Exercise – Page 4

September 1, 2012

Need some workout ideas?

How about these workout ideas?

If you’ve read the previous posts on why you don’t have time to skip your workout you’ve also read about some of the immediate benefits of a workout that you can experience. I hope you’ve also thought about the long-term benefits, such as better overall fitness, healthier blood pressure, a tendency toward lower body fat, and an overall sense of well being.

Many people feel challenged to find exercise that they want to do or are willing to commit to on a long-term basis. To those concerns I have two responses:

1. You don’t have to make a long-term commitment! If you try something and find that it doesn’t work for you – either modify the exercise or your approach to it – or try something else. Just because you start out jogging doesn’t meant that you are committing yourself to jogging every day for the rest of your life! As a matter of fact – I recommend that you don’t do the same thing every day – it leads to boredom and to increased potential for injury.
This is why I personally follow a fitness program called P90X – it contains a variety of different exercises and includes weight and resistance exercises as well as aerobic activity and routines to increase flexibility and range of motion. I think another great aspect of P90X is that I can do it at home on my schedule. And best of all – it really works.
I also like to run – so I also run when possible. I am blessed to live in an area where I can run on horse trails through the mountains so the view is always changing and beautiful. But I also try to make sure I do something when traveling – even if that means running in and around the area, or even just using the treadmill in the hotel where I’m staying. The point is to do something. If what you’re doing doesn’t work for you – try something else.

2. You have more options that just joining a gym or running. Find something that you like to do and that you will put on your schedule every day and commit to doing. Joining a gym is not a bad thing since you may have access to trainers or people who can show you proper form and various ways of exercise. It may also give you access to classes on new forms of exercise that you’re not familiar with. Running is great because you can go as fast or slow as you need to tailor your fitness level, and you can do it just about anywhere with almost no equipment.

But besides a gym or running – what else can you do?
Here are a few more fitness ideas – not in any particular order:

Walking, hiking, swimming, water aerobics, aerobics, fitness dvd at home, yoga, home rebounder (small trampoline), kettlebell workout, team or intramural sports, skiing, rollerblading, jump-rope, bicycle – either mountain, trail, or road, spinning (think stationary bicycle), stretching, dancing, tennis, racquetball, handball, weight training.

These are just a few – get creative – try some fitness videos, talk to others. It doesn’t matter what you do, just that you do something regularly.

August 20, 2012

What’s holding you back?

So you’ve decided that you have some fitness goals, or want a healthier lifestyle, or want to lose weight, or want to get into shape and have your body look a certain way, or be able to run a 5k or 5 miles … what’s holding you back? It might just be you.

To often people sabotage their own success before they even start something.
Today – now – you have to eliminate negativity from your mind and from your psyche. It’s very easy to look around and blame your friends, your spouse, your co-workers, your frame, your body type, genetics, the snack food in the vending machine, the fast food restaurants, your busy schedule or any of those things around you – the list could go on and on – seemingly endless.
You could also sabotage yourself mentally and emotionally thinking about past times when you’ve been discouraged or not reached a goal – or about diets that you’ve been on in the past (remember – diets don’t work – change in lifestyle does).

You don’t have the luxury of thinking this way.

Where you are today is the result of all of the thoughts and actions you’ve taken in the past. Remember, that is the past and what you want to focus on is NOW.

As long as you are living and breathing, it is not too late to make a change.

Yesterday is gone, and you don’t have tomorrow yet – but you do have today – you have this moment right now. This is the time to decide who you want to be, what kind of shape you want to be in, what kind of lifestyle you want to have, what state you want your health to be in.

Decide on your goal. You may want to work with a coach or mentor if you’re not sure what your goal should be – but once you decide on it – right it down and keep it in front of you – literally. You need to constantly remind yourself of where you are headed and what you want for yourself. This is best done once you decide and commit it to paper. Even better is to have a coach or mentor that helps keep you on track. As a part of this, you have to decide what is most important to you. Once you understand your goal, you can start to measure the things you eat and how you spend your time against that goals. Some things will stack up, other things you will have to give up. It won’t seem like much of a loss as long as you keep your goal in mind and before you.
Don’t be discouraged that it will take some time and effort to reach your goals. You didn’t get to where you are today overnight, and you won’t reach your goals overnight either. You’re in this for the long term and you have to keep your long-term goals in mind. The one exception to the overnight thing is that it’s not a bad idea to have some mini-goals that you can check off as successes along the way. Decide to skip candy for a day, or dessert for a week, or to exercise every day for a month. Checking off these short-term successes can be a great encouragement toward reaching a healthy lifestyle.
Place reminders of your goal around you. This might be a post-it note on your refrigerator, or on your bathroom mirror – or maybe on the background/desktop of your computer. These reminders help keep you on track and help keep you from getting of track. Just like you wouldn’t head East if you wanted to go West, you need reminders of where you’re headed. Snacks, cookies, cakes, and lying on the couch snacking and watching TV every night are probably not going to help you attain a goal of a healthy lifestyle. That doesn’t mean you can never eat a cookie or watch a TV show – but it should help you weigh out what’s important and whether your actions are moving you in the right direction.
Change what you need to change to help you reach your goal. If you want to lose weight, don’t go into the donut shop. If you want to get more physically fit, stop lying on the couch all night every night. If you want to quit eating junk food, stop buying it and having it in the house. If you have healthy foods around you – you will eat healthier things. If you regularly spend some time exercising, you will get more physically fit. If you get good regular sleep, you will be more rested and an overall healthier person. Incorporate the good things you want into your lifestyle and remove those negative things that got you to a place where you don’t want to be. Remember that if you want a different outcome, some things will need to change.
Forget the past. Its gone and over and you can’t go back and change anything about it. You have today and the decisions you make right now will move you toward or away from your goal. Want to lose weight – you will need to change some of the things you’ve done in the past – probably both diet and exercise (see the posts on which is more important). Want to be able to perform better athletically – you are going to have to find some ways to exercise to help you reach your goal. Any goal worth having is worth the work to get there. If you don’t change anything then you won’t change either – that’s what got you to where you are today.

Finally, try to surround yourself with people to can encourage you toward your goal and with things and reminders that will help you get there. The notes and reminders in your daily planner, and on your screen, mirror and refrigerator are all helpful. People around you that encourage you toward your goal are even more helpful. You should create an environment around yourself that helps drive you toward your goal. It’s your life, and you can have a healthy lifestyle if you

August 17, 2012August 17, 2012

You don’t have time to skip your workout Part 2

Most people know that you get long term benefits from working out – things like:

-increased cardiovascular fitness and ability

-overall increase in muscle tone

-better body tone and composition

-an improved sense of well-being

-healthier overall blood pressure

These results are great as part of a long term-lifestyle motivation.

But did you know that you get at least three distinct benefits the same day that you do your exercise?
You don’t have to wait weeks or months to see these benefits – these are yours to enjoy on the same day as your workout.

Reduced Stress

Taking an exercise break from the rest of the activities of the day is a great way to reduce stress. You can release much of the stress and anxiety of the day with exercise. A short intense workout can help you refocus on tasks at hand and move past frustrations or mental blocks. A moderately intense workout can also release endorphins to your system. These “feel good” chemicals released by your brain help to reduce feelings of stress and pain, and promote a sense of well being.

Increased Energy Level

If you’re not in the habit of regularly working out, this may seem counter-intuitive; but working out will actually give you increased energy levels. I’m not talking about working out far beyond your ability or running a marathon, but a moderate to intense 30-60 minute workout increases blood flow to both muscles and brain. The release of endorphins as noted above – responsible for the so-called “runners high” can help give you the energy to complete tasks, even on a very full day.

Better sleep

A moderate to intense workout burns fat, stimulates the brain and muscular systems, and promotes a sense of well being during the day. In addition to this, it can also help you sleep better at night. I recommend that you don’t exercise right before going to bed; for some people this may interfere with sleep or being able to fall asleep quickly. However, a good workout during the day will generally help you sleep better at night and promote better quality sleep. For other tips on sleep, see my posts healthy sleep and healthy sleep part2.

There are many other short-term benefits in addition to these. Start adding your workout to your daily schedule and experience for yourself what regular exercise can do for you!

Want more info or have a question? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear from you.