In Part 1 of this series The Path to Getting Healthy and Fit, I covered some “Tips to Start Eating Healthy…” Today, I will cover “Tips to Jumpstart An Exercise Lifestyle…” and tomorrow I plan to write about “Staying on Track With Diet and Exercise…”
Before I start I would like to point out that eating intelligently is the foundation for getting fit and healthy, and exercise is what will really put you over the top... You can do one and not the other, but you’ll only be halfway there because if you want Holistic Health, you need both.
I’m not sure how long you have to do something to become an expert, but I have been seriously exercising for many years. In the last three years since my neck fusion, I have been pretty ambitious with exercise challenges ranging from 5000 squats and 1000 push-ups in 30 days, to completing P90X3 many times and have accepted multiple extreme challenges to be taken on simultaneously... In fact, about a year after I was completely recovered, I got a big head and decided I would attempt to train for and complete 30 Murphs in 30 Days. After some struggles training for a couple of months, I completed the series. This year, I am planning an impossible 90 Days of Murphs with Sundays off… That would be 200 Burpees, 300 Squats, 200 Push-ups and 100 Pull-ups six days a week for three months… Although they sound innocuous, the world of bodyweight exercises and home HIIT workouts are beyond brutal.
So I’ve learned a lot about exercising in the last few years. Not only am I learning by doing, but I’ve learned a lot from others, books that I’ve bought, and websites that I’ve been continually researching. Like my focus on the absolute best diet, I am looking for the limits of human endurance and fitness. Now, I am not asking people to match me, that’s ridiculous because what I do is absolutely unreasonable, but think about it, I went from the couch to endurance workouts in 6 years with a major neck fusion and a long recovery in there somewhere … Like diet, exercise has levels of intensity and depending on your passion is where you will land on the intensity scale. Some may develop a walking program, while another may discover the desire to bike ride across Death Valley (Yeah, I plan on that too… Why not?) I recommend the walking, it’s way easier and probably more beneficial in the long term. I sometimes think that if I don’t stop, I will spend my last years in a wheel chair but then again, I spent three years in one anyway and maybe I can start an “Old Guy Wheelchair Exercise League…” In the meantime, let’s get you started on your personal long term fitness journey…
What follows are some of the tips I have for those who want to begin and maintain a healthy exercise program.
Exercise Tip #1: Start today, and just do anything to get you going. It doesn’t matter what exercise you choose, just start. I think walking and running are great ways to start, because you don’t have to pay to join a gym or get fancy equipment. All you need is gravity and a human body…. I started by walking up the hill next to my house and Googling “Body Weight Exercise Challenges…” Really, do some jumping jacks and just get started…
Exercise Tip #2: Stop making excuses. I know from experience, we all have a million excuses. You may say there’s not enough time. Hmm, let me consider that… Nope… Bullshit… It takes 15 minutes a day to start and since you can do it from home, there is no travel time…What? You tell me there is no place to work out. Well, Body weight exercises can be done in a hallway… Got one of those or a similar sized space? Yeah, thought you did, so I am going to call it again… Bullshit… You tell me that you’re tired. Again, science says that a short round of exercise can increase endorphins and give you a nice burst of energy… Another bullshit excuse… I don’t have the money. What? Shut up and get to work… Do jumping jacks during commercials while you watch TV… Don’t feed me you line of crap… These are all a load of crap. I don’t blame anyone for making these excuses, because I made them myself, but the truth is, we rationalize so that we can continue to be lazy. In fact, as you are making the excuses, you simultaneously fight with the voice in the back of your mind calling you on your own nonsense… It isn’t as hard to get started and you know it, you have done it dozens of times and we will discuss maintaining your routine later but for now, off your ass, on your feet… Let’s go…. Just set a date with yourself, or your spouse, or a friend, to get out for just 10 or 15 minutes today, and walk or jog. Stop making lame excuses!
Exercise Tip #3: Just put on your shoes, and get out the door or start the music in your ear buds and get in the hallway…. That’s all you have to do. The rest will be much easier than you think. It’s the initial inertia that we must overcome. An object in motion tends to stay in motion… Get moving…Once you’ve done that, it’s actually invigorating and fun and you might end up liking it…
Exercise Tip #4: Start out small, and slowly. I know how awesome I am and how motivational I can be but listen… After reading my mind blowing blogs, you might want to start a program full of vim and vigor, ready to run a marathon or lift huge weights. Pull back on the reins hold yourself back a little cowboy... The main reason is that if you start slowly, you are more likely to succeed, and if you start by trying to do too much, you will more likely to not be able to get out of bed or sit down on the toilet for a week and that tends to put a damper on your desires to exercise long term…. If you think you can go at it for 30 minutes, only exercise for 10 or 15minutes to start with, and then slowly increase over a matter of weeks. Shoot for 2-3 times a week at first, with the goal of eventually building up to exercising for at least 30 minutes five times a week. The side benefit, and this is a surprising one, is that if you hold yourself back, you’ll be more likely to want to get to your next workout, when you’ll be doing a little more than this one. And that eagerness is a tremendous incentive. Hurting yourself out of the starting gate is what meatheads do, don’t be a meathead…
Exercise Tip #5: Make your goal public. Post it on your social media. Tell your family and friends. For my extreme exercise goals, I joined a Facebook Group for like minded people and they keep me motivated plus it keeps track of my personal journey along the way. Positive public pressure will keep you motivated for a sustained period and the right groups will push you to excel. Don’t ease up on the pressure because once you do, your motivation will slip. Keep the motivation for as long as you can until you can make the transition to discipline.
Exercise Tip #6: Reward yourself. Make a list of mini goals, and next to each one, list an appropriate reward. Get a new pair of shoes, or some dumbbells, a pull-up bar for the doorway, some new workout clothes, etc… Whatever rewards work for you, be it gear, jewelry, a tattoo, or whatever, let yourself have them after reaching the mini goals. Just be smart and don’t make it food! Make your rewards things that push you towards or make it easier to get to your goals!
Exercise Tip #7: Allow yourself adequate rest. Some people try to workout hard every day, but remember, your muscles need rest in order to recover. If you don’t let them recover, you will continually break them down and eventually, injury will result. Follow the alternating muscle groups rule… Workout your upper body one day and your lower body the next with a little cardio every day… Also, you need at least a day of rest each week. Your body can only take so much before it begins to break down. Don’t let it get to that point because injury will result in having to take an extended period for recovery and then you will have to get started again!. Rest is just as important as exercise when it comes to improving performance and maintaining long term exercise routines.
Exercise Tip #8: Think positive! This is probably the best rule of the bunch. I have written about this before multiple times and this tip has helped me in countless ways. Any time that a negative thought comes into your head (“I can’t do this!” “It’s too hard!” “I don’t feel like working out now!” “I want to stop!” “I feel lazy today!”), just push it out, and then replace it with positive thoughts: I can do this! I am strong! This isn’t too hard! This is no problem! I’m tough! I am fucking AWESOME!!!!!! Positive thinking will get you past any exercise barrier. Try to think about all the times you have succeeded before and reframe, reframe, reframe! You are so much stronger than you think you are!
Exercise Tip #9: Don’t be motivated only by weight loss goals. If you’re just trying to lose weight, you will more than likely stop. Why? Because your weight loss will fluctuate, slow down and sometimes stop as your body fights to maintain the weight that it has. It will take some time to reset your body, your metabolism and your brain chemistry. If your only goal is weight loss and you go through a time where your loss slows or stops, you will become disappointed and give up. Have other motivators: do it to feel good, for the great energy you get, better sex, to lower your medical bills, to live longer, to enjoy life more, to look better, to be stronger, to be healthier, to achieve something worthwhile, better sex (wait did I say that twice? I did? Oh, well then this: Better Sex!) and finally to overcome the challenges is a great motivator, as is better sex.... Make a list of the reasons you want to exercise and post them up somewhere. Print out some motivational quotes that will motivate you and post those also. Losing weight is a great goal, but don’t let it be your only one.
Exercise Tip #10: If you fail, get up, brush yourself off, and start again. I have missed workouts, dropped workouts due to injury and failed so many times in the last seven years but I always start again… Always… Sometimes the next day and depending on the injury, the next week… The key is that I get disappointed and planned to start again before I even gave up… Sometimes I push myself too hard and have to regroup or throw out my plan and start over. Look at it like I do: it’s a long road ahead of us, and little problems along the way are mere bumps in the road. Stay disciplined even if you fail because discipline keeps you going, even if you have to rethink your plan.
Exercise Tip #11: Have fun! Exercise can and should be fun. Yes, it is going to be painful, but don’t be dumb… If it is, slow down a bit, and enjoy the process… Work up a sweat, get that heart rate up and gasp a little, just make sure your smiling because you’re having fun and not giddy from lack of oxygen…
That’s it… Everyone can and should get some physical exercise a few times a week… We all have the time, we all have enough energy and even if you’re “not the exercise type” you can still take a walk grandpa, it won’t kill you… What will kill you is poor health… Think about that one for a minute…
Well, Day 52 blog in the bag…
The 90 Day Life Change Challenge update… Got one of those little injuries this morning that makes you take note of it… Some back pain but I think with stretching and mindfulness during exercise I can get through it okay… Took over 50 days to get an injury which isn’t too bad… Some heat, some yoga and mindfulness during reps and I will make it… The rest is moving along as expected. I am back at work full time and spend 80% of my time in the field so everything got re-arranged and last night my guitar suffered because I got to it too late and my coordination was off a bit so tonight I will adjust and make guitar a priority so I can get my practice in before my strumming patterns sound like I am having a seizure... It came to me this morning during yoga that I need to cover the the more ethereal aspects of this 90 Day Life Change Challenge... Perhaps by the weekend...
I will see everyone tomorrow… The clock is winding down on this challenge now and I am excited to see the light at the end of this tunnel, I surely hope it isn’t a train… Love you guys like a short girl loves high heels…
Oh yeah… Get to work, what the hell are you waiting on?
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