The Mark Method

So I did a thing last week 👀

I went and did a VO2 Max test…

Which basically meant wearing a mask, running on a treadmill & gradually increasing the speed until I couldn’t go anymore 😮‍💨

For anyone wondering…

VO2 Max is essentially how much oxygen your body can use during exercise

Typically the higher the number, the stronger your aerobic fitness tends to be

BUT it is just one data point in many variables, kind of like max heart rate is one data point but doesn’t give the full picture

Now I would say most people do NOT need a VO2 Max test

Including myself to be honest 😂 I’m just a data nerd and was curious to see what my result would be compared to what my watch suggests

What I learned…
*My top end fitness is actually pretty solid
*I tolerate hard efforts quite well
*Sustaining harder aerobic efforts for longer still has room to improve (shock!)

In short, I’m good at suffering, but could be more efficient in many other ways 😂

But it all makes sense coming from more of a strength/powerlifting background 👌🏼

Along with the data point and weaknesses highlighted, I also now have some homework 🤓

Overall:
*Really cool experience
*Very humbling
*Very informative

Would I recommend it?
If you love data, performance and understanding your body better: absolutely 🙌🏼

Do you NEED it to get fit? Definitely not 🙅🏻‍♂️

If you’re wired to look for flaws… you’ll always find one

My biggest insecurity was my teeth

For years, I thought my teeth ruined every photo, so I’d hide my smile

If I didn’t hide it, it’d be the first thing I’d see and I’d instantly feel uncomfortable

But most people didn’t even notice!

Once my proposal to my now wife was a success (😆💍), it made me realise we’d have photos… that we’d look back on… & my first thought was my teeth.

So I did the aligners, they’re straighter now & I’m more confident in my smile 🙌🏼😁

But the habit of looking for flaws was still there there 😬

More often than not, you don’t fix insecurity by fixing the thing

You “fix it” by changing how you view yourself

If your go to is to look for flaws…once you move on from one thing, you’ll likely be onto the next

If this sounds like you, I’ve got a challenge for you…

1. The next time you focus on your thing you call a flaw… name 2 things to yourself that you like / are grateful for

2. Ask yourself whether you’d notice it on someone else? Let’s say a loved one, if the roles were reversed, how would you talk to them about it? Likely MUCH kinder 👀

According to Google, the chances of us being alive is 1 in 400 Trillion (400,000,000,000,000), and this unnecessary focus can take up a lot of our valuable time

If you’re tired of never feeling “there” no matter what you improve, drop me a message 👊🏼