The Cost-Benefit Ratio and Your Workout Goals

[IM Insiders can download a PDF of this Issue Instantly. Learn More]

The start of a new year always energizes the “self-improvement gene.” After the food-and-drink intoxication of the big three—Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve—we seek clarity and freedom from the self-induced stupor of celebration. The ever-present call of the cold iron moves from a whimper to a roar as we strive to get back on track.

There are many reasons for relaxing our addiction to the iron and all that goes with it. It is a matter of degree. When does celebration turn into a binge? Just as we can overtrain, become overly focused on the workout at the expense of other aspects of our lives, the knife cuts both ways. Balance is the key, and your awareness of that—and attention to it—are entirely under your control.

Some will see three hours a week devoted to the iron as a reasonable investment; others see three hours a day. No matter how much time you invest in the iron, it pales in comparison to the amount of focus and time eating well demands.