David Adewumi

“Get ready for high highs and low lows, and practice keeping yourself in the middle or you’ll never get [in to shape].”

1. Motivation = Decision before Action — Before the first step in the ten thousand mile journey, you must first decide to begin the journey.

2. Time: Pay yourself first. Take 60-90 minutes, same time, same place every day, and work out. This time includes warm-up,cool down, stretching, and commute time to plac of work out. RescueTime says you are only working 9-10 hours anyways. Don’t kid yourself, you have a lot of time to work out.

3. Exercise. What type of exercise should I do?: Run, Bike, or Swim as primary exercise. Strength & Flexibility is important, and discussed later.
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Equipment: Trust your training, and trust your equipment. Buy from a local shop, where they are experienced and will remember your name.

One day, I was riding in the back of a C-5 Galaxy, minding my own business, happily dozing. Someone taps me on the shoulder and says “Wumi, wake up. Why are you sleeping, man? Aren’t you scared?” I told him no, and went back to sleep. Ten minutes later was my first jump (about 1200-1300 ft) in Airborne school.

My drill sergeant in Basic gave one of the most useful pieces of advice ever “trust your training, and trust your equipment.” See, it isn’t that I am some fearless, thrill-seeking junkie, it is that I trusted the training (2+ weeks of practice jumps, parachute landing falls, etc.), and I trusted my equipment — the parachute riggers do a really good job of making sure all the chutes are functional, and will perform properly — so I had no reason to be afraid to toss myself out of the “Air Force’s Cadillac.”

If you want to get in shape, you’ll have to trust your training, and perhaps more importantly, you must be able to trust your equipment.

Runners: So, now that you know you are either going to run, or bike, time to get some gear. If you’re new at this, or even if you’re a vet, don’t buy anything on the internet without first going to a store, and absolutely do not use crappy equipment because you want to save money. Go to your local running store (no, Dick’s Stores does not qualify as a local running store) and have the people who work 80 hours/week fitting people for running shoes help you out. If your attendee does not have you walk and run in a pair of shoes, don’t buy them and don’t shop at that store.

We could go into details like pronation, foot strike, etc., but I’m not a running specialist. It’s like when Lance Armstrong says “I don’t fix bikes, I ride them.” It’s not that he doesn’t know how to fix his bikes, of course he does, he’s been riding and racing bikes for his whole life. He’s saying he leaves this job to a specialist whose job it is to fix bikes.

Your job is not to pick shoes — find a running store where they know what they’re doing, and expect to drop $80-$100 on a solid pair of running shoes. Are they over priced? Of course. So are a lot of other things — your best bet is to find a store where it’s small enough that they will remember your name. I’ve gone to the same running store for ten years. I’m serious. Those guys know my running better than I do myself — but most importantly they know my stride, the way my foot strikes, they know I”m flat-footed (and I mean FLAT), they know how much I weigh, and what type of training I will be doing.

Bikers: See above advice for running. You’re making a mistake if you think you can get a good bike from Wal-Mart.. First, decide if your excercise plan is a) commuting b) road biking c) mountain biking d) cyclo-cross. Honestly, I prefer road biking, and plus you can use your road bike to commute — you’re not going to want a Tri bike, just a solid road bike that will last you for several (10-15) years.

Find a local, small bike shop, not a large bike shop. I got to know the guys where I bought my first bike (Giant OCR 3) so well because it was a two-person shop. One time, one of my best friends took my bike in to the shop to get fixed, and one of the (two) guys who worked there said to him, “Why do you have Dave’s bike?”

That’s service you can’t beat.

Please make sure you are fitted properly for a bike. If you are not fitted for a bike at the store of your choice, go somewhere else, these jokers don’t know what they are doing. No, you don’t need wind-tunnel testing for the most aero-dynamic testing, but you do need a proper bike. I’m all arms and legs,(5′9 but my legs/arms are as long as someone 6′4) Eric & Sparky fitted me with the proper bike.

Get proper biking shorts. If you think biking shorts look a little fruity, wear thin athletic shorts over your biking shorts — I did, not because I was embarassed, but sometimes I would go on long commutes and not want the displeasure of riding far without padding to protect private parts. While you should invest in a biking jersey, this is not necessary — you can hold all your tools & extra tubings in a below-the-seat tool carrier. Do this, especially if you commute on your bike.

Do get water bottles. Biking shoes and pedals are a bonus, but absolutely get a clock to measure your time and distance — nothing fancy, a $30 version will do.

If you live in SF/Bay area (or any other climate that lends itself to outdoor activity year round) you have absolutely no excuse why you are not running or biking. None. Whether for commute (kill two birds with one stone) or solely for excercise, SF/Bay area is one of the most incredible places in the world, with the amount of offerings it has for you in your quest to get in to shape. National Parks, Top-tier Universities (and athletic facilities), world class athletes who train there, tons of people working out. As much as I loved Colorado (Colorado Springs and Boulder), I’m sorry, the cold weather is a deal breaker.

But if you’re like me, and currently in a dead, I mean cold, zone — it is especially important that you find great places to train now, before winter hits and you’re motivation drops significantly. I grew up in Central Pennsylvania, and while it’s certainly no frozen tundra, I would get so cold during Indoor Track season my dad would buy me hot hands to insert in my gloves while I ran. I feel your pain, and I’ll be feeling your pain this winter — suck it up, get good gear (long, loose ‘coldgear’ neoprene sweat wicking shirts –underarmour is the most popular –, wool socks, mittens and not gloves, a good head/ear warmer, and water-proof pants + rain jacket), and pay your dues.

If you bike, don’t cop out and say your going to go to the gym — you’re not going to, get a trainer and bike inside — pop in a DVD, watch TV, etc. and spin for an hour or two. Your name doesn’t have to be Armstrong, Landis, or LeMond — just buy a trainer for $50-$100, you’ll thank me later. You get the benefit of a work out on a bike that fits, comfort of the indoors, and the pleasure of a good movie. I doubt you can hack while on you’re bike trainer, but it’s worth a shot if you are that desperate for an extra hour of work (or blog surfing).

The ‘buy small and local’ advice applies to weight/strength training as well. The bigger the gym you go to, the more you’ll have to give (most likely $$ to hire a personal trainer) to get that small, personal training and instruction on how to properly use the equipment. While I haven’t used machines like Bowflex, and other similar resistance-structured training, I’m a big fan of free weights — and I don’t think as an entrepreneur you’ll have the time/money/space to be buying your own set, so choosing the right gym will be paramount. More on this later.

The most important advice though, is to ‘trust your training, and trust your equipment.’ Whichever sport you pick, you must pick experts you can trust, hopefully local, and have them help you pick out the equipment you need for whatever sport or activity.