Workout 8/9

I am putting up today’s workout with the intention of publishing more work-outs, writing some more substantial essays, and reigniting the building of Matt Brown v3.0 with a version 3.1.

This is a two person work-out (cause you need a person to be a timer)

Act 1

• First person: 100 crunches
• Second person: wind sprints (although my sprints look more like wind-lumberings)
• Sprint as long as it takes for person 1 to finish, then switch.

Act 2

• First person: 50 leg raises
• Second person: shuttle runs
• Shuttle run as long as it takes for person 1 to finish, then switch.

Act 3

• First person:
• farmer carry 25 yards
• 15 dumbell cleans on each arm
• leave weights at finish line and sprint back to start
• Second person
• kettle swings until first person sprints back
• sprint 25 yards
• Now the first person does the kettle swings and the second person does the farmer carry and dumbell cleans

Act 4: Tandem

• First time
• First person: uneven farmer carry (right hand is a universal bar, left hand a dumbell) 25 yards
• Second person lunge 25 yards
• First and second person must stay together
• Second time
• Second person: uneven farmer carry (right hand is a universal bar, left hand a dumbell) 25 yards
• First person lunge 25 yards
• First and second person must stay together
• Third time
• First person: uneven farmer carry (left hand is a universal bar, right hand a dumbell) 25 yards
• Second person lunge 25 yards
• First and second person must stay together
• Forth time
• Second person: uneven farmer carry (left hand is a universal bar, right hand a dumbell) 25 yards
• First person lunge 25 yards
• First and second person must stay together

Act 5

• First person gets in push-up position with a step our bench in front of them
• Hand-step up to the bench with your right hand
• Hand-step up to the bench with your left hand
• Hand-step down from the bench with your right hand
• Hand-step down from the bench with your left hand
• That is 1 rep.  Do 10
• Second person holds an elbow plank until person 1 is done.  Then person one and two switch positions.

Attacking personal waste: Waste 1. Partially done work

What’s a small batch?

Tonight I didn’t decide to clean my room. Why didn’t I clean my room? Well it’s easy. The job is too big. I knew that if I started it, then it would take several hours and that there was a 100% chance that I was not going to get done. I would have a partially done room, and I would maybe get back to it another time. However, I know myself, and what I know about myself is that I would probably never get back to it until enough time had passed to undo all the work that I had put into it. Furthermore, I would have felt defeated, discouraged, and frustrated at having failed at such a big job. Yeah, I could tell myself not to feel that way, but does that ever really work? Our emotions are an integral part of our successes and our failures. The one or two hours would then have been wasted. Partially done work is not of any value, and indeed is often detrimental to our goals.

So, here is what I did do: I made a iPod play list that was 20 minutes long, I started the music, and I cleaned my room until the music stopped. At the end of 20 minutes I had a small batch of cleaning done, I had a little playlist that I could use again, and I had a beginning that I could build on tomorrow with another small batch.

Emotional inertia and emotional momentum
Small batches help us get things done in several ways. The first way is that they help us over come emotional inertia. Emotional inertia is that feeling you have when you don’t feel like doing something. It is easier to overcome emotional inertia if you can tell yourself that you only have to produce a small batch of results. It is even easier if you can attach the small batch to a pleasant activity (like listening to music). The next way that small batches help you is that they build emotional momentum. You can often leverage the success of one small batch into the desire to create several more, and wind up tackling a big job in several incremental parts. Thirdly, small batches allow you to safely experiment with new or different techniques or particularly difficult things without fear of being stuck for a long time.

Let’s get lean together

The following 3 paragraphs are not some SAT reading comprehension question. You may find them very uninteresting, but paradoxically if you do, then this series of posts probably will help you.

The lean software and manufacturing movement has led to unparalleled productivity, quality, and output in industry and technology.

At the heart of lean thinking is the awareness of waste. Lean software engineering practitioners have identified 7 wastes:
1. Partially done work
2. Relearning
3. Task switching
4. Handoffs
5. Delays
6. Extra features
7. Defects

Also at the heart of this thinking is the idea of continuous small improvements, the happiness of the worker, the sustainability of the environment, and the good of the community; by caring about these values, a company that runs on lean thinking will ensure its existence and place in the world for a long time. Very few businesses have this attitude; in fact, one of my constant frustrations is that most do not. Most companies don’t care about continuous improvement and sustainable practices. Instead, they look to short-term profitability and delivering the minimum quality that they can to their customers, often without regard to next month, let alone next year. However, as I said before, some do not — they follow lean practices and have great results.

So, I wondered, can we map these lean practices to our lives? Can we continuously improve and lead more sustainable existences? Can we become beacons of hope and benefactors of our community?

I think we can. In the next few days, I will attempt to start unpacking each waste and see how we can apply it to our lives in a meaningful way. I think several, if not all, are transferable. So follow along and join in.

Don’t Blame the Duck-billed Platypus

One day I noticed that my 10 year old daughter had nothing to do. So, like any typical dad, I decided to give her a little project. I asked her to write me a little summary paper: 5 fun facts about the duck-billed platypus (dbp). I explained to her that I really did not expect a long paper or a multi-sourced paper. I just expected her to read an encyclopedia article and summarize 5 fun facts. There was protests. There were tears. There was storming around. There was enough time spent on drama, that she could have collected, cataloged, and detailed 15 fun facts about the dbp.

In the end I got a handwritten page with 5 fun facts. It was neat, the facts were complete. In fact it was what I wanted. Then, I got something that I didn’t want and that I never intended to get:

Chloe: I hate the duck-billed platypus!

Matt (internal monologue): Damn! That totally went side-ways!

Matt: Chloe, don’t blame the duck-billed platypus. Blame me. Ok?

I often think of this story when I think about how we Christians representing Jesus to the world, and how the world is often replying “Yuk! I hate Jesus.”

So I decided to start a list of things that you can blame us for and things that you can blame Jesus for.

I will update this list over time, but I wanted to start this dialog right now.

There is a lot of superficial stuff that I won’t enumerate in exhaustive detail, but I will give you an overview of the crap that I’m referring to. What I mean here has to do with people that have the external trappings of Christianity, but who act like asses. These trappings are the Christian jewelry, tee shirts, bumper stickers, bill boards, and other things that say “hey look at me! I’m pious and you’re a loser”.

If you see signs, shirts, stickers, or anything else that says that you’re a loser, then please blame the wearer; don’t blame Jesus.

Here is the honest-to-God truth: Jesus said a lot of stuff that you will like, but he will also say a lot of stuff that you won’t like. Jesus lays out definite challenges in the Gospels. The thing that is consistent in all of them is that Jesus always challenges people at the level that they are on.

In the next installment of Don’t Blame the Duck-billed Platypus, I will discuss some of these.

Things you can blame Jesus for

Simple living

Jesus was born in humble circumstances. He had no 401K or retirement plan. He worked at a trade, and then at a ministry where he helped people, partied with people, and did not get rich off of people. If you are validated by your job, money, or possessions then you will have trouble with a lot of what Jesus has to say about the value of stuff.

Things you can’t blame Jesus for

Big haired, big money evangelicalism

If you want to believe that following God will make you rich or healthy, then you’ve been lied to. There is no family discount for the adopted children of God, but we have each other which is better than anything.

Making Time

We need to make time for what is important.

I am really sick of hearing people say “I didn’t have time to do {this important thing}.” Oh really? You truly want me to believe that at a time in history when we have more leisure time than any other humans ever had, that you are always desperately running out of time.

Look, I understand. I like TV, movies, and video games. Given free time, I am always looking to fill it in a way that I find amusing. However, I am getting more and more concerned that I am missing out on some deeper stuff. See, I know too much about what literate people did before they were constantly inthralled by American Idol, HBO, the playoffs, or whatever else we do to fill the gaps between when we get home and when we go to bed. Worse, I know that we have more time, and more knowledge available to us than our grandparents did, so we have more potential to learn, grow, and develop. We squander our potential everyday. What’s even worse is that we could both be entertained and even more enlightened if we only cut our entertainment time in half and used the saved time to do almost anything else — even sleep.

I am haunted by a vision of a man sitting on a chair staring at a glowing box for 3 to 6 hours a day. Moreover, I am haunted by the vision of a family sitting together, but remarkably, not present to each other, staring at that same glowing box. Day after day. Meal after meal. Whole families alienated from each other, but knowing the exhaustive details of the Kardashian’s family dynamic. I am haunted by the ghosts of the books, plays, and sonnets that will never be written because we needed to find out what Bart is going to do this week.

I am haunted by my own history, by my appetite for all of this mind candy. I am resolved to be better — not perfect, and not self-righteous. You try it tomorrow. Eat dinner face-to-face. Read to your kids. Write a blog. Read a book. Get an extra hour of sleep. Have coffee with a friend. Dick around some of the time, but just not all of it. Save an hour for something better.

And don’t tell me you won’t have time — make time.

May 15 2011 workout

Got up at 6:15 today and hit the driveway and street with Ben Meadows and did the following workout
Warm up
Heavy ball drills (10 pound ball)
1. 1 min chest pass
2. 1 min ball slam (raise ball overhead slam on floor to partner)
3. 1 min ball twist pass (right side) (rotate to the right to pass ball to partner)
4. Repeat above from left
5. Squat and roll (roll ball to partner like a little kid bowling. This is a good lower back warmup)
6. High pass (use a two-handed shot put move to propel heavy ball up as far as possible and to partner. Good to warm-up shoulders).
7. Overhead pass
8. Full rotation pass (back to parter, hold ball out in front of you, rotate you core as far as possible and release ball to partner). Do one minute each

Partner timed work

Person 1: Warrior lunge to a predetermined location and back

Person 2: Kettle swing until partner returns. Then switch.

Follow the same pattern with the next three exercises

Bag carry (we carry a 150 pound punching bag up the drive way and back)

Toe Touch (this is a crunch movement, except that your feet are straight up in the air and you are pushing a kettle weight to your toes)

Side lunges

Body weight Squats

Farmer carries (pick up very heavy weights and carry them 25 to 50 yards)

Step ups (step or jump up onto a platform, continue until the farmer gets back)

Repeat all

Weight lifting (2×10 for all)

dead lifts
Pull overs (these are fun on a Swiss ball)
Upright Barbell Rows
Good mornings (lighter weight and good form are best)

The benefit of this workout is that it could be done in its entirety (we did today — took 90 minutes), or you could just do some of the work. Many of the exercises can be done with simple equipment.

Back to it

One of the things that has struck me lately is how much in our world gets accomplished in a haphazard, random, or just-showing-up manner. I see products go to market with planning that is not especially related to reality, I see people parenting with no real consistency, and I see whole lives lived with not a lot of purpose behind them. I am not only flummoxed by these occurrences, often because things turn out alright if not well, but also because I, myself, have been the beneficiary of this type of lack of planning an purpose.

I sometimes like to think of it as lean, efficient, just-in-time thinking, but really it is ultimately lazy.

The fact is that we can be better than haphazard. We can be a little more intentional. We can be a little more considerate.

When I am rushing through something, or just showing up, or moving forward with the minimum effort, it is usually because I am rushing TO some self gratification, and while it is true that perfection is the enemy of good enough, too often half-assed means that we are leaving a mess for someone else to clean-up. This is the case whether we created products that are substandard, or raise children that are constant drains on those that they are around (and we all know kids like this).

Our thirst for convenience has always — always been at the root of some of our most pervasive personal problems.

We are better than this. We can be so much better than this. When I turn away from the gaping maw of my own self-satisfaction and turn to the emotional satisfaction of relational service, I find space and time to think more, plan better, and connect more deeply with others. I can’t add time to my day, but I have discovered that I can make time for the people and activities that are important.

Is this your last day?

Update from last week:

• Still thinking about “the tension”
• Writing my sermon for this week
• Rode 10 of the 30 miles planned
• Made some good eating choices
• Still trying to make 3 good decisions a day and I am much happier when I do

Read this:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:13-21&version=NIV

I would like you to think about the following question, and I would like for you to try to reconcile your answer with the way that you are living day in and day out.

If today were the last day of your life how would you spend it?

When I ask that question, I don’t mean for you to go and consult a bucket list.

I would like you to reflect on what hits you in your gut when you consider the answer.

What is the first thing that you think of?

Many people may consider dreams that they have put off, then may consider activities that they have not done, many people would think about relationships that they have and spending time with those people.  But here is the point of the exercise: are you doing the things today that you would like to have represent your last day on earth.  In the parable above, Jesus is asking us to start with that outlook (later he will ask a lot more of us), but I think that his basic question is valid no matter what your faith life is like.  We all know that we are going to die.  We all know that it could happen in 20 years or in the next hour.  So what I am wondering, is why are we doing so many things that we know are not important?  Why are we living days that look like they have come from a cookie cutter?

The answers are simple, immediate, and stark: My baby is in day care because I need to pay the rent, but if it were my last day I would call in sick and spend the day with my baby. I would like to get beyond that immediacy to the bigger questions.  If my last day on earth was spent sacrificially for my family, then I would be ok with that.  However, let’s push a little deeper, and discuss what you are doing to pay the rent, and what your burning cycles on worrying about.  Let’s talk about how you’re spending the time you have with the people you love.  Let’s also talk about how you’re taking care of yourself.

“Yes” you say, “I am working 60 hours a week, but I need to for {list of really good reasons}”.  I would ask you if you are honestly living your goals and aspirations.  I’m not really asking you if work everyday is orgasmic, but what I’m asking you is: are you doing what you want to be doing?  If not, you need to start defining some goals and a plan to get there.

“Yes” you say, “I am spending {insert number} hours a day/week/month with {insert list of loved ones}”.  I would ask you what this time looks like?  Does most if it involve you all staring at a flat screen TV?  I know I like to spend time like this, and yet I know that eating this mental candy all the time will rot out my deepest relationships if that is all we ever did.  Eating dinner/coffee/lunch/breakfast with people (and with the TV off) is a good way to spend meaningful time.

“Yes” you say, “don’t even ask about how I am taking care of myself”.  You don’t have time to workout.  You don’t have time to get enough sleep.  You don’t like the taste of good food.  All the excuses are pretty much bull shit.  You know it and I know it. I know it because I live it.  I have massive lapses in discipline as well, but I don’t kid myself about the reasons.  I have all the time that I need to take care of the things that I should take care of, but I don’t always feel like doing it.

Ultimately, I would like a bunch of us to work on this question together.  I think that as we began to look at prioritizing our lives around relational goals, we would come to live a richer and more interesting existence.

Coming Attractions

Things I am working on this week for MBV3:

• Blog entry on living in the tension.  Living in the tension refers the cognitive process behind not taking the default view based on your natural inclinations or emotional impulses, but instead deciding from a thoughtful, consistent, position that may fly in the face of your comfort.  Once you feel this tension, you can’t turn back.  I make no claims of superiority on this regard, but I am always refining.
• Working out 5 days.  Mainly will be weight training because I am also planning to…
• Bike 30 miles (spread over 4 workouts) – getting ready for a little 50 mile ride that I want to do in the summer.
• Eating right – no processed foods.
• My sermon for Sunday – On Matthew 5 where Jesus calls us to embrace our spiritual bankruptcy.  Come on by.

Updates to follow…

Three good choices a day

In chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says:

^{Matt 5:20} For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The “you” in that quote is the audience on a hill side as well as the rest of us.  I will be discussing and explaining this point in my upcoming sermon series, but it frames a topic that I want to discuss today: Perfection versus Improvement.  However, before we leave this quote from Jesus, let me do a quick overview.  Jesus’ point in the entire passage is that perfection outside of God is impossible.  Our inability to be perfect, the acceptance of our weaknesses, and faith in Jesus are the foundational tenants of the New Testament.  Another important tenant is the possibility and the reality of continuous improvement. 

I have given continuous improvement a lot of thought and effort in the last 10 years.  The day-to-day grind of living often causes us to lose sight of a bigger picture except in rare times of crisis or maybe even rarer times of reflection.  Work is tiring.  Home is challenging. Our relationships require constant work (and if we fail to work on them they explode or decay complicating things even further).  By the time we put our heads up to breathe we see that a week has whizzed by, or a month, or a year, or a decade.  However, even as time continues to march along, our goals rust and decay in the warehouse of our dreams.  How can we recover from this?  The only way is through continuous and intentional improvement.  How can we continuously improve? If you’re stuck in a hole, or just want to be more intentional do this: make 3 good choices a day.  Follow these steps and guidelines:

1. Think about your goals and what you may be doing to sabotage them, or what is standing in your way, or what you need to overcome. Make a list of the situations that you find yourself in that make you feel out of control or “swept away in the current” of the day-to-day.
2. Decide in advance what choices you are going to make today and write them down.
   • Guideline: Good choices are going to be the hard ones that either, you don’t feel like doing but you know are right, or they are the ones that you may forget to do because you get caught up in everyday life.  A good choice may be to do something different all day; it may be to avoid a situation or a person; it may be to not do something when you have a chance to.  The sign of a good choice is that it is moral; you know that it is good for you; and it moves you closer to your goals.
   • Share your goals and choices with another person who can coach you or at least check in and see how you’re doing.
3. Create some space in your day to reflect on how things are going and how you might need to adjust.
   • Guideline: Turn off the radio in the car.  Use the time when your brush your teeth.  Use your time in the shower.  Watch 30 fewer minutes of TV.  Just do not tell me that you do not have the time.
4. Forgive failure and restart.
   • Guideline: There are a ton of trite and overused statements about how each day is a gift, and that may be true, but what each day means for you is a chance to get a little better.  It means a chance to try again. So you will need to be prepared to overcome failure by putting it behind you and moving on.  Remember the best baseball player does not hit the ball more than 40% of the time – and life is a lot harder than baseball.
   • Guideline: Sometimes improvement means that things have not gotten worse, stayed the same, or are not getting bad as fast.  Continuous improvement may mean that you are stopping a trend in your life, so you will need to give it time to slow, stop, and then reverse.

Of course you will want to make many more than three good choices a day, but you’ll have to practice making good choices, and I figure that 3 is a good number to start with.  You’ll also need to remember that one good choice can help put you in a position to make another, and another, and another…