Commitment, Inertia, Habit, and Addiction

Getting ready to end one year and begin a new one seems like a good time to consider the concepts of commitment, inertia, habit, and addiction. Only one of these is an active choice. The other three are different versions of “but we’ve always done it that way,” which can be good or bad.

This is a useful distinction in so many areas of life, from career to marriage, wellness to cultural change. For a common starting point, here are my working definitions (the limited perspective I am using for this moment for these words).

Commitment:  A solemn, binding promise to yourself to do (or not do) something you have an emotional or intellectual investment in.
Inertia:  the tendency of a body in motion to continue that motion, and resist any change.
Habit:  A recurrent, often unconscious, pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition.
Addiction:  Physical or psychological dependence on a substance or activity.

We need one more limited definition to make this one-sided conversation work. A goal is the purpose toward which effort is directed. A commitment requires a goal. Addiction requires you to think, believe, or feel something terrible will happen if you don’t comply with your addiction; that’s not the same as a goal. Habit can go both ways, serving a goal when commitment has a weak moment or putting obstacles in the path of new commitment. Inertia manifests most often as resistance to new commitments. Commitment must be stronger than inertia for change to occur.

Let’s use wellness as an example. Let’s say you want to do some or all of the following in 2015.

• Lose weight
• Firm up what is left
• Sleep more or better
• Have your doctor say "good job!" after your check-up
• Train for and finish a race or other physical event (running, swimming, biking, dancing...)
• Eat to support the choices listed above and improve your overall health

Commitment to your goal is where you start. Be clear about your goal in order to choose the best steps to achieve it. In choosing your steps, try to include some that can become habits through repetition, e.g., always go to Saturday morning dance workout or always eat a salad for lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Don’t try to change everything at once, or inertia (resistance to change) increases. (Think of Dr. Suess and the oobleck — if you poke it fast it seems like a solid, but if you poke it slow it is soft and pliable.) Once the first couple steps have turned into habits, add the next.

At the extreme, if the activity becomes more important to you than the goal, take a moment to consider it. Is the activity still serving the goal? Is it becoming an obstacle to reaching the goal? Is it impacting other areas of your life negatively? This is where some people talk about “exercise addiction,” when the amount and/or kind of exercise you do starts to have negative effects in your life.

Now let’s make this all about me. I began taking rebound classes in Kangoo Jumps boots because they are a fun cardio workout. I kept going because I was getting better at it. (I do love learning and improving at a new skill.) And…um…the endorphins from jumping were amazing to me.  I became an instructor for three reasons: to share the fun, to share the endorphin rush, and to design a class that allowed more people to have access to the first two. Then came the setbacks: snow shoveling muscle injury, arthritis, and high room rents. Teaching class remained a commitment, but taking class became part habit and part addiction (got to have those endorphins!). That was not a bad thing until taking class became an obstacle to teaching class (inertia to be overcome). From now on, I want to be more in tune with the commitment and more aware of when and how habit, addiction, and inertia interact with that.

Viewed from the perspective of commitment / inertia / habit / addiction, where are you getting in your own way and how will you change that? Let me know how that goes in 2015.

Canceling Class, or Optimism vs. Insurance

First, the outdoor class in Lorton, Virginia, is canceled for this morning, October 11. So stay in the warm and dry location you are in while reading this. Maybe get another cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa, or maybe even go back to bed.

Here's the situation. The radar says we might be clear or in misty rain by then, but the rain will be recent enough that the ground will be wet and there might be puddles, even on a flat or barely sloped parking lot. Insurance companies are not fond of their clients taking risks that do not need to be taken, and jumping in the rain might be that kind of situation. (Might be?)

If you are reading this in Northern Virginia, keep your eyes open for indoor locations that could work for a fitness class using Kangoo Jumps rebound boots, and let me know about them. Winter is coming, and outdoor jumping in very cold weather has to stress the boot materials more, so I won't do it. (Yeah, I don't jump outside when it's too cold to breathe anyway.) The high ceiling is the hardest part to find. When you put a six foot tall person in boots, and they jump two feet off the ground, that adds up to needing at least a nine foot ceiling. A twenty by thirty foot room will work for a small class, and larger allows for more variety of moves or more people. Observe and let me know what you find so we can all jump this winter.

Thanks, and stay safe and warm this holiday weekend!
Loraine

Recertified and Ready to Rock

Some days things just fall into place. For example, my recertification for another two years as a group fitness instructor came today from AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America). I needed that in order to renew my fitness instructor liability insurance, which is due very soon. I needed both of those to continue offering rebound fitness classes using Kangoo Jumps boots to public school employees as a "staff wellness" class the rest of fall and early winter. The timing is working nicely for all this.

It's been a good couple weeks for finding the balance between the business side and the creative side of teaching KJ rebound fitness. I introduced the choreography for four new songs to my students, and they got almost all of it on the first try. I helped a friend find a solution to a boot that couldn't be repaired (and now it IS repaired). That's the creative side. I decided to reorder pink t-shirts and pink hoodies with "Loraine Says JUMP" on them to offer to other people, not just wear them myself like I did the first order. I learned how to offer them in the Square Market (mkt.com/LoraineSaysJUMP). I learned how to invoice students for classes using my Square account. And I started researching locations again, because it won't be that long before it's too cold to jump on my deck for several months.

I've also been in touch online with other instructors licensed by Kangoo Jumps, having conversations where we learn from each other. Not every idea transfers from one situation to another, but sometimes one of us writes something that sparks a new approach for the other. I am sure that's going to be one of the best parts of the Kangoo Jumps Festival in Fort Lauderdale in Florida in October, that exchange of ideas and energy between instructors. I won't be there (other commitments), but everyone is welcome to attend the actual Festival Day on Sunday, October 12. For more details, go to  www.kjfestival.com.

(OK, so I have been sitting here trying to come up with a suitable conclusion for this post for way too long. I am officially giving up and going to get some sleep, in the hopes of accomplishing a lot more tomorrow. Now that I am recertified, I want to be rested and ready to rock!)

There is no book, just watch the video

I look at other instructors' Kangoo Jumps® routines on Facebook, and tell myself that I should post one too. Especially since I have an adult child with a degree featuring video production. So I finally arranged for one of my classes to be videotaped. Then we had so much fun watching some of the raw footage at the wrong speed (trying to locate specific actions), that I decided to post the hyper-speed version instead of something "normal."

This represents my class pretty well because, while I do take my students' safety and fitness as my priority, I don't tend to take myself seriously while doing that. This form of fitness is pure fun to be part of, and I think that shows in the video. I wanted to attach the video link in this blog post, but I don't have time to write the blog AND figure out how to attach a video I only "have" online.

Here's the compromise. Use your favorite search engine to find "Loraine Says JUMP" on Facebook, and look for the video I put there yesterday. (This movie has no laugh track, and you have to bring your own popcorn. Upside: it's short at this speed.)

No Motivation? Start Here!

Wow. It's been two months since I've written here. I wish I could say I've been crazy busy, but no such luck. I have not felt like I had anything to say that someone else needed to read, no new thoughts to share. I was not motivated to write.

I was motivated to cut my lawn and trim my garden, to cut down on the tick habitat. I was motivated to teach my Kangoo Jumps® classes, for the feeling it gives me, and to pay off the dozen pairs of boots, and for the great people who take the classes. I was motivated to take my KJ license to the next level by going through the new process to be listed on the international web site's database of instructors, partly so I would be required to use the ™ and ® with the words "Kangoo Jumps" more often. (Oh, really, that motivates you? Not.) The point is, I accomplished some things because I felt motivated to do them.

I was not very motivated about the following tasks, but kept doing them regularly anyway.

• Taking out the trash
• Taking out the recycling
• Doing the laundry
• Buying groceries for the family
• (Minimally) cleaning the house
• Feeding the cat and cleaning up after his old, incontinent self

In other words, a lot got done without noticeable motivation too. Which leads me to a quote from a personal trainer in Massachusetts, Kelley Coffey. On her Facebook page (Strong Coffey Personal Training), she recently posted this.

          The moment you accept that motivation isn't required to
          take action, the biggest obstacle to making a start falls away.

This is brilliant. It also got absolutely no "likes" on Facebook when I "shared" it to my own page. It's that powerful that no one wants to even admit they saw it. You totally lose "I'm not feeling motivated" as an excuse when you acknowledge that sometimes you have to do what you know will work whether you "feel" motivated or not. Sometimes you want the result but don't "feel" motivated to do what it takes to get there (e.g., I want a house NOT full of trash, so I take out the trash). The emotion of motivation is not required for action to begin. You do not need to wait to "feel" motivated in order to do something. I am guessing you probably can't make a total lifestyle change all at once based on this model, but you can get the incremental steps in gear to eventually get you there.

This model works especially well for people who are depressed, because not feeling motivation for much of anything is one of the hallmarks of depression. You know intellectually that taking a 15 minute walk once or twice a day (outdoors if possible) will improve your mood temporarily, so go do it. After a week of doing it even when you are not motivated, you may begin to look forward to it. Voila! Motivation!

Really, I just needed to write all this so I could say it to myself, because I have been guilty of waiting to "feel" motivated lately on some major projects. If what I've said helps someone else reading this, that's even better. Now let's go start something.

Bring the Sunscreen! We're Jumping Outdoors!

Break out the sunscreen! Take the allergy medicine (or your non-medical alternative for allergies, Amy)! Bring your long socks and let's get a jump on summer!

If you are a dedicated Kangoo jumper, or simply KJ-curious (what is this Kangoo you keep babbling about?), come out to the Lorton Workhouse on June 1st at 9 am to jump with us or just watch and see what this fabulously fun form of fitness is all about. You will find us in a parking lot behind Building 11, home of the Art of Movement.

If you are renting boots, contact information is in the flyer, and you MUST reserve boots your size. Come a few minutes before 9 am to get fitted and do obligatory paperwork.

If you own your own boots, I don't have to tell you how much fun this will be; you already know. You still need to fill out paperwork if you have never jumped in one of my classes before. (If you are just watching, no need for paperwork. We're reasonable like that.)

Questions? Just ask.

Visit a Library

Let me just say up front, this post is not about Kangoo Jumps, in any way at all. Sometimes Loraine Says something besides JUMP! Today Loraine Says visit a library!

I love libraries. They are one of the few things that were always there for me, no matter what else was going on in my life. Not only do I recommend taking your children there, or your nieces and nephews, or anyone else you know, I also recommend going by yourself so you can take your time and savor the experience.

My first memory of being in a library is from kindergarten. There was a library in the basement of the elementary school I was attending. Actually, since it was on a hillside, the front doors were ground level but the other three sides were windowless and underground. I have a clear memory of checking out Dr. Suess books, and can picture myself carrying three out the door on a sunny day. Even at that young age, I knew this was a special place I would want to remember.

By the time my younger sisters were in school also, we had moved up to the public library, and needed a ride to get there. Around the age of eleven, I remember looking through a thick, non-fiction book about child development, trying to figure out if I was normal or not. (I can hear my sweet readers now, wondering if I have figured that out yet or not. No, I have not.)

The year I turned twelve, we moved to a much smaller town. While they did have a public library, it was not much bigger than a large living room in a house. I only remember bookshelves along the walls, not any free-standing shelving. While this was disappointing, they did still have a few things I could make use of. One bonus was that it was within walking distance of my house.

The library in my junior high-senior high school (as secondary schools were called then) was about four times the size of my town library. I think this is when I discovered science fiction, and probably read every sci-fi title they had. I learned later that both of my younger sisters worked in the school library a few hours a week after I graduated. Apparently love of a decent library is in our DNA.

About this time, a relative started buying Reader's Digest Condensed best sellers for our family, or maybe giving them to us used but looking still new. I read all of them too. I was probably the only teenager I knew who actually read Airport, The Agony and The Ecstasy, and other fiction that did not feature children.

The only library I remember from my years in the Air  Force was the USO library on the Navy base in Iceland. That helped keep me sane during a very strange and interesting year. They even took requests! If I gave them the information, they would try to arrange to borrow specific titles from other USO libraries, or try to buy them or get them donated.

When I left the Air Force to go to college, I started at a smaller "branch" campus of Penn State, in Allentown. The entire campus at that time was located in a former elementary school building. The library was about as big as two classrooms. Feeling nouveau riche with the GI bill funding my education, I could afford paperback science fiction on occasion. I still re-read some of these  books like visiting old friends. One of my classes was in the library as well, Rocks on TV (Geosystems). They did not have a teacher for the course at our small campus, so I watched videotapes and sat with a box of rocks in front of me.  Good times!

When I moved to the main campus of Penn State, I found the largest library I had ever seen, Pattee Library. I loved the entire ambience of being around that many books. In fact, I took part in a sit-in at midnight to protest closing the library at midnight. I guess this makes me a true geek, that my only college protest was to keep the library open longer.

After grad school, I had a job and moved from libraries to bookstores to feed my need to read. It was not until I was married with children that I came back to public libraries big time. I found I could bring my three little ones to the library and they would entertain themselves quietly, and leave happily clutching as many books as they could each carry. (That was the rule, you can have as many as you can carry by yourself.) We returned every week or two for more, and more, and more. As they got older, two of them worked in the public library part-time, and volunteered with the library's teen group that performed summer theater for younger children.

Now that my children are all over 21, I still go to the library for many reasons. Sometimes I want a specific title I've read about. Sometimes I need a variety of information on a particular topic. Sometimes I like to find the right area, then browse for books I would not find any other way except proximity to a topic. Sometimes I need an escape (both the fiction AND the time alone in the library). Most of the time I could find the book in a bookstore, but frankly I don't need to keep the book, I need what's IN the book. I do not enjoy reading a screen, and would much prefer to array myself strangely across a chair or couch and hold a book in my hand. Or sit out on the deck. Or read in a waiting room or in line. I just prefer books.

I think I have been to the Library of Congress, but they don't really let most people just wander around among their books, so it was not much fun. When we were looking at colleges, the most impressive thing the tour guide at the University of Virginia said to us was that they are considered the back up library to the Library of Congress, and you can walk through the multiple buildings of their library freely (mostly).

OK, here is the bottom line. Use libraries for whatever resources they offer, because if we don't, someone will think we don't need them and start decreasing their funding, their staffing, their holdings, their resources, and—ultimately—the good they can do you and everyone else.

If The Boot Fits...

In both places where I put first-time jumpers in Kangoo Jumps® rebounding boots, I try to get the best overall fit for each person. This includes not just their shoe size, but a variety of other considerations.

The starting place is always the person's shoe size, but that is just a start. KJ boots come in extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large, which is enough to fit most adults. (There are also children's boots and heavy duty boots, but I don't work with those.) My personal experience is that the sizes on the official size chart are a "guideline" (like the Pirates' Code), and some people need a size larger or smaller than the chart says. I try for the closest comfortable fit, and tell people to use trial and error in choosing the best sock combination to optimize the fit (thinner socks, thicker socks, two pairs of socks, etc.). The size of the boot is most dependent on the size of the liner inside the boot, and you can put a small liner in a medium outer boot and accommodate someone who is right on the fence between sizes.

The next consideration for most people is the configuration of the t-springs, the things that look like heavy-duty rubber bands inside the two curved shells of each boot. Most brand new boots come with all three bands intact. Cutting or removing the middle band will make it easier to compress the boot, for example, if someone with less weight is using them. Cutting or removing the two outer bands and leaving the middle one intact only works for people don't have enough weight to compress the boot otherwise. The boots are meant to handle a wide range of weights with all three bands in place, and people of any weight who are willing to jump harder can use them. There is even an optional coil spring set that can be purchased and used with the t-spring, for those who want to jump harder or who weigh more.

Further customizing can be done by changing the curved shells on the boots. The three smaller sizes come with L shells, which compress easier than H shells (when used by people of the same weight). The large and extra large boots come with H shells, because people with bigger feet usually weigh more. It is possible to buy replacement shells of the type your size boot would not normally have, and swap them, so that someone with larger feet and a lower weight could compress more, or someone with smaller feet but weighing more could get more rebound effect. Normally you would have to buy your own boots to achieve this level of customizing, but sometimes you will find a location that has a medium boot with H shells.

Whenever I put first time users into rebounding boots, I try to match as many of the shoe size, weight, and fitness level criteria as I can, to ensure the best "ride" for them that day. My theory is that the better the boots fit, the more they will enjoy it.  Once they try it and fall in love with rebounding, they can buy their own boots and customize them to their heart's content.

The Best Birthday Present? Memories!

Birthdays. You can acknowledge them or not, but they keep happening as long as you stick around on the planet. I decided that this year was a good year for celebrating more rather than less, because I am of an age to start wondering how many birthdays I have left. So I started a few days ahead of my actual birthday, and plan to continue for at least a week after it. Just thinking about ways to celebrate this auspicious event reminded me of how I've spent my birthday in years past.

My favorite undergraduate birthday in college was a picnic in my living room, using the back of the ugly painting that came with the furnished apartment as a floor-level "table." My roommate, best friend, and next door neighbor shared fried chicken and other summer delights with me, trying to forget that my birthday was deep in the snowy time of year.

My 25th birthday found me in a college bar with someone I liked more than he liked me. The state authorities chose that date to "inspect" the bar and asked everyone there for ID...except me. They carded OLD guys, but not me. This was a little disconcerting. Really, I am the only one here who looks obviously old enough to drink, so you don't have to check me?

My first drink in a bar was the night I turned 18, because I lived just a couple miles from a state where the drinking age was 18 (at that time). My best friend and I went to a movie (Straw Dogs) and stopped at a bar afterward. I had no idea what to order since I had never done this before. I can't remember what I ended up with, but I'm sure it was some cocktail suitable for a first-time drinker.

The biggest party I remember having for my birthday was the year I left the Air Force. We had a combined birthday / farewell bash in someone's apartment. San Bernardino, California; I'm sworn to secrecy about the details.

A dozen or so years ago, I had a birthday party at my own house, with friends and neighbors, and an assortment of children because most of us had them at the time. I enjoyed that it was very eclectic, and I did not have to drive home.

Two years ago, a friend let me have a party at her house, much bigger and cleaner than mine. It was a fairly small event, because I felt awkward inviting too many people to someone else's house. It was still a wonderful time, small enough to actually talk to people and get to know more about them. Oh, and to try new foods, like pani puri (which I am probably killing the spelling of). And try on bright yellow shoes with 6 inch heels. And learn about the background of a song called Brasileirinho.

Other birthday memories are not from parties. I realized recently that while I would never want to have to make a living at it, I really enjoy performing. (That would help explain the recent conversations about a karaoke party once the weather warms up, and the fond memories from high school musicals.) This came to me after having dinner with a friend and his family, at which I spent so much time talking (and entertaining them, I hope) that I only ate half of my dinner. (If you have eaten with me, you know that's rare.) I started to see a pattern that other people probably could have pointed out but did not realize I didn't know. Which leads to one of my favorite birthday memories, from a couple years ago. The Zumba class I was attending at the time used to invite people from the room up on stage with the instructor occasionally. The week of my birthday, I got invited up to dance with the instructor four days in a row, including once by someone who had never done that before. Ah, the good old days; but things change and we move on.

This year's birthday has already seen a lunch with friends and a dinner with more friends. A couple other activities are in the plans. I highly recommend celebrating your birthdays, every one of them, because whether you are young or not-so-young, you can't predict which birthday will be your last. Enjoy them all!

Senior Fitness, Beginners, and Kangoo Jumps® Rebound Boots

A few weeks ago, I took a self-study course in Senior Fitness for continuing education credits. These credits are required to renew my certification as a Group Fitness Instructor. Many courses were available, and I chose this one for several reasons. First, I'll be 61 years old next month, which pretty much makes me part of the demographic for "senior fitness." Second, seniors who want to become or remain fit are a growing segment of the fitness market and an astute business always recognizes a growing market. Third, it was available at a discount when I made a purchase I had to make anyway. (Since I wanted the course, this just determined the timing.)

The best reason was one I did not know until I started getting into the study materials. It turns out that many of the accommodations suggested in the course to help senior participants in a fitness class also happen to help most beginners. Those beginners are the reason I got my Kangoo Power™ instructor license in the first place, to allow them to learn the basics at their own pace and not scare them away before they really started to feel the benefits of rebound exercise.

You are probably wondering what those accommodations are, right? With the caveat that not all beginners and not all "seniors" need these options, here are some that I try to incorporate when I choreograph each song and when I design the class to teach basic skills on KJ boots.

• The warm-up and the next couple songs have a slightly slower tempo, because the point is to get them comfortable with the bouncing action of the boots, as well as the rhythm and balance of the simpler steps used in the first few songs.
• The warm-up has a very limited variety of steps, very basic, and the next few songs add only one or two movements per song.
• Transitions between different types of steps are spaced at longer intervals so that more time is spent on each step before we change to a new one, allowing more time for a feeling of mastery.
• There are no 360 degree turns in one move. While these can be fun to perform, they also mean you can't see the instructor for at least part of the move. Instead, there are four successive 90 degree turns with plenty of time to catch up if you miss one.
• Water breaks are scheduled after every three songs, for thirty seconds. If it seems appropriate when watching the participants during the break, that may be extended to a full minute. Seniors and beginners both may have more difficulty lowering their heart rate in 10-15 seconds, and the longer break takes the pressure off anyone struggling to keep up. Remember, this is a cardio workout with a three-pound weight on each foot, so what feels easy to some and moderate to others may feel like an uphill hike with a 30-pound backpack to a few.
• Explaining how to do the steps, or breaking them down into component parts, makes it easier to perform a variety of steps. (For those who are familiar, e.g., this means describing a "pendulum" as just a double step on the same foot with the other leg "out of the way" to the side.) Often I preview each new step between songs, then explain it again when it comes up in the choreography.

Do all these choices make for a slower-paced class? Yes. Is that right for everyone? No. That's the main thing I learned from the Senior Fitness course, that everyone comes to class from a different place along the fitness continuum, and what works for some will not work for all. The observant instructor offers options for easier and more challenging ways to do many of the movements, and the students must pay attention to their own bodies and move in ways that are right for them.