Confessions

So I need to come clean. Since the summer break, life has been utterly crazy! I have just not been disciplined mentally, and fitting in my 15 minutes has been a struggle. I have been sporadic in my workouts between taking time away for holidays, and other priorities for family and intense work life coming first. To be honest, I feel pretty bad about it. At first - for the summer - I was fine. I even accepted it, but now it is November and I have still not been able to get my workout rhythm back. What happened?

What I have learned is that when the pressures from family life, from work and from other factors go into overdrive, working out gets pushed into the back seat. And it happens even when the workout is short because mentally you are just not holding that space. It takes discipline to stay committed to health when circumstances are challenging and life is so busy. So I am pausing for a moment here in November to reflect.

What was good?

I have kept up with intermittent fasting. Actually, at this point it has just become a way of life and I feel good doing it. In fact, when I take a week off now I feel strange eating breakfast every morning. But strange I feel like I have eaten too much even if all it is is spinach, eggs and a piece of toast. Maintaining the fast has helped me to maintain my weight which is about 184lbs to 185 lbs.

Another good thing is that my wife and I have restarted a running program with the goal of running 5 kilometres. It is something that I have always wanted to do, and I am glad that we are pursuing this again together.

What needs to change?

Making the time to workout must be a discipline. We all need to find the moments that work best for us, and commit. For me, that is in the early morning before the family bustle starts and the work phone lights up with a constant stream of calls, emails and messages. Do your workout. It sets you up for the day.

How to gain back lost ground?

I have created a strength training pyramid program designed to get my body moving again with calisthenics. From here I will progress back to weight training and then to split workouts, eventually culminating in a new version of the 15 Minute Workout. The idea is the following:

Phase 1: 2-4 weeks of strictly bodyweight exercise. The goal is general conditioning relying only on body weight, increasing the number of reps to build intensity within a maximum 20 minute timeframe. This phase is 3 times weekly, whole body training.

Phase 2: 2-4 weeks on the 15 Minute Workout V1. This will get you back into a 6 day weighted workout routine. The goal is to build on your conditioning and lay the foundation for the next phase.

Phase 3: 4 weeks on the 15 Minute Workout V2. This is your key strength building period, where you will push your reps and your weight to increase your volume of exercises, depending on the equipment you have.

Phase 4: 4 weeks on the yet to be debuted 15 Minute Workout V3! With the opportunity to carry on afterwards. Stay tuned…

Join the journey with me. I plan to start Phase 1 in the first full week of December 2021. The program is already available on the website here. Sign up and we will get back on track!