As I was thinking about what to write for this week I was reminded to write something which is both encouraging, and yet informative. To that end, I thought I'd share a few lessons I've learned regarding exercise over the last three months. Exercise is always a tricky subject. How many times have you or I written it on our "New Years' Resolutions" list, maybe even started out well, but then fizzled in both our enthusiasm and follow-through? I know I have definitely fallen into the same trap of false expectations regarding what I can and can't do when talking about exercise. Although I digress, I believe the following principles could be applied to other areas of our life as well, even though for today, I've decided to focus them on the theme of exercise. I believe the following three principles, if taken seriously and applied will help you towards a healthier lifestyle, of which exercise is an important component.
1. Be Consistent
Perhaps this first principle is a no-brainer, yet it can be so often overlooked. Maybe you don't have the opportunity to work out 6x a week (which would be a bit too much in my humble opinion) but whatever you are able to commit to plan on being consistent with it. In my case, my goal is to be consistent with working out 2-3x a week. Recently I've only been able to give about 1x a week, which though better than nothing, is not as helpful as 2-3x a week. Consistency means planning and preparation ahead of time. Look at your week ahead and schedule the times you want to work out now rather than waiting to do it the day of.
2. Shorter May Be Better
Before embarking on my journey to regain a healthier lifestyle, I fell into the expectation trap of planning on working out 2-3 hours a pop. If you have the drive to take on this mammoth work-out, by all means follow-through, but I've found over the course of three months that I can get in just as high of a calorie burn work-out in about 40 minutes, than in spending longer. Additionally, if you are gearing your heart up to work harder, more intense for shorter amounts of time generally works better. It also doesn't force you to carve out as large a chunk of time in your weekly schedule, thus allowing you to be more consistent with your work-outs. Up to this point I've focused almost exclusively on cardio heavy work-outs. I'll warm up on a bicycle for 5 minutes. Then I'll stretch and make sure my limbs are loose before climbing on an elliptical machine for about 30 minutes. On the elliptical I'll use the "interval training" setting which maps out for you intense stretches of 30 seconds, followed by less strenuous 1 minute intervals. Afterwards you want to make sure you stretch to keep the muscles loose and to avoid cramping up. Between the two, I'm consistently able to burn over 600 calories which goes a long way towards making you feel better and healthier.
3. Don't Expect Too Much Too Quickly
This final principle may be the toughest. Expectations are very hard to control in the age of "I want this right now." The reality is your body gained weight over time, and it will take time for your body to shed that weight and slim down. Therefore, and this realization has been extremely freeing for me, I'm not trying to lose a gazillion pounds in a month. Not only is this unrealistic, but it is waaaaay unhealthy for you. Expect this process to take time, and you won't be disappointed. Expect it to be over and done with quickly, and you will burn out faster than you thought. Controlling expectations can be harder than you think, but if you are able to tame them, you're putting into practice the idea of controlling your body, rather than letting your body control you. After all, one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.
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