Tag: fitness blog

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How to Know You’re Fit

How to Know You’re Fit: Five Ways

Since I keep asking people to get fit with me, and many have joined me on this fitness journey, I figured it’s time for me to weigh in on what “fitness” means and identify how to know you’re fit.

Fitness can be defined as “the condition of being physically fit and healthy”. However, that definition does very little to help you understand what fitness truly means because both “physically fit” and “healthy” could mean totally different things to different people.

To make sure we’re on the same page, the Get Fit with Charity definition of fitness is:

being in good athletic condition;
being physically, mentally and emotionally strong;
being relatively free from injury and illness

There are tons of ways to determine if you’re fit, but I’ll weigh in on five of them…the last one will probably surprise you!

#1: You embody the components of fitness

There are five main components of fitness:

  • Cardiovascular Endurance – exercises like running, swimming, dance fitness, etc.
  • Muscular Strength – how much weight a person can lift or carry
  • Muscular Endurance (i.e. how long [in repetitions or time] a person can sustain an exercise involving specific muscle groups,
  • Flexibility (i.e. the range of motion of a person’s joints)  and
  • Body Composition (i.e. the amount of fat vs. muscle that a person’s body has.)

You know that you’re fit when you notice improvements in any of those areas. Perhaps you notice that you’re not breathing heavily after a brisk thirty-minute walk. Maybe you’re able to move a forty-pound box from the floor to the table with no problem. It’s possible that you can reach down and touch your toes for the first time in five years or you’re able to hold a forearm plank for nearly a minute. It’s possible that some of your favorite clothes are a bit loose on you because your body has gone through some positive changes.

#2: You look forward to your workout

I’m sure you remember what it was like before you started your fitness journey. “Working out” wasn’t part of your vocabulary. You didn’t care to spend your free time getting sweaty, but things have changed. Now you’re excited about taking that walk, going for a swim, or heading to your fitness class. You know that there may be a little discomfort, and there are TONS of other things you could be doing right now. You’re exercising for you. When your workout becomes your happy place, you know you’re fit.

#3: You have more energy

Energy produces energy! In other words, incorporating more movement into your day and working out more gives you increased stamina. You might still get a little tired at work between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, but you won’t wake up tired. You might even start replacing that morning cup of coffee with a morning run because you realize the run actually clears your head and prepares you to face the day at work. When you no longer wake tired and you feel more energized than you’ve felt in a good long while, you know that you’re fit.

#4: You’re more cognizant of what (and when) you eat or drink

Something pretty amazing is going to happen to you as you’re trucking along on this fitness journey. You’re going to be more mindful of what you eat and what you drink. That’s a sure sign that you’re fit because non-fit people typically don’t take their food and beverage choices into consideration. When you decide to avoid consuming a particular drink because you’ve realized that it zaps your energy or you make a different meal choice because you want something that’s both filling and healthy, it’s pretty safe to say that you’re fit!

#5: You realize that you’ll never arrive

As strange as it sounds, you know that you’re truly fit when you realize that fitness isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Our lives are similar to the ocean. There’s high tide (i.e. time when we’re in the best athletic condition), and there’s low tide (i.e. times when we’re emotionally week). Then there’s the occasional squall, like when an illness or injury comes out of nowhere and sidelines us for a bit. Being fit means that you understand that you will never arrive at a state of ultimate fitness. You will ever and always strive to be the most fit you that you can be.

Putting It All Together

It’s crucial for me to stress that this information on how to know you’re fit should be seen as building blocks or sequential steps. You don’t have to master one area and then move on to another area; each area can stand on its own. Although these indicators are connected, they aren’t interrelated in the sense that it’s all or nothing. You can have success in all five areas at the same time or you can shine in a few areas.

Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

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Four Benefits of Tabata Training

4 Undeniable Benefits of Tabata Training

If you’ve been checking in for the past few weeks you know that I’m a huge fan of both Body Weight Training and Tabata Training. I almost got a bit carried away last week and went into information overload. Then something occurred to me! I could continue that conversation by weighing in on the benefits of Tabata Training.

Although there are countless benefits of Tabata Training, I will only focus on four that simply cannot be denied.

Benefit #1: Improves Aerobic and the Anaerobic Energy Systems

Aerobic means “with oxygen”. The aerobic energy system requires blood or oxygen to operate. Aerobic exercises are typically continuous, repetitive movements that greatly benefit the heart.

Anaerobic means “without oxygen”. The anaerobic energy system doesn’t require blood or oxygen to operate. Anaerobic exercise typically includes intense physical activity, and usually can’t be done for a long period of time.

Tabata Training allows you to activate both systems simultaneously so that you improve both your endurance level as well as build muscle.

Benefit #2: Easy to Customize Workouts

One Tabata round is four minutes long. It consists of eight 20-second rounds that are each followed by a ten-second rest period. You can do one exercise for all 8-rounds. Or you could do four rounds of two different exercises. You could even opt for two rounds of four different exercises…it’s all up to you.

Tabata workouts are extremely easy to customize. If you know you’re only going to have to exercise for 20 seconds, that really opens up tons of possibilities. You can include exercises that you either don’t like or you can’t do for a long period of time.

Benefit #3: Experience “After Burn”

Like other forms of high-intensity interval training, Tabata Training works on the theory of EPOC (excess post oxygen consumption). In other words, once the workout is complete, your body still continues to burn calories.

Admittedly, it’s a bit more technical and scientific than that. However, to help put this in perspective, other forms of exercise don’t work that way.

When you’re done running, you stop burning calories. The same goes for swimming and other forms of cardio (aerobic) based exercise form.

Since Tabata Training activates both the anaerobic and aerobic systems, it allows the body to respond differently to exercise.

Benefit #4: Burn Tons of Calories

The average person burns about 100 calories per mile, so if someone were to run for 20 minutes, they could burn up to 200 calories, provided that they were able to run ten-minute miles. However, that same person could burn about 15 calories per minute when participating in a Tabata Training workout.

In other words, a twenty-minute Tabata Training workout could allow someone to burn 300 calories during that workout out. T

he key to burning more calories lies in the intensity of your workout, so be sure to give your all during the twenty-second exercise round, so you can burn the most calories possible.

Talk is Cheap

You’ll be able to find several Tabata style workout video on the Get Fit with Charity YouTube Channel. I want you to experience the benefits of Tabata training first hand.

I can’t wait to start working out with you!

Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

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High-Intensity Interval Training vs Tabata Training

HIIT vs. Tabata Training

Today’s Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in will be a little different. I will be talking about HIIT vs Tabata (or High-Intensity Interval Training and Tabata Training).

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about my specialty area: Bodyweight Training.  Tabata training is my preferred method for incorporating bodyweight exercises. People are often confused when we talk about Tabata training. Most of them have never heard of it. Some of them even ask me how Tabata Training is better than High-Intensity Interval Training, and they typically walk away. They say that they prefer High-Intensity Interval Training, and Tabata Training sort of sounds like a gimmick to them.

What is High-Intensity Interval Training?

High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT is a form of exercise that’s gained quite a bit of popularity lately. In short, HIIT is exactly what it sounds like, but it’s easier to explain by breaking it down.

The word “intensity” refers to the amount of force, strength or effort it takes to do something. In terms of exercise, there are low, moderate and high intensity levels.

“Low intensity” exercises require minimal effort. They can be done for prolonged periods of time without leading to exhaustion. Things like walking or dog or pushing a sleeping baby in a stroller. On a scale of 1 to 5, low-intensity exercises would definitely be a 1.

“Moderate intensity” exercises require a little more effort, but why still aren’t that strenuous. A brisk walk or a light jog would fall in this category; these are exercises that you can do for a while. However, you would have to pace yourself, so you don’t tire out too easily. Moderate intensity exercises would score a 3 on a 1 to 5 scale.

“High intensity” exercises require all of your energy and effort. Since you give your all during these exercises, you won’t be able to perform them for very long. These are difficult exercises, like burpees or mountain climbers. They would be the highest on the one to five scale.

An “interval” can be defined as a space or span of time. So interval training is an exercise form consisting of an exercise period (or interval) immediately followed by a resting period. The intervals repeat in an AB pattern.

Putting It All Together

High-intensity interval training alternates between strenuous exercise and rest for specific periods of time.

Generally speaking, the resting interval in HIIT is a bit shorter than the exercise interval. That’s because it gives the body just enough time to recover but not enough time to relax. There is no specified amount of time for HIIT intervals. One can exercise for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds. Or you could do a 60 second “on” and 30 second “off” workout or some other combination. The key to maximizing your HIIT workout: make sure you’re able to go all out during the exercise interval. That’s where Tabata Training comes in.

What is Tabata Training?

Tabata Training is a HIIT format adapted from a 1996 study conducted by Dr. Izumi Tabata and a group of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. The results: workouts with short bursts of high-intensity exercise had better effects than workouts with longer moderate-intensity exercises.

A Message from Dr. Izumi Tabata

In the featured video clip, Dr. Izumi Tabata said, “Tabata Training is a form of high-intensity interval training which enables us to improve both aerobic and anaerobic cardiac systems simultaneously.” In other words, Tabata Training allows you to strengthen your heart and develop your muscles in less time than a traditional workout. However, Dr. Tabata stresses that the exercise interval should bring people to the point of exhaustion for them to receive maximum benefits.

Dr. Tabata stated that when the papers were published in 1996 and 1997, he expected that high-level athletes would participate in the training. He was surprised that many members of the general population are creating their own Tabata workouts.

What’s the difference?

I want to recap the common questions associated with HIIT and Tabata Training are:

  1. What’s the difference between Tabata Training and HIIT?
  2. Which method is better: HIIT or Tabata Training?

There’s really no way to answer those questions because (1) Tabata Training is a form of HIIT, so there’s no difference between the two. Beyond that (2) HIIT and Tabata Training follow identical formats of exercise/rest/repeat, so it’s not possible for one to be better than the other.

Perhaps a better question is: what is the most effective form of HIIT? The answer – without a doubt – would be Tabata Training!

Hopping on the Scale!
Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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3 Tips for a Guilt-Free Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday! So I thought I’d weigh in on how to handle birthday treats. That way you’ll have a guilt-free birthday when you’re on your fitness journey.

When you’re younger, birthdays are the best! There are parties with your school friends. Parties with your other friends. Family celebrations. And TONS of presents.

When you’re older, birthdays sort of lose their pizazz! They do nothing more than remind you that you’ve gotten year older.

That’s why I did some research several years ago and discovered a bunch of places to go for free stuff on your birthday. Then I looked a little deeper and found even more free stuff for your birthday.

I joined pretty much every birthday club on my lists…and a few more. As a result, I have nearly twenty birthday coupons to redeem and most of them are food-based. I’ve been struggling with how to celebrate my birthday responsibly without overindulging in sweets and other foods that I probably shouldn’t be eating.

Even though you may not have as many coupons to redeem, I’m sure you can probably relate to the challenges associated with food-based birthday celebrations – whether you’re celebrating your own birthday or the birthday of a friend or loved one.

I’ve come up with three tips for guilt-free birthday celebrations.

Tip #1: Allow Yourself to Celebrate

Healthy eating doesn’t have to only consist of fruits and vegetables. It’s okay to eat sweets and not so healthy foods…on occasion. If you have a ton celebrations to attend or coupons to redeem, simply set some limits and decide what will and will not do. Giving yourself permission to celebrate actually releases you from guilt and enables you to truly enjoy your day!

Tip #2: Pace Yourself

Although your birthday only happens once a year, you can redeem some of your coupons up to four weeks after your birthday! That means you won’t have to cram all of those desserts and free meals into one day. You can space them out over a month, so that you’re still able to maintain a sensible eating plan and avoid feeling guilty.

Tip #3: Share Your Gifts

Let’s be real for a minute. One person doesn’t actually need to consume five free desserts, three free drinks, two free meals and three free appetizers on their own. That’s a ton of calories – most of which will do more harm than good. If you share your treats with friends, you’ll have the opportunity to have a totally guilt-free celebration and still enjoy your special day.

Hopping on the Scale!
Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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What is Bodyweight Training?

Every personal trainer has a specialty, a niche, an area of fitness that is near and dear to their hearts. It’s not that they have no regard for other specialties or think they have no value. It’s just that something about that specialty area stood out to them pretty early in their career.

Some are really into Crossfit. Others have a passion for functional fitness. This week, I’m weighing in on my specialty area: bodyweight training.

What is Bodyweight Training?

In the event that you’re unfamiliar with this area, bodyweight training is precisely what it sounds like. It is a form of strength training where you use your bodyweight to tone, strengthen, and condition your muscles rather than free weights or machines.

Before I give you the reasons why weight training is amazing, in my opinion, I want to give a little bit of a backstory.

As I’ve mentioned before, I gave up my gym membership nearly two decades ago. Although my main reason for letting my gym membership code was due to the fact that I wasted tons of money by only going once a month every other month or so, I also gave it up because I simply didn’t feel comfortable. I felt as if people are ogling me or sizing me up. I’m sure that probably wasn’t the case, but it certainly felt that way.

Discovering Bodyweight Training

I really wanted to exercise in the comfort of my own home, but I didn’t have the equipment. Somewhere along the way, I’d bought into the notion that you had to lift weights or exercise on cardio machines to get fit, but I was wrong.

When I finally released the gym membership, I bought some of the equipment that I used at the gym – minus the machines, of course. I had a mat, a stability ball, and several sets of dumbbells.  I thought that I would use that equipment to help me stay in shape. However, since I use them about as much as I used my gym membership, I proved to be wrong once again.

Somewhere along the way, I rediscovered bodyweight training. I remembered the exercises my sports teams did when I was a high school athlete. We did very little weightlifting, but we were amazingly fit.  In fact, my junior year of high school was the time that I remember being my most fit and most flexible, and I don’t recall spending any time in the weight room.

As I prepared to weigh in on this topic, it occurred to me that there are four main reasons I’m sold on bodyweight training.

1. There’s No Need for Any Equipment Whatsoever

The main reason I’m sold on bodyweight training is the fact that you don’t need any equipment to workout or get fit. Of course, you can use things like gliding discs, resistance bands, or figure 8 tubing to enhance your workout, but you don’t actually NEED those items. You can learn how to use your own bodyweight to get amazing results, and I’m excited to show you how.

2. You’re Able to Workout Any Time, Anywhere

One major flaw that both weights and exercise machines have in common is the fact that you simply can’t take them with you. BUT your body goes everywhere that you go, so no one can say that they don’t have the right equipment to workout. As long as you have yourself, you have everything that you need.

3. Positive Changes are Easy to Identify

When you do bodyweight exercises, it is easy to sense when you’ve gained strength or increased your fitness level. You can easily tell if there is less discomfort when you do plié squats. You’ll quickly notice that you can hold your plank longer than you did the week before. You will see that your legs don’t give out as quickly on you during wall sits as they used to. In as little as four weeks (maybe sooner), you’ll be able to identify major progress on your fitness journey.

4. Bodyweight Exercises are Practical than

I will readily admit that weight lifting is effective, but nobody does bench press type moves during the course of a day. However, we do a little squat every time we sit. Whenever we stand from a sitting position, we do what resembles a sit up. Bodyweight exercises are more practical because you can mimic activities are you do you do during the course of a day.

Hopping on the Scale!
Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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Five Must-Haves for Your “Home Gym”

Welcome to the first video blog for Get Fit with Charity! I’m Charity, and before I get too far ahead, I want to sincerely thank you for joining me on this fitness journey! As you probably know, my goal is to show you how to get fit in the comfort of your home without using a lot of equipment. In the future, video blogs will consist of me either showing you bodyweight exercises or leading you through Tabata workouts. Today’s vlog, will be more informative as I talk about five things you simply must have for your home gym.

You can see that I’m sitting in my “home gym”, which doubles as my living room. Your “home gym” doesn’t have to be your living room. It can be your basement, your den, your guest bedroom, your garage, or any other space in your home that is large enough for you to workout and do jumping jacks, lunges, squats and a variety of other bodyweight exercises.

As we’re getting ready to start working out together…in our respective homes, of course…there are five items you simply must have either for the sake of comfort or in order to add resistance or help intensify your workout.

Yoga Mat

The first item that you’ll need is a yoga mat. This will serve as a cushion if you’re on a hard surface, and it will protect you from rug burns if you’re working out on a carpeted surface.

Water Bottle

Second, you’ll want a water bottle. Although most of our workouts will be about six-minutes, there will be times when you break a sweat. It’ll be a good idea for you to have a water bottle handy, so you can stay hydrated.

Towel

This third item will be really useful if you do sweating; it’s a towel. You don’t need anything large, but you may want something to make sure you not dripping on your mat or the floor.

Figure 8 Tubing

The fourth thing you’ll need is a little piece of equipment that provides an awesome alternative to weight. It’s called Figure 8 tubing, and it can be used to add resistance to both upper body and lower body exercises.

Gliding Disks/Core Sliders

The fifth and final item that you’ll need is easily my most favorite piece of equipment because of its versatility. These gliding disks can be used for upper body, lower body, and core exercises. In fact, the majority of the exercises that you do with gliding disks will require you to engage your core. You can purchase gliding disks to use on hard surfaces or carpeted surfaces. I would actually recommend double-sided gliding disks, like these because you can use flip them over depending on what surface you’ll be using. If you have a slab in your basement but decide to work out in your carpeted den one day, you’re totally set.

Where Can You Find The Stuff?

I didn’t want you scouring the internet trying to find all of these things, so I’ve added some items from Amazon to help you stock up your home gym ASAP.

The Next Steps

Stay tuned for some new workout videos on YouTube. I will show you some of my favorite bodyweight exercises using both the Figure 8 Tubing and the gliding disks. Then I’ll take you through a couple of Tabata workouts geared specifically to each item.

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Two Major Reasons to Weigh Yourself

Reasons to Weigh Yourself

I think most people shudder at the idea of weighing themselves on a regular basis. I’m guessing they’re a little intimidated by what the scale will tell them, and they’d rather be kept in the dark. However, I can honestly say that participating in a weekly weigh-in can have a really positive effect on your fitness journey. I’m sure you’ve figured this out by now, but this week I’ll be sharing two reasons to weigh yourself at least once every week.

There was a time when I weighed myself every day. That’s right! I hopped on that scale every single day for about two years. I’m not sure where I got the idea, but during that time I was also counting my calories. I became quite obsessive about the scale as well as extremely and carefully monitoring everything that I ate. My daily weigh-in filled me with a great deal of stress because I simply didn’t know what to expect, and a two-pound weight gain in a 24-hour period would cause me to significantly reduce my calorie consumption, which was not good at all.

I realized that the way I was doing things simply wasn’t healthy, so I made the decision to cut back on the weigh-ins quite drastically and dropped down to once a week. When I did that, I noticed a number of benefits that were not evident when I weighed myself every day. It didn’t take long for me to see that those benefits were not just experienced by me. They were universal, and I’ll share two of them with you right now!

Sense of Anticipation

When you weigh yourself once a week, it gives you something to look forward to. After devoting seven days to your fitness journey, you’ll really want to see how your hard work has paid off. Whether you’ve faithfully logged your meals for the week or you’ve been able to keep up with your exercise plan, you’ll be excited to see how you measure up.

Movement Motivation

Knowing that you’re going to hop on the scale may motivate you to move a little more each week. You’ll more than likely start experimenting with different types of exercise to see how it impacts the scale. If you happen to have a week with very little movement and see that you gain a pound or two that week, I’m pretty sure that will definitely inspire you to get moving a bit more.

Hopping on the Scale!
After today’s blog, I really hope you can see the value of weighing in. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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6 Surprising Outcomes of Counting Calories

The most recent post about 3 Places to Find Motivation really had me stuck in my past. When I took my own advice and seriously considered things I used to do that helped me feel my best, there was one thing that came to mind: counting calories.

This week I’m weighing in on counting calories because it is essential on the journey to get fit. Before you can make changes to what you’re eating, you have to know what you’re eating.

I know that it might sound a little nerdy, but I really did count every single calorie that I consumed for about two years. However, I can assure you that it wasn’t as intimidating as it sounds. I simply used the My Fitness Pal app to keep track of the calories I consumed as well as the calories I used. After that last post, I was inspired to start counting those calories again, and I haven’t missed a morsel. Over the past few days, I’ve realized that there are six outcomes of counting calories that may catch you by surprise.

1. You’ll want to move more.

When you initially sign on with My Fitness Pal, they ask you a ton of questions to get to know what you’re hoping to accomplish; they want to help you meet your fitness goals. Then they’ll let you know how many calories you’ll need to consume each day in order to reach those goals. If you also log your exercise (or link a fitness tracker), your calorie count will be readjusted, and you’ll be inspired to move more just to see the numbers change.

2. You’ll start thinking about portion sizes.

If you want to get an accurate calorie count, you’ll need to enter the correct portion sizes when you add your meals. It won’t take long for you to be completely astounded by portion sizes. In some cases, you’ll learn that the portion sizes of some foods are much smaller than you think is appropriate. In other cases, the portion sizes are much larger than you can eat. You might even start making different choices about food based on what you’re logging in the My Fitness Pal app.

3. You’ll consider options with fewer calories.

When you realize that some serving sizes are rather small, you’ll have to make a decision: are you going to eat the foods that might cause you to go over your calorie limit or will you eat something else that’s perhaps a bit healthier and just as tasty, but with fewer calories? If you’re anything like me, you’ll go with option 2…or at least eat half of option 2.

4. You’ll realize which foods you need to limit or eliminate.

Before I started counting calories again, I knew that I had an unhealthy relationship with sugar, but counting calories has really caused me to see just how much refined sugar I eat. I’m starting to see that I need to replace sugary foods with natural sweets like apples and oranges. When you start counting calories, I’m sure you’ll notice some trends in terms of foods you need to cut back on or foods you need to add.

5. You’ll probably start planning your meals.

While you’re trucking along taking care of business, you might have a day or two where you don’t log your calories right away. As soon as you log what you had for dinner, you realize that you are dangerously close to going over your limit for the day. In order to make sure that doesn’t happen again, you might start planning your meals in advance. That way you’ll at least know your calorie baseline for the day.

6. You’ll think twice about mindless snacking.

When you have to log every morsel of food that you eat, even samples at the grocery store, you might not be so willing to snack on those samples…regardless of how enticing they are.

Hopping on the Scale!
Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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Three Places to Find Motivation

Three Places to Find Motivation

You’re here! You’ve made the decision to get fit with me. You know it won’t be easy, but you’re up for it. Getting back in shape is something you’ve been thinking about for a while, and now you’re ready to act. But there’s one small problem: you’re having some trouble finding the motivation to do get things done. I’ve discovered three places to find motivation to get moving: Your Past, Your Present, and Your Future.

Motivation is tricky because the word has multiple meanings.

On one hand, motivation means “reason”, and I’m sure that you know why you want to get fit. Maybe you want to lose weight. Perhaps you desire more energy. It could be that you simply want to enhance the quality of your life. You could have any number of reasons for wanting to get fit.

On the other hand, motivation means “drive”, “ambition”, or “a strong desire to accomplish something”. I’ll have to speak for myself here and say that even though I have a 5K coming up in three weeks, (August 28th, to be exact) I find it really hard to get out of bed while it’s still dark outside in order to go for a run. Maybe you can relate to knowing that you need to get fit, but not knowing where to find the motivation to do so.

Your Past

Whoever said that experience is the best teacher, knew what they were talking about. The first place to find motivation is your past.  Visiting this location with require you to go back in time, but how far you go back is totally up to you. Not too long ago, kids and teens were extremely busy and very active. Even if they didn’t play organized sports, most kids spent time playing outside after they finished their homework during the school year, as well as after dinner during summer. Think back to that time in your life. What were your favorite activities when you were a kid? Did you enjoy exploring the neighborhood with your friends? Were you fond of playing pick-up basketball, going to swim lessons, playing tag at recess? Finding adult versions of activities you did as a child could be a great source or motivation.

Another way your past can serve as a source of motivation is by thinking of a time when you felt more fit or had more energy. You can start by asking yourself two questions: 1) What were you doing in your life when you felt fit and energetic that you’re not doing now? 2) What are you doing now that you weren’t doing back then?

When you answer the second question, I’m sure that major lifestyle changes such as getting married, starting a career and having children might be some of the responses, and that’s to be expected. You’re not visiting the past in order to replicate precisely what was done back then. Visiting the past gives you solid ideas about activities that will motivate you to get moving, and it reminds you of positive, healthy habits that may have slipped your mind. Being aware of your past success gives you stepping stones that will serve as a path to get back there.

Your Present

When you’re going out of town, you have to design your route based on your starting point. If you were planning a trip from Seattle to Cancun, it wouldn’t make much sense for you to search for flights from Denver to Cancun. Doing so would only lengthen the trip and might even lead to a bit of frustration. Since the fitness journey isn’t all that different from a regular journey, another place to find motivation is the here and now. It may seem hard to believe, but your present can hold the key to discovering your motivation.

Let’s imagine that you really are traveling from Seattle to Cancun. You wouldn’t just wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to Mexico today!” You may know where you want to go, but you still need to take a look at where you are. Then create a plan in order to get to Mexico. Chances are you won’t create that plan on your own; you’ll consult travel experts and seek counsel from those who’ve been there before. The same is true of your fitness journey. You may have an idea of your desired results, but you’ll need to assess your current condition and create a plan to get there. Fortunately, you won’t have to make things up on your own since you’ve made the decision to get fit with me.  

One thing you may want to l need to you may want to investigate as look into your present is how often you sit during the day. The average person spends about one third of their day sitting. Even if you don’t sit and average of 8 hours a day, I’m pretty sure that an assessment of your day may provide the motivation you need to get moving.

Your Future

The last of the three places to find motivation will require you to go somewhere you’ve never gone: your future. In order to get there, you will have to use your imagination. Although there’s no way you can know what the future holds, creating a realistic view of where you want to be can give you the motivation to make that dream a reality.

When it comes to forecasting your future, it’s a good idea to start small, but don’t be afraid to go big. First, think about where you want to be in a month. Then look ahead to three months, six months, and finally a year. Some questions to consider are: What do you want to look like? How do you want to feel when you wake up in the morning? How many races do you want to run or sports teams will you have joined? What will a perfect home-cooked meal look like?

After you have created a solid vision of where you want to be, you’ll need to determine what you will need to happen in your life in order to get there. By doing this you are actually creating a path that will help you reach that level.

Wrapping It Up

What I’m really trying to say is that the three places to find motivation are within you. If you take a close look at your present, your past, and your future I’m confident that you will find all the motivation you need to get fit with me. Simply reflecting on those three locations may not be enough. You may want to jot things down in a journal.

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4 Medicinal Benefits of Exercise

Happy Wednesday! Today’s topic is exercise as medicine.

It’s very difficult to talk about exercise without talking about health. In fact, one definition of exercise is “activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness”.

I see exercise and health as opposite sides of the same coin. The health side of the coin is managed by medical professionals, such as doctors, dentists, therapists and others who ensure that everything is working well mentally, physically and emotionally. They mainly focus on what’s going on inside the body, so we don’t always see a physical manifestation of what they do. The exercise side of the coin is managed by fitness professionals, such as coaches, fitness instructors and personal trainers who are typically focused on physical condition, so we typically see concrete evidence of their work.

I don’t think it’s wise to separate the two because success in on one side begets success on the other side. In fact, there are tons of different medicinal benefits of exercise, but I will only focus on four in today’s post.

Medicinal Benefit #1: Exercise Calms the Mind

There was a time when I thought “information overload” was nothing more than a buzzword or catchphrase, something people said when they were trying to sound scholarly.  When I was in college, I learned that information overload is real. High school was really easy for me, so I never really studying. College was a totally different story. During my first two years, I had a habit of studying for hours at a time with no breaks. As a result, I would get to the point where my brain simply couldn’t function. My mind was swimming with so many facts that I wasn’t able to think straight. I couldn’t even participate in a conversation about what type of pizza I ordered, and that’s not an exaggeration. I couldn’t figure out how to make it settle down. Since I didn’t know what else to do, I went on brisk walks, and it didn’t take very long for my mind to return to its calm state.  

Medicinal Benefit #2: Exercise Reduces Stress

Although this benefit may not seem much different from the previous benefit, they are quite different. Stress can be defined as physical or mental pressure, agony or anxiety. Some people take anti-depressants and other forms of medications to help them cope with stress, but Harvard Medical School stated that exercise is physical stress that can relieve mental stress by releasing endorphins in the body. In other words, exercise can lift your mood and simply make you feel better. If you’re on medication, continue taking that medication, but be sure to let your doctor know that you’ve started exercising in the event that the levels need to be adjusted.

Medicinal Benefit #3: Exercise Positively Impacts Blood Pressure

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 75 million adults in the United State have high blood pressure or hypertension. Many of those individuals are on some type of medication to keep things under control.  According to a recent report by the Mayo Clinic Staff, exercise makes your heart stronger, which allows it to pump blood with less effort, resulting in lower blood pressure. Exercise may not eliminate the need for medication, but who knows what could happen if you make exercise part of your daily routine.

Medicinal Benefit #4: Exercise Wakes You Up

One could argue that the final benefit isn’t quite fit with the others unless you consider caffeine a type of medication.  I’m including it because there are countless people who truly believe that they simply cannot start their day or get through their afternoon without a dose of caffeine. I will readily admit that I’ve felt that way a time or two. However, a short quick bout of exercises pumps the blood and stimulates the mind, so that you no longer feel exhausted. If you’re having trouble starting your day, try doing ten jumping jacks shortly after you roll out of bed. Instead of grabbing your afternoon espresso when 2:00 pm hits, try taking a quick up and down a couple of flights of stairs at work. You might be surprised at how alert you are after a few minutes of exercise that gets your heart pumping.

HOPPING ON THE SCALE Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s a win!

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