Keeping Score

This is my scoreboard for the month of June. My challenge was to drink 96 oz. of water daily. First day was a loss.  Don't think giving up didn't cross my mind. Even on the first day.  The reason I didn't?  A recent article I read applying the concept of keeping score from Dean Herbert, M.Ed., a mental game coach in Arizona popped into my head. Since written for Runner's World magazine, Herberts applies this concept specifically to training for a marathon for author Michelle Hamilton.  The keeping score concept could be applied and beneficial to many other facets of our life such as nutrition, relationships, and exercise in general and I will show this as I explain the foundation of Herbert's concept of keeping score.

End in Mind

In this article, Herbert discusses the keeping score idea in that gauging your runs help you focus on your training as a whole rather than individual runs.  This is a great concept in terms of nutrition and diets.  How many of you have tried to go "on" a diet? Only when you have that one piece of pizza you forget it all together and go "off" the diet. That one slip up as we call it and we become Debbie Downer and give up all together.  Overall though, you were probably very successful but like me, you allowed yourself to focus on the detail of one loss and lost focus of the end in mind.  My guess is overall most of us are winning at our healthy eating, but due to negativity and self doubt creeping in we feel the opposite.  Keeping score may be an effective tool to help you stay positive while keeping the end in mind.

Scoring System 

A principle of the keeping the score concept is creating a realistic definition of both a win and a loss. Herbert uses the example of scheduling a 10 mile run and only being able to run 8. For him, he breaks that down to a number which is 8/10 which is a win. A day where a 5 mile run was scheduled but 0 miles were run due to life getting in the way is scored as 0/5 and a loss.  Defining your scoring system is up to you, but I suggest finding a system that is challenging, yet encourages success while rewarding you for hard work.  Looking back at my scorecard for my water intake, I am being pretty hard on myself since any day, even one where I took in 64 oz. of water, is a loss. A better score system would be marking it 1/3, 2/3 or 3/3 and only days with 1/3 would be considered a loss. Hindsight is always 20/20 right?

Power of One

According to Herbert, "It[Keeping score] disempowers the value of one workout- one poor run doesn't negate a week of great training." Wow. In other words, keeping score takes the power away from the workouts allowing you to have ownership.  "If you think every workout has to be good..., you waste energy recovering from the disappointment," says Herbert. "But if you see a few poor workouts... as part of the process, you can move on."  In terms of relationships, a fight with your partner is not a great thing and can be emotional, painful and very upsetting. But when you make it through that fight and get to the other side, your relationship is deepened and stronger.  Your marriage had a bad day, a loss, but that's part of learning and growing with one another and overall having a winning marriage.

Re-framing

Now you have determined your scoring system, kept score for a period of time, but now what? "Re-framing is key. When you seek to find the positive, information is useful." observed Hamilton after keeping the score of training runs. Use the information that you have gathered in a positive way to make changes in the future.  For example, for awhile I scheduled myself to take Spin on Mondays, my day off, at 5:45am. It seemed like a great idea but the reality of it was I didn't want to go to the club or get up early on my day off.  Never made it to one class, not once. Finally, I let go of the expectation, made Mondays a run outside day and Mondays transformed from a loss to a win instantly.  If I would have continued that thought process without re-framing, I would have been practicing the definition of insanity.


We understand the idea of training our bodies for endurance events such as marathons, triathlons, etc. Nobody would expect someone to get up one day and run a marathon. They may be able to cross the finish line, but how successful would they be? They'd definitely be injured and it would ruin them from ever wanting to run again.  So why do we expect our brains to do such a thing when trying to make any change in our life?

"You do not need more will power.
You need to train the brain like you train the body."
Dean Herbert, MEd.

30 Minute No Gym Body Workout, Greatist.com

"I have a 30 minutes to workout, But... " There is a long laundry list of things that could complete this sentence. What is your favorite? Mine is "...that's not enough time for a good workout."  So when I recently received an email from Greatist.com featuring this worout, I thought it was genius.  The actual workout, the pictures and the entire website are extremely helpful for health and wellness.  Greatist.com includes all things health related including mental, physical, spiritual, nutrition, recipes and much more.

The 30-Minute, No Gym workout routine can be used for many scenarios. Only have 15 minutes to workout? Perform half the number of reps. Bored with your current routine and looking for new ideas? Add a mountain climber as a warm up or a Tuck Jump between weight machines to keep your heart rate up. Travel a lot and need some ideas for on the go? These exercises can be done in a small space with no additional equipment. Strictly a cardio junkie and want to try strength training without heavy weights? Experts say that strength training with your own body weight as the resistance is extremely effective because as we get older, our muscle strength declines dramatically.  Summer is coming and want to exercise outdoors, say in the park? It's a perfect routine to try an exercise after 5 minutes of walking or in a grassy area while your kids play on the jungle gym.

Start incorporating one, some or all of these exercises during any part of your day and consider it a win!




Get health and fitness tips at Greatist.com.