Concrete Fitness Goals

My previous blog post I wrote about establishing an on going reason to be physically fit and I broke down the different ways you ought to be fit. It's not just strength, it's also dexterity, agility, flexibility, endurance, and resilience. But that still didn't solve my problem. While it gave me a philosophical basis for my "Father Figure" it didn't give me a concrete objectives that I can act on. What these concrete objectives look like could vary a bit, but since I'm trying to keep my time commitments to a minimum as there are other things I would like to do. I developed the following, as yet untested, plan. I write it down here mostly for my own reference, but also for comment and critique from friends and family.

The Exercises

Resilience

3 mile run in 30 minutes.

With things like running how fast and how far are really hard to pin down. Just how far will I have to run in an emergency to get help? Just how long will I have to run to play all day at the trampoline park? etc. With that in mind I turned to what other groups have done. Groups like law enforcement and the military have long histories and lots of data to be able to guide their decisions. I lack the ability to make such quasi empirical judgement so I'm going to just lean on what they have decided. The Army uses a 2 mile run for it's entry exam, the army rangers use a 5 mile run. So I split the difference and landed on 3

Why this approach?

Endurance

1-mile walk carrying the weight of your spouse or largest child.

Endurance is about sustaining effort over time, especially in high-stress situations. Rucking, or walking with added weight, is a practical way to prepare for scenarios like carrying an injured family member off a hiking trail. I plan on using a sand bag.

Why this approach?

Strength

3 sets of 5 reps dead lifting your body weight.

From what I've been able to find, if you only did a single weight training, dead lift would be the choice. So if I'm going for the minimum amount of discrete exercises, this fits the bill well. Why this exact amount? It's a simple number, your weight. And the number of sets and reps is a fairly normal number for an ordinary exercise.

Why this approach? * Simple. One exercise, easy numbers to remember, fits into a normal exercise routine. * Mimic's real-life lifting tasks, like picking up children or moving furniture.

Agility

8 sprints of 100 meters, aiming for less than 18 seconds each.

Agility in the sense I've been using it is about reacting quickly. This comes back to than inciting gif of the dad sprinting down a hill to snatch a child out from the path of the on coming toy car. It seemed to me that the most obvious way to work on this when we are talking an exercise regime is to just do sprints.

Why this approach? * 100 meters is a standard sprinting distance making easy to measure yourself against existing standards. * Most see and react events in real life are going to be at a shorter distance, this makes it a good standard.

Dexterity

3 sets of 4 reps (per arm) overhead carry at 25 pounds for 100 meters

Dexterity involves controlled, precise movements, essential for tasks like carrying a sleeping child or maneuvering awkward loads. So I wanted something that primarily worked on control, and so much of your control comes from your core. So I picked an exercise that specifically works on your core. Specifically if you do one arm at a time the asymmetric load creates a great exercise and means you only need one dumbbell.

Why this approach?

Flexibility

2 rounds of "The World's Greatest Stretch" at 20-second intervals per step.

As with strength I wanted a single activity to keep life simple. I was recently introduced to this particular stretch as a great full body stretch. It's actually 5 different stretches done in sequence. As with the dead lift, it fits in well to an exercise routine.

The Routine

To balance all these components, I've structured my weekly routine as follows:

Adaptation

Like the pirate code, these are more of guidelines than actual rules. The simplest example is that I don't run the winter, snow banks and ice are not notoriously runner friendly, and I don't run in the summer, the pool is open so I prefer to swim. But using these as a base line, I can establish what works for me in any season.

Equipment

I also designed this routine to require a minimum of equipment. Just as my objectives have been to minimize my time on exercise, I'm trying to minimize my space and money needs. I plan on doing dumbbell dead lifts, which means my equipment list comes to:

The only real catch in my plans right now is the space to do these activities. My basement had been my weight room before. With 7' ceilings down there, that isn't going to fly for over head carries. So we'll see how I adapt this.

Conclusion

This provides me a grounded plan for a healthy body. I'm not going to win any competitions or turn heads, but I am getting my goals, have and be a Father Figure. We'll see how I adapt it as the rubber meets the road, but I find it so relieving to finally have some point I can reach where I can say "I am strong enough."