Getting My Butt In Gear And Into Shape — Training Myself

One of the toughest things about being a behavior professional is that one doesn’t have many excuses. When I do something stupid, I can easily identify it and the triggers (if any) and a way to avoid it the next time by choosing an alternate behavior instead. That doesn’t mean I will, but it means I can, and then I can feel a bit stupid again for failing to choose the better behavior.

It also means I know better than to feel bad about a past decision instead of simply focusing on new behavior. But, y’know, the cycle repeats.

Right now, though, I’m applying my professional knowledge with good results, and I’m blogging here to keep up my motivation and, maybe, help someone else do something similar!

(warning: boring personal blog, not about cool dogs or anything.)

I used to be in good condition — not an Ironman athlete or anything, but  during college I was lean and rode horses 5 days a week (I was on the equestrian team). A few people thought I was too thin, but I wasn’t dieting or anything; I was just very active.

Fast-forward a decade or so, and I weighed 20 pounds more and had the cardio endurance of an asthmatic sloth. I knew I was in the worst shape of my life, but I wasn’t particularly successful in doing much about it; even if I monitored what I ate, I liked food too much to keep a draconian diet, and being self-employed and a weeeeee bit overbooked I couldn’t stand to make time for exercise, which I usually found boring and resented as lost time.

I noticed I lost muscle tone as Laev got better trained (holding back or tugging with a crazy Schutzhund dog is definitely a legitimate workout!). Even my active dog hobby was failing me!

Finally I hit the tipping point, though I didn’t recognize it yet. I looked in the mirror and was embarrassed by my shape. I still had a normal-range BMI, and a few people still referred to me as “naturally skinny,” but I knew I was simply dressing well and coming out ahead in comparisons. Even if I weren’t obese, I wasn’t healthy. I decided I should try a more focused effort, but….

About that time, my chiropractor sent me to a physical therapist, to address the fact that my pelvis kept rotating out of position. The PT said my core wasn’t strong enough to hold it in place. That didn’t make much sense to me, since it always slipped the same way even though he said I wasn’t stronger on one side than another, and since I was able to do everything the PT asked, and since the goal he gave me was six times the goal on the printed homework sheet so I obviously wasn’t in that bad a shape, but I dutifully decided to do the core exercises.

They were BOOOOOORING. Even though the entire routine took only five minutes, I procrastinated and skipped them. Professionally speaking, the long-term prospect of a painless pelvis wasn’t enough to reinforce the present prosaic protracted planks. After two weeks, in which I’d done my daily exercises perhaps three times, I had to find something else.

What would be a good core exercise, that wouldn’t be boring? It was okay if it took more than five minutes, as long as it was both interesting and effective. I could justify it as a work break if it actually felt like a break instead of a chore. I thought about core movements and hit on belly dance.

Hello, Youtube. Hey, bellydance is fun! And I could burn a few calories while building my core, too. I spent a couple of weeks hopping through Youtube videos and trying to get a feel for if I wanted to invest in more formal instruction.

No, of course that’s not me. I’m blonde.

And then I happened across a Youtube video which probably shouldn’t have been in my search results, but there it was — just a very short demo of how to correctly perform some exercise. I can’t even remember what it was, just a few seconds long, but I followed the link back to the home site: www.BodyRock.tv.

SAINTED BOVINES. The site was plastered with photos of one of those genetically-gifted supermodel types, only ripped like a classical statue. Mildly curious and ready to be disdainful, I watched a couple of workout videos and was struck by several key items:

1. The workout videos showed the subject really struggling with the exercises — not smiling and bouncing and generally making the viewer feel totally inadequate. This is because one of the BodyRock principles is to push as hard as possible each time, but still, it was nice to know that even this Amazon had to exert herself.
2. The workout videos aren’t typical workout videos, in which the viewer follows along and tries to keep up — instead, the instructor demonstrated the exercises, both in her own intense workout and in step-by-step explanations, and then the viewer went off to do them at his own pace and level.
3. The workouts were all interval training, most under 20 minutes. That was half the time I was spending on the few workouts I did.
4. The workouts, while obviously intense (I read later that some Marines use them!), always included variations for beginners or for those who don’t have special equipment. Anyone could do this, anywhere.

And, the entire site was free. What to lose?

So I tried one. I did beginner variations, without any equipment, using a free Interval Training app on my Android. (How I adore my smartphone.) It kicked my butt, but I finished, and I thought, “Whoa, I could do this.”

And thus began my journey. I started slow — the day after my first workout, I went on a girls’ weekend and didn’t try again for a few days — but I kept going.

And I’m discovering that I like interval training. It sneaks challenges at me from my blind side. Last week I didn’t have the equipment for the suggested exercise, so I decided to substitute burpees instead. It wasn’t until I was finished that I realized I had done a dozen burpees in my routine — a feat I would have been reluctant to try directly. But because it was broken up into tiny pieces, I had been successful without feeling over-faced.

Likewise, some hours after a particularly tough session earlier this week, I calculated that I had actually done nearly 400 dumbbell squats. And 18 commando pushups. And more. In 12 minutes. No wonder I was feeling it! But by the time I realized what a daunting task it was, it was already done. I didn’t get a chance to feel scared — I’d already beat it.

So here’s what I’m observing now, behaviorally, about my new program:

1. A boring 5-minute routine is less likely to occur than an interesting 40-minute routine. Mental engagement counts.
2. An interesting 15-minute routine is more likely to occur than an interesting 40-minute routine. Time counts.
3. Once the most likely target behavior (interesting 15-minute routine) is chosen, reinforcement still needs to occur. For me, in this early stage, that can still be the sheer wonder of what I’m able to accomplish, and I give myself full license to be impressed with myself even if others might sneer at my beginners’ efforts. Later, or for others, that could be intentional focus on physical results (“Whew! Workout’s done — and don’t my abs look nice!”), special treats (“I’ll work out four days this week and buy myself a haircut this weekend”) or whatever works!
4. I incorporate TAGteach principles constantly, even if not formally, to keep myself correct and safe. For squats, for example, I concentrate on “heels deep into floor” and “hips forward” to maintain proper form. I find myself forming quick TAGpoints (focus points, really, as I’m not tagging) as I watch the tutorial, and then I’m good to go!
5. Splitting is awesome. No, really awesome! By doing the training in intervals, I spend less than a minute — and often only 10-15 seconds — on any given exercise. This prevents both boredom and defeatism (“I could never do all that!” can be replaced with “Sure, I can manage 20 seconds of this!”) and gets me to unreal numbers (nearly 400 dumbbell squats) a few at a time.
6. Music helps. A lot. I pick tunes with not just a high RPM, but which build in intensity in a couple of levels. This, I think, provides an energetic environment but also helps “split” the routine into smaller sections (“I have to push harder through this crescendo!”).
7. Training plans rock! Of course they do, and I’ve written a lot on training plans, but here it’s great to have someone else doing the planning for me. If I were doing the same routine repeatedly, it would be both less effective and more boring, and I’d probably drop out pretty quick. And I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to design my own workouts, which would be less demanding and less varied. But because BodyRock offers a new routine every couple of days, with a back catalog of dozens? hundreds? of routines, I will never be without a fresh challenge.

All of these make perfect sense from a behavioral view — I should have been able to see it before! But, I can see it now.

So, I’ve been on my new program two weeks today, and it’s working; my body is changing shape. More importantly, I’m being successful, and that reinforcement will power me on toward future efforts. And when I need some fresh reinforcement, I’m buying myself some sexy workout gear.