Specifity + Frequent Practice = Success

  By that title I mean a little practice on a regular basis is going to help you achieve your goals. Obviously there's more involved,  including good instruction and obviously correct practice.


  Still, a little daily practice of a skill ( strength, speed, etc. ) will get you to where you want to be. It's much better to do a little bit of a skill daily than to do a lot once a week.


   Remember the example of  Marine Officer Greg Donahue ?  He trained to do 20 pull ups. He did it with daily practice. In fact he used this weeks title as a description for how he succeeded.


   I can attest to that. Among the things I've accomplished are faster times in running, underwater swimming, and most recently, and one of the toughest, is the 1 leg squat ( aka pistol ).

   Now some things can and should be altered on a regular basis. Speed particularly should be altered. By that I mean 1 day you could run 1/4 mile sprints, the next day 32 x 100 meter, etc. You get the idea.

   So skip the excuses and practice your skill daily for the goal you're trying to achieve , and if you keep it up you'll probably find yourself in the winners circle.

Why Intervals Are So Valuable

 We had a big meet this past weekend at the pool. Various age groups. And from 7 a.m. until whenever it would end. Ouch! For the record we'd end up getting out of there about 3 p.m.


  Of course I didn't know when it would end. And of course I have to get my workouts in. Due to the super early time running was out of the question unless I could get there at 6 a.m. to do sprints near the pool. Of course I could try to run in the neighborhood around 5! Yeah right!

   I decided to run in the night. I instead decided to focus on my strength skills. I would do intervals of push ups, pull ups, and kettle bell swings, using an interval format. We were up for 45:00, down for 15:00. On the first break I did 2 pull ups every minute for 10:00. We lucked out and got extra help so now we were up 45:00, down 45:00. Even better. So I did 5 push-ups every minute for 10:00, and did 10 kettle bell swings every minute for 20:00.

     If you add it up that's 20 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, and 200 swings . Except for the swings it wasn't  very aerobic in nature but it did definitely keep the muscles active.


      I hope you see how it's possible to get some workouts in when you're crunched for time. If you're really dedicated all it takes is a little planning and the right attitude . Just remember how interval training can really help.