I tend to go down the rabbit hole on whatever my latest focus is. And recently, that focus has been on wellness. And there are a ton of hot trends out there. But I have started adapting fitness and diet trends for my real life. Because I don’t have endless time, money, space, and tolerance for suffering!
Ice baths
Ice baths are a big trend right now- it’s hard to miss the videos and glowing articles about the practice.
But ice baths are not practical for a lot of reasons, for a lot of us. I’m not a huge fan of baths in general- I feel guilty the entire time I’m filling up the tub with all those gallons of water. And once the tub is full, I’ve got to empty the entire ice container from the freezer in there. Not sure if it makes enough ice to really replicate “the real thing.”
Of course I could buy a standalone ice bath- for outside, I guess? Aside from the continued issue of having enough ice, I also have a large ice bath bucket sitting in the backyard.
Did you giggle when you saw that photo?? I know I did!
Plus, let’s face it, an ice bath is super unpleasant. I guess I’m just not willing to suffer that much for some unproven benefits. So instead, I do 60 second cold showers every once in a while. It definitely wakes me up! And I’m not nearly as grumpy as I would be after 10 min in that bucket!
Eating a lot more protein
I’ve written before about my efforts to eat more protein. And while I fully support this goal, I am tempering some of the new “rules” about how much protein is enough. I am focusing on sustainable ways to eat, for the long term. So eating 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight is just too much for me.
Eating that much protein was crowding out my available calories to eat much of anything else. I might have been full of eggs, protein and whey powder- but I wanted some carbs! For the love of god, a piece of bread! 🙂 On top of that, every day, I would fall short of my protein goal, which was discouraging.
So I landed on a compromise- 1 g of protein for each pound of lean body mass (LBM). Now I am meeting my protein goal every day, and even surpassing it once in a while. Perhaps in a few more months, I’ll be ready to re-evaluate the original “rule.” But for now, this adaptation is working.
Focusing on mobility
Mobility is critical as we get older. I’m not debating that whatsoever. But I do have issues with extended mobility sessions. I see people taking 45 min to hour-long mobility classes, 3x per week.
I won’t lie- I feel great after I take a mobility class on the Peloton app. But let’s get real-I have other fitness goals than just mobility. I need to get cardio and strength training into my weekly exercise schedule. And while I exercise for 8-10 hours a week- I can’t devote 1/3 or more to mobility. It’s just not going to happen.
So as is the case with the other things in this post, I am adapting fitness and diet trends for my real life. And that means focusing my mobility efforts and time on my problem areas (shoulders, back) and using my warm up and stretch sessions to incorporate some mobility. I know it’s not perfect, but I’m doing better than I was a year ago. Here’s a list of the mobility classes available on Peloton.
12-3-30 Workout
Have you heard about the 12-3-30 workout? This one is probably to most manageable of the trends I’ve named here. You set your treadmill incline to 12% and the speed to 3mph. And walk for 30 minutes. It’s a great Zone 2 workout.
So what’s my beef? Well, I like a little more variety. And I like to do some power walking and running, as well as steep hills. So my compromise on this fitness trend is that I’ll do it once a week. And use my other cardio sessions to hit a few other goals. I’m pretty intent on continuing to be able to run at least one mile for a long time in the future. That’s not going to happen without practice.
Plus I think it’s quite beneficial to get some outdoor time during my cardio. Hence my weekly swimming sessions and hikes with Cheddar. The 12-3-30 workout is great- but it can’t be the only cardio I do. Compromise!
How are you adapting fitness and diet trends for your own life? Share in the comments!
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