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Marching Band Director Shares His Fitness Regimen

Jeff Au lifts weights, runs and plays basketball to stay fit

Jeff Au, director of the Duke University Marching & Pep Band, lifts weights and runs on campus.
Jeff Au, director of the Duke University Marching & Pep Band, lifts weights and runs on campus.

“Live Well, Lead Well” is a series profiling leaders at Duke who balance work and life. Healthy habits boost mood and energy and combat diseases, which can also reduce healthcare costs for you and Duke as a whole. Through exercise or other behaviors, these leaders are role models.

Jeff Au     
Director, Duke University Marching & Pep Band  

Regimen:
It varies from month to month. Right now, I’m running, and I used to run at Wallace Wade Stadium all the time. I now run the Koskinen Stadium stairs instead, which isn’t as daunting, but it’s still a good workout. I typically run West to East Campus and run one or two times around East Campus and back, which is usually about 12 kilometers. I’m lifting at Wilson Recreation Center, and I play basketball occasionally. I do a little bit of TRX (suspension training that uses a person’s bodyweight to develop strength, flexibility and balance). I often do a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) class.

Wellness mantra:
To keep exercising, even when things are busy. Starting in the fall until the last football game of the year, things get really busy for me. I’m writing music, writing drill routines, making arrangements for travel, and responding to whatever emails might be coming in from alumni or current students. I just accept the fact that I won’t be in as good of shape in the fall, but I’ll still exercise two or three times a week.

Top health and wellness goals:
I did the Love Rox Half Marathon in Richmond, Va., about two years ago. I over-trained, and my IT band (a ligament along the thigh) was killing me, so I walked about the entire thing. I want to ramp up more slowly this time and check a half marathon off my list.

How a healthy lifestyle affects my work:
When I’m loading and unloading a truck or moving instruments, exercise helps. It’s nice to be able to do that stuff and not be exhausted. I also started meditating a couple of years ago, and that’s the thing that really has helped my work. If I stay present in what I’m doing, I’m able to focus on what’s happening now, deal with things as they come, and not be bombarded with stress.

Biggest fitness accomplishment:
Five years ago, I had two hernia surgeries that were six months apart, and then I tore a calf muscle. After almost two years without exercising, I expected to resume my regimen and feel better in a month, but I felt totally weak and defeated every time I tried to exercise. It took literally seven, eight months to actually start to feel strong again. I had faith that it would pay off. I stuck with it and actually got back into acceptable shape.

Advice:
If you’re starting from a low fitness level and want to see results quickly, you have to accept that you’re not going to see real results soon. Take how long you think it’s going to take and multiply that by 20.

Got a leader at Duke in mind for the Live Well, Lead Well series? Nominate him or her.