Are you a
compulsive, task-oriented individual? For many of us
such behavior is natural, simply our normal way of life.
I have always been that way, the old all or nothing
attitude. Whether I'm exercising or working in the
garden, it's always the same approach. Go as hard as I
can until the task is complete. When I was younger, this
process proved satisfactory, but with age I have
attempted to address my physical activities more
sensibly.
Let's begin with a brief self-assessment
to see if this column has any practical application to
your life. Please respond to the following statements as
best describes your typical behavior.
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
1.
Once I begin mowing the lawn, I keep going until I
finish the job. |
___ |
___ |
|
2.
Once I start raking leaves in the yard I stay with
it until the lawn is leafless. |
___ |
___ |
|
3.
Once I start cultivating the garden, I keep hoeing
until every weed is history. |
___ |
___ |
|
4.
When I ride the exercise cycle, I pedal until my
pre- determined training time is attained, no matter
how fatigued I feel. |
___ |
___ |
|
5.
When I do my strength training workout, I complete
all of my predetermined repetitions, even if I have
to compromise form on the last few reps. |
___ |
___ |
|
6.
When I take a run, I never slow down or walk even
though it would be better to do so. |
___ |
___ |
If
you answered yes to three or more of these statements,
then you are probably a task-oriented individual who may
benefit from the following information.
Here's the final test. It's December and imagine the
forecast is for 12 inches of snow. It's Saturday and
there are some good college football games on
television. Here are your choices:
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
(a)
You quickly go to the store and purchase a
snowblower. |
___ |
___ |
|
(b)
You contract with the teenager next door to shovel
your driveway. |
___ |
___ |
|
(c)
You wait until all the snow has fallen (and all the
games are over) so that you shovel only once. |
___ |
___ |
|
(d)
You shovel the driveway whenever four inches of snow
accumulates. |
___ |
___ |
Depending upon your personal health and fitness, you may
be wise to use a snowblower or have someone younger and
stronger shovel the driveway until you are able to do so
without risk. Be sure to check with your physician
regarding your physical capacity for vigorous activity
such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, hoeing the
garden, and exercise.
However, even if you are in good shape, I strongly
recommend shoveling small layers of snow at a time,
rather than hoisting foot high loads on the end of your
shovel. Three shoveling sessions may seem like a lot,
but the overall effect is much better tolerated and far
less likely to cause injury, because every shovel lift
is relatively light and easy to perform. On the other
hand, waiting until all of the snow has fallen makes
every shovel lift a near maximum effort. Although the
total time expenditure may be a little longer by
clearing the driveway three times, it is time well spent
from an exercise perspective, and time wisely spent from
an injury prevention perspective. Your back, shoulders,
arms, and legs will be most appreciative if you do three
low effort work bouts rather than a single high effort
session.
This same reasoning process may be applied to raking
leaves. It's okay to do one section of your lawn a day,
rather than feel compelled to eliminate every leaf on
your property before putting the rake away. Working in
sections is a much more sensible approach than doing it
all and feeling it all for several days following your
yard session.
Of
course, this same philosophy is equally relevant to your
exercise program. Research shows that three 10-minute
walks on a given day are equivalent in fitness benefit
to one 30-minute walk. In other words, it is fine to
break your exercise program into manageable segments,
rather than completing a comprehensive workout and
feeling fatigued for several days following.
We
like to encourage this exercise approach in our fitness
center, even on the strength training equipment. For
example, instead of doing two exercises for each muscle
group during long and infrequent workouts, we recommend
doing one exercise for each muscle group on Monday, a
different exercise for each muscle group on Wednesday,
and back to the first exercise protocol on Friday. This
approach permits a consistent exercise program without
overtraining and experiencing overuse injuries.
Another favorite for people over forty is interval
training. Instead of maintaining a steady state of
uninterrupted aerobic exercise for the entire workout,
consider alternating between higher effort and lower
effort periods throughout your exercise session. For
example, if you really find your 40-minute runs too
demanding to be enjoyable, consider the following
interval training approaches.
Approach A:
Harder Training Day
Run 6 minutes; jog/walk 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes; jog/walk 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes; jog/walk 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes; jog/walk 2 minutes
Run 6 minutes; jog/walk 2 minutes
Approach B:
Easier Training Day
Run 4 minutes; jog/walk 4 minutes
Run 4 minutes; jog/walk 4 minutes
Run 4 minutes; jog/walk 4 minutes
Run 4 minutes; jog/walk 4 minutes
Run 4 minutes; jog/walk 4 minutes
Being compulsive may be acceptable if you are twenty,
but a more relaxed approach to physical labor and
exercise is definitely preferred for those of us over
40, at least for purposes of general conditioning.
Competitive athletes must obviously put greater effort
into their training programs. However, if your primary
goal is physical fitness, you should be pleasantly
surprised by how well your body responds to regular and
reasonable exercise sessions.
Wayne
L. Westcott, Ph.D.,
is fitness director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy,
Massachusetts, and strength training consultant for
IDEA, the American Council on Exercise, the
International Fitness Institute, and the YMCA of the
USA. Dr. Westcott is the author of the college textbook Strength Fitness, and the professional
textbook Be Strong.
More
Books from Dr. Westcott
CEC:
Current Strength Training Research
by Dr. Westcott
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