I'd like to propose the idea that your life should contain more interval work. In this case, I am not referring specifically to exercise, though the idea is the same. If we break down the real substance of interval work, it is an approach primarily rooted in intention and getting more from less.

In the exercise world, intervals, properly executed, demand intention. Your efforts are guided by the pressure of a ticking clock. With the demand to either complete the most work possible in just a handful of seconds or to complete a designated chunk of work as quickly as possible, coupled with the understanding that you will have designated time for rest and recovery, intervals require you to truly be in it. There is no room for second guessing or waiting around or putting something off for later. When you apply yourself to row the greatest distance possible in 30 seconds, your attention is focused on nothing but rowing.

Part and parcel with this intention is the idea that we can get more (results, adaptation) for less (time). We have plenty of studies showing us that 10 minutes of intense interval work provides a far more potent stimulus and yields appreciably greater adaptations than five times as much time spent cruising at a steady pace.

So what if you applied these principles of intervals to your daily life? Forget about the gym for a moment and consider how you spend an average work day.

Are your efforts intentioned? Highly directed? Is there built in rest? Or is it more of a drawn out blur of half-focused, minimally-directed slogging through? Are you always split between the demands of a half-dozen tasks, commitments, and diversions? Is your day filled with accomplishments, or is it dominated by a mounting list of loose ends that you can’t manage to tie up?

How about your efficacy with your time? Are you getting more (work accomplished, satisfaction, fulfillment) for less (time)? Do you earn yourself regular rest and recovery? And do you take that rest and recovery, and enjoy it with intention? Or do you let work and obligation seep into every open space of time? Are you always putting off pieces of your obligations for later and letting it loom over every other task, work-related or otherwise?

So how about it? What if you made your efforts maximal, your rest bountiful, and stopped letting every day turn into a drawn-out, intentionless struggle? Just like interval work in the gym, it won’t be easy. It will take practice to learn how to apply true intensity and how to utilize rest. But who knows, it just might change your life.

- PS

10/2/17

• 5 rounds, every 90s perform:

• 200’ KB waiter’s carry (AHAP) (100’/hand)

Then...

• 10 rounds:

• 30s max calorie row

• 90s rest