“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.”
Mark Twain
There is a great life management skill underlying in this quote. One’s ability to target the most important task, to begin it, and to stay focused on it until it is complete is the key to high levels of accomplishments. Author Brian Tracey goes in to great detail on this subject in his book “Eat that frog.” Tracey says your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it.
Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete. This leads to accomplishments, not just activity.
So what does this have to do with Fitness?
It has EVERYTHING to do with your health and fitness.
People often ask me what to do first- cardio or strength training? Well… There’s a lot that goes in to answering this because I personally like to do cardio and strength training together (more functional training) but let me answer simply. Think of the frog philosophy. Whatever it is that is hardest for you- do that first (after a good warm up of course). For me, this means I like to knock out a “go hard, go fast” HIIT circuit for a good 20 minutes. This uses all my major muscle groups, and gets my heart really pumping. Once I’ve finished that, if I have more time, then I’ll add in a more extensive abdominal workout or I’ll go for a run. If you do heavy weight training, do that first. Work your major large muscle groups first. Eat your frog.
Maybe it is exercise in general that is your Frog. If you really dislike exercising, try doing it first thing in the morning. Get it over with and then tell me if you don’t feel better the rest of the day!
Have a great week,
Meryl
Just feel it fitness 