The Easy Button
I’ve always known that the easy path is usually not the best path towards improvement. Getting better is hard work. Doing things the hard way builds character and so many other things. Or at least that is what I thought about everything until I turned 50. Our bodies work differently as we age. Definitely our minds go to work on us in different ways due to our lifelong programming, but there is one secret that I have found that has unlocked some internal power for me and my fitness runaround at 50 and we can just call it the “Easy Button”.
Brainwashed?
So many self-improvement plans and ideas point directly as this concept. My favorite interview that introduced me to what I am referring to as the “Easy Button” certainly resonated with me was Robin Sharma. He doesn’t call it that. He doesn’t even call it a MINIMUM which is really where I am going to end up with it… but just take a few minutes to listen to the well prepared wisdom in his words. Again, I was exposed to Robin Sharma through Impact Theory and if the opening of his interview video with Tom Bilyeu doesn’t just make you go, “Damn that’s right!” just move on because he is 100% correct about brainwashing as we move away from the innocence of childhood, and you if can’t see it… well… you are definitely brainwashed.
I feel confident that I have adjusted my life path in a more positive direction and absolutely have changed my fitness due to Robin Sharma. He talks about his 5am Club and the 20-20-20 rule. I’ve adapted these and made them my own with some variation. Time frames and intensities change but for the most part my DAILY (which is the real secret) routine which I call a MINIMUM because my workouts are sometimes completely separate. I believe in a functional MINIMUM routine that can be mastered and done DAILY is everyone’s first and last step. And when I say mastered, I mean something that you can literally commit to for life. That’s why I added “first and last step” to the description.
With a Clear and Definite Minimum, You Can Only Go UP!
I order to push the “Easy Button” we must understand the power of your MINIMUM. Hard core fitness folks will laugh. They have their intense workouts and their rest days and due to how much time is invested a MINIMUM sounds like a waste of time to them. I hope to be clear, if you have already decided to become a world class body builder, fitness instructor, or elite athlete, you are probably already doing this and the newsflash is that’s why you are laughing. I have decided to implement a fitness mindset that will keep me consistent until the day I die. It may manifest into an instructor, or old man body building desire, but my intent has been to feel the best I can feel everyday and work on longevity… and that is where I am now.
20 Minutes. You are Worth it.
I hear so many people younger than me complain about how they feel. I understand how that feels. It was only about 4 years ago that I was saying the same things. Just one day I said to myself, “If you can’t run 1 mile everyday, you are a piece of crap”. That was the start of creating my MINIMUM. Robin Sharma says to take 20 minutes everyday to get your body ready for the day. It’s the same concept. I then just had to decide what would be the progression of my minimum. I decided that I am worth giving myself 20 minutes a day to feel better. No matter what the circumstance of the day is, I committed to gifting to myself 20 minutes of exercise that will be an investment for my longevity.
It CAN only take 10 minutes to keep your Minimum Commitment
From this point I asked myself, how long does it take to run a mile – I gave myself 10 minutes. Now I have 10 more minutes to figure out if I am going to follow Robin Sharma’s method. Then I asked myself, “What do I want to be able to do when I am 100 years old anyway?” 1. Get out of bed with ease. (sit ups!) , 2. Pick up groceries or things for my wife or kids… or something I may want to pick up (Squats!) 3. If someone is coming towards me, I want to change their mind real fast about their decision to do that… by being able push someone away from me. (Push-ups!) That was it! My MINIMUM will be as many of these 3 functional exercised separated by stretching as I can do in 20 minutes.
3 Functional Exercises
I continued to think about this for quite some time as I was logging days and it absolutely makes sense to everything I had been reading, listening to, and learning about fitness. If you are not an athlete, call it your “workout”. If you are an average athlete for your age, call it a “warm-up”. As you increase your fitness level, call it your MINIMUM. The point is… DO IT! 3 Functional Exercises + traveling 1 mile per day (run it or walk it if you have to) Just get outside everyday and move your meat suite for at least 1 mile. This routine is the “Easy Button” and it will change your life in so many ways.
There is more to my current minimum now when I have time. And you will figure out how to add and adjust as you listen to your body. It has enabled me to stay very fit for the last 4 years and I am prepared to go to the next level at any time.
Again… Functional
Again, to review what is meant by functional? What are the things that YOU want to be able to do physically when you are in your 90’s? 1. Sit-up from laying flat on your back with ease. 2. Stand up and or pick something up from the ground. 3. Push someone or something away if needed. 4. Run to either get away or to chase someone down. This is the simple thought process, but it is so much more powerful than you understand until you do it. It is very logical. These are the minimum actions all human beings should be able to perform yet when I looked around… I could see many people around my age 50 losing the ability to get up and down, climb stairs, or just pick up something without complaining of hurting or being tired.
NO EXCUSES
I was not ready to start complaining. I decided that I would do only 10 pushups, 10 sit-ups, 10 squats, and run 1 mile (10 minutes) every day forever. Laugh all you want about the numbers. People say they do 1,000 pushups and sit-ups a day, and maybe they do, but I will guarantee you that if you study correct form and put yourself to the test every time even after you log hundreds of days, you can find a way to make 50 of each of the function movements challenging enough to call it a workout. I’m not suggesting to not do more. You are obviously going to do more eventually, but I am saying be consistent and do it EVERYDAY with NO excuses. The decision is to do your MINIMUM (which is by definition more than zero) EVERYDAY.
Stretch, Stretch, and Stretch when Resting
Oh and work in stretching as well… Why, because if I don’t, I’ll end up being an average complainer. So I’ll just warm up at the beginning of every day. It sounds so easy, so why not do it yourself? I have proved to myself that doing a functional minimum can help keep your body loose and ready for the day. It was amazing how quickly my minimum increased and I added more reps and a few different exercises. Pull ups was a definite game changer. Next I’ll add more weight to my squats but for now my minimum remains 33-55 sit-ups, 33-55 squats, 33-55 pushups, stretching and 33 pull-ups. Also I have ran at least a mile for over 1400 calendar days. My plan is to never stop that. My knees and legs have never been in as good of shape as they are now. This minimum can be done in 30 minutes if you don’t rest and just get through it. I figured if I can’t give myself the gift of 30 minutes per day to do one thing I know I must do to be as healthy as I can… I am a piece of crap.
Why is your MINIMUM the “Easy Button? Because after the decision you can set your workout in 10 seconds. There is NO thinking. You just take action. I get my drink and walk to my designated spot and I’ll do the same thing every day if I don’t feel like thinking. If you get bored easy, just do things in another order… or listen to a podcast… or just tell your monkey brain to shut up! Just do the work. It is impossible to not make progress when the progress IS the action. Put the reps in, run every day, and you’ll be ready to increase the intensity and be prepared for anything.
One more thing, stay accountable to yourself, mark it down everyday in your journal. Even if you don’t write anything else in your journal, put the date, time, and the number of consecutive days you did your routine. Make that a big deal. Become the person you already are… and then chase the next person you will become… always challenging yourself to improve.