Be Greg in January

Last week on Zinkthink...  I decided to start a new year's resolution of sorts and try to spend a year really being me, maximizing the me that I can and want to be.  And since that's so nebulous, I needed to break it down into distinct subsections for each month.  Naturally, the first question that came up was, where to start?

I thought I'd begin by looking at the basics.  If I want to be me, improve me, just what is this "me" I keep talking about?  Depending on how philosophical you want to be, it could mean a lot of things, but think about it this way: if I were to decide to build a Greg, the first thing I'd need would be a human body.  You could argue that "me" is my mind, my occupation, or my interests, but without a body I would have a hard time doing any of those things.  And seeing how many resolutions are built around the concepts of exercise or fitness, I thought I'd start by working on the physical Greg.  Yep, it's gonna be a fitness post.  Hey, if you want interesting, read a real blog.  :)

 So what do I need to achieve, fitness-wise?  Fortunately, I have an incredible metabolism so I don't actually need to lose weight.  I am beginning to realize how lucky this makes me, but it does belie the fact that though I am thin, I am not actually as fit as I should be.  In college, I participated in every intramural sport offered, but since then, all I've done is yoga and intermittent running.  It's all good, but recognizing that fitness is not just about a number, I realize I should and want to do more.

Before I go into specifics, I need to caution that I very much do not intend to become a gym rat, downing creatine shakes and feeling like I need to exercise on vacations or the like.  Not that there's anything wrong with doing so.  I know some people like that, and it really works for them, but I am just not that kind of a person.  In line with being Greg, I am not going to suddenly become really muscle-y and strong, or run a marathon, and I'm A-OK with that.  I want to make some small improvements so I feel like I have a healthier physical presence.  To achieve this, I've broken it down into three sub-goals.

1) Flexibility - You didn't really think I'd write about fitness without mentioning yoga, did you?  My time without yoga made me realize how much I really need it (almost like the mythical "runners high"), so it's going to be a big part of my new fitness plan.  I'm still in the process of finding a new practice that comes close to the quality of my old place, but the best way to do that is to keep trying.  I'm on to a class called "Power Yoga," which sounds promising.  Until I find a certain class I want to attend, my minimum goal is to go to one yoga class per week, which shouldn't require much extra motivation.  I also really want to focus on hip and hamstring flexibility, even outside of class, since these have been long-running tight areas for me.  If by the end of the year I can do basic seated runner-style stretches in anything resembling the right way, that will be a major success.

2) Cardio - Although I'm looking for a higher-powered, flow-based yoga practice, my brother has pointed out that one hour a week of this is not sufficient cardiovascular exercise.  I'm inclined to agree with him, and plan to make extra exercises beyond yoga a regular part of my fitness life.  The trouble is that currently I don't really like running (perhaps because I'm not very good at it), so my motivation quickly lags.  My goal is to do some cardio exercise, most likely at the gym this time of year, twice a week beyond the yoga class.  Hopefully if I incorporate enough variety of exercises, I won't get too bored and try to find excuses to quit.  I can run, cycle, row, swim, or more, so there's no easy cop-out there.  And as an extra push to keep me on track, I'm now vowing that I'll get in good enough cardio shape that I will run a 5K race sometime this year.

3) Muscle building - But, I said I'm not going to become some heavy-grunting weight lifter, right?  Right.  Be Greg, and realize that's simply never going to happen.  However, another part of being Greg is recognizing that right now I'm borderline underweight for my height, as per the BMI scale.  I don't think that's too terrible, but it's probably not healthy.  And as I understand it, simply adding more cardio exercise surely won't help me gain weight.  That needs to be muscle, so I need to start incorporating some weight lifting into my routine.  Nothing too crazy, but those trips to the gym to run on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike are now going to be accompanied by a weight machine or two.  Spending the extra 10 or 15 minutes to work one muscle group per trip isn't a lot, but put it all together over a year and it could have a decent impact.  The goal - get myself firmly into the "normal" section of the BMI chart by the end of the year.

The first week of January, under this plan, went pretty well as I hit all of the "small" goals.  One day was nice enough that I ran outside, followed by some pushups/situps; I went to a far-too-basic yoga class (but I have a lead for a better one this week); and I went to the gym for an elliptical/weight machine session.  It's a great start, but it's only one week.  Let's see if I can keep this going for 51 more.