Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Importance of Failure


Failure is a dirty word to most people.

Tell someone they failed and it conjures up memories of 9th grade algebra tests or not getting the part in the community playhouse version of Music Man. Failure usually results from not trying hard enough or not being good enough. It can leave you feeling empty, frustrated, angry with yourself or with the teacher who graded the exam or the director who didn’t appreciate your version of "Seventy-Six Trombones.”

Failure can make people give up or make them try harder.

Today’s theme is FAILURE is NOT BAD, FAILURE is ESSENTIAL.

Striving for failure is the best way to improve. In the technology field, engineers try their best to stress their software or networks to find the limits so they can focus on how to make them better. Scientists will test 100s of hypotheses that don’t pan out, all of which help lead them to the one hypothesis that can be supported by their experiments.

For some reason, in fitness, people want constant success. Unfortunately, lack of failure will hold you back.

We do a lot of circuit training in our boot camps and with our clients. Each station in the circuit is an exercise and the goal is to do as many reps of the exercise as you can in 40 seconds. It is pretty straight forward. Learn the movement, select the weight and go for it.

What is interesting to see is how different people approach the 40 seconds. A common question is “What weight should I use?” I give some guidance based on their current capabilities and then let them choose.

Some people choose a weight that will allow them to succeed. Success meaning being able to do the exercise for the full 40 seconds without stopping. Others choose a weight that will force them to fail. They can’t lift the weight continually for 40 seconds and have to stop early or rest in the middle and then continue.

And without question, the people who get the best results are the people who choose a weight that forces them to fail.

Failure is the best way to shine a light on your limitations. Reaching the point of failure will do two things:
-         show you what your maximum capacity is, and
-         guarantee that you are working your body to that maximum capacity

Once you know what you are currently capable of, you have a measurement tool for the next time. If you choose 15 lbs dumbbells (remember to put away your 5 lbs dumbbells) and have to stop after 35 seconds then the next time you have a goal to shoot for…get to 36 seconds.

The next time you workout remember to choose a weight that will force failure. It will help you in the long run. 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Paul, how do I increase the distance I can run?

"I have gotten myself into a running "hole," where 2 miles is really my limit. The good thing is that my average mile time has been decreasing, but I really want to start incrementally increasing my distance. Do you have any suggestions? I decided to suck it up and run 3 miles yesterday, but I was VERY tired from 2.5 to 3 miles. Let me know if you have any advice!" - from one of our Elevation Boot Campers


Increasing your distance is pretty simple. First off, make the increases gradually. Increasing from 2 miles to 3 miles won’t work very well. Think about increasing your longest run by a ¼ mile a week or ½ mile at the most. So next week plan to do a 2.25 or 2.5 miler. It sounds like 2.5 is doable now.   

Building Speed
Keep in mind that not every running workout needs to be a fixed distance at a steady pace. What I suggest for people who want to get faster is to pick a distance (let’s say a 5k) and alternate running a fast ½ mile with a slow ½ mile. The fast part is faster than your steady run pace and the slow part is slower than it. As you get used to it then you can switch to a fast ½ mile followed by a slow ¼ mile. Keep increasing the length of the fast part and decreasing the length of the slow part. Do this gradually over the course of a month or two. You’ll see your speed on your 5k improve. You can also do this based on time rather than distance, i.e. run fast for 2 minutes then slow for 2 minutes working your way up to fast for 3 minutes and slow for 1 minute.

Example Speed Building Plan:
Week 1 – Alternate fast ½ mile with a slow ½ mile
Week 2 – Alternate fast ¾ mile with a slow ½ mile
Week 3 – Alternate fast ¾ mile with a slow ¼ mile
Week 4 – Alternate fast 1 mile with a slow ½ mile
Week 5 – Alternate fast 1 mile with a slow ¼ mile
Week 6 – Go for your best 5k time
Week 7 – Set a new goal speed and start all over.

Building Distance
The principles of building speed also apply to people who want to increase their distance as well. Pick a fixed distance (let’s say 4 miles). Run one mile then walk ¼ mile, run another mile then walk another 1/4. Repeat that pattern until you reach 4 miles. As you improve, lengthen the run portion to 1.5 miles. Gradually work up to a 2 mile run followed by a ¼ mile walk and then a 2 mile run. Then just eliminate the walk altogether and you’re at 4 miles.

Example Distance Building Plan:
Week 1 - Run 1 mile, walk ¼ mile, run 1 mile, walk ¼ mile….repeat to 4 miles
Week 2 – Run 1.5 miles, walk ¼ mile, run 1.5 miles, walk ¼ mile, run 1 mile
Week 3 – Run 2 miles, walk ¼ mile, run 2 miles
Week 4 – Run 2 miles, jog ¼ mile, run 2 miles
Week 5 – Run 4 miles
Week 6 – Set a new goal distance and create a pattern based on this format.

Distance and speed improvements occur gradually, but using this philosophy is the best way to guarantee progress. Remember, these are just guidelines. It is best to understand the principles and adjust the distances based on what your body can handle and what your goals are.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
www.ActivePersonalFitness.com
267.626.7478 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Get Your 8 Seconds Back

Saturday afternoon I watched the last hour of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Qualifier. It’s pretty simple, be one of the top 3 male or female finishers and you qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team and compete at the London Games.

I’ll admit, watching a marathon is a bit boring but the storylines were compelling and tactics were interesting. Plus, I have incredible respect for the amount of hard training that these competitors put in. To compete at that level you have to devote your life to your sport. The 26.2 mile race was done at about a 5:00 minute mile pace for the men and just over 5:00 minutes per mile for the women. Personally, I can’t run one mile at that pace so I’m in awe.

Many of the 6 qualifiers set personal best times for the marathon. The women’s winner, Shalane Flanagan, was running only her second marathon ever after a sucessful career running the 10,000 meters (just over 6 miles). The men’s winner, Meb Keflezighi, is a storied American distance runner who also set a personal best and could have set the event record but he chose (correctly, in my opinion) to grab an American flag and celebrate over the last half mile when he knew the race was won.

But this blog is not about the winners from Saturday. This blog is about 8 seconds. It’s about Dathan Ritzenhein. Dathan is known as “Ritz” and wears that name on his race bib.

Ritzenhein was a high school track legend. He carried that success through college and his professional career. In 2008, he finished 9th at the Beijing Olympics in the marathon. He was the top American finisher.

Yesterday, at the U.S. Olympic Qualifier he finished 4th. Nothing is worse than finishing fourth. No medal, no headlines, no Olympic team. Ritz was part of a group of 4 men that separated themselves from the field midway through the race. Around mile 20 he began to lose touch with the leaders. He quickly fell 45 seconds behind Meb, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman. But Ritz is a true pro. He kept running his race and began to make a move over the last 3 miles. Abdi had fallen back a little and the race for third was on.

Ritz kept closing the gap. 25 seconds behind. 15 seconds behind. 10 seconds behind. He kept coming strong. Abdi was hurting but still had that coveted third spot.

When Abdi crossed the finish line you could see Ritz about 100 meters back. Meb and Hall were already draped in American flags. Tears of joy were streaming down their face. Abdi joined them. The Olympic team was set. And 8 seconds later, Ritzenhein crossed the line. 8 seconds in a 26.2 mile race. That’s it.

I’ve been in that position before albeit on a much lower profile scale. You know a certain time will qualify you for an event, catching someone on the course will get you into the top 3, a goal you've set your sights on appears to be just out of reach, or you are 8 lbs toward that 10 lbs weight loss and you just can't seem to make it. I know what was running through Ritz’s mind. He was replaying every workout, every prep run, every training meal, every chance he had to go faster in training that may have given him the 8 seconds he needed.

We all have fitness goals. If you don’t, you should. Read this blog for tips. And sometimes we fall short of reaching them. That’s your 8 seconds.

Ritzenhein probably thought about workouts where he didn’t give it his all. Keep that in mind as you approach your next workout. Do you want to give away those 8 seconds and miss reaching your goal? Or do you want to grab more weight or stay on the treadmill another 10 minutes or add another workout to your week so that you don’t have to wonder what if?

Like I tell my Spinning class every Sunday morning. Your goals are reached through the work you do when no one is watching.

8 seconds.

Every second counts.

Friday, November 11, 2011

But It's Not Berry Season

Today we have a guest blogger, Chris Rosenbruch. Chris is a client of mine and during a recent session we were discussing the perception that it is hard to eat fruits and vegetables during the "off-season". I quickly realized that Chris is an expert in this area. Here is her advice for buying produce over the winter months. Also, check out the resources she lists at the end of the article. 

BUT IT’S NOT BERRY SEASON!

Last week I stopped in the local supermarket.  It was a clear, crisp fall day.  As I approached the store, I admired the colorful display of some of nature’s bounty of the traditional autumn harvest; pumpkins, gourds, and cabbages surrounded by chrysanthemums. My expectation was to find the continuation of that bounty inside.  Instead, front and center of the store’s produce section, I found….Berries? Yes, a full display of strawberries, blackberries, and red raspberries! They were labeled, ‘Made in USA’. Well, at least they didn’t say ‘Made in China’.  Even though the presentation was beautiful, I was suspect. How would they taste? After all, it isn’t berry season.  Not here anyway, in Bucks County. As it turns out, they had been shipped from California so there really was no telling just how fresh they were.  I hesitated only long enough to consider that their purchase wasn’t worth it.  I was confident that they wouldn’t taste like the ripe, sweet berries I had eaten this past June when they were abundant at the local farmer’s market.

The new government food pyramid guidelines suggest we now load our plates half with fresh fruits and vegetables…preferably locally grown. Why? Mainly, because fresh picked produce means the fruit or vegetable is ripe and ready for eating.  Ripe means not only will it taste and smell good, it also means that the plant food, picked at its peak, is the most nutrient dense.  

We now have access to a global multitude of produce. ‘Variety’ has greatly expanded to the point where we need a mobile dictionary to identify some of the uniquely shaped and textured food forms with the gourmet names found in the produce section of our supermarkets. It’s easy to get lost in the ‘cornfield’.

We live in an agriculturally rich area with an abundance of fresh, ready-to-eat produce grown by farmers who are happy to share their knowledge of each variety of fruit and vegetable. In our area, there are over 60 farms, orchards, and markets cultivating more than 45 different plant foods!

Even though we’re nearing the end of the 7-month fresh fruit and vegetable growing season here in the Northeast, don’t panic.  There are still plenty of choices.   Here are some of the delicious options:

Fruit:  Apples, Cranberries, Grapes, and Pears
Vegetables:  Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage (including Brussels Sprouts), Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Kale, , Mushrooms, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Radishes, Spinach, Squash (including Butternut, Buttercup, Delicata, Kaboucha), Swiss Chard, and Turnips (including Rutabaga).

ENJOY!

Sources:
USDA’s MyPlate – www.mypyramid.gov
BucksCountyTaste.com – great website for foodies interested in supporting local businesses
Fresh from Bucks County Farms- A guide to roadside Markets and PYO Farms – call 215-345-3283 for your free brochure.
Winter Sun Farms CSA – offers frozen produce during the 5-month winter season. www.wintersunfarmsgp.com
Cascadian Farms organic frozen produce – www.cascadianfarms.com.  Their produce is frozen 3 hours after it’s been picked!
In Defense of Food – an eater’s manifesto – Michael Pollan
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – a year of food life – Barbara Kingsolver







Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Your Own Reality Show

Your Own Reality Show

Over the last 15 years reality TV has provided you with endless hours of guilty-pleasure entertainment or completely ruined the medium of television, depending on your point of view.

From the early days of MTV’s Real World (yes, I watched the first season) to the Kardashians (never seen it and probably couldn’t pick Kim out of a lineup if I had to) we have been provided with 24x7 access to EVERYTHING. We’ve seen Jessica Simpson ponder Chicken of the Sea and The Donald fire countless B-listers.

If a reality star has done it, we’ve seen it.

Imagine if you were starring in your own reality TV show. What if the eyes of the world were on you all day long? What would you do with your leftover Halloween candy? Would you sneak that late night bowl of ice cream? Would you tell your personal trainer about your cupcake addiction if you knew he/she could see it on TV later that night?

The answer is you might do those things, but if you did you would own the action and the consequences much better than you do now.

Here are a few tips for reaching your fitness goals by playing the part of the reality star:

1)      Communicate your weight loss and fitness goals to all your friends. Let them know what you are trying to accomplish. Some won’t care but enough of them will that you will get energy from their encouragement and they will hold you accountable by regularly asking how it’s going.
2)      Imagine that there is a live feed camera in your kitchen. When you select your foods from the fridge think about that camera. Would you want everyone to see you eat your poor food choices?
3)      Journal your workouts online through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Let your friends know what you did for your workout today.
4)      Log your food journal on a public site like a blog. Own up to your goals and what you are doing to fulfill them.
5)      Start doing it this week!!!

Be well,

Paul

Monday, September 26, 2011

Paleo Part 3 - The Good, the Bad and the Great Bonk

Paleo – The Good, the Bad and the Great Bonk

It’s been about two months since I began eating Paleo. Eating what?? If you missed the first two blog posts about this, check them out here.


So how is it going? I’ve been getting this question a lot from clients, boot campers and friends.

Let’s look at this in terms of the good, the bad and the ugly (or the Great Bonk).

The Good. Always start with the good stuff. I switched to Paleo and immediately saw significant positive changes in my body composition, physical appearance and energy.

  • I dropped 9 lbs in the first few weeks. It was all fat loss. My body fat % dropped from about 13 to around 8.5%. Most of it was in the lay around my gut.
  • That change in body comp led to a leaner, stronger look that was noticed by my colleagues and friends. It was without a doubt the leanest and strongest I’ve ever looked.
  • My energy level improved as did my sleeping habits. No more late night carb binges and no more bloated feeling throughout the day. I woke up ready to go.
  • And without getting into too much detail, my digestive system profoundly changed for the better.

The Bad. Any significant change to your eating habits is accompanyied by challenges. For me, the nutritional changes were not too bad. I thought giving up sweetened drinks would be hard but it wasn’t. Unsweetened iced tea became my drink of choice. Eliminating dairy was easier than I thought as well. I replaced milk with almond or coconut milk. No problem. My grain and processed carb consumption was also low.

But there are challenges that have made it tough to stick to Paleo.

  • Weight loss is not a goal of mine. Losing the 9 lbs put my under 200 for the first time in 20 years. There is something about being under that number that concerns me. Even though I felt fine I thought I needed to eat more or add more carbs to up my weight.
  • My friends are not necessarily eating Paleo. I have determined that keeping granola and ice cream in the house for my girlfriend when she visits is not something I can do. If those two items are around I eat them, plain and simple.
  • It can be expensive to buy whole foods all the time. I found about a 25% increase in my food budget. I believe it is worth the investment but it is something to be aware of.
  • Meal prep takes time. My schedule permits me time to prep meals on some days and no time on other days. I have friends who do all their meal prep on Sundays for the week. I have not gotten to that level of nutritional organization yet. Still working on it.

The Ugly (or The Great Bonk). I tend to do a lot of endurance events. 5+ mile runs and 50+ mile bike rides can be weekly things. On one of my first Paleo-fueled training sessions I learned an important lesson.

I was prepping for a Run/Canoe/Bike/Run event with my training partner Michelle. One of our early training sessions was a 40 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run. The ride started well. We did the first 25 miles at a strong pace. I had fueled up on bananas and other fruit in the morning but I was not taking any energy bars (lots o’ carbs) or energy gels (even more simple carbs) because they weren’t Paleo.

Michelle challenged me to do the last 8 miles at race pace. That’s where the trouble began. We rode hard and with one mile left I felt some weakness in my legs. I stopped at a grocery store and grabbed two pears and quickly downed them to get me through the run.

The start of the run was ugly. I was slow and had no rhythm. A mile in Michelle recognized there was a problem and suggested we turn back. “Nope, let’s keep going.” Bad idea. I bonked (athletes term for running out of energy) bad. In one fell swoop I got light headed and the world began to shimmer like an impressionist painting. I slowed to  a walk. Michelle stuck with me. And for the two miles back to the car I was walking slowly. Any effort to jog lasted only 10 seconds. My body was desperately looking for my energy to burn and I had not been giving it enough. I had never experienced a bonk like that before. I knew that going forward if I expect to do long efforts I need to change up my Paleo plan.

The Bottom Line. I have made some tweaks to my Paleo eating. I keep a supply of natural energy bars on hand and take energy gels with me on longer events. I also have become less rigid with my Paleo eating to help stop the weight loss. I am not opposed to an occasional pasta meal or some desserts. However, that has led me to be a little too laxed lately. I am still trying to strike a balance.

Look for more updates in the future. 

Monday, September 12, 2011

It’s what you do on the tough days that matters

It’s what you do on the tough days that matters.

Saturday I participated in my favorite event of the year. It is a two-person team triathlon that features a ¾ mile run into a 1.5 mile canoe into a 14-mile bike ride into a 5K run. Both partners need to stay together throughout the race.

The weather was accomodating considering the massive amounts of rain we’ve had in Philadelphia the last two months. Skies were clear, the course was cleaned up, temps were mild. My partner and I were well rested and ready to go. As were several of my other friends who were doing the race. We were all ready to post our best times, maybe get a good result and possibly be on the podium for our division.

But you never know what might happen. Did the weather change? No. Did someone get dumped out of the canoe? Maybe, but not that I saw.

No, my good friend and former race partner sprained his ankle a quarter mile into the ¾ mile run. Not sure what happened but with a large group running down a narrow path it doesn’t take much to turn a perfect day for a race into a dissappointing day where you and your partner can’t finish.

The thing is, the “can’t finish” part doesn’t come into my friend Mike’s vocabularly. At 63, he is as fit as the fittest 30-year-olds I know. I can’t keep up with him on a bike. I’d like to think I can out run him but secretly I never enter running events with him so he doesn’t have the opportunity to prove me wrong.

Mike and his partner finished the run to the canoe, proceded to paddle to the 8th best time and then got on the bikes and worked their way up to 6th overall. They averaged 17.4 mph. And one of them had a sprained ankle.

Then came the 5K. 3.1 miles of running. That just wasn’t going to work. So they walked it. It took them almost an hour. One team after another passing them. Teams they knew they would have beaten.

Mike hid the pain long enough to run the last few hundred yards to the finish line with his partner. They would have finished in the top 5 if it weren’t for the injury. They finished 50th.

The point here is not “gut it out no matter how bad the pain.” I don’t believe in that. There is no need to risk permanent injury. Mike assessed the issue and decided to keep going. He knows his body. His partner stuck with him.

The point is anyone can have a great day when the conditions are perfect and there are no obstacles in your way. Sunny skies, well-paved roads, nice bikes, etc. The question is, how do you respond when something doesn’t go according to the perfect script? Do you pack it in and say “wait till next year”? Do you let it ruin your whole race? Or do you just work harder on the canoe and the bike knowing that the run is going to suffer?

The sweet justice is that they still qualified for 2nd in the Masters Division and collected a medal. Goes to show you what happens when you finish.