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30-day trial 1: daily sprints and weekly incremental jog
By Paul | January 6, 2008
Late last year I happened across a free email newsletter, Early To Rise, which I would recommend if you are a self-improvement addict like me. One of the first newsletters I received contained an article detailing Michael Masterson’s daily routine. As the title of the newsletter suggests, Michael starts his day early and one of the first things he does is completes eight 50-yard sprints, resting for thirty seconds between each dash.
For some reason, I decided to try it almost immediately and completed eight sprints that same evening. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve been doing the same each morning ever since. It suits me far better as a routine than distance jogging (despite the fact that I am a better distance-runner than sprinter).
Peculiarly I had no aches or pains whatsoever for the first fortnight, then a week of mild aching and since then I’ve been largely free of aches. I think the aches coincided with a period where I thought it would be best to do some stretches beforehand. I now realise that this is not necessarily a good idea as it is unwise to stretch muscles that are “cold”. As I don’t generally allow myself sufficient time for a sensible warm-up prior to the sprints, I neglect to do any stretches. Instead I allow myself to take it easy on the first 2 sprints (building up to a sprint fairly slowly) before sprinting nearly flat-out for most of the remaining runs.
It’s a wonderfully refreshing routine and it takes so little time. If I manage to wake before my son (who can be quite noisy and demanding when he first wakes), it also gets me out of bed promptly and feeling wide awake within 10-15 minutes. This is far more satisfying than lying in bed (though I’d have scarcely believed it had I not tried it myself!).
I’ve missed perhaps seven of these session for one reason or another, but have doubled-up on other days to ensure I am averaging the equivalent of at least eight 50-yard sprints per day.
In recent weeks I have introduced an extended jog instead of the sprints approximately once per week. I now intend to schedule it (probably each Sunday) and ensure the distance I am jogging increases eash week. I have no idea as yet of the distance I am jogging, but during my most recent jog I was out for almost exactly half an hour.
Inspired by Steve Pavlina’s 30-day trial concept, I decided to commit myself to the daily sprints and a weekly incremental jog for 30 days as of January 1st. The intention is to do it without fail, though obviously unforeseen circumstances might bring the trial to a halt. That said, even during significant illness, completing the 8 sprints tends to be possible at some point during the day when my energy is high and, judging by past experience, tends to make me feel somewhat better.
Incidentally, if you haven’t discovered Steve Pavlina previously, you won’t know that he’s currently doing a 30-day trial on a severely-restrictive raw vegan diet and has previously used his 30-day trial concept to experiment with polyphasic sleep - adjusting his sleep pattern to six 20-minute naps evenly spaced throughout each 24 hour period (totalling just 2 hours sleep per day!). I find his blog generally interesting, thought-provoking and inspiring so will be prone to mentioning him from time-to-time.
As a pleasant side-effect, since beginning the sprint-regime, the 30 seconds between each run gives me the opportunity to repeat a few affirmations, daydream, collect my thoughts and/or give thought to the coming day. This is thoroughly beneficial in itself but, combined with the feelings of satisfaction that come from completing the routine and being thoroughly alert and positive within 15 minutes of rising, the routine is almost unmissably addictive.
I’ll keep you posted if I lapse from this workout, particularly as I return to work tomorrow morning and I haven’t been rising as early as I’d like. It could prove challenging to make time for exercise before leaving for work!
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm
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