Form and Challenge : Finding the Correct Balance

There is a precipice that we must try to balance on with weight lifting, and all other forms of exercise. What is this hilltop that we must straddle? It's finding the right amount for you. With weight lifting it is being able to have good form while challenging yourself. If you have good form, but feel that you could go on doing reps for hours, then the weight is probably not heavy enough. If you feel exhausted at the end of three sets, but can only make it through by sacrificing your form, then you are trying to lift too heavy a weight. The right amount of weight is the one that can be performed for three sets with good form and feel as though you couldn't lift it any more by the end of the third set.
Running has a similar balance. How far can you run and how fast without sacrificing your form? If you are able to keep good form, but feel that it is not challenging, you are probably not running far enough or fast enough. If you can run a long distance at a good clip, but your form is very sloppy, you are putting yourself at risk for injuries. The right way to run for best results is to run at a challenging pace and distance that you can perform with the correct form.
The balance of form and challenge is also seen with yoga. If you can attain an asana, but only after sacrificing your breathing rhythm you are trying to do too much. On the other hand if you can keep the rhythm of your breath, but don't feel any stretch, you are not challenging yourself enough. The right balance is the one which is challenging for you, but not so challenging that you can't breathe properly. It's never a good idea to hold your breath while exercising, it may lead to the embarrassment of passing out.
Healthy moderation in exercise is finding the balance of form and challenge. You know your body better than anyone and can fine tune this over time until it is easy because it becomes habitual. Making a concerted effort to balance these two elements will lead to a healthier body with less injuries in the long run.

The Best Time To Workout.

Various fitness professionals tout their personal beliefs as gospel. One of the topics that many are gung ho to impress on you is that there is a certain time to workout that is better than others. If this claim were true there would be a general consensus among trainers, but there isn't. Some trainers tell you that you should workout in the morning, because that is the time that you will have the most energy. If you are not a morning person, this is definitely not your best time to workout. Other trainers will tell you that working out in the afternoon is best, because your hormones are at peak levels and exercising at that time will lead to a greater weight loss. Another trainer might say that morning is the best time for weight loss, while the evening is best for adding muscle. Since there is so much conflict between professionals, what is the best time to workout? The best time to work out is the one that fits into your schedule best. The workout time that you can stick with is the one that you should choose.
I have several workout times throughout the day. I begin my morning at 0500 for approximately an hour of Ashtanga yoga. While I would like to do a run next, I usually have to get ready for work. So my run will have to wait until afternoon around 1600, after my dumbbell workout. I toss other things into the mix sporadically throughout the week, usually on no semblance of a schedule. The best workout time comes down to gnothi seauton: knowing yourself, in this case knowing yourself well enough to know what time will work for you in the long run. There may be times that will work sometimes and not work other times. Your workout schedule should be flexible enough to fit in changes, but regimented enough to keep you at it. For more options on the best time to workout read here.
There is no magic time to work out, it is only through persistence that you will achieve fitness.

Health, Moderation, & Illnesses

An area in fitness which I have traditionally not been too moderate is exercising when I'm sick. Exercising when in the beginning stages of an illness may be okay, but if you are starting to feel really run down it's probably best to just let it go. Don't feel guilty for skipping a workout if you are feeling ill. If you are feeling run down, you probably will end up cheating with your form. If you are cheating with your form, you may be doing more harm than good. Anecdotal evidence suggests that working out is okay if the symptoms are only above your neck. See here. The theory that if you have body aches you shouldn't be working out until they've resolved themselves. I would suggest that you go with knowing yourself. Ask yourself the question: is working out now going to make me feel worse? If you are exhausted you probably should take the day off. Rest and fluids are always a good idea when you are coming down with something.
Others have suggested modifying your workout so that it's less intense while you are ill. I believe that our fast paced world often hinders our rest. The one time that you most need your rest is when you are coming down with something. Extra rest and fluids can make the difference between something that lasts only a day or two and full blown walking pneumonia. I've learned over time that the benefits of taking a little time off are far greater than the benefits that come from your workout in a weakened state. I am still always reluctant to call in sick from work, but I feel I've become more moderate, by not working out through an illness. If your illness is lengthened then you may not be able to pick up where you left off, but that's better than making yourself worse or risk passing out in the gym. When I was working and in college I would push myself through the sickness, and end up coming down with something worse. Moderation is knowing when to be driven. For me, being moderate means taking a day or two off to recoup before resuming your workout routine.

The Greeks Knew It Way Back Then

Upon the entrance to the Oracle of Delphi two phrases were carved: Sophrosune and Gnothi Seauton. These are important phrases to consider when attempting to achieve health through moderation.
Sophrosune, while not easily translated into English, means something like the wisdom to know moderation in all things. It is the ability to eat a couple of chocolates, instead of the whole bag. The ability to have one beer instead of a six pack. It is also knowing that if you have certain triggers that encourage you to overdo, knowing how to keep them in check. Knowing when to take a rest day from your fitness routine, and knowing when to return. It is important to be able to moderately indulge, because complete deprivation leads to binging. Binging leads to guilty feelings. Being able to have a couple of chocolates a day will keep your cravings down. Not allowing yourself chocolates will lead to a day when you eat a whole bag of chocolates and end up searching your house for some more, until you feel sick and bloated.
Sophorosune goes hand in hand with Gnothi Seauton. Gnothi Seauton is an imperative that can be translated as Know Yourself! Knowing yourself is an important part of fitness through moderation. One of the fitness pitfalls that I am guilty of is moving too fast. Once I get into a fitness routine, I will up the intensity too fast and will end up in a great deal of pain. If I add more and more weight to my lifting every week I will end up not being able to work out due to the pain.
There is a fine balance of knowing your body well enough to know what pain is good and what pain is bad. It is good to feel sore after a workout, the microtears in your muscle will heal themselves and make you stronger. It is bad to feel a shooting pain during a workout. If you experience a shooting pain while working out STOP IMMEDIATELY! Your body is telling you that you are doing too much. If however your workout seems to easy, maybe it's time to up the weight or intensity. By the end of your reps you should just barely be able to push that last one out, but you should be able to push it out. Keep challenging yourself, but don't give yourself too tough a challenge, or up your challenge too fast.
Knowing yourself could also be knowing what situations cause you to binge drink, and being able to avoid those situations or monitor yourself. If you know that there are no situations in which you can moderately drink, don't do it.
In most cases, being able to indulge a little will prevent a binge. Since binge eating is the #1 eating disorder in the United States, being able to know yourself will prevent binges. This is something that I have problems with. I know that in certain situations I will binge eat, and so I try to avoid those situations. I don't go out to all you can eat buffets, because I will stuff myself until I feel sick, and may even get physically sick.
Achieving fitness through moderation should be a lifelong goal. Aristotle thought that as we get older it gets easy to be moderate. If you do slip, don 't obsess on it. That only creates a guilt cycle that will encourage the behavior in the future. Just pick up where you left off. It will make you feel better in the long run. The longer you act moderately about fitness the easier it will get and the more you will be able to do in the future.

Avoiding Extremes

Many of the ills that our society faces health wise are directly linked to the fact that we shoot for the extremes. In many cases an obese person has become so through wholly seeking pleasure, through food, rest, and entertainment. These things are not good in themselves, they are goods that are dependent upon some other good. The anorexic seeks to be thin, not seeing that this is also not a true good. Fitness should be the end goal, though it is not a goal that ends. Fitness is the good that is a good in itself. I realize that it is tough to be moderate. I especially have a hard time with this one. I tend to go overboard with anything new that I discover. I have the propensity towards an addictive personality, thus it is very difficult for me to try to be moderate. I used to be a vegetarian, but once I started eating meat, my diet suffered horribly. It was all burgers and juicy steaks, the fattier the better. I work in a place where dough-nuts are plentiful and so once I started working there I would indulge in one or two a day, this led to a six a day habit approximately this last December. Around the time that I began eating red meat again I began another unhealthy habit- smoking. I had quit when I was 22, and didn't smoke again until I was 27. from 27-29 I went through periods of quitting and starting again. I generally drink moderately, but once I graduated from college I accelerated my nightly drinking to the point that I was drinking 3-4 beers a night. My health suffered. I was chronically tired, my weight had surged to 250 lb. I generally felt like crap. I was living to an extreme.
When I became a vegetarian at 22 I lived at the end of another vicious extreme. I began exercising a lot. I was lifting weights 7 days a week, running 5 miles every morning without fail, I was doing yoga 5 times a week, I took up Taekwondo, kick boxing, Hapkido, Judo. It was to the point that I was in the Dojo 3 hours a night 4 nights a week. In the daytime I was riding my bike 70 miles round trip to swim in the river. What was the end result of all this exercise? I was physically exhausted. If I missed any part of my routine I would feel intense guilt about it. I was unable to help friends move as my muscles would give out midway through the day. My typical workout consisted of 2 hours of heavy weight lifting. Where now I would count helping someone move as a workout, then I would just workout early in the day so that I would still get my workout in before the moving.
You can't reach fitness goals if you live in the extreme. You should not look at reaching fitness goals as being torn between extremes, you should look at it as practicing to hit a target. Being torn between extremes does nothing to achieve actual health. You should aim not to overeat, nor under eat. You should aim not to over exercise, not under exercise. There is no plan that works for everyone, so you should try to find one that works for you. The most important rule of thumb, it to not beat yourself up if you slip, just get back on the horse as soon as you can. If you are just beginning start slow, if you are continuing look at a way to re tune your workout.