has a subtle way of exposing the errors in this fitness training thinking.  I didn’t stumble across this revelation on my 70^th birthday, it’s something that has been cooking for a while.

And what did I do when it finally hit me, that structure, rigidity, and more is better fitness training mentality isn’t ideal?

I discovered one-minute fitness challenges.  Like how many burpees can I complete in one minute.  Or can I hold a pair of kettlebells, using a challenging weight, overhead for one minute.  I now have at least a half dozen or more fitness activities that I periodically include in a one-minute AMRAP challenge, and my fitness training is harvesting new bounties.  One that I’m currently doing is a double kettlebell rack hold Asian Squat for time, trying to last one minute.  I started off with a pair of 16-kilogram kettlebells.  It took a while but eventually I was able to hold them in a rack position for one minute in an Asian Squat.

Then, I advanced to using a pair of 20-kilogram kettlebells.  I don’t remember my hold time the first time I attempted with this heavier load but eventually, I managed to hold for one minute.

Now, I’m doing the same activity using a pair of 24-kilogram kettlebells.  I remember the first time I tried this weight and lasted a whopping nine seconds.  It was a humbling experience I still remember today.  My most recent effort was a few days ago and I managed to hold this position for fifty seconds.  My one-minute gold standard is right around the corner of being achieved.

So, nowadays, when life gets in the way of my fitness training, I always tell myself that despite how busy I am, I will always have time for a one-minute fitness challenge.

 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum