Most people live perfect lives, at least that’s how it seems on social media. Even in the midst of a pandemic, life somehow looks greener on other people’s Instagram and Facebook feeds. I’ve tried to be careful in this blog to not sound too self-involved or perfect, but I know I’ve been guilty of glossing over the dingy parts of my journey. “Look at me I’ve lost weight, it wasn’t even hard, aren’t I swell”. The only thing missing is a selfie of me in a Speedo taken on the deck of my yacht. Trust me there’s as much chance of me being photographed in a Speedo as there is of me owning a yacht. Despite how it might appear, this journey I’m on hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine. I have struggled. There are days when I just want to curl up with a bag of chips and box of beer. In fact, I’ve failed in one major area. No, it’s not filing my tax return although I thought about it. It’s strength training.
I have no idea what happened. I was going along so well and then suddenly I drove straight off a cliff. Just to recap for those of you who may not have been glued to this self-indulgent blog; last August, finding myself in pitiful physical shape, I vowed to get into the best shape of my life by the time I turned 60 in September 2021. I knew this would be challenging as I have a history of starting projects, hobbies, new habits and not coming close to finishing them. I start out okay but around day 45 I lose interest in said project and I let it drift into obscurity. I was determined not to let it happen this time as I had loads at stake – my health being the primary item. Truth is I’ve managed to stay on track – for the most part. I’ve dropped a ton of weight and am as fit as I’ve been in a long time. I continue to eat well, and I walk & run regularly. But when it comes to strength training, well, that’s where we veer towards the cliff.
Like most guys I have, over the years, longed to have a body like Dwyane “the Rock” Johnson. Unfortunately, I was blessed with the body of a Rock, Chris Rock, and last summer it was more like a Chris Christy body than either Rock. Throughout my life I’ve made attempts to upgrade my muscular size and physique by joining various fitness clubs. Gyms like “Fitness Plus”, “Jacked” and my favorite “The Muscle Factory”. These are the kind of places where testosterone flows like tap water. However, the only thing that was improved was the gym’s bottom line. I had the mistaken idea that muscles came with the membership. I’d show up for a month or so (probably the famed 45 days) and copy everyone else by working some of the machines and admiring myself in the mirrors. After that the only thing I’d do is help to cover their rent until my membership ran out (usually a year) or I’d had enough of donating to their cause.
Now as near as I can tell being in the best physical shape of one’s life should probably include improving one’s muscular system. To be clear I’m not strength training to get “jacked pecs” or “buff biceps”. No, this is much more basic. It’s about being able to get out of bed, catch myself when I trip or garden without being crippled the next day. The problem is we lose muscle, and bone mass, as we age. Starting around 30 we lose five percent of our muscle mass per decade and we annually lose .3 to .5 percent of our bone mass as well. Strength training can stop that. Furthermore, we can become stronger as we age rather than weaker. This is important for a variety of reasons other than bulking up and looking hot in a Speedo.
When we work our muscles by moving heavy weights, we also work the neuro pathways between these muscles and our brain. These pathways can become “roads less traveled” if we don’t work them. When the connection between mind and muscle becomes weak or is lost, we can develop issues with strength and balance. This is partially why older people are susceptible to falls. Not only do these diminished connections impact your balance, but they can also impair your ability to stop or break a fall – broken hip anyone? The better the connections between our brain and our muscles the more resources we can build and maintain for movement and balance. All of this leads to a healthier more enjoyable life.
Okay so maintaining and building muscle is important but the fear of being old and frail clearly hasn’t been enough to get me doing what I should be doing which is strength training. My go-to exercise is walking or running not push ups. To fix this I’ve turned to an expert in habit formation – James Clear. He’s the author of the wildly successful book Atomic Habits and an equally successful newsletter (https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/refer?rh_ref=bacd5bab). Based on his work, here are the three things I’m going to do to make strength training an ongoing part of my workout routine.
- Start small – Clear recommends starting small and growing a habit. I have a history of starting big and killing any hope of developing a habit. This time I’m taking his advice and starting by doing 5 push ups a day and increasing them by five weekly. The truth is 5 push ups isn’t going to get me very far, but it is going to help me establish a pattern. No matter how small the pattern once it’s started it can be grown.
- Make it easy. It’s important to reduce the barriers to doing the activity as much as possible. For instance, if you want to create the habit of reading nightly, start by placing your book next to bedside. If you have to go search for a book the chances of you reading drop significantly. Make it easy to start the habit. When it comes to strength training one of the barriers for me is knowing what to do. I have a bunch of dumbbells but never know exactly what to do with them (I might start by blowing the dust off them). So, to make it easy I’ve also signed up for Apple’s Fitness program. They have all sorts of online exercise programs including strength training. I simply log in, choose a duration and start to work out. I don’t have to plan what exercises to do, they do it for me. That makes it simple. I like simple.
- Never miss twice – Why is it that good habits are tough to form but easy to break while the bad habits are easy to form and tough to break. Ask any smoker, they’ll tell you how easy it was to pick up the habit and how tough it is to quit. Therefore, it is vital that once you’ve established a pattern or habit you keep doing it. Clear says that it’s okay to miss your activity once but if you miss it twice, you’re in danger of dropping the habit completely. I have a history of this so it’ll be vital that I set a schedule and keep to it. While I won’t be strength training every day – you need to schedule rest days to recuperate – I’ll need to be sure that I work out when I’ve scheduled it so that it becomes a firm habit.
This is just scratching the surface on the science behind creating new habits. The author goes into much more detail on how to set yourself up for success. I recommend reading his book or at very least subscribing to his newsletter – it’s free! I’m planning on turning this “fail” around. I know I’ll never look like the Rock – either Rock – but this really isn’t about how I look. This habit is about how I feel. Not only do I want to feel physically good, but I also want that great feeling you get when you set a goal and achieve it. And that’s way better than all the “likes” I’d get from my Speedo clad selfie!