If you are an athlete, you know what VO2 Max Intervals are… but if you are not an athlete, the term may be somewhat foreign to you.
VO2 Max Intervals are short spurts of high intensity work followed by easier, not so taxing work to prepare for the next hard interval. These intervals can be done while running, biking, swimming or even while sitting at your desk… Here is what I mean.
Over the last few months, I have really noticed my fitness improving because I have started to incorporate these interval style workouts. What I also noticed was the correlation to fitness and my work. I started seeing my fitness improve, but I also started seeing myself be more sharp and motivated to push through difficult projects and ‘mortgage’ deals. I had started to train my body and my mind on doing harder things very uncomfortably. What I also noticed was that I was in a position where I could easily pull out of the interval (or the hard deal), because I had ‘done enough work’ or ‘I was tired’ OR, I could push through towards the end of the work (and the hard deal), with a greater sense of fulfillment and stronger for the next round ….
Here is a small picture of what I mean.
Imagine that you work out 30 days a month. You actually move your body in some way 30 days out of 30. Let’s say out of those 30 days, you take 12 group classes (3 per week). That means 40% of the time you have others around you that are able to help hold you accountable but then that leaves 60% of the time where you are on your own….. Now, you are not doing intervals every single class or workout but when you have others around you, you may just push yourself a little harder right?
If you decide to settle during that 60% do you think you will have improvements quickly? You can decide to either 1)not do VO2 Max Intervals 2)do them half assed or 3)do them as though your group is watching you.
Which one will actually give you the best benefit?
I am hoping you chose 3…..
VO2 Max Intervals and Business
Yes, VO2 Max Intervals suck… Just this morning I decided to do a bike workout that consisted of 9 intervals. 3x3miutes repeating 3 times. They are painful, they are hard and when I got done with 6, I almost wanted to just be done. However, I decided to press on because I knew that if I kept pushing forward, the next time I did these, it would be easier… even if only a little easier, it would still be easier.
Same in business. We need to operate a business as though we are in a race. With strategy and intervals! You don’t always have to surge ahead. Sometimes you need to push forward to stay in the lead, but then relax and prepare for the next surge. You never want to settle, as soon as you settle, you lose your rhythm and the pack moves ahead. It is so hard to try to catch up once you are behind. You always want to push more, but in a way that is a Max Out effort to get ahead then you relax, just a little bit, as our muscles adapt to the training to get ready to push ahead again.
So whether you are working out in the gym, running on a trail, or just trying to get your fitness muscles trained in business, the key is to never settle and say ‘okay, I will just quit a little early today because I did just enough’…. Don’t settle. Push to the Max, get better everyday and use your 100%. Don’t back down and only push for 40% or 50% or even 80%. Go all out, 100%, all the time. Maximize those intervals and you will see positive progression forward!
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