Editor’s note: just like in church, omit brackets [for short form].

I got involved in this blogging racket so I could track my WODs and evaluate my: approach to training, form, nutrition, mood, style, etc.  I also wanted to see how much of a role exercise took in my day-to-day life.  Like I’ve mentioned before, I post everything I do on here [with the exception of walking – still haven’t figured out how to make that exciting for the reader].  After reading through the 20 weeks of posts and going through my red book, I put together a spreadsheet that shows the time commitment of all the WODs I’ve done.

wod-analysis

Crazy huh?  In the words of the double rainbow guy, what does this mean?  So intense!  For me, it means I was able to improve my performance by dedicating less than 2% of my waking hours to training.  Up until 1.5 yrs ago I was consistently working out 12-20 hrs/week, getting sick 1x/month, feeling sore and tired on the reg, icing my knees daily, and stuffing my face with carbs every 3 hours.  During that time, I did what I felt was best for my body’s performance.  Health took a back seat and “free time” (or fun) didn’t fit into the plan.  Yet when my gf at the time asked me where my six pack was, I had no comeback!  It was a dark time my friends; and given all that training, I was still a middle-of-the-packer.  To that end, I’ll take today’s training regimen [placed in top 20% of field in both races this year] over the pre-primal era every day of the week!

So how does this apply to the aspiring-to-be-fit guy or gal?  As mentioned in a bunch of other posts, you don’t have to dedicate much training time [2 hrs = 0.5 x Red Sox game, 1 day’s worth of commuting for the average American, 2 Jersey Shore episodes, 1 broadcast’s worth of non-game action during an NFL program, a week’s worth of “snooze” time (or 2 days if you’re LL), 480 magical experiences with Rick Petino, etc.] to be healthy and fit.  I see tons of people out there [jogging down the street, power walking on the sidewalk, doing cardio at the gym, etc.] who have the best intentions and almost certainly dedicate more time and effort to fitness than I do.  Yet where are the results?  Unfortunately, (like I did) we approach exercise given what we know/are told and we are a misinformed group.  So try something a little unconventional and see if it works for you.  I’ll always evaluate/tinker/experiment/analyze what I’m doing, but won’t go back to the soft and fragile days of the endurance phase.  Just in case I haven’t thrown in enough cliches to convince you, I’ll sum it up by asking: why bang your head against the wall when you can have your cake and eat it too?

Eat well and exercise hard, but not too often.

-In health and consequent free time