The time according to James Lenger

This sportsman and musician brings the ‘busy’ concept very close to ‘useful’ – and ‘inspiring’.

By ChulucanasGym. Photos Courtesy by James Lenger.

How does he make to have time for sports and music? He says he finds that time and he can accomplish everything he plans. But he doesn’t practice just one sport neither he just plays one instrument. He goes in and out five different sports and plays and teaches music as well . and he also travels!

The life of James Lenger  is the right opposite to inactivity. He is doing something around the clock, only stopping to sleep. Well, we hope so.

James has practiced sports along his life and tried the most different ones including soccer. But he is specialized in modern pentathlon, developed by modern Olympics’ promotor Pierr de Coubertin.

“I played those sports in high school and college, before I knew about pentathlon. I grew up always loving and playing sports.”

According to James’ website, de Coubertin wanted to save the traditional main event of Ancient Olympics created in Greece, around 3000 years ago. That he only did was to replace five ancient disciplines for modern ones: swimming, running, riding, fencing and shooting. James practices all those ones.

“It depends on the day. I usually schedule swimming 5-6 days a week, running 4-5 days, shooting 2-3 days, fencing 3 days, and riding 1-2 days. It sometimes depends on what my coaches want me to do.”

Beating

James’ motivation to have that pretty active life is very personal: “The pentathlon got me into all of the sports, and I dedicated my training to my mother, who had died a few years ago.”

It’s probable that many of us consider practicing five sports during many hours a day is enough. Well, many of us but James doesn’t, because he finds time to teach in GuitarCities, his own music school what promises you to approach proffessionally to that art, no matter if you’re a beginner or a senior.

“It's busy. It is around 30 hours training and 40-50 hours working every week. I own my own business, so my schedule can be a little flexible.”

James usually teaches in Chicago, Illinois, and sometimes he goes to the other studios in New York City, San Francisco or London. There are projects to come to Latin America, once he proves the teaching scheme is much more consistent than today.

“Eventually. I want to make sure we have a good system down, and we continue to refine it in the US first. I even had some conversations about doing sport and music camps in Latin America. It will just take a little while to get that going, but definitely something I thought of.”

Patience for combination

And having a busy schedule, James wins. How does he do? The simple answer is: he just does it. Why not you?

“It's therapy for me, so it has helped me out to cope with the loss, but I am also motivated to keep training for those that can't train. I want to make the most I can with what I have been given.

James assures that combination of sports and music, especially beginning the day, can make you more productive.

“Both can be very therapeutic. For myself, and many students, sometimes describing your mood can be difficult, so often we can write a song based on how we feel, and that can be a good outlet. Sports can also be a great way to get away for a while.”

And the key word, even being in a hurry, is patience.

“When I teach, I have to constantly remind the student to slow down when they play, so they are sure to get the correct technique. When I practice sports, I have to always remind myself the same thing, as I have a tendency to want to rush through things. On the other hand, I know how difficult it can be to learn something new (like fencing), and have to remember to apply patience when I instruct music, because it is a reminder to me how tough something new can be.

So the next time you think about 24 hours are not enough for you, you should think about James: playing and winning – all in time.

Post-produced by Sheyla Benavente.

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