Game Plan Launch - the New Home

I know that not many of my readers used Twitter.  This post is NOT about Twitter so keep reading.  But the micro-blogging platform has opened my eyes to a whole new world of people, relationship, conversations and information.  It's also forced me to develop my writing here at the Game Plan.

To that end, I'm launching a new project today.  Here's the premise: I want to take my blogging to the next level and create a more professional platform for myself, both personally and professionally.  I have learned a lot on Blogger, starting a total of four blogs and consulting for two others.  I have been challenged by some very successful people to take the Game Plan and make it a more suitable "home base" for everything I do online. 

The goal is to be more professional.  But the process is one that could take months, even years to develop.  And that's not the point.  The point is to get out there and allow it to grow.  I continually coach clients to start small, establish consistency and build a new lifestyle for themselves.  So I need to practice what I preach.  There will never be a good time to launch this new project because I'll always want to make a few more adjustments.  I simply need to jump in and make my adjustments as I go. 

Since this is a soft launch, I'm going to skip the disclaimers.  There's a lot more work on my end to make this project more complete, but the location and structure has been set.  I'll fill in the pieces as I go. 

So let's Go!  My new home is HansSchiefelbein.com  I hope you'll join us.

Project Launch

Forgive the cliche, but there's no time like the present.  There's no better time than right now to do that project you've been "Planning" for months, if not years.  For many of the people I talk to, this is in regards to working out, losing weight.  That's why Nike took the cliche and made the passive statement an active one: Just Do It.

Earlier this week I listened to an interview that mentioned a phrase called "analysis paralysis."  The idea was that someone could get stuck analyzing a situation so much so that it actually paralyzes them from making a decision and proceeding with action. Analysis paralysis is one hurdle to getting things done, or in this case launched.

There's always a couple really good reasons why you don't launch a project, right?  In the exercise world, you don't know how you'll find at least 20 minutes per day to workout.  And even if you do, how can you do this 3-5 days per week like ACSM recommends.  And there's so many exercises to choose from.  How can you do them all, or which ones should you do?  And then of course you know that life will get busy, and you'll probably never stick to the workout routine.  So it never starts.

What about other projects?  For me right now, I'm working on an online project that has taken me months to “complete”.  I've watched the pros do it and I want to launch my own.  But the pros are so good at it.  How could I ever get to their level?  I don’t want to do this if it's not the best. So it's been put off month after month.

What I'm working on is a new blog.  It will be a website, really.  When I say I’ve been working on it for months I mean that i've dabbled with it here and there.  Realistically it gets very little of my time.  But still I’ve been procrastinating a launch because it’s not quite where I want it to be.  I want to put a professional foot forward and have a product I'm proud of.  And that's where I've been hung up. 

That's the inspiration for this post, because I've made a decision. 

The website will never be ready to launch.  There's always more time and money to be put into it.  Actually, the time component which has been holding me up is the component that I could control (and start) right now!  The sooner I launch my new website, the sooner I can get the “project launch” out from under me.

So the point it this: I'm in search of progress, not perfection.  There's never a perfect time to start a workout program.  So you should start tomorrow morning.  For me, there's never a perfect time to launch my new website.  So I'm starting Monday morning.

All the details will be there on the opening page.  To get there, you'll have to come back here.  So it’s a date? 

See you Monday for the launch!


   

The Principle of Overload

There is a principle in fitness training that is essential to experience any type of improvement in performance.  It's called the principle of overload and here's how it works.  Our bodies get really good at performing the demands we place on it.  If you ask your body to run 2 miles every other day, your body will get really good at that.  If you ask your body to do 60 push-ups and 60 sit-ups every day, your body will get really good at that.

What about at work?  If you tell your body to walk around the store room and move a few boxes, your body will get really good at that.  But what if those boxes got heavier?  You'd struggle!  Or what if you were asked to move 30% faster?  You'd struggle!

This is where the principle of overload comes in.  When you overload your system (i.e. your body) you systematically break down your muscles so that they grow back stronger.  This is the only way to improve performance, by breaking down muscle fibers.


I experienced a perfect example of this on my 12 mile run this morning.  I'm training for a half marathon in Middleton at the end of the month.  Training has gone well so far, but my longest run was last week and it was only 8.75 miles.  To jump to 12 miles was ambitious, but I know my body and it's abilities.  Typical distance training calls for small increases in "long runs" once per week.  To go from 8.75 to 9.5 or even 10 would have been very comfortable.  But that additional two miles was excessive overload today.

And I felt it.  My route was three 4-mile loops, and on the third loop I was halfway through when it hit me.  I knew it was coming, but knowing the principles of overload and progression made the feeling even more pronounced.  I had entered a mileage where my body was completely stress because it hadn't been there before (during this particular training session).

Of course this brings up another topic - the fight.  What do you do when you are at a place you've never been before, but you need to make it to the finish line?  Another post for another day.

Back to overload.  This morning's run was excessive overload but it was a controlled situation and it was a place I've been before, albeit one year ago.  Still, the overload is necessary for improved performance.  (I'll have to remind my legs throughout the day that this is for their good.)

So what about you?  Training, work, personal, spiritual.  If the principle of overload says that you must exert greater than normal stress on a system to grow it stronger, how are you doing that?