Grab some coffee and settle in.
I’ll start with a little program for ya.
- If Below=TL/DR
- Then FU=GTFO
- Go to 20.
- Run.
I’m in a bit of a transition phase right now. My priorities seem to be shifting a little bit.
Part of this goes back to the woman I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago. I met a volleyball mom/coach from another division in my company at a big national meeting. She inspired me. She made me realize that I could be doing much more with my time to help other people.
Coincidentally, a good friend called me up a few weeks later and begged me to coach his daughter’s 6th-grade volleyball team. This guy has four kids in the local Catholic school, where the coaching is done by volunteers. He and his wife are the same kind of people as the mom-coach from my company. Same kind of people as my older brother, who has three boys in a similar school, a crazy work schedule, and still manages to give back at a level far above and beyond what most people are willing to give. These people give everything they can to keep their community going strong, especially when it comes to the kids.
I’ve coached volleyball before, but only men’s volleyball at the collegiate level. This is going to be something completely different. We’ve had two practices so far, and I’m REALLY happy with my decision to help out with these girls. I’m hoping the experience might rub off on my daughter a little bit. It would be so awesome if she caught the volleyball bug AND the tennis bug. I can already tell she is wired with the mentality to throw herself completely into a goal or project, so whatever ignites her passion, I’m sure she’ll take it to a pretty high level.
The girls on this team also happen to be part of the local “Indian Princess” tribe, which I joined a few months ago. It’s a father-daughter thing where we do all kinds of events together. It will be great to have this extra connection between these older girls and my daughter at all the events.
I’ve always been a social guy, but I haven’t been much of a community guy. I read so many stories of how important it is to feel and be part of the community, so I feel good about taking some steps to get more involved.
Much of my background bandwidth has now been consumed by my immersion in coaching youth volleyball. I feel good about the goal of becoming a great coach because it’s something I absolutely love doing and my investments in self-improvement will pay huge dividends in the positive impact I can make on these kids.
I may actually start playing some volleyball, too. I’ve been adding volleyball movement to the first half of my workout, which is done entirely in the big group exercise studio. Now I’m doing rope dancing, breakdancing, stupid human tricks, and volleyball moves. Today, this took up a bigger chunk of my session - I only did 15 minutes of lifting.
The volleyball stuff feels great so far. I can jump way too high for my age right now. I actually need to work on my landing technique so I can distribute the force as optimally as possible.
For the next few months, I’d love a typical week to include:
2 practice sessions for the team
1 day tennis (2 hour drill or equivalent)
1 day volleyball (local league matches)
6-7 1-hour morning workouts
These morning workouts are going to need to be optimized to support all that other activity, and the tennis and volleyball frequency will really have to be monitored. If I get carried away, the workouts will suffer because I’ll always be banged up. If the workouts suffer, things will go into the shitter in a hurry for me.
The good news is, this is not some kind of big change to what I’m already doing. The volleyball league is really the only addition. Playing in a competitive volleyball league at 40, even at once a week, can do some pretty good damage. Especially for me. I’ll go all-out like I’m 18. Volleyball won’t be hard to regulate, anyway…there’s only one local league out there.
I’m not sure what will happen with the log here. One of the first things that usually goes when I experience a bandwidth shift is my monitoring of these forums. If I’m not popping into threads here and there and connecting with at least a few people, I start feeling disconnected. I might stop logging my food intake on Lose It for a while as well. Logging my intake and workouts have their utility, but I also just do shit like that because they are just favorite distractions of mine. Besides, I haven’t been doing anything consistently enough to learn anything from the data. I already know which foods work for me, and I already have a good sense for my personal energy balance equation.
I guess as long as there is enough of a connection/community component, I’ll always keep logging and checking logs and posts. But my log will probably be even less interesting than ever to visitors who might be focused mostly on the “Intelligent and Relentless Pursuit of Muscle”.
Right now, I’m actually willing to give up a bit of muscle if a lower bodyweight translates to better movement and happier knees, ankles, and hips.
But I don’t plan on giving up the lifting component of my morning routine. It’s too fun, and the metabolic advantages are just too easy to pass up. Preservation or even addition of muscle is just a side effect from the lifting. A real nice one, no doubt.
As far as diet goes, I’m as committed as ever to constant improvement in this area. The question I’m trying to answer right now is both simple and complex.
Does “entrainment” of eating patterns and food choices make it easier or harder to stay lean?
I’m breaking some eating patterns right now just to see where it leads. A little random IF here and there, for starters.
As for food choices…well, if my drive to stay lean, light, and healthy is strong enough, it will be less of a struggle. I just need to keep that drive alive. Small, near-term events like this beach thing in a few weeks are always helpful. The drive to set a good example for others, including kids, is always helpful. And as I get older, what I eat has a bigger impact on how I feel. The drive to feel good is definitely helpful.
Feel good.
Look good.
Set a good example.
Found a great gymnastics centre near me this morning where I had my first session in years…along with the rope dancing, feeling like a teenager again!
Found a great gymnastics centre near me this morning where I had my first session in years…along with the rope dancing, feeling like a teenager again!