(I'm Not a) Marathon Man

I’m not a distance runner. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, though. In middle- and high-school I joined the cross country running, and track and field teams. I failed miserably at cross country running, mostly due to boredom. The long stretches of repetitive motion—even among the beauty of Lake Tahoe, where I’m from—seemed impossible to maintain. I was far more successful at shorter events like the 100-meter dash or 200-meter hurdle.

The same holds true to this day. When I first started a strength-training program, my mind would wander and motivation would wane. I knew I was supposed to be in the gym for an hour—everyone said that’s how long it takes to see results. How much I accomplished during that hour is questionable. And the results proved that. Going to the gym was a struggle and I abhorred every minute of it.

I’ve recently realized that I need to play to my strengths. I’m naturally prone the sprint mentality. Instead of spending an hour or more in the gym, I exercise for no more than 30-minutes at time. That 30-minutes consists of pretty high-intensity, sprint-like activity. It’s quick, it’s dirty. I’m in, I’m out, and on with my life. I accomplish far more during that 30 minutes than I ever did with hour-long workouts. The best part? I’ve never achieved greater results.

When it comes to exercise, play to your strengths. The most important component of exercise is to move. Hate crunches? Don’t do them because someone told you to. Despise distance running like me? Do sprints instead. Exercise is most successful when it becomes something you want to do, instead of something you have to do.