Treat your Body like your Business

Advertisement is confusing to people’s self-image, but people trying to show accomplishments on social media are often just as confusing. If someone follows a workout routine, there’s no question their body can show significant changes over a 30–60-day period even if their methods are inefficient, or harmful. Willpower and determination are often emphasized over creativity and creating a healthy culture. If you wake up at 4am for fitness, but don’t tell me when you went to sleep, the conversation is for you alone. The before and after photo has a striking effect, but how is it useful? Does it give a roadmap to get there? What do you do now? What after you achieve your goal…or don’t? Focusing on hardcore-ness and the exclusivity, which resonates well, is akin to going to your business every day and telling people to shut up and work. I’d argue that the long-term effects are similar.

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I didn’t join the military for a romantic notion. I didn’t join to serve or some higher ideal. I was 18 and not precocious. I joined because my brother went to the Naval Academy before me. Him and his friends were kind, intelligent, fit people with purpose and values and I fundamentally understood that those things came with process and culture. I didn’t get into college on my first try because I couldn’t voice my motivations and didn’t think they’d be received well so my essay didn’t make sense. I’m shocked at how right I now believe my instincts were - that process and culture are everything and they should be applied not just on a macro scale, but micro, down to the level of self. Habits are micro culture. I’m a lazy dude, but I incentivize my good habits rather than enforce them and I think that’s worked for me.

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Operationalizing my theoretical pontifications that no one asked me for:

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1.???? Reduce your commute; have your workout already planned when you show up including music and good lighting; if you’re feeling off, focus on how you feel and don’t look at performance indicators; play sports, they’re more fun than workouts; say yes to physical activity in general; give your body rewards of fuel both pre and post workout.

2.???? Write down your recovery program with your workout. When are you going to roll muscles out or stretch and for how long? If you’re starting a program back up, lag on shifting your diet about two weeks; eat what fuels you as you get used to moving your body again and don’t even think about body composition during that two-week period. The results may show slower, but recidivism will be decreased drastically.

3.???? Focus on eating more foods you like that are healthy to crowd out junk food. Never be hungry.

4.???? Fool yo’self. Find ways to think positively about the workout. Find moments you like and focus on those. Arnold talks about the pump and how much of a high it is. Be like that (in your head because sometimes it’s obnoxious out loud).

5.???? Show up even if you think or know you won’t perform. You’ll surprise yourself and over time your higher performance will become more regular.

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Further explanation and thought:

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1. Work is essentially crap that we don’t want to do. Then people offer us stuff to do it until we grit our teeth and get it done or decide it’s not worth it and politely ignore them… forever. Does it sound like working out? The reward for working out is capability, feeling better, and generally agreed better appearance instead of money, but stay with me here. Good workplaces reduce bureaucracy, create friendly respectful environments, track data thoughtfully, gamify in a way to create fun without being manipulative or insulting, allow opportunities for growth, give perks, etc. Can we do that with workouts?

Bureaucracy: Reduce barriers to showing up

Environment: Surround yourself with music and good people?

Data: Flip the rowing screen away if you’re not feeling the feedback while other days track intervals closely?

Gamification: Play a sport instead of running or lifting?

Growth: Explore with new sports and physical activities to find out what is enjoyable and can be incorporated into your life?

Perks: Treat yourself to something with extra sugar before a workout and a large meal afterwards?

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It doesn’t have to be a grind. Run without a shirt, thirst trap it up, whatever makes it fun. The last sentence doesn’t work with the symbolism in reverse. Wear shirts to work and be professional and stuff.

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2. Sometimes a goal is worth buckling down at work and ignoring the rest of your life for a while, but most of the time a good company culture creates a steady work-life balance. At the risk of being redundant, can we do that with workouts? Back up off the short-term goal. Sleep, recovery, and nutrition are more important than the workout itself. Just like you’d plan and think about a vacation for yourself more than work, plan your recoveries more seriously than the actual workout. Take pleasure in the goals you sacrifice for and achieve and don’t worry about the ones you don’t. No one truly cares about your goals besides you and there’s no comparison to draw for failure as being fired; you always get to decide when and where you work out.

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3. A high performing work environment requires positive and negative reinforcement but focuses much more on the positive. The workout comparison is to make sure you focus on the positivity in your workouts and nutrition. Calorie deficits are negative reinforcement and akin to showing up to work unprepared because you didn’t want to spend money on required supplies or training. It saves money or time short term, but what are you doing? Steel cut oatmeal with a banana, walnuts, and whole milk is delicious to me and hits macros very well. It makes more sense to think about how to make this dish for more breakfasts than to think about what to avoid.

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4. For a while I had the LinkedIn headline “Data Scientist”. Can I do that? Sure. Do I want to sift through millions of datapoints and wait for remote servers to process my algorithms to get a fraction better on some predictive advertising metric for some pharmacy advertising some crap and save them millions of dollars? God no! That’d be so boring (if that’s what you do, I’m a ranting liar and please ignore me). But we find ways to take pleasure in work: few people can understand and manipulate data the way I can, and it pays well; People generally leave me alone because of my skillset; I’m constantly learning because each dataset is different and tells a story; etc. Find ways to take pleasure in workouts. While I’m sprinting, I think “pump the arms, relax the face, welcome the fire” and then my mind starts racing “tight upright core, raise the knees, dorsiflex, strike the earth, kick the butt” and then I force my mind to quiet down “pump the arms, relax the face, pump the arms, relax the face…”. Fooling yourself to some degree is useful. When my legs are decently fresh, I consciously believe I enjoy sprinting and feeling that fire because I’ve trained my mind to like it. I’ve willed myself into insanity but am conscious of it in my communication with others. I drink the Kool-Aid in full cult manner because it's useful which is very different than being tough or grinding.

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5. If we don’t show up to work frequently, we get fired. When I was little, I looked up at my dad’s stack of ribbons from military service and I asked what he did for each one. Each time I pointed at a ribbon he said, “showing up”. The truth in those statements is powerful to me. It’s actually incredibly difficult to be a jerk and not try for any length of time while being present. I’ve tried to fail and failed at failing because I was present. Two examples I’m not proud of: (1) I ran cross country for my senior year in high school and was the second fastest on the team at just under 18 minutes for the 5k. Towards the end of the season I was starting to get burnt out and Pat, the third fastest, and I agreed to cruise at a nice easy 20 minute run time for one of the meets because we didn’t want to feel the pain. We started slightly slower than normal, but as people passed me, I ran harder. Both Pat and I finished around 18 minutes despite trying to fail because no one else was trying to fail around us. (2) My senior year at the Naval Academy we had a pre-commissioning fitness test and due to the graduation, having family and friends in town, being so far from the margin of failure, and poor decision making, I showed up hungover. I started slow, but someone started to pass me that I didn’t think should beat me and I ended up running 8:30 for the 1.5 miler. Those are two events where I was trying not to succeed and once I showed up, I pretty much regressed to my normal level of effort. Showing up is where to focus.

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Conclusion: I see many unhealthy behaviors and short-term diets online and frequently saw them while deployed so I thought this business comparison could be a good exercise to argue how crazy some commonly held views towards fitness really are. In the US, most people athletically peak in college and then grind in the gym to maintain body composition for the rest of their lives. Last week I was told I was probably too old when I tried to sign up as a grad student for the college club rugby team (I’ll show up anyways because it’s the highest-level rugby in the area and say stuff like “hey dawg, that’s ageism” and “you don’t need to haze me bro” because I love the sport and the 22-year-olds won’t know what to do with those accusations). In many other countries, sports are attached to clubs and people play as long as they enjoy it. In Bahrain, we had physical therapists attached to our rugby club which allowed some people to play into their 60s. Moving the body should be fun and the predominant why for being healthy should be to get more out of life.

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Not fully aligned follow up: below is the workout I’ve been enjoying for the past month that I used Chat GPT to help create. Some things I’d like to point out are: it cycles by week (volume, hybrid, peak, recovery), has good variety and rest periods for muscle groups, has stretching programmed in, I have all the machines at home and it gives me the reps so all I have to do is show up, it's the level and stuff I like and it's for me. Missing a day for travel is not a big deal as I’ll do something else with different muscle groups and pick up the workout where I left off.

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Week 1: Volume

Day 1: Running: 40 minutes

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Lateral Raises: 10, Weighted Lunges: 10/leg, Plank: 1-minute hold, Russian Twists: 20, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Hanging Leg Lifts: 30

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Day 2: Rowing: 25 minutes

3 times through: Shoulder Press: 8, Thrusters: 10, Front Lateral Raises: 10, Mountain Climbers: 20, Plank with Shoulder Tap: 10/side, Flutter Kicks: 12, Chin-Ups: 10, D-Ball March: 30 seconds

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Day 3: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 4: Skiing: 25 minutes

3 times through: Gorilla Rows: 10, Bulgarian Squats: 10/leg, Butterfly Sit-Ups: 12, Leg Raises: 12, Curls: 10, Russian Twists: 20, Dead Bugs: 10/side, Hanging Leg Lifts: 30

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Day 5: Biking: 20 minutes, alternating moderate and high intensity

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Side Plank with Leg Lifts: 8/side, Flutter Kicks: 12, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, Kettlebell Swings: 15, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Toes-to-Bar: 10

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Day 6: Running: 14 minutes, 60 second sprint, 60 second walk

3 times through: Lateral Raises: 10, Weighted Lunges: 10/leg, Plank: 1-minute hold, Russian Twists: 20, Side Plank: 45-second hold/side, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Chin-Ups: 10

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Day 7: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Week 2: Hybrid

Day 8: Rowing: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 1000 with 1 minute rest between sets

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Russian Twists: 20, Gorilla Rows: 10, Bulgarian Squats: 10/leg, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Pull-Ups: 10

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Day 9: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 10: Ski: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 1000 with 1 minute rest between sets

3 times through: Lateral Raises: 10, Weighted Lunges: 10/leg, Shoulder Press: 8, Front Lateral Raises: 10, Side Plank: Hold for 45 seconds/side, Flutter Kicks: 12, Chin-Ups: 10, Diamond Push-Ups: 25

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Day 11: Running: 40 minutes

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Russian Twists: 20, Plank with Shoulder Tap: 10, Butterfly Sit-Ups: 12, Leg Raises: 12, Curls: 10, Toes-to-Bar: 10

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Day 12: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 13: Biking: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 1-mile with 2 minutes active recovery between sets

3 times through: Kettlebell Swings: 15, Mountain Climbers: 20, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Flutter Kicks: 12, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Side Plank with Leg Lifts: 8/side, Dead Bugs: 10, Hanging Leg Lifts: 30

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Day 14: Running: 5 minute warm up, 12 minutes, 30 second sprint, 60 seconds walk

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, Russian Twists: 20, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Chin-Ups: 10, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12

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Week 3: Peak Performance

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Day 15: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 16: Rowing: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 500 with 1 minute rest between sets

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, Lateral Raises: 10, Mountain Climbers: 20, Russian Twists: 20, Plank with Shoulder Tap: 10, Leg Raises: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Chin-Ups: 10

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Day 17: Skiing: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 500 with 1 minute rest between sets

3 times through: 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Weighted Lunges: 10/leg, Shoulder Press: 8, Front Lateral Raises: 10, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Flutter Kicks: 12, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, Toes-to-Bar: 10

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Day 18: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 19: Biking: 5 minute warm up, 3 x 5 minute sprints with 2 minutes rest between sets

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Russian Twists: 20, Bulgarian Squats: 10/leg, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Hanging Leg Lifts: 30

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Day 20: Running: 40 minutes

3 times through: Lateral Raises: 10, Mountain Climbers: 20, Side Plank: Hold for 45 seconds/side, Butterfly Sit-Ups: 12, Curls: 10, Side Plank with Leg Lifts: 8/side, Flutter Kicks: 12, Dead Bugs: 10

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Day 21: Rowing: 5 minute warm up, 4 x 500 with 1 minute rest between sets

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Russian Twists: 20, Plank with Shoulder Tap: 10, Leg Raises: 12, Chin-Ups: 10, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, Bicycle Crunches: 12

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Week 4: Recovery

Day 22: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch

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Day 23: Skiing: 20 minutes

3 times through: 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Weighted Lunges: 10/leg, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Flutter Kicks: 12, Gorilla Rows: 10, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, Toes-to-Bar: 10

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Day 24: Biking: 20 minutes

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, Russian Twists: 20, Bulgarian Squats: 10/leg, Plank with Shoulder Tap: 10, Leg Raises: 12, Chin-Ups: 10, Side Plank with Leg Lifts: 8/side, Dead Bugs: 10

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Day 25: Running: 40 minutes

3 times through: 100 lb D-ball Front Squats: 12, Front Lateral Raises: 10, Butterfly Sit-Ups: 12, Curls: 10, Side Plank: Hold for 45 seconds/side, Flutter Kicks: 12, Pull-Ups: 10, Hanging Leg Lifts: 30

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Day 26: Yoga: 45 minute flow

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Day 27: Rowing: 20 minutes

3 times through: Push-Ups: 25, Russian Twists: 20, Mountain Climbers: 20, Plank: Hold for 1 minute, Bicycle Crunches: 12, Chin-Ups: 10, Diamond Push-Ups: 25, Kettlebell Swings: 15

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Day 28: Yoga: 45 minute deep stretch