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Fitness
Be A Healthier You.
Wellness
Its not about being perfect, it's more about making
small changes and taking small steps everyday until you've reached
whatever health goal you've set for yourself and if
simply being healthier is the goal, there are a few things
here you may find helpful.
Diet & Exercise
Eating That Complements Your Exercise
There are many reasons why tradition diets don’t work, but one of the simplest explanations as to why is because our body tends to behave instinctually when we start to limit food, the body is designed for survival and so when limiting food the body starts to execute different processes like
storing fat and exercise can help burn fat.
Its perfectly ok if strict guidelines like those outlined in most diets are a preference for you (if they work), in fact there are some who are very successful at maintaining a diet, especially individuals who have the resources to have a custom personalized diet based on there biological make up.
If you’ve struggled with diets there are simple ideas of ways to eat.
Many great scientists, schools and associations have all done many studies to give a good idea of how to eat in a way that complements your exercise.
According to the American College Of Sports Medicine, adequate food and fluids should be consumed before, during and after exercise, this will help you maximize performance and improve recovery time.
It’s recommended to eating a meal about two hours before your workout, staying hydrated to some degree during your workout, and to have a healthy meal full of nutrients afterwards.
Try to avoid lots of saturated fats before your workout, they digest slower and they can even cause weight gain if eaten on a regular bases,
you want food that is easily digestible and that doesn’t make you feel sluggish, like whole grain cereal, low fat yogurt, or bananas.
Carbohydrates are the main fuel for your muscles and portion helps repair and grow your muscles, so consuming these in moderation before and after your workout can greatly complement your exercise.
As people we consume a lot of food but often we don’t intake many of the things we need, so it’s recommended that you eat a variety of healthy nutrient rich foods from all the food groups, like skinless chicken, fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts.
You want to reduce your sugar and sodium intake, and this can easily be done by simply not adding or reducing the amount of sugar or salt you add to things, or cutting back on drinks and foods with large amounts of sugar and or sodium.
Eating is an important part to any healthy lifestyle, so the overall goal here is to avoid undoing all the hard work of exercising by eating a poor diet. According to the American Heart Association, a good way to maintain your weight is by burning as many calories as you take in.
Since there’s a good chance you’ll be eating more good foods make sure to also consume foods rich in fiber, things like apples, potatoes, bananas, beets, strawberries, broccoli, and white beans.
~ Jack Denolo
Finding Your Fitness Resources
Fitness Made Easy
You have far more fitness resources at your disposal than you might think.
The internet is one of your biggest resources, you can look up at home workouts, participate in virtual workout classes and even have a virtual personal trainer. You can also use the internet for coming up with new workouts for the different muscle groups, creating or finding meal plans, and general health knowledge.
The gym is another great resource, whether in or outside of your home, this can be a great place to start a fitness routine. One benefit of a commercial gym is that there are (usually) knowledgeable people available for you to speak to about working out. Since working out in one specific place can be difficult depending on your lifestyle, its important to remember that you can actually do most workouts (that don’t require equipment) almost anywhere including places like in your office, in your living room, or outside, so many places can be your “Gym”.
People are also another great fitness resource, from personal trainers to workout buddies, sometimes a person can be just what you need to give you a good start in the right direction, the positive attitude about exercise that trainers and friends who workout regularly exude can be extremely motivating.
Speaking of personal trainers, they are pricey but they are also the one resource whose job is to work for you. This is a great resource if you can afford it and one of the most effective ways to gain the level of fitness you desire.
All in all there are fitness resources available like the internet, the gym, friends and personal trainers, so remember if things get difficult or you’re having an off day or week there are many different resources for you to tap into.
~ Jack Denolo
Starting Out At The Gym/Working Out
Getting Started
It's important to understand what your health is currently, this will help you understand what’s ok for you to do and things you may want to avoid, so see a health professional if you feel its necessary or if you're recommended to.
Finding out why you want to exercise is a really good way to understand what you want to accomplish, it can also help you stay motivated, maybe you want to improve your movement, maybe you want more energy or to feel stronger, whatever the reason might be its good to establish that right at the beginning.
While you could just wear any old thing to sweat it out in, id recommend buying some work out cloths dedicated for working out, doesn’t have to be expensive just something that makes you feel comfortable and confident and is appropriate for where you’ll be exercising and what exercise you'll be doing and when you change into them you know its time to work out.
When you're first starting out at the gym (without a personal trainer) it's important to remember, it's not so much about spending large amounts of time in the gym or how many exercises you do, it's more about warming your body up to exercise.
The American Heart Association recommends 75-150 minutes of aerobic exercise (things like running, biking, swimming, and jumping jacks) per week, if you divide 150 minutes across 7 days that’s only about 22 minutes a day.
You don’t have to do a full workout everyday of the week but you should get some type of exercise daily even if its just running errands or taking yourself or the dog for a nice walk.
Make time and commit to working out, although this can be challenging this is about you and your fitness goals.
Remember that everyone starts somewhere, so don’t be intimidated by people that are much more in shape than you.
Simple things to know are, You can warm up by walking on the treadmill or doing jumping jacks and you can cool down by just walking at a normal pace until your heart rate slows down, make sure to have some water with you, and stretching at the end of your workout can help you release stress and tension.
Don’t worry if you're not super exhausted when you leave the gym, its natural for your workouts to increase in intensity over time so for now just focus on building a great workout foundation focusing on things like correct form and proper breathing.
Don’t feel like you have to workout at a set time (unless your schedule says different), getting your exercise in is what matters.
Over time when you’ve got the hang of things, health experts recommend changing up your exercise, duration, intensity, and type of workouts, this helps you strengthen all your body muscle groups and prevents boredom.
Overall, understanding ones current state of health is a good idea for anyone interested in starting a workout regimen, knowing what you hope to accomplish by working out not only helps guide you in the right direction it's a good way to stay motivated. When you're just starting out its not necessary to over exert your self and its recommended that you increase your workouts over a period of time.
~ Jack Denolo
Getting Back Into The Gym
Getting Back On The Horse
There are simple things that you’ll have to remember now that your returning to the gym, like warming up and cooling down, taking time to rest and recover, and starting up with your proper nutrition doing things like making sure to drink enough water and choosing what to eat before during and after a workout.
Stretching after your workouts will help with things like mobility and flexibility.
If your time off from the gym was for health reasons its recommended you consult a health professional before starting up your routine.
Set goals, and schedule your workout time slots. A schedule will help you stay on track and setting goals will remind you what you're on track towards.
Knowing what you should do on your return is just as important as knowing what you shouldn’t do.
You want to start off slowly, meaning, don’t go into the gym or begin your workout like you’re trying to make up for lost times, doing too much to soon could possibly lead you to injury.
Many people are unaware of the possibility of injury from over doing a workout, and the potential to confuse soreness for what could be an injury.
Former Head Psychical Therapist for the Boston Red Sox Mike Reinold, says “post-workout soreness can start anywhere from later that day until a few days after the workout” he then goes on to say (in my words but not very far from his) if the soreness lasts longer then that and is effecting your functioning then its quite possibly and injury.
If you feel like your workouts aren’t doing very much, just think on when you first started working out, you may have been at a slow and light pace for the lack of knowledge or simply because you didn’t want to hurt yourself, you should approach your return with a similar attitude.
You should be active daily but you don’t need to do a full workout every day, you can substitute a full workout for lower intensity workouts like walking or playing a recreational sport, such as tennis, golf, or kickball, this is known as an Active Rest Day.
Getting back into there normal advanced routine is what most people are after when returning to the gym after some time off. Taking the above precautions should have anyone back in business in a fair amount of time.
~ Jack Denolo