I'm a big kid at heart. I am still intrigued by the magic of Disneyland. I make wishes on shooting stars and dandelions. I hate doing chores. I love watching cartoons. I have aspirations of one day opening an indoor tree climbing gym. I think boys are icky - well okay maybe not that part.
Do you remember being a little kid? Did you ever run so fast you thought your legs were going to fall off? Or feel like an Olympic gymnast swinging on the monkey bars? Remember when PE was your favorite time of day because you'd get to be active? When did all that exercise become a chore? The point is, we were active in our childhood because we made it fun! We ran around because we chose to, not because we felt like we had to! Make your workouts fun again. BE A KID AGAIN! Involve your friends and family! Seriously, try playing "Duck Duck Goose" as an adult. It's exhausting. Sit down, get up, SPRINT, sit back down. Interval workout baby!
How many of you have ever tried to have a conversation with a 3-year-old? I'm sure lots of you have, which means you are well aware that the favorite word of every 3-year-old is "Why?" So what happened to that? When did we feel like we know so much that we stopped asking "Why?" Surely we're not so arrogant as to think we know it all. When you're working towards your fitness goals - whether they be to build muscle, burn fat, run faster, run further, lift heavier, live longer - don't forget to seek the answer to WHY you're doing the things that you do. Why should you lift in that repetition range? Why should you be eating those sorts of foods at those specific times? Why do you have to drink so much damn water? If you know the answers to these, good job little slugger!
Let's play $10,000 Pyramid. Goldfish crackers... plastic bag full of cheerios... peanut butter and celery... granola bars... THINGS THAT YOU SNACK ON! Ding ding ding! Winner. We ate more frequently as kids. We snacked! Common meal plan as adults: coffee for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, mid-afternoon latte, dinner, DONE. Bad idea. 3 planned meals a day all involving protein, carbs, and healthy fats, with 3 snacks a day, MUCH better idea. Eat like a kid, small frequent meals!
You know what else we did better as kids than we do as adults? Rest. We took naps, we went to bed at a consistent time. We slept in without guilt. So do it! SLEEP! Sure you may have to sit down and manage your schedule a bit, but you need sleep. And I know some of you are saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Well cool, if that's your attitude that whole "dead" part is going to come MUCH sooner than you think. 8 hours of sleep per night gives you 16 quality hours of day. 5 hours of sleep gives you 19 ass-dragging coffee-chugging fatigued-body hours of the day. Not really a great trade-off!
So my advice to you - be a kid. Train like a kid - make it fun! Think like a kid - ask why! Eat like a kid - small frequent meals! Rest like a kid - ni-night!
Curious strategy! Proper exercises are important. But the same importance has proper nutrition. I have stumbled upon a curious article providing the analysis, conducted by nutrition scientists, on which elements are essential in muscle building and how they work - http://bit.ly/1tfpube. Very interesting information for all athletes.
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