Health

The value in consistency.

Since the turn latter part of 2022 and since the turn of this year, my training has been more constant than it has been in a long while.

A change in the job role to support my personal need better has led to me being able to put myself first. And for a long time it was my job first and me second.

Desperately trying to hold on to any part of me that I could in order to feel somewhat like myself.

As a result, physically and mentally I am seeing progress in my goals and what I want to achieve.

With two main cycling goals to work on this year. Ride London and The Dragon Ride in Wales, building and sticking to a regular training plan was going to be vital in order to complete these events in one piece.

So in order to do so, here is my weekly training schedule which has already seen a 5% increase in my average power.

👉 Monday - 1 hour Zone 2

👉 Tuesday - Full body weights and core (on the lighter side)

👉 Wednesday - 1 hour Zone 4 efforts (5- 10 min efforts)

👉 Thursday - Full body weights and core (on the heavier side)

👉 Friday - 1 hour Zone 2

👉 Saturday - Active rest day (walking) or 3-plus hour group ride (zone 2-4)

👉 Sunday - Active rest day walking

Each night taking 10 minutes out before bed to stretch and most importantly, make sure I am giving myself the best chance of sleeping well for 7-9 hours.

Throw in an FTP test every 8 weeks to measure progress alongside a recovery week every 4th week. And the goal is to see constant growth in my power up to the events planned in May and June.

As you can see, the sessions are all very low intensity apart from one and a few efforts on the group ride. So the biggest takeaway for me has been the power of just being constant. With limited cycling outside over the winter, I have seen steady growth in my fitness and strength while managing to maintain my recovery. Allowing me to train 5 days a week without any limitations on my performance.

So if you are going to take just one lesson from this, is to focus on constancy and less on intensity. While there needs to be a certain amount of intensity to establish some progress, too much can lead to an increased risk of injury and burnout.

Note: if you are looking to establish some form of constancy around your health then check out membership options to join our growing community.

Wealth

If you have been reading some of my past newsletters then you would know that I have been enjoying The Physiology of Money by Morgan Housel.

I've pretty much come to the end of it and I would highly recommend it. In the closing chapters, he talks a lot about the physiology of money and how (as the below quote points out) that are decisions around it are mostly based on emotion and not logic/facts.

What does this tell us?

Well, for me this just reaffirmed the message that it is important to need to manage our mindset around money while also focusing solely on what we want in life that money can provide for us.

We are too often chasing someone else's goals that we are pressured into by society that we lose sight of what is truly important for ourselves.

So, try not to lose sight of that when you view and take stock of your relationship around money.

Important financial decisions are not made in spreadsheets or in textbooks. They are made at the dinner table. - The Physiology of Money - Morgan Housel

Mindset

The value is in less!

Recently I moved in with my girlfriend. Officially it was at the start of this month but I have been staying at hers for the best part of 4 months prior to this.

But, when it came to finally moving all of my belongings out of my old place and into hers I was suddenly hit with some stress and anxiety.

Not because of the move but because of the amount of stuff I have to try and organise to either bring with me to take to the charity shop.

As someone who likes to have less then I did not have a lot of stuff to try and organise but even so, the amount I did have was still enough to make me a little stressed.

Why?

"Because the things you own, end up owning you." - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club.

I personally find the more material items I own the less room in my head there is for being me. Being creative is a time to think about the important things that matter in life. Rather than stressing about the scratch on the car or whatever items it may be.

Because all of these items while we might treasure some, will all be gone, recycled or enjoyed by someone else in the future once we're passed on.

So as a result, I sent more bags to the charity shop when I moved in than I kept myself. A big relief was felt that I had less to worry about, less worry about where to store stuff that I never use.

Plus, this was just the start of me stripping back more of my life as I truly feel, the simpler your life is, the happy it is!

Lyric/ Quote I'm pondering

Happiness, something in my own place
I'm stood here naked, I smile and I feel no disgrace
With who I am - Lucky Man, The Verve.

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Why Simplicity and consistency are key to progress!