Fitness: The nightmare that never ends.
I read a great article at the Daily Mash last week. Click here if you missed it.
In the "article" about personal training, Carolyn Ryan of Cardiff said: .“I thought it’d be like A-levels where once you’ve passed you never think about history ever again, but it’s more like revising history five nights a week for the rest of your life
“She [the trainer] says after a while I won’t even want a Toblerone any more. That made me cry.”
Yes, it's funny because it's true! As soon as we reach the fitness goals we're just at the base of another summit. It's like a neverending holiday drive as a kid when the destination is just around the corner.
Personal Trainers often enter the business from competitive sports backgrounds. They tend to have been good at teamgames as kids and they bring that vim and pep to their careers. It's great because it kickstarts their clients to complete the goals. All good stuff.
But what about those of us who want to just be assured that we're healthy? That we're doing enough to stave off illness and keep our hearts ticking over? Do we need to be continually stepping up our goals just to stay in the same place?
Actually, the answer's NO! A healthy active life doesn't mean constantly adding pressure to your week. It means finding the bits you like; the ones that keep you going; and just remembering to do them.
Or if you've never, ever, EVER found the right type of exercise, it means doing the bits you don't like as efficiently as possible so you feel fit, energetic and healthy enough to do the good stuff. Is this you? Can you really never find an activity you don't hate? Well, it's okay.
Think of it this way. Would you rather...
1. Feel a little bit rubbish all the time, have a niggly knee, sore neck, heartburn, avoid walking upstairs with colleagues because you don't want them to see you panting and sweaty, hate your wardrobe and live with a mild but constant dread that you're bringing upon yourself a painful and lingering decline
OR
2. Feel great all day every day except for 30 minutes where you just feel so bad you want to scream your head off?
Because if you really hate exercise, that's why you still need to do it.
Give yourself a truthful body check.
Which bits do you avoid looking at?
Which bits secretly ache but you avoid leaning this way, standing that way, kneeling ever?
How is your digestion and blood pressure?
What normal actions do you avoid? Stairs, running for buses, playing with kids?
It comes upon us slow and steady. With each further impediment we close our bodies down and tell ourselves it's our age, job, partner, the weather...
...but it's not. It's our lifestyle and we can take action. Not with neverending goals, unpleasant diets or pressurised sports environments but with sensible, efficient, time sensitive programming that puts our needs first.
Enjoy Good H
ealth!
