my spinach
anyone can go to the gym. for most people, going there and slacking is better than nothing. years ago i overheard good advice from a stranger. he’d just arrived at the gym, looking stalled. greeted by a friend, he replied that he probably wasn’t going to work out that evening. he explained that his practice was that he must at least show up with his gear. most of the time it was enough to get him going, but that night he was turning straight back around. he was right; getting in the door is most of the battle, and if you confine your struggle to simply arriving, you’ll usually slide into the workout comfortably when that’s done. then come the sliding scales of form and intensity.
form i can usually straighten out enough simply by remembering to. for intensity i have a cheap cheat drug — one that apparently works for adam carolla as well.
music, bitch. went through my whole collection last year and made a playlist just for boxing — songs guaranteed to wake my lazy ass up. nearly any tempo song can be used to kick rope jumping, and some encourage big breakthroughs. engaging shuffle on my iPod nano boxing playlist, i’m sometimes transported into goo-goo gah-gah land. the other night i was on another planet jumping to a jam surprise arrival: “Dam That River” by alice in chains. closed my eyes and spun the fuck. weird part is that it not only raises intensity, but lowers perceived exertion.
strap on that MP3 playah and get busy. easy once you show up. even five minutes of semi-vigorous exercise daily can make a radical difference.