I’ve been ending each of my lifting sessions with 30 minutes of zone 2 cardio, summer coming and all. I normally opt for an incline walk on the treadmill or the stairmaster. It gives me 30 minutes to listen to an audio book, enjoy some quiet time, and people watch, of course.
Have you ever seen this scenario? Someone gets on a treadmill, let’s call her Sally. She cranks the incline to the max level and increases the speed well beyond what someone could normally walk at this level. She’s gripping the handles to keep from falling off the machine and assumes this odd looking, fast-paced death march into the clouds, longer than anyone is comfortable with.
Or I’ll see Sally climb onto the stair master. Instead of stepping at a normal pace, it has to be maxed out. Yet, she’s either hunched over the machine like she’s trying to keep her screen private, or she’s pushing herself up like she’s on the parallel bars. Essentially negating half of her body weight.
All I can think is…are you actually getting any benefit from this? Or does this act just make you feel like you’re doing something hard? When in reality you’re cutting yourself short of the intended benefit.
I would argue Sally is likely getting some benefit from this. Whether cardiovascularly through moving her body for that amount of time, or even some muscular benefit from holding herself up for this extended period. She’s likely even getting some psychological benefit if she believes she’s actually performing something worth doing.
However, I believe she’s cheating herself.
By holding herself up like this, the primary benefit of working your quads and glutes by walking uphill is significantly diminished. By not allowing your legs to carry your full weight up the stairs, what are you really working?
In real life, you won’t be able to hold on to cables all the way up the mountain and you can’t unload the weight of your upper body each time you encounter stairs.
I argue Sally would be better off at a lower incline and a slower pace, allowing her body to move in the intended and natural way. The benefits of incline walking under her full weight will then begin to accrue and eventually she can keep up a faster pace at a faster incline.
I think sometimes in life and in business we focus on the things that make us look busy and productive, in reality we’re taking a shortcut around the work that actually moves us forward.
You’re going to spend the time on the machine, you might as well make it count and make yourself better.
You’re going to spend time and resources working on your business today. Might as well make sure it’s actually productive; not just busy, shallow work for the optics of it.
The shallow work might make you feel productive at the end of the day. It likely even has some mitigating benefits, but you’re cutting yourself short.
Do good work. You’ll never regret doing good, meaningful, deep work.
Don’t be a Sally. No one likes Sally.
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