Before I dive into specifics, I want to share the most important principle.
When you have extra time and/or motivation to fitness, make big investments and build a margin for when life gets busy.
For many of us, January brings a bit more time to focus on fitness. We’ve settled down post holidays, work has kicked up a bit, and we’re feeling New Year vibes.
For your author, January is the one month of the year where I don’t have any flights scheduled. I’m at home or in NYC every day of the month. PLUS, I too am feeling the New Year enthusiasm. I’m even doing “Drynuary” (which means a Martini-less birthday next week).
Now January’s habits may not be sustainable year round. You may not even WANT to sustain them year round. For instance, I WILL enjoy some Martinis in 2023.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of extra time and motivation when you have it.
In fact, you should consciously leverage times of increased fitness focus to invest heavily while you can. These “investments” create more “margin” when your schedule inevitably fills up with travel or other commitments.
“Investing extra-heavy in fitness now for future benefit” also works on the macro over your lifespan. You can most certainly make fitness improvements into your 70s and 80s, even if you’ve never trained before. But If you’re reading this and in your 20s or even 30s? The more you can invest NOW, the better off your older self will be.
Admittedly, you can also get away with more loose livin’ in your 20s than in later decades. So as usual, there’s a balance to be struck. I’m not suggesting you spend your 20s living like a fitness monk. But for many people, it’s also when you have comparatively more time, before your life complexifies.
So if you too are feeling New Year, New You vibes??
Eff the New Year haters. Ride the wave. Get it while the gettin’s good!! 😉
MF’s Current Fitness Regime
NOTE: I’m not prescribing YOU do this. But since people sometimes ask, here’s the deets.
Strength Training – I’m doing three full body lifts per week, built around 6 different strength training exercises performed as 3 pairs of alternating sets. I also do a thorough dynamic warm-up, some power training drills to segue into strength training, then finish off with some cardiovascular training.
In other words, although I have a coach who does my program design, I basically follow MFF’s Small Group Personal Training protocol to a T.
Cardiovascular Training – For most of our Ninjas, I’d say 3 SGPTs are likely plenty. And indeed, those workouts are the foundation of my training. But since I’m looking to optimize, I do two other dedicated days of low to moderate intensity aerobic-focused training.
I also do a sixth day that’s a hybrid. I do a few more strength training exercises and short max effort cardiovascular training. I’m currently training to improve my time on the rowing machine as a proxy to improve my VO2 Max and keep my heart healthy.
Walking – I shoot for at least 8000 steps per day AND to keep my 28-day average above 8k. To hit this target, I go for dedicated walks (even in the cold!) and use my desk treadmill while in meetings.
Sleep – Admittedly, having a baby isn’t ideal for sleep.
For love? For snuggles? For joy? It’s great! Fantastic.
For sleep? Not so much.
Overall my sleep total is obviously down, though now that we’re at the 6-month-mark, I strive for 7 hours on average (tracked on my Oura ring). This may be ambitious with our little angel who doesn’t always sleep through the night yet. But I’m totally fine with it. I love my baby!!!
Nutrition – Well, at the risk of being a broken record… I eat the way we recommend Ninjas eat.
I personally like about four meals per day. I anchor each meal with protein always and prioritize hitting my daily intake goals. I also eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. My go-to meals are:
- Pre-Workout: Non-fat Greek Yogurt with fresh berries and a bit of granola AND a Whey/Collagen Protein Shake
- Post-Workout: Eggs, TONS of veggies, an apple, Icelandic yogurt, a slice of Ezekiel (sprouted) bread
- Mid-Afternoon: Lean turkey chili (beans, cherry tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasoning)
- Dinner: Chicken, sweet and white potatoes, veggies (usually roasted broccoli or green beans) and a protein bar for desert
If I’m in the city, I may sub out a meal for a salad at Sweetgreen. On the weekends, I may sub out some of these meals for, well, whatever the hell I want to eat haha.
For 2023, I’m focused on reducing my processed meat consumption. While it’s not a regular part of my diet, when I DO go out, I’m invariably drawn to charcuterie, sausages, chorizo, bacon, etc. During weeks where I’m traveling or on vacation and eating out a lot, this can lead to near daily processed meat consumption. While it may be better to cut it out as much as I can, my goal is progress, not perfection. I’m looking to keep my total servings to no more than once per week on average.
I’m also taking a break from drinking. This is as much for mental performance and quality sleep as overall health and skipping the extra calories.
Supplements – A whole email to come on this soon! But in general, I take exactly what we recommend Ninjas take. More details HERE.
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Lastly, this is the time of year where I get bloodwork done and make sure things are looking good.
I’m currently researching the many, many companies that now offer quarterly bloodwork and more intensive deep dives into a broader array of panels.
There’s a LOT of debate on this topic. These companies would say doctors are only interested in narrowly avoiding disease and miss obvious opportunities to optimize. Some doctors would say these companies are charlatans with scant evidence for their suggestions and financial motives to make money with more regular blood work and back end recurring sales of unnecessary supplements and pharmaceuticals like testosterone.
I don’t have a strong thesis here yet. But you can be sure, as your faithful fitness friend, I will continue to research the latest and greatest strategies to achieve optimal health and hotness, and will be sure to report back what I learn!
Thanks as always for reading. And on behalf of all the people who love you, thank you for committing to your health and fitness!
Your pal,
Mark
PS: Feeling unicorn-curious? Below are two ways to try out MFF:
- Try out in-person MFF with no commitment and get 21 days of training for only $49 HERE.
- Join MFF from anywhere in the world. Get 7 bodyweight only, live-coached classes for $7 HERE.
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