Quality or Quantity?

I absolutely love what I do. Running the studio, helping out at SNAP Fitness, the blog, the challenges (Suns Out Guns Out Team Transformation Challenge registration is now open…shameless plug) and everything that goes into Fuse Fitness Coaching. I love being here and I love the people who work and work out here. I feel very blessed to be able to be around so many great people every day. I love coaching football and baseball, being the President of Plymouth New Hope Little League, teaching Sunday school and helping at the boys’ school when I can. I love going on dates with my wife or just hanging out on a Friday night and watching shows we DVR (Designated Survivor and the new edition of 24 if you must know).

With all of that going on, I end up on my computer and/or cell phone A LOT. I use 3 different email addresses (personal, Fuse Fitness Coaching, Little League) and I can also be reached by phone, text, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter and Instragram. It’s great that there are so many ways to connect.

However, the other day I was “hanging out” with my son when he asked me why I was on my phone so much. I felt really bad. I realized that even though I was there with him I really wasn’t “present.” I then understood that while I thought I was multi-tasking I was actually just juggling (working and being a dad), but not doing either well.

I’ve made some decisions since then to be better at asking the people around me for more help, delegating more and making a conscious decision to be more present.

Why am I writing about this in what’s supposed to be a fitness and nutrition blog?

Well, being present when you are eating (otherwise known as mindful eating) is an extremely important part of digestion. Sit at a table (even if you are alone), set down the phone and focus on those around you and on your food. If you are eating at your desk at work, turn away from your computer and your papers and just eat. If you pay attention and really enjoy the taste and texture of your food, you can end up feeling more satisfied. You may also eat less because you are slowing yourself down.

I started thinking about the idea about being present as it pertains to workouts. There are thousands of articles, blogs and studies that deal with the benefits of thinking about the movement or muscle you are training. They say that you recruit more muscle fibers, and therefore can train the muscle harder, simply by thinking about what you are trying to do.

It’s awesome to workout with someone else or with lots of friends. Heck, here at Fuse Fitness Coaching we pride ourselves on “Individual Coaching in a Small Group Setting.” Luke Smith calls what we do “Entertonement.” This might be my favorite words that Luke has made up! We love to have fun, but it’s also important to work hard. When you are here, or when you are working out on your own, are you moving or are you “TRAINING?” Do you count reps or do you make the reps count? Muhammed Ali, known for his extreme core training, was once asked how many crunches he did a day and he said he didn’t know. He said, “I don’t count until it starts to burn and then I start counting because those are the reps that count.”

Being present means you can see more and better results without having to train more often. Being present means quality time with your kids, partner and family and not quantity time.