Are We There Yet? vol. 252
The new year is a time for making resolutions about things you want to accomplish in the coming twelve months. For many of us, exercise and overall health may top the list and are often the resolutions that fall to the wayside within a couple of months. We all know that regular exercise will improve our odds of living a longer, healthier life, but work, raising a family, and other activities can get in the way of maintaining an exercise regimen, especially if you don’t particularly like to exercise.
A Washington Post article—Don’t Like Exercise? Science-Backed Trick—by Gretchen Reynolds noted that a large-scale 2024 study of 7,500 middle-aged and older adults found that “The overall intensity of people’s daily activities proved to be a better predictor of their longevity than how much they moved around.” In other words, shorter, more intense workouts may be better for you than longer exercise routines.
Ms. Reynolds raised the idea of Swedish Fartlek training. In Swedish, Fartlek translates to “speed play” and the concept can be more enjoyable than the typically high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that you may have seen promoted by trainers and gyms. The idea of Fartlek training is that whether you are walking, running, biking, or doing whatever exercise you are doing, you simply add some more intense intervals during the regular course of the exercise. For example, if you are walking, you identify a landmark in the distance, increase your pace until you reach that landmark, and then drop back to your normal pace. You can do the intervals as many or as few times as you want during the exercise, but the more, the better.
Trying to find some ways to make your exercise routines more enjoyable may result in the achievement of at least one New Year's resolution.
Take care and stay safe.
BOOK:
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchinson
Wit’s End isn’t just a state of mind. It’s the name of a gravel road, the address of a run-down off-the-grid cabin, 120 shabby square feet of fixer-upper Patrick Hutchison purchased on a whim in the mossy woods of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state.
To say Hutchison didn’t know what he was getting into is no more an exaggeration than to say he’s a man with nearly zero carpentry skills. Well, used to be. You can learn a lot over six years of renovations.
CABIN is the story of those renovations, but it's also a love story; of a place, of possibilities, and of the process of construction, of seeing what could be instead of what is. It is a book for those who know what it’s like to bite off more than you can chew, or who desperately wish to.
Learn more about Bob Len here.
About Wolf Group Capital Advisors
At Wolf Group Capital Advisors, a comprehensive wealth management firm and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, nothing is more important than the fiduciary responsibility we have in managing your wealth. Taking the utmost care, we focus on providing advice tailored to your specific circumstances. With more than two decades advising U.S. expatriates and non-US citizens employed by international organizations, we are qualified in investment strategies addressing global issues. Empathy and curiosity—combined with our experience in life planning and investment management—enable you to explore a wider set of possibilities that can lead to a fulfilling life you’ve worked hard to attain.