"When I run, I feel God's pleasure." -Eric Lidell, Chariots of Fire

I love to run.  But, I’m not a big fan of long distance running or of running for more than 30 minutes.   The good news is that running more than 20 minutes is not necessary, unless you’re training for a specific long distance running event.  You can get just as much benefit from running less than 30 minutes, and I usually aim for 20-25 minutes 3 days per week.
 
Right now, I’m doing 1 3-mile run, 1 sprint interval run, and 1 cardio machine workout each week on Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday.  For the cardio machines, I do 5 minutes on a rower, a versaclimber, a treadmill, and an elliptical.  That’s it for the week, 3 total workouts of cardio, in addition to 3 days of weight training, and some martial arts and tennis mixed in.
 
Here are 8 different workouts, all of which I use:

• Jog 2 Min, Run Fast 1 Min, jog 1 Min, repeat until minute 18, then jog 2 min cool down.
• Run 10 minutes, turn around and come back.
• Jog ¼ mile track loop, Run ¼ mile track loop.  Repeat for a total of a 2-mile run.
• Jog 100m, turn around and sprint 100m, complete 10 sprint reps and 10 jog reps.
• Find a big hill.  Run up fast and down slow 5-10 times. 
• Burn 50 calories on 4 different pieces of cardio equipment as fast as you can.
• 5 minutes on 4 different cardio machines, burn as many calories as you can. 
• Sprint 30 seconds, jog easy 30 seconds.  Repeat for 20 minutes.

 
Some general tips:

• Take a couple minutes to warm up and cool down.
• Focus on intensity more than duration.
• Interval training boosts your metabolism more than long and slow does.
• Make your harder intervals towards the middle of the workout.  Try to peak about 10-12 minutes in.
• Breathe slowly and through the bottom of the chest cavity.  Relax and keep your shoulders down.  Try not to raise your chest when you’re running or breathing hard.
• Stay out of the sun.  Find some shade and stay in it because the sun can really overheat you.

Now get out there and run!  

The muscles of the core- the obliques, the transverse abdominal, the rectus abdominis, and diaphragmatic muscles as well spinal erectors of the back become weak if not engaged periodically.  They can also become stiff and lose nerve function.

The plank has seen its popularity rise like a social media selfie app.  And for good reason (unlike the selfie app)!   It can teach you to use what you have a restore much stability to the core.


To perform a plank properly, do these basic things:

• ​Elbows at a right angle, 90 degrees.
• Look straight down with your neck in good alignment.
• Draw your navel towards your spine.  This is called "drawing in."
• Place your feet shoulder width apart.
• Perform a pelvic tilt, OR hold your spine in a neutral position.  Avoid sagging!
• Brace your core- make it hard to the touch.
• Create some tension, not 100% tension but some, throughout your whole body.
• Squeeze your butt.
• Hold 30 seconds to a minute.

There is more going on than meets the eye with a good plank.  If done correctly, it is an excellent way to re-engage the core musculature and get it working again.  Most people mistake good core training with crunches and sit ups.  Those are fine but a good core program works the entire middle of the body, including the hips, in a multi-planar, static and dynamic way, employing proper breathing, resistance as well as technique.  

Now get off the couch and try it.  If it's too hard at first, use a table or even the back of a chair to practice.  Or do it kneeling to make it easier. 

Enjoy!

If you like this article, you might find one of these programs worthwhile:

3 Big Reasons Your Back Hurts: Click HERE 

20 Minutes to a Better Back and a Stronger Core: Click HERE

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“We live in intelligent times, but not intelligible ones, and intelligibility is its own kind of suffering.” – Alasdair Macintyre
 
Human health requires equal amounts of order and chaos if we are going to be in balance and in harmony.  What I mean by chaos in this sense is positive stress.  You can’t just sit and watch TV all day every day and expect to be healthy.  The world out there is unpredictable and scary but interacting with the chaotic world is a way to become stronger, build ourselves up, and be healthier.  On the other hand though, too much disorder, chaos, uncertainty, and change can leave us feeling stressed out, tired, and unhinged.  For example, no regular employment, no sleep, too many moves across the country, or a divorce can each be exceedingly chaotic.  Too much order on the other hand can sap the adventure, passion, fun, growth, and energy out of our lives.  For example, too much working time with no rest, too much routine, too many rules, and too much time sitting at a work desk indoors create the kind of overly situated dullness that will drain the life out of anyone.  So we need a balance between order and chaos to be in harmony. 
 
Our times are certainly paradoxical.  When it comes to personal behavior we are pretty much free to do anything we want to do, or so it seems.  We can have as much personal chaos as we want to.  But we still crave order deep down.  Some even said that with all the chaotic “change” that we got under one president, 38/50 states voted in a surprising fashion the other way due to their subconscious craving for more social order.  I wouldn’t be surprised, because every action causes a reaction.  Too much change creates the need for order.  One way or the other, nature will come into alignment. 
 
Since the modern narrative of the secular fundamentalists, evangelical atheists, and other cultural “elites” who run our society is to situate us in a random material world full of random cells, with no meaning, no purpose, and no ends, then as long as we don’t make any waves to the contrary by asserting a specific meaning, then maybe we will get a “good” job, and get to spend the rest of our lives consuming. Thus, here we are, untied from any agreed upon cultural story about how we got here, why we are here, what we’re supposed to do, or where we’re going, but we are free to eat, drink, consume, party, have sex, take drugs, and consume all we want to.  Maybe one day, you’ll buy the right house and right brands, and be a “winner.”  
 
Consumed by all this meaningless chaos, we ironically rely on the government to instill order, and on pharmaceutical and technological distractions and addictions to get us through the day, since on the inside we feel chaos and emptiness.  As the philosopher Alasdair Macintyre said “we live in intelligent times, but not intelligible ones, and intelligibility is its own kind of suffering.” “We know something isn’t quite right.  The rules, contracts, and regulations grow.  Our lack of personal order means the government must impose it.  This is where the term “Big Brother” comes from – deprived of meaning or order within our own lives, we outsource it to a collective state who we call big brother. 
 
I’d like to see us focus on healthy order- regular exercise, a set of ethics and values, cooking meals, hobbies, education, getting plenty of rest, a religious and spiritual commitment, as well as healthy chaos- leisure time, trying new things, learning and trying new things and meeting new people, setting goals, going to fairs, festivals, holidays, feasts, parties, and celebrations.  This sounds like a good balance to me.  Let’s try planting a flag right here where we are, claiming these healthy territories of order, but also have the courage to go out there and engage in some healthy chaos. 
 
All stories involve the conflict between chaos and order.  Look at Superman versus Lex Luther, Andy Dufrene in Shawshank Redemption, and Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.  In the Hebrew Bible and many ancient religious texts and stories, the ocean represented chaos.  By picking out the smallest part of our lives and changing course from chaos to order, we can turn the whole thing around.  Take eating for example.  Do you have the discipline just to eat a healthy breakfast every day?  Possibly even eating the same thing, like an apple, oatmeal, and a yogurt, every morning at 7am.  Could this one orderly change make a difference in the rest of our lives?  Small changes like this can change who we are.  No one is going to force order onto your life anymore, unless it is the government enforcing it with a myriad of rules, laws, and regulations.  It’s up to you to find the balance and to get into a healthy harmony. 
 
Too much stress is bad, but no stress at all is just as bad.  Positive stress is positive chaos and positive order.  Negative stress is negative chaos and negative order.  Stay in balance and then step outside of your routine in a planned way so that you can find out what your gifts, talents, and capabilities are, and what you can contribute. 
 
Order means you’re in a state of predictability and routine.  Your parasympathetic nervous system is working to help you digest, recover, and repair.  You know what’s going to happen and what’s coming next.  Too much of this can feel repressive.  Without enough of it though, you won’t feel like you have the structure you need for anything to exist at all.  Just enough order will allow you to move freely, doing things, achieving things, and then to relax and recharge. 
 
Pure chaos is an unpredictable state, a state or place where uncertainty and unpredictability rules.  Your sympathetic nervous system takes over from the parasympathetic and you start producing adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormones.  Cortisol and adrenaline can wreak havoc on your body and immune system in too large of doses.  Chaos exists beyond the blocks of order we put into our lives.  It’s the new project you tackle, it’s getting married, it’s making a new commitment, it’s signing up for a race, or moving to a new place.  Chaos can be a thrill, but it can also wear you out if it crowds out the order you have created in your life. 
 
Aim for a balance.  Use the Motivation Matrix I gave you to do this: 
 
Live by your values.
Set goals.
Take on projects.
Develop habits.
 
Stay in balance, in harmony, and stay ordered with just enough chaos.  Inject chaos to increase agency- or the ability to act.  This “dialectic” is the dialectic of a meaningful quest, a meaningful journey, one in which the hero (you) gets stronger as the story goes on. 
 
Check out Dr. Jordan Peterson’s videos on Youtube, who is a genius in teaching this stuff. 
 
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1.    Training too Hard

Being fit is not that hard.  Walk or jog a few miles a few times a week, or ride a bike.  Lift some weights.  Do some squats, planks, push-ups, and sit ups.  Be active and find a sport or hobby.  If you are training for a specific competition, then yeah you may need to push it more and use a specific training protocol.  But many people train way too hard.  

2.    Not Training Hard Enough

Alright, I know I am contradicting number one.  But some people never push it beyond the routine.  I even saw someone eating peanuts and drinking coke while doing leg extensions one day.  What’s the use?  To get fit, you must push yourself beyond what you’re accustomed to. 

3.    Working Out Too Long

There is no need to be in the gym longer than 45-60 minutes.  30 minutes is ideal.  Anything beyond an hour is a waste of time, unless you’re an athlete training for a competition.  Even then, you shouldn’t need much more exercise time than that.  And you don’t even have to go to a gym.  Try exercising outside.  

4.    Not Warming Up

Most injuries happen because people don’t warm up.  Stretching can help too, but warming up is what prevents injuries.  

5.    Doing Too Many Exercises

The hard exercises- squats, cleans, push-ups, lunges, sprints, hanging leg raises, & planks- are the ones no one does, because they’re the hardest.  Pick out a few basic exercises and work on them.   I’ve been doing squats since I was 14 and I’ve never had a leg injury.  Do different types, 1 leg squats, heavy squats, light squats, squat jumps, split squats, squat stretches, front squats, squats with pauses for example, but focus on the basics.   

6.    Using Terrible Technique

About half of the people I see training use terrible form.  Too much jerking, poor posture, too much weight and holding the breath too much.  Slow down a little bit and get into good habits.   

7.    Not Breathing

Many people have not learned how to breathe properly, so they are artificially making their workouts harder by hyperventilating.  Breathe slowly in and out through the diaphragm and don’t hold your breath.  

8.    Not Enjoying It

I’m amazed when I see people who hate working out.  Working out can be a type of play, which is done for its own sake, and is fun.  It doesn’t have to be drudgery or overly structured.  It’s good to have some goals, and that can be motivating.  But it can also suck all the fun out of it.  Play sometimes.  Just show up and have a good time, and work hard.  Enjoy it and celebrate the fact that you are alive and can still move.

9.    Relying on Loud Distracting Music

I love some good workout music, and it can be motivational.  But if you require loud blasting music to do something, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.  It might be healthier for your hearing, and for you, to slow down, turn the music down and concentrate on what you’re doing.  Rock out, but only if it doesn’t distract you from what you’re doing.  

10.    Too Many Goals or No Goals at All

This is self-explanatory.  Some people set too many goals: 1) Lose 20 pounds 2) Do the Peachtree road race 3) Stop eating French fries 4) Work Out Every day 5) Take Spinning 3 days per week 6) Stop Drinking Diet Coke 7) Take Yoga 8) Walk to work 9) Get rid of cellulite 10) Eat organic.  And on and on.  

How about one goal?  Lose 20 pounds.  One or two goals is plenty.

11.    Not Working Out in the Morning When Possible

We all know this one is true.  If you procrastinate, it won’t get done.  If you can do it early, then knock it out.  It will also give you more energy and focus for the rest of the day, and elevate your mood. 

12.    Not Doing Something Every Day

In this frantic place called America, where people try to distract themselves to death, so they won’t ever have to do any self-introspection, simply going for a quiet walk every day would be healthier than an hour of CrossFit 3 days per week.  I love lifting and training hard, but mentally and physically it’s much more important to just be active every day than anything else.  

Keep it simple.  Have one goal.  Do something every day.  Sweat a little bit, and have fun.

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