Daily Goal

     Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to help you feel a little less overwhelmed with all that you want to accomplish.  As great as it may seem to want to make lots of changes in your life all at once, it is also very common for vast amounts of changes to lead to greater amounts of failure.  There a number of reasons for this.  So, a better approach to achieving all that you want to accomplish, is to actually start in small increments that will have a cumulative effect.  My recommendation is to put all of your available energy and focus into achieving one daily goal.

     Multitaskers are notorious for thinking that they can accomplish more than they actually can.  Now while they may be able to get a lot done, they may not be doing as good a job at any one task if they were only focusing on just that one thing.  This is where the saying "don't spread yourself too thin" is often used.  You may think you can take on a lot, but it the end, you would have been better off with just focusing on one task at a time.  Even within a single moment it is important to put your attention to what matters most.  This is why you aren't allowed to text and drive...sure you might be able to do it, but you aren't able to do either one as well than when you are doing just the one; you need to focus solely on the driving because that is the most important task at that time.  Making changes in your daily routine to help you achieve your fitness goals might not be the immediate life and death venture that texting and driving is, but it requires just as much focus and attention because it centers around doing something that you normally wouldn't do.

     There is also a psychological component in play here as well.  Our bodies have a physiological response to reward.  And when we accomplish something that we set out to do, it "feels good" not just mental / emotionally, but physically as well due to the chemical response that our brain's trigger when we achieve something.  Although it may seem that there is a higher potential for success if we set up 10 goals to accomplish within a day, the opposite is often the case because we may be trying to achieve too all at once.  Instead, if we set up one goal, that we can put all of our effort and attention towards, it will be easier to achieve, allowing us to get that pleasurable sense from reward.  Furthermore, there tends to be a greater sense of accomplishment going "one-for-one" over missing "nine out-of-ten" even though either way,  you still "made one."  People are funny; most will center their thoughts on what they had missed rather than what they had achieved.  But when we feel accomplished, we are then geared up even more the next day to tackle something new.

     Were you ever in a work situation, where you were asked specifically to do something?  And after that initial task, more and more kept getting added to the list?  Think about how that made you feel.  Think about how each item that got added to the list made you feel not just mental / emotionally, but physically as well.  Very quickly it can become overwhelming.  So don't ask so much of yourself all at once either.  Give yourself a simple goal, a daily one, that is achievable.  One that makes you say "I got this!"  When you are able to focus on that one goal, you are setting yourself up to achieve it.  And that will make it easier to achieve the next one, and everyone one after that if you follow that same plan.

     There are seven days in a week; 365 days in a year.  You can accomplish all of your goals if you make a plan of attack for each one.  Use all of the days in the week, or month, or even year to get you to where you want to go.  Keep in mind that doing them all at once could be overwhelming and result in failure.  Instead, give your undivided attention to one goal today.  You will literally feel much better about yourself and your fitness goals when you accomplish even just that one goal.  Ride that sense of success day-by-day to achieve a fit new you!

Change Harbors Hope

     Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to give you a fresh perspective and hope when it comes to facing your fitness goals.  If you have a fitness goal, something you want to change in regards to your health, that means that you understand that there is some aspect of your current state of health that can be improved upon.  Maybe your goal is to lose body fat, or gain muscle strength; these goals are possible because they are aspects of your health that can in fact change.  In other words, what you are seeking to change is inherently changeable.  That means that the baseline that you are at today, doesn't have to be your end result...you are not stuck there!  Inherently, the process of change itself harbors hope!  

     You only have a goal to change because there is the real potential to do so...it is a real possibility!  So don't let yourself become discouraged or overwhelmed with where you are at now.  Have hope!  You have the potential to change!  A change results in something new, something different.  The simple fact that something is changeable implies that things can be different.  And different could be a better state of health and fitness.  The mere potential for change should allow you to understand that your fitness goals are possible, and therefore you can be hopeful that they can be achieved as they are certainly not impossible.

     Take heart knowing that what you seek to improve upon in your current state of fitness is in fact changeable.  Change creates something new!  Have hope in this potential for the change can be a fit new you!

Be Well

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  I know many people have been struggling with the anxiety caused by the current Coronavirus pandemic.  There are so many aspects of it that have affected our daily lives that have caused elevated stress levels to most everyone.  One aspect in particular, is the inability to be as physically active as we once were.  With gyms and even parks shutting down, it has been harder to get regular workouts in, especially at the intensity levels that we were training prior to the pandemic.  This decreased physical activity greatly affects out mental and emotional health.  For one, the lack of physical activity cuts down on the positive physiological response that exercise produces.  Also, many people are now lacking the social interaction they had by going out to the gym and / or park, and / or training with others.  And, there are many people who start to feel bad about the way they look, i.e. body builders feeling they are getting smaller from muscle atrophy, or others feeling that they are gaining fat from not moving as much.  So what I would like to suggest today, to help everyone who is dealing with the anxiety of this situation, is to try and not worry about your physical health as much, but rather, work on your mental health.  The mind-body connection is understood these days, but it is often still underestimated.  But I promise you, one of the best ways, especially right now, to take care of your physical health is by caring for your mental health.

          The first thing that I would like to make you aware of, is that the physical changes that your body has gone through by any recent decrease in physical activity is much less dramatic than you believe.  Missing a few weeks at the gym does not result in a complete body transformation, just like going to the gym for a few weeks doesn't make you a completely new person.  A decrease in muscle mass / strength or an increase in body fat doesn't happen that quickly.  Yes, you want to be as physically active as you can right now, but doing push-ups instead of doing heavy sets of bench press will carry you through during this tumultuous time.  Similarly, as long as you remain as active as you can, you are not going gain a significant amount of body fat by missing out on your regular group fitness classes.  Let me also give you two pieces of hope if a change in appearance is your main stressor.  First, our bodies have muscle memory.  Just because you aren't training as hard as you once were, when everyone is able to resume, you will get back to where you were much faster than it took to get there in the first place.  Second, we are all in this together.  The gyms and parks are closed for most everyone.  So the same way that you can't hit the weights, I can't hit them the same either.  We will get through it!

          The second thing that I want to do today is to give you a tip on how you can stress less.  I know it is easier said than done to tell someone to not worry about something.  And, the point of my blog is to keep you motivated and offer advice.  Therefore I want to give you some of the best advice I have ever received in terms of reducing anxiety.  The biggest stress reducer I have ever encountered is the ability to be grateful.  Gratitude is stress' s kryptonite.  Rather than dwelling on what isn't going well right now, focus on what is.  Here is a tip, complete the phrase "At least..."  I have never been a fan of the saying "It could always be worse."  Because many times, like now with the Coronavirus, we may find out a short time later that it does in fact get worse.  And, if you are in a pretty bad spot, thinking about something negative, like the "worse," doesn't make you feel any better.  On the other hand, I think anyone, even those in dire situations, can find at least one "at least."  For example, "I might not be able to get to the gym, but at least I can still go for a jog around the block."  What I have found personally is that as you find one "at least" it becomes pretty easy to find some more.  And this works here too.  "I might not be able to tear it up in the gym right now, but at least I am not one of the one's suffering with the virus affecting so many."

          Staying motivated to reach your fitness goals was a mental challenge in the pre-Coronavirus world.  Reaching them now, with all of the new roadblocks is even more exacting.  But you can do it, and you will.  We will.  All of us.  Just as it was with any other stumbling block that might have come up in your path, this too can be overcome.  The key is to stay mentally healthy.  Don't let yourself be shook from your goals.  You can still get there, just the path isn't as straight as you once thought.  Stay positive, and you will reach your goals.  Being optimistic, even in these dire times, will keep you strong!  Taking care of your mental health is the sanguine way to reach a fit new you!

The 100 Workout

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  It has been one full week since the New York State government has shut down all gyms to curb the spread of COVID-19, commonly referred to as the Coronavirus.  Health-minded people have been trying to get creative with how they can remain active and fit.  And with more and more people being asked to "stay at home" as part of the quarantine process, many have looked for ways in which they can be physically active at home.  So today, I would like to offer one of my gym "tricks" as a workout that you can do at home.  It is a basic workout that I have done many times in the gym before, but it is simple enough to do it at home as well.  All you need to do is pick one exercise that you are able to do, and then do it for 100 repetitions.  

          This workout is efficient if you can pick a movement that is challenging enough that it has to be completed in more than one set, but can also be accomplished in one "mini-workout."  For example, if you choose to do push-ups as your exercise, it isn't necessary to do all 100 reps in just one set, you can break them up into multiple sets, but you should get to the 100 within one dedicated time.  In other words, it isn't as effective to do reps and sets in the morning, and then again in the afternoon, and then finished in the evening.  I find it ideal to start each subsequent set within a 60 second "rest."  The rest period can be increased or decreased depending on your ability, but it should stay consistent from rep numbers 1 through 100.
          One of the great things about this workout is that it is b

are-bones enough that you can do it at home with very limited equipment.  Push-ups, as in the example above, is a great choice for this workout because they require no equipment but can also be modified to increase or decrease their intensity.  For example, for those people who find a "true" push-up too hard, they can be made easier by doing them from your knees.  On the other hand, you can increase the difficulty by narrowing the distance between your hands, or by adding some weight to your back...my son, Maxwell sits on my back while I do these at home.  Like push-ups, squats work especially well, and again, you can modify it from doing a simple body-weight squat, to adding weight through outside resistance such as holding a gallon of water (about 8 pounds) or having your child climb on your back like Max does with me.  Exercise choices are plentiful as long as you have the equipment or can be creative; however, the simpler the movement, the better the choice.  

          The 100 Workout shouldn't just be used at home.  I was originally introduced to it by my good friend, John Buatsi who is an AMAZING personal trainer.  He has referred me to the workout on more than a few occasions over the 20 plus years that I have known him when I was either feeling like I hit a rut in my training and / or just wasn't "feeling it" at the gym.  Choosing the right resistance (and again, body weight can be perfectly suitable) is key to making this simple work out a real muscle burner at just the right time.  But even while stuck at home, it can get the job done!

          Being quarantined at home doesn't mean your fitness goals disappear, and it certainly doesn't excuse you from being physically active.  Don't let trying to find and / or come up with a routine to do at home overwhelm you.  There is enough to worry about these days.  Try this 100 Workout and see how you feel.  If it is too easy, you can creatively come up with a way to add some resistance and / or shorten the rest time between sets.  If it is too hard, you might need a small modification that you can email me for a suggestion.  You don't have to do too much, just get to the 100 reps!  One-by-one the 100 Workout will get you to a fit new you!

Health Triage

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  How crazy is the world that we live in today?  The Coronavirus is at pandemic proportions that rivals plots of a science fiction story.  Here in the United States, the virus has led to increasing closures of schools and businesses.  Just yesterday, the governor of New York ordered all gyms and fitness facilities to be closed.  I happened to be at the gym earlier in the day, training a couple of clients when the news was released.  Many people's reactions were of both surprise and sadness.  Shortly after the news came out, I saw many people trying to make arrangements to how they would continue their regular workouts.  Some were going to meet at public places for outdoor classes.  The gym was going to even offer "curbside" facility access, bringing some equipment out into the parking lot for people to use in this very strange time.  Although I am very impressed with everyone's motivation to stay physically active, and using the thought that continuing to follow a healthy lifestyle will keep everyone healthy, I also am a bit concerned that people are going about things in slightly the wrong way.  One shouldn't put themselves in harm's way to meet their fitness goals.  Sometimes, its better to be prudent, and take a step back and reassess the situation  I do believe your overall health is made better by making daily decisions that include eating well and being physically active.  But there are some things like viruses, that not even the strongest can avoid.

          Please keep in mind that I am by no means saying that people should not remain physically active during this pandemic.  What I am saying is that everyone should assess their own health, and then make a thoughtful decision on how they can maintain their overall health with consideration to the information that has been presented by health agencies.  For example, recent recommendations have centered around social distancing where it has been recommended to keep several feet of personal space between individuals, and not to have gatherings of 10 or more people.  With that in mind, it is probably safer and smarter to go for a walk/jog/ run with one friend (with some space between you) rather than participating in a group class.  Another piece of information is that the virus is spread from hand to mouth and it has been advised to not touch your face.  Heeding this, while the gym was still open, my clients and I were wearing vinyl gloves during the workout.  It was certainly strange, but these are strange times.

          I personally would like to see everyone be as fit as possible.  However in my opinion, fitness comes after you have good general health.  Yes, again, I do believe being fit keeps you healthy, but you need to have a certain level of wellness first.  Think about a professional athlete who suffers an injury...they need to be medically cleared from the injury before they can start a rehab assignment.  That rehab assignment precedes competitive activities.  Or, someone who suffers a major health set-back such as a heart attack needs to undergo significant treatment before continuing with normal day-to-day physical activity.  It is in this way that I think we need to be vigilant with our overall health.   

 
        The Coronavirus is a global health crisis.  Everyone needs to treat it as such so that is stops its spread and those who are affected with it are kept to a minimum.  Please assess your own state of health, and think about the suggestions of health institutions before you embark on physical activity.  If you are able to remain physically active, I suggest you do it with as few people as possible, and would further recommend trying to be physically active at home.  Any one workout is not worth being infected with this virus.  Please be smart and safe.  Being physically active after fully assessing the situation is the prudent way to achieve a fit new you.