Well, we've made it to the end of Physical Education and Sport week which means that summer is near. If you're thinking that it's time to get the body "beach ready", you may want to start now.
Because we only have 4 weeks until our unofficial summer break, here are 5 suggestions for you to get started on your health and wellness. Keep in mind it takes a minimum of 4-6 weeks for minimum results to be recognized so stay patient and keep working.
1) Set Realistic Goals - We're all familiar with S.M.A.R.T. goals as it applies to education. You can use the same format to set your fitness goals. The most important thing here is to make sure your goals are realistic. It's pretty unlikely you'll lose 20 pounds by the beginning of summer so a rule of thumb is to focus on 1-2 pounds per week.
2) Workout Time - Find a time during the day that you know you will get your workout completed. It doesn't matter when you get your workout done as long as you do it. If you're not a morning person, don't fool yourself and try to get up at 5 am to workout; you're only setting yourself up for failure.
Whatever the time of day you choose, just make sure you stick with it. I suggest staying away from exercising outdoors between the hours of 11 am and 5 pm. That is generally the warmest part of the day and heat illness can be a factor.
3) Cardio or Resistancc Training? - Why not both? Recent studies have shown that performing cardiovascular exercise prior to resistance training has no negative effect on your body's response to exercise. The reverse is also true. Whichever you choose to do first is completely up to you. The New York Times just posted an article explaining this very topic.
So how do you get started? Well for starters, don't push yourself too hard. Dedicate 4-5 days per week for cardiovascular exercise. Try doing a walk-jog combination where you jog for 3 minutes then walk for 2 minutes. After about 2 weeks, you can increase the intensity to jogging for 5 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. Continue this process until you're able to run continuously then work on increasing the amount of time you can run continuously.
Resistance training generally is a bit more tricky. I suggest beginning with body weight exercises that are ground-based (core exercises, push ups, hip thrusts, squats, lunges, etc.) A good website to check out for basic exercises is the exercise library at ACEfitness.org Click on the ACE GetFit link.
4) Nutrition - 90% of wellness and fitness has to do with what you put in your body. The easy way to determine whether you're on track with your diet is to find an online food log. Some suggestions are www.choosemyplate.gov or myfitnesspal.com. Each of these sites will let you log your food consumption as well as activity levels and keep track of your daily caloric intake. It's a really nice tool and they both have apps for your phone.
Rule of thumb: Do your best to keep it natural. Fruits and Vegetables should be the majority of your food intake along with water. Make sure you eat breakfast and don't be afraid to eat small snacks throughout the day. This will decrease your desire to eat larger portion sizes in your main meals because you won't be as hungry.
5) Have Fun - This is the most important thing. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you won't be able to maintain your exercise routine. Mix up your workouts so they are always new and challenging. Exercising with a partner will improve adherence to your exercise program and provides immediate motivation.
Enjoy your summer and check back for more on how to improve your health.
Move to Live!!!
