THE "FARMER'S WALK"

I absolutely killed myself doing something called
the "farmer's walk.'' What a silly name for a
physical exercise. You have visions of an old
codger with a grizzly unshaven face, seed corn cap
eschew on his head wearing tattered overalls and
tall rubber boots. For a physical exercise to be
called the "farmer's walk" would have to mean
carrying two pails filled with something having to
do with a farm - milk or feed or cow manure. And
a normal farmer would be doing this because he
HAS to - while I am doing something similar
because of some crazed choice.

My friend who helps me with a physical training
regimen said that the "farmer's walk" is one of the
best exercises you can do for your whole body. It
affects your neck, shoulders, biceps, forearms,
hands, legs.....you name it and you'll feel it. And
I"ll have to say it's true. Except he left out one
area that really zero's in on our greatest
weakness...... our mind.

The "farmer's walk" is a mind game. To do the
exercise, you are to pick up weights in each hand,
40- 60- 80 pounds and more and with these weights
dangling in each hand you are to walk back and
forth across a room.

Period. The end.

Nothing fancy here. This is a no-brainer exercise.

The first time I attempt this, I pick up 40 pounds
in each hand and stand straight up. Um. Not so
bad. I stand there adjusting the weight, making
sure I "feel" good before I begin my repetitious
walk back and forth. The goal is 12 completed trips
across the room and back. O.K. Hot shot - let's
show this cowboy how its done.

I walk to the end of the room, maybe 16 feet or
so, turn and walk back. No problem. I turn and
repeat the walk. And again. And again.

By the 5th cycle my hands are beginning to tingle
and my shoulders are starting to slump forward.
My friend say's that's normal as the weight begins
to pull on your arms. I turn and walk the cycle
again. On the 6th turn, my breathing is becoming
erratic as my heart is pumping blood to every
muscle trying to hold this weight and walk and
breath at the same time. How many of these do I
have to do?

On the 7th turn I am out of breath and literally
attempting to half shuffle, half gallop my way
through another cycle. I figure the faster I walk,
the faster I'll get done with this stupid exercise
and move on to something useful like passing out.
I am now totally out of breath, my legs are aching
with each step, my fingers are numb trying to hold
this weight, my forearms are so tight they are
screaming in pain for release and I still have 5
cycles to go!

On the 8th turn I drop. I drop the weights. I drop to
my knees. I drop my head down gasping for air. The
"farmer's walk." What a dumb thing to do when I
don't even know the difference between a Guernsey
and a Holstein. My friend bends over, smiling....

"You O.K.?"

"Yeah. Give me a minute" as I slump over to rest
my back against the wall. My wrists are tight and
sore. I don't know if I'll ever be able to pick
anything up again or not.

As the weeks pass and every Wednesday rolls
around, its time again for the "farmer's walk." But
here is what I've learned in order to complete not
only 8, but also 12, 16 and even 20 cycles with
heavier and heavier weights:

First, you must be very focused mentally. You zero
in on nothing else except accomplishing this goal at
this minute. Nothing else in your life can matter -
only this one task of completing a set number of
cycles.

Second, once you are into the walk, you pick a
mental focal point and stay with it. As you
physically begin to tire and pain creeps in on the
edges, you mentally bring yourself back again and
again to whatever it is that keeps you walking.
In essence you are taking yourself away from the
pain of the immediate moment and you place
yourself in another time, another place. For me,
I choose one of my children and I see them doing
something. I "see" Donny or Trevor playing hockey,
making a bone crushing body check and with each
big hit I'm taking another step to my goal. Or I see
my daughter Stacy sitting on the steps of the Field
Museum in Chicago and I'm walking towards her and
nothing will stop me from getting to her. Certainly
not these weights.

Third, I have learned not to speed up the exercise.
Don't rush it to get it over with. When you begin to
move quicker in hopes of being done sooner, you
run out of breath and you will fail every time. The
"farmer's walk" is about pacing yourself. The first
cycle is the same speed as the last. Not too fast or
you'll run out of breath. Not too slow or you will
lose your grip on the weight.

Pace. Concentration. Focus.

If only life were so easily figured out. We want
things to hurry up so we'll be where we think we
want to be only to find ourselves out of breath and
worn out, unable to finish what we began. When I
was 15 years old, I was working at a lumber yard
and I once said in passing "I wish this day would
get over with." My foreman, having heard my remark
said "Don't ever wish for anything like that. You'll
just wish your life away." How many of us "wish"
our life away - rushing through whatever difficult
circumstance we find ourselves in.

"I wish I had more money."

"I wish I had more time."

"I wish that person would just go away and leave
me alone."

"I wish......."

Or we become paralyzed with fear ... unable to
move at all while holding the weights of our
responsibilities. Our grip begins to slip before
we've even taken our first step. We wait and wait
until we "feel" good about what it is we have to
do all the while wasting our reserve of strength
and resolve standing still.

When learning how to write radio ads I was told by
my instructor: "An IMPERFECT piece of copy on the
air is better than the PERFECT piece of copy in the
typewriter." It didn't do our clients any good to
agonize over a word or phrase in search of
perfection when what they needed was something
in action inviting our listeners into their store.

The key is to move. Pick up the weights and take
a step. Focus on the immediacy of what needs to
be done at that moment - nothing else - just what
needs to be done at that moment. When the pain
appears and you want to quit, you mentally bring
yourself back to your purpose -your reason for
doing this to begin with. And you pace yourself.
Steady forward progress. You're a machine and
nothing will stop you. This weight won't beat you!
YOU are the one holding IT and YOU will carry it
to its destination. Steady. One step at a time.
No more. No less.

Once, my friend put the wrong weights on the
dumbbells, less weight than what I'd been using.
And I ripped right through all the cycles without
breaking a sweat and I thought I must be
superman! Look at my progress - how I've mastered
this weight! I dropped the bars and proudly
exclaimed "I could do 50 of those today!"

He later confessed, apologized for his mistake and
I thought for moment. I looked at him and said
"load 'em up. Put the heavier weight on and lets
do it again."

"Are you sure? You just did a full cycle."

"Yeah. Let's see what I can do" hoping I could
get through just half as many as the first time.

I focused. Picked up the bars and began to walk.
If my kids were here what would they be saying?
"Come on Dad. One more step. One more cycle.
We're waiting for you at the other end. You can
do it." Focus. Pace. Concentrate.

Heavier weights. Already spent and tired. I
complete another cycle.

FOCUS. PACE. CONCENTRATE.