Hard, sweaty workouts have not been my thing. Yet, I’m now on day #9 of my routine. Despite the initial pain, I’m achieving deep and sustained satisfaction. I’m no sadomasochist. I’m a 30-something woman working to keep a toned body. Yoga is my love, though she needs a companion to help her achieve the results I want. I recently adopted burst training, also known as high-intensity interval training[i], after an inspiring conversation with wellness wonder Sharon Porter. According to my online research, the body can respond to working out in roughly 30-second stints—and at 90-100% maximum effort—by burning fat for the next 24 hours. You’re welcome! I am playing with an original idea to apply the burst training tactic to the fitness of one’s cultural agility[ii]. In 15 years partnering with people to engage between differences, I’ve been running a figurative marathon. Incremental change over time has been a mantra I’ve advised you to take on, too, as you make way to wholly become the people and places that honor shared purpose. To me, a paced stride of steps toward change makes sense. Especially when among groups of people who both, “collectively create results that nobody wants,”[iii] and demonstrate ambivalence to the possibility of doing differently to achieve different results. While I stand by this more classic strategy of choice (i.e. the figurative marathon), I am leaning into new learning. I invite you to consider with me: What if the burst training approach was applied as an expedient to promote cultural competence development around the differences that shape and strengthen[iv]? Here are some questions I’m posing so far as I work out this knot of an idea:
It would be a wow experience! When applied to training or workshop design, my idea of so-called culture burst™ training might offer simple choices to:
As your personal trainer, I would support you to build your mental muscle to achieve cultural agility to the level of personal power—whether individually or with a group; face-to-face or virtually; with single or layered goals as our guide. Ready to join me for a hard, sweaty workout?! Virtually Yours, Malii Brown EngageBetween…people. place. purpose. [i] Burst training, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), involves short bursts of high-intensity style exercise for 30-60 seconds followed by one to two-minute recovery periods.
[ii] As I define it, “cultural agility” is the ability to balance cultural knowing and uncertainty for optimized results in real-life, real-time scenarios. [iii] Quote attributed to Otto Scharmer from his book with Katrin Kaufer, Leading from the Emerging Future: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies. In context, the quote reads, “We collectively create results that nobody wants because decision-makers are increasingly disconnected from the people affected by their decisions. As a consequence, we are hitting the limits to leadership—that is, the limits to traditional top-down leadership that works through the mechanisms of institutional silos”. [iv] While my word selection includes terms like “expedient,” “burst” and “intensity”, I maintain that cultural competence development and the one’s practice of inclusion and equity is a process no matter the path chosen. By the way: As a false cognate, the word, “expedient,” reflects the charm of the English language to sound like one thing and mean another. I looked it up: An expedient (n.) is a means to an end; it promotes a proposed or desired objective. Subscribe to receive blog posts delivered fresh monthly into your inbox at Brown@EngageBetween.com.
2 Comments
8/11/2019 07:32:52 am
I have just started my daily workout for 30 minutes to 1 hour after work since I have already decided to change my lifestyle. I think it started last week and so far I am so thankful because I am still able to become consistent. I am still kind of struggling until now because this is something that I am not really used to doing, however, I always tend to make myself motivated enough to continue because this is what I need to do. And besides, I know that at the end of the end, I will surely benefit from what I am doing right now. It’s a good thing though that my father helps me with this lifestyle that I am now taking.
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9/13/2019 08:53:46 am
Working out is part of staying fit. People, we need to realize that sacrifices are important if you want to be fit. Sure, there are times when you will feel like you are doing something, but it will never work, however, these are all just part of the sacrifice. There are things that you can only do once you have made a sacrifice. I really suggest that people be more willing to sacrifice in order to get what they desire.
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