Be Willing

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to work as a manager at a popular restaurant in Durban. Part of the job, was to interview and hire new waiters, both male and female. I was approached by a young male one day who seemed very dirty and rough, for a position. On further questioning, he actually was homeless.

Most of you are thinking that I should have turned the man away with no chance of being employed by the restaurant. On the contrary! I hired the guy and he turned out to be an amazing man to work with. The amazing part was the fact that he was willing to do the job. He was also willing to learn new abilities if he did not know how to do them. He was able to teach us a few things too!

As opposed to this, I have worked with well dressed, well educated people who do not care about anything else but themselves and are not willing to help other out if it does not benefit them personally. Working as a team is out of the question. I get the strangest looks when I suggest doing something for others. Doing a task to benefit the company or relieve others is a foreign concept greeted with anger and confusion.
Personally, whatever benefits the team comes first over personal gain. This, as said above, is a foreign concept to many. Personal gain comes with team victories. This is my belief, at least. A person who is willing to work and help others will always be first on my list.

Matching What You Say With What You Do

Actions speak louder than words is an age old saying used by millions because of the truth it holds.

Think about the people you come into contact regularly. Which do you believe – their actions or their words? Which tells the truth? Do they tell you the same message?
So often words are said that are very nice to hear but are seldom backed up by the actions that they speak.
Living in Durban, South Africa, the home of possibly the greatest ultra marathon, the Comrades, excitement is intense as the race draws near. There are people who never know what exercise is who watch it on television and even on the side of the road. It’s amazing. Being all inspired by the event, people start flapping their mouths about starting running and doing comrades next year etc. Well, true to form, next year is always next year. The road to comrades next year is not in their words but their actions and their actions do not match their words.
That is a dramatic example but this can be so subtle that you may not always notice the difference. This is where the danger lies. Its these little differences between words and actions that cause the most trouble.
Another example is when we deal with our kids. It can be our kids or kids in general. I have come to notice through being a parent that it happens quite often. One says something to distract or calm a child down with no intention of delivering on the words said.

This occurs everyday with everybody to some degree. It leads to all sorts of problems and it starts with a simple difference and grows.
We need to get our words and actions in line.

Driven By Numbers

As much as you do not want to admit it – the world is driven by numbers. Everywhere you look and in every aspect of life – numbers numbers numbers! Computer geeks will tell you it is all 0′s and 1′s. Economists are all about GNP, GDP and percentages. Stock markets are about averages, points up and percentage change. Sportsmen and women are all about Km/h, watts, speed, time and so many other statistics.

I thought I was a numbers person. I do some cycling and have been obsessed with the numbers. I have the complete spreadsheets telling all the ups and downs. I cycle both on a single bike as well as on a tandem. I have computers on both bikes. Recently my dad (tandem partner too) got a garmin computer and wanted to have it on the back of the bike so he could see what the statistics were.
It suddenly changed my mind about numbers. I started to cycle by feel and purely for the love of it. It was so much better. I did not have to worry about average speed and how fast (or slow) we were going. I just checked if my dad was doing okay and that was all I was worried about.
I found I enjoyed the whole experience more. The only numbers I really am interested in now are the total distance and the average speed.

I have subsequently met a female semi-professional mountain bike rider and I asked what kind of computer she used, expected a very sophisticated model. The answer was the opposite – she does not use one at all! She said “she just rides”.

The love for anything diminishes when you get caught up in the numbers. I am not saying do not keep them or look at them but rather do not caught up obsessing about them because it takes you away from what you love and do best. Numbers are important but the love for it is more important.

Two Cents and a Workout

Quick, guys, what will two cents and a workout give you? Since the monetary investment will never break the bank, the follow-up is the meat of the equation. As a matter of fact, keep your two cents. They add up, you know, and if during every workout session, you keep two cents in your pocket, you will soon need another pocket. But let’s not celebrate just yet. Although the monetary investment is easy to bear, your time and dedication to the routine will cost some investment, but even then, the investment will offer a worthwhile benefit in about five weeks. Then you may celebrate.

A man’s man’s workout plan must challenge body and soul. There are plenty of routines designed to bulk you up, make you lean and mean, target specific body areas or replace fat with muscle. And there are routines that will require moderate to significant to exotic investment in workout machines down to easily expensed dumbbells and kettlebells.

A Man’s Man’s Two-Cent Workout Plan

Let’s concentrate on routines that actually cost two cents or less. The expense in time is not any more or less than would be devoted to the machines. You can be just about anywhere, dressed as comfortably as you wish. Devote thirty minutes per day, three to four alternating days per week. The following suggestions will increase your heart rate – these are aerobic in nature and will quickly get your heart beating at the rate which will challenge it to work safely but effectively – and burn the hiding calories uselessly lodged in and around muscle tissue. If you are overweight to any degree, it is suggested that you first consult with your physician to accurately assess your weight, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate and condition just to be sure you are up to your planned exercise routine. This is supposed to improve your life, not put it at risk.

Alternate the sequence of routines day to day, but do all three routines during a complete session. Rest one day between workout sessions. Ready?

Push-ups with an optional wrinkle: you know the regular routine. Lay prone on the ground, face down, hands flat on the ground beneath your shoulders, legs straight with feet resting on toes. Push up until arms are straight, and then lower your body to the ground. Repeat as often as you can for ten minutes, or alternate to the wrinkle in five minutes.

The wrinkle: rotate your body right or left along the body axis so that one hand is flat on the ground with arm straight. Hold the other arm straight up into the air. Now lower your body, bending just at the elbow until your flat hand and shoulder just meet. Repeat as many reps as you can over three minutes. Turn, place your other hand flat on the ground and repeat for three minutes.

Next routine: sit-ups. Lie flat on the ground on your back with your hands tucked beneath your head and your legs either flat or tucked up with your feet near your butt. Sit straight up using your abdominals, not by pulling your head with your arms. Fall back under control by the abdominals to the ground and repeat for ten minutes.

Next routine: squats. Stand straight, arms at your sides. Step forward with one leg and, keeping your upper body straight, bend down on that leg until the thigh is perpendicular with the ground and the other knee almost touches the ground. Push back to a standing position using the forward leg, then repeat the routine with the other leg stepped forward. Repeat for ten minutes.

Valerie Johnston is a health and fitness writer located in East Texas. With ambitions of one day running a marathon, writing for Healthline.com ensures she keeps up-to-date on all of the latest health and fitness news.
This is a guest post. The information and opinions are strictly that of the writer and not of the owners of this blog.

Enthusiasm Beats Talent Everytime

I have been to many, many music shows and services that involve music. The rule of thumb is the more talent and the latest technology – the better the music / show. These often involve hours and hours of practise together repeating introductions and ending over and over to make sure they are 100% in time etc.
I have played in a band before and the only truth above is the practise – or so I thought. It was proven otherwise just the other night.

We were at a church service the other night which had worship (singing songs) included. The worship team was made up 6 volunteers ie: not paid. They had played the instruments before. The single most amazing thing was they had never played together before EVER! The only rule to being part of this band was to be able to play the instrument you bring.

What was even more amazing and this is what made this band was the enthusiasm they had. They were not technically very good music wise and all the songs were exactly the same speed, but where talent lacked – enthusiasm reigned. And it reigned supreme. I had been to shows where we paid good money to watch professional musicians in a specifically built arena and it was rubbish quality sound.
The other night, enthusiasm reigned and the people loved it, enjoyed the music and had fun. What more could you ask for?
Sometimes, enthusiasm wins the day and in my opinion it should happen more often!

Training versus Genetics

You hear so many stories about people who get up one day and do a long endurance event. I spoke a man just this morning that decided one day to do the comrades marathon. The comrades is an ultra marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in South Africa. Its 89 kilometres! Is it just training or is it built into us to do that?
So how much is training? How much is genetics? Could I get up with some training and run 89 km in 12 hours or less? Probably.
I think from experience that what event you is irrelevant because I think that there are very few events accessible to most people that we cannot do if we trained for it. The difference is how quickly we finish and how much we enjoy the event. This is where the genetic side comes in.

I have not met or heard of anybody who has done now training for a long endurance event and managed to finish. I am talking about events of 6 or 7 hours or more – the ultra marathons and iron man events. Under training us probably the biggest problem in any sporting event. If two people did the same training – one would do better than the other every time. I am counting out bad luck and illness etc. This the genetic difference!

This has obviously no researched proof but collected from years of observations at sporting events and information and knowledge gained throughout that time.

How Being Sick Can Improve Effectiveness

Not so long ago, on a glorious saturday afternoon, I started feeling nauseous and not very good at all. I was at a family gathering and really enjoying the Durban sunshine. Fortunately, I made it home before it all came back to me – lunch and anything had eaten before.
I have no clue what caused it, but am sure the 2 hour bike ride in the heat of the day did not help my electrolyte balance.

To get to the point and to leave out the gnarly details – I was very sick that night and was in bed most of the following day (sunday). I lost much fluid and weight in the process.

This left very weak on the monday morning going to work. I was not sick enough to skip work and go to the doctor and was running at about 60% The difference was remarkable. Instead of taking 2 stairs at a go – I could only manage one. This forced me to take it slowly.
Breakfast gave me an energy lift, so working at 75% was about the max I was going to get to. This was good!

Good?

I shall explain. Running at 100% is never effective and never efficient for anybody or anything. Take a car for example. It gets less efficient as the speed gets higher. So travelling at 110km/h is actually more efficient than 120km/h which is more efficient than 130km/h etc. You get the point. So why try and go at 130 km/h when 110 km/h is more efficient and more effective?

I figured this out while working at about 80% on the Monday. It was amazing how efficient and therefore focussed and ultimately more effective I was that day. Because I was working at 80% does not mean I was working slowly. It meant that I stopped spending energy on nothing and rather focussed it on the important items.

Try it out for yourself. Stop working at 100 (or 110) % capacity and see how it will increase your efficiency in daily life.