Healthy begets Healthy

Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I would like to point out a bit of common sense that should motivate you to start and/or remain living a healthy lifestyle.  Sometimes common sense isn't so common, but I am pretty sure that we all know that doing things that are considered to be healthy for us are, well, good for us.  And while this is pretty much common knowledge, people in general have a knack for coming up with incredible (and many not so credible) excuses of why they aren't living a healthy lifestyle.  But, if you are a reader of this blog, you know I try to motivate you as often as I can to start reaching a fitter new you.  Furthermore, I often point out that getting started is sometimes the hardest hurdle to overcome.  So today I want to give you a simple tip to either get you started, or to keep up with the work that you are already doing.  And the tip I offer you today is a simple one; in order to be healthy, all you need to do is be healthy!

Maybe you read that last sentence with an eye roll, however it really is true.  Simple and common sense, but I feel it still needs to be pointed out.  This idea came to mind the other day when I got to work and I noticed a coworker who is "carrying a few extra pounds" on a set of crutches and had his ankle in a brace.  Being the compassionate coworker I am, I asked him what had happened and he said that he didn't do anything remarkable, in fact just the opposite; he had hurt it while walking down a step in his home.  No big deal.  But then coincidentally, another coworker that week, who is also not in the best shape was complaining about how much his knee was hurting.  He had explained that he was going back and forth to the doctor to figure out what was going on with it, but he knew it was bothersome for a significant amount of time.  In this second case it wasn't such an acute injury that could have happened to anyone, but the optic of these two did make me think...maybe there was a connection about both of their injuries to their current level of fitness.  Although it wasn't a 100% direct cause of either, you could bet that carrying around the extra weight without a doubt contributed to it.  Their unhealthy weight led to their unhealthy ailments.

A more concrete illustration with this is how arthritis is felt and managed.  Anyone who suffers from some form of arthritis will tell you that it is at its worst after remaining in a non-moving position for an extended amount of time.  Whether it is struggling to get out of bed in the morning after laying down for several hours, or when someone has to exert a good amount of effort after sitting in a car for an extended amount of time, it is after the inactivity that causes the most pain.  Conversely, it is with movement that the pain is alleviated!

So the moral of the story is get active and be active to remain active!  It is easiest to maintain a high level of health if you are simply trying to remain in a high level of health.  Many gym goers will tell you that its hardest to get to the gym following a layoff for whatever reason.  But once going is the routine, going becomes routine.  You also have to think about how remaining active creates this easier scenario.  Maintaining a healthy amount of physical activity and healthy diet will directly cause you to be at a healthy weight for you.  In the very least, not carrying around extra fat will decrease the stress on your joints and dramatically decrease the chance of suffering from the conditions that my coworkers are enduring.  A healthy diet will also cause you to have more energy and not feel sluggish, which in turn again will make it easier to maintain that healthy lifestyle.

In sounds like common sense, but if you want to be healthy, you have to live healthy.  Getting that ball rolling is key to keeping it going.  Most of us want to reach a healthier state of living, and we can all get to that next level.  It isn't as easy as just wanting it, you also have to act on it.  But the good news is that once you start being healthy, your health will dramatically improve, and it will be that much easier to keep at it.  Being healthy is the fresh way to start and maintain a fit new you!

Start Strong, Finish Strong

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to help you get your workout started, because starting out is usually the hardest thing to do.  For the majority of people, Monday is the start of the work week, with Saturday and Sunday being the weekend, and is usually when we say our training schedules start.  Although we should be active every single day, its Monday when we try to get ourselves going.  Even from the religious perspective, God rested on the 7th day, which we observe on Sunday.  Unlike Him, I'm usually too busy on Sundays to rest, catching up with all that needs to be done around the house, so even I start my training week on a Monday.  But even though this is the day that most people plan on starting their routines, its often one of the hardest to get to the gym.  There are plenty of posters and memes, that emphasize how much we all sarcastically love Monday mornings when we have to get "back to the grind."  So after struggling in the morning, and then getting through the day, getting the extra energy to be physically active is often tough to do.  A way to help your overcome the doldrum of a Monday is to plan on doing something you really want to do.  Being excited about what you plan on doing is the greatest way to ensure you actually do it!

A former employer of mine often used the phrase "You want to finish how you want to start."  What he meant by this was that even if you started off the year on the wrong foot, as long as you finished strong, you would start the next year strong.  And I agree with this for a number reasons.  For one, its how we finish that is the most important.  If you are weak or out of shape now, you want to get to the point, finish, where you are stronger and in better health.  It is said it is never to late to start, but with our health, being active usually is end goal orientated.  We start exercise routines to get into shape.  So finishing strong is important.  But without being contradictory, it is just as important to start strong, because you need to start to get you going. 

One way to start strong when you otherwise would be dragging is to do something you really enjoy.  I often joke that Mondays in most gyms are "International Chest Day" because so many people are hitting the bench press.  Why?  Because so many people prefer to do chest and biceps exercises because not only are they less demanding than leg exercises, but they also hit the areas of our bodies that are often most noticeable.  While I used to use that moniker for Mondays at the gym as a bit of a diss, I could also recognize that the gym was often most crowded at that time.  There are a few reasons for that, but I would argue one is that there are more people there because they are there to do the exercises that they most enjoy.  If you are having a hard time getting started with your weekly routing, choose exercises that you most enjoy.  Picking things that you enjoy doing will ensure that you actually do them.

On the other hand, another way to start strong is to get the parts of your routine that you most dread out of the way.  Hitting the dreaded "leg day" on a Monday might not sound like the most enticing way to start your week, but if you get it done and out of the way, it will make getting to the gym later in the week easier to do.  Furthermore, hitting your legs on a Monday is also preferable because, as I already mentioned, Monday is International Chest Day anyway, so the squat racks should be free.  Sometimes it is easiest to finish strong by getting what you desire least out of the way first.

No matter which mindset works for you, doing what you find easiest first, or doing what you dread the most first, starting the week of strong is extremely important.  While putting in the time at the gym is all about the ultimate payoff, we only get there once the ball gets rolling.  Its simple physics to understand that the ball wont get rolling until we push it, but once it gets going it will be much easier to keep it going.  So no matter what day your training routine starts, think about which tact you will take to get you going.  Whether you do what you enjoy the most, or what you find the hardest to do, just starting strong is what will let you finish strong.  Starting strong is a motivational way to finish at a fit new you!