“Talk Fitness with Janis” by Janis McDonald, Fitness Coach
Q: I am exercising now, but there are times when the holidays or traveling make me just want to stop. How can I keep going?
A: How great that you are so aware and can see the “detours to fitness” coming up and want to stick with your program. Here are 3 tips that I have found helpful for people who do not want to take a break from working out.
First Things First….Make exercise a priority, no matter what. One of my clients, Warren Hardy, has a great motto…”JUST SHOW UP”. Get the body in motion and the battle is won. Do not even go though the thought process of deciding…it is already decided, no matter what. Then make a commitment for a certain period of time. I find my clients who stick with it are amazed when they turn the fitness corner and can not live without movement and a certain level of fitness.
Change Your Mind-Set: Be in charge of your attitude and the ever-changing events that want to change your priority of getting healthy and gaining fitness. At first, you must become aware of those “voices of excuses” that have kept you away from your priority. Well, they can be just about anything….the maid washed my shoes and they are still wet, I feel fat, my partner wants to go and eat, my dog is sick…well, you get the idea. If you are serious about getting going, then let nothing and I mean nothing can get in your way.
Be Consistent: Exercise and self-care takes a daily re-commitment to yourself. Even if you are short on time, traveling or tired, and you begin to think, maybe I will just skip for a day or for awhile. Well, it is hard to begin again. If you continue to place exercise daily in your life, even l0 minutes will keep you on the fitness track because you have not quit…..therefore, you will not have to begin again.
Q: I hate exercise! In fact, I think I am allergic to it. How can I get the amount and kind of exercise and movement that I need to be effective for me?
A: You are not alone in your dread of starting exercise. Oh, where to start, will anyone watch me, will I get hurt, what do I have to buy, what do I wear, how uncomfortable will I be? Sometimes our reluctance to begin may have merit, even though we know it is time to do something.
I start reluctant beginners with 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week on the Power Plate. This is a new technology now available to the public. The Power Plate is a machine that applies gravitational forces to your body with vibration. Beginners, even those who hate to exercise, have seen incredible improvement in posture, balance, strength, weight loss (when combined with healthy eating), cellulite reduction, flexibility, coordination, bone density and circulation. Yes, it sounds too good to be true!
I was also doubtful. My lifelong involvement in the fitness industry has seen many gadgets and fads come and go. After one year of research and experiencing the Power Plate myself, I decided that this machine was a safe and beneficial answer for my clients, both old and new.
Check the website (www.powerplate.com) and you will find 29 NFL teams, NASA and Olympic Athletes use the Power Plate to supplement hard workouts needed for their jobs. However, you will find Power Plate Machines in commercial and home gyms, doctor’s offices, rehab centers, nursing homes. The client’s history will dictate the workout. Power Plate suggests no more than 2-3 thirty-minute workouts per week.
It is a great way to keep committed during those first rough months of beginning an exercise program.
Q: Is walking enough?
A: If you plan on only using your legs as you age, then maybe! It is possible that you do not plan on making any quick movements or using your upper body for force and strength. However, life surprises us and sometimes forces us to use all of our body. As the years go by, we need to be aware of how the body changes in strength, muscle, flexibility and bone density. Walking and I mean brisk walking, can certainly train your cardiovascular system and increase bone density in the lower body
But do you want to lift something, catch yourself in a fall or open jars?
Over the years, I have heard many positive remarks from my clients. Here are a few of them…
“I am one of the last old girls in town that can still open jars.”
“At night I dragged by body down the road for 45 minutes to get help, using my upper body while holding my severely broken ankle up in the air.”
“Now I can lift that heavy iron skillet with one hand.”
Walking trains the endurance strength of your lower body. Very important, but what happens if you want to stand up gracefully and quickly from a low chair, climb stairs with energy or catch yourself in a fall…these require fast-twitch muscle fibers. As we age, we literally do slow down...our fast-twitch muscles atrophy and lose strength. Slow- twitch are the ones we tend to keep and train with walking. So, it takes an overload of the fast-twitch to keep us speedy.
You can start simply by doing stand ups and sit downs from a chair then move to something lower like the toilet! Perform as many as you can without going to failure (which means you can not do one more and still stand up...you could be stuck in the bathroom for awhile). You could do counter top pushups by leaning into the counter, bending and straightening your arms while pushing your body away from the counter. Just practice these a few times a day, you will get stronger and be able to add more repetitions before you know it. These two exercises train your upper and lower body. Now get moving.
Remember you can not think you way to fitness, you have to act your way….take action every day…think about it. What can I do today? You can not do everything, every day! We are overloaded with information about what we should or should not be doing. Make a decision to pick one or two actions to do every day without fail. Take care of your body, Janis
Please email your fitness questions to:
Janis@bodybyjanis.com
www.bodybyjanis.com
“I love being a Fitness Coach. It fulfills my lifelong passion of helping people feel better!”
