It’s Never Too Late … Get In Shape, Stay In Shape

You’ve wanted to get back into shape for years, and you know that regular exercise helps with many other aspects of your life–mental acuity, digestion, elimination, and sleep to name a few. How do you get back if you’ve been off the trail for months or even years?

Fortunately, you have many resources. Comprehensive fitness and exercise-related websites can guide in increasing muscle mass, losing weight, shrinking your waist line, and becoming a lean and mean fighting machine.

You could join a health club and pay big bucks for membership, not to mention trainers, but first visit www.iTrain.com, a decent alternative to joining a gym (and driving there). Alternatively, Muscle and Strength, at www.muscleandstrength.com, has a sub-menu on physical workouts and a library of dietary and fitness resources to aid in your quest.

Another online source is www.fitness.com, a portal of fitness and health-related information. It’s designed to provide you with a comprehensive portal to all of the tools you might require.

While most of the information on the three sites mentioned above is free, there’s also the option to register for a fee-based service if you so choose. Here are a variety of other tips to help you get started on the road to a new fitness regimen:

  • Use your existing resources. If you merely run in place in your den, while watching a half-hour television show, then after a few such sessions the benefits will become readily apparent.
  • If you live near a park with well-worn trails, or a beach, you could skip buying expensive running shoes in favour of everyday sneakers or even going barefoot. Get into motion; don’t delude yourself into thinking you need to first buy expensive outfits or equipment.
  • Change your consumption habits. Make sugary drinks and snacks a thing of the past. The more often you consume greens, beans, and berries, the more quickly you’ll realize that these are the kinds of foods that your body really desires.
  • Top athletes know that ample amounts of water and electrolytes, such as natural fruit juices and sports drinks with top ingredients, help to replenish cells most effectively.
  • When some of the initial aches and pains of regular exercise begin to dissipate, slowly get into higher gear, but don’t overdo it. Being overconfident in one’s abilities is one of the primary ways in which top athletes injure themselves, a phenomenon from which we can all learn.
  • Turn to your smart phone. Scads of mobile apps can support your fitness quest. Many are free, some require a token fee, and some are expensive. Feel free to experiment–if you only plunk down a few dollars for an app, whether or not it works for you, it shouldn’t dissuade you from trying another one.
  • Use your mobile device to create a musical playlist. Add songs that prompt you to want to work out. On some level, each of us responds to music that we find inspiring. Recall those stirring Rocky movie themes and you’ll know what I mean.
  • Commit to regular workouts, regardless of the weather. In the winter, it’s easy to talk yourself out of jogging or doing what you normally do outside, “because it’s too cold.” Anticipate the change of seasons and adapt accordingly. If you’re committed to maintaining a fitness regimen, then you have no excuses.

Look for opportunities to burn calories. You can stretch almost anywhere. You can park further away from a store to takes extra steps. You can use the stairs instead of an elevator when descending a couple floors within a building, and when ascending a floor, or two.

 

Jeff Davidson, “The Work-Life Balance Expert®,” is a professional speaker and thought leader on work-life balance issues. He is the author of “Breathing Space” and “Simpler Living.” For more information, go to www.breathingspace.com.