Try a new f-word while exercising - FUN!

How's that New Year's resolution you made to exercise coming along? Maybe you've doubled down on your efforts, but are wondering if it's really worth it. Why does something that we know is good for us and that seemed so exciting just a few weeks ago, turn into a lackluster chore we begin to avoid? Rather than dreading it, slugging it out half-heartedly or abandoning your goal altogether, how about considering a different strategy? Try putting a little fun in your exercise program!

Yes, you read that right. FUN! Okay, so, maybe for you another F-word comes to mind when thinking about exercising, but, before you discount the idea as absurd, think about it for a minute... Can exercise really be fun and if so, what could make it fun? I think our response to this question might be influenced by our past experiences with physical activities.  Reflect back to when you were a kid. Did you ride a bike, a skateboard, or a scooter? Did you play tag, hide and seek, jump rope, and run races? What about shooting hoops, roller-blading or hula-hooping? You get the idea. These are all physical activities that for most of us are associated with fun. Now, what comes to mind when you think about your next workout on the treadmill, elliptical trainer or recumbent bike? If you said fun, good for you, but you're definitely in the minority.

The bottom line is for many of us is that physical activity has lost this element of fun. So, if your wondering why you're struggling with waning motivation, or you've moved past that stage to just giving up altogether, take a look at your workout and ask yourself - is this fitness routine boring and uninspiring? Case in point, faced with taking the stairs or the escalator, which would you choose? Well, not surprisingly, an experiment conducted by Volkswagen found that the majority of people would use the escalator - that is until they made the stairs fun.  Check it out:

 

The Fun Theory

 If you're wondering, how do I make my workouts fun?  Here are a few suggestions:

1. Revisit some of the childhood activities you once liked to do, although you may have to scale them back to accommodate your current fitness level
2. Know what you like and reward yourself for doing it. If you find being outside exhilarating, than choosing a form of indoor exercise isn't going to work for you.  Consider hiking through a local park, planting a garden or walking the dog.  Commit to it and reward yourself when you reach a predetermined goal. See SMART goals post here on how to set specific, measured, attainable, realistic and time-targeted goals, another key to being successful.
3. Progress g r a d u a l l y. This prevents pain and injuries. Remember, we had to learn to crawl before we walked. This applies to everyone. Even if you were a super athlete in college. If you've not exercised in a few years - you need to take it slowly. A few words about exercise and pain. Now, don't get me wrong, there will be a measure of discomfort, but this isn't pain and it will decrease over time. Exercise shouldn't be torture.  The old "No pain no gain" thinking has been replaced with the much wiser - "Train, don't strain."
4. Mix up your activities.  Variety is the spice of life, so they say and in this case it helps to prevent overuse injuries, as well as boredom and monotony.
5. Enlist the help of a buddy. Exercise is more fun if you have the support of a like minded friend. Mutual encouragement is a wonderful motivator.
6. Make exercise less like a "routine" and more like a game - a mental game that is.  Set a little "contest" for yourself for each physical activity you undertake.  For example, today when I perform the plank I'm going to hold this position for 10 extra seconds.  Make this  mini-challenge attainable, but not too easy, and then make sure you congratulate yourself when you win. 

Of course, always check with your physician before beginning any exercise program.

So, are you ready to stop cursing those dreaded workouts and put some fun back into fitness? Just give these ideas a try and perhaps you'll find a new attitude about your exercise resolution. You've got nothing to lose, right? Well, except maybe the few pounds you've resolved to lose already.   I look forward to hearing all your success stories. Happy new year!

References
Association for Applied Sports Psychology - Exercise Adherence - http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/Resource-Center/health-and-fitness/articles/exercise-adherence
The Fun Theory - http://thefuntheory.com/

New year: goal setting and a healthier new you

For some of us it may not seem that long ago that we entered the new millennium. That being said, there's no escaping the fact that in just a few days not only will we begin a new year, but another new decade will be looking us straight in the eyes. This is the time when resolutions abound.  Buoyed by the clean slate a new year presents and our own good intentions, we resolve to quit [fill in the blank], or begin [fill in the blank]. Sadly, even with the best of intentions we frequently find that by March our resolutions are a distant memory.

Perhaps it is time to consider a new strategy that will improve the odds that this new year's resolution will become a life long habit. The following questions come from the book, The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie.  She suggests that on January 1st, or sometime near the beginning of the year, we think about what we want to see happen in our lives for the new year.  Just take a little time to consider our life goals and objectives before making our resolutions.  Now, I'm going to be honest and admit that I don't enjoy doing these types of exercises. They seem tedious and time consuming. Maybe you can relate. Nevertheless, I have to agree with the author's logic.

As a fitness trainer I know the value of setting fitness goals. Without them, it becomes difficult to measure the incremental small successes that occur when a training program is followed. It also becomes challenging to know when one is ready to move on to the next step. In addition, establishing goals helps encourage ownership of, as well as participation in the training process. Consequently, it makes sense to me that the same would hold true for getting in touch with what I want to have happen in my life this year. Digging within myself to determine my goals for the year may not be in my comfort zone, but doing this can help me get in touch with what I want. It's not a selfish, or controlling exercise. Rather, setting annual goals is empowering me to do my part in living my life to the fullest.

So, here are the questions to consider:

• What would I like to have happen in my life this year?
• What would I like to do, to accomplish?
• What good would I like to attract into my life?
• What particular areas of growth would I like to have happen to me?
• What blocks, or character defects, would I like to have removed?
• What would I like to attain, little things and big things?
• Where would I like to go?
• What would I like to have happen in friendship and love?
• What would I like to have happen in my family life?
• What problems would I like to see solved?
• What decisions would I like to make?
• What would I like to see happen in my career?
• What would I like to see happen inside and around me?

If you find yourself a little overwhelmed by the number of questions, or by what they are asking us to think over, a strategy that might be helpful is to just consider a few of the questions that are most meaningful to you and go from there. Experts have found that tackling our goals in stages and setting up objectives is beneficial.  Also, goals that are SMART, an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound, are more likely to be accomplished.  You can read more about SMART goals here.

Melody Beattie has an interesting perspective. She uses a book writing metaphor to illustrate how the events that happen in our lives in 2011 are all  "part of the chapter that will be this year...and will lead us forward in the story" that is our life. Of course, there are many things in our lives that remain out of our control. However, we can influence the direction the plot of our book takes by getting in touch with and establishing objectives for ourselves.

I hope you find the following quote by Melody to be an inspiring thought to consider as we begin 2011: "The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written." So, let's help write this year's chapter and begin with setting a few goals for ourselves. This year our resolutions will become a reality.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

Sources
http://www.healthcentral.com/heart-disease/c/7291/15186/smart-goal

Work out smarter not harder

When you think of working out do images of grunting, straining, vein bulging hard work come to mind? Isn't fitness training all about working this hard? Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say not necessarily. Now, before you slack off, or completely bale out of  your next workout, I'm clarifying that the working smarter not harder concept of fitness training doesn't mean doing either.

So, what does training smarter mean? Well, for one, it means beginning with the design of an exercise program that takes you and your goals into consideration. This may seem obvious. Unfortunately this step is often neglected. Without goals how do you know where to begin, change direction or end a phase and move into the next?  This is where SMART goal setting comes in.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant and Timely. When it comes to goal setting this is the gold standard.  If you're considering taking a stab at designing your own fitness program, I encourage you NOT to skip the goal setting step.  This is because when it comes to success, all too often failing to plan means planning to fail. After all, how do we know where we are going if we don't know where we are or where we've been? Hopefully I haven't overstated the importance of the goal setting step to training smarter.  If you're ready to take a stab at it, way to go! You can find a SMART goal worksheet here.

Another aspect of training smarter has to to with working at a level that is suitable to your skill, experience and abilities. Deciding to try the latest, greatest workout routine torn out of a magazine or taken from the internet usually isn't the smartest way to work out. Whether your a novice or an elite exerciser, it's absolutely critical to success to workout at an appropriate level. If you're wondering what your level is, you're not alone.  That's why many people seek the expertise of a trainer. Wisdom about fitness training is constantly evolving. Old school thinking about strength training is the no pain, no gain mentality. Current understanding is train, don't strain. This perspective is being underscored by some emerging research.

Recently, a study conducted by researchers at McMaster University found that study participants were able to build muscle size (hypertrophy) by training in a way that was previously not associated with this result. You can view the published paper here. It can be a little surprising, but exciting as well, to learn that conventional wisdom may be changing in light of new scientific discovery.  That's exactly what the McMaster study has done. It has shed light on a potentially new way of thinking about resistance training. Thankfully discovery happens frequently in the health industry. Otherwise we might still be using those vibrating belt machines for weight loss like the women in the photo above.

One way that fitness trainers determine the ideal amount of training weight to be lifted is by predicting a client's one rep (short for repetition) max.  This is where the client is asked to lift an average amount of weight until they can't perform any more repetitions of the exercise. In other words, until they reach the point of fatigue.  Then the trainer can calculate or refer to a table to estimate the percentage of one rep max. If you're interested, you can find a chart here. Conventional wisdom regarding resistance training has been that to build muscle it is necessary to lift approximately 85% of one rep max for 4-8 reps (American College of Sports Medicine's 2002 guidelines).  This is some pretty heavy lifting and results in the ability to perform less repetitions.

So, what does all this have to do with the McMaster University study? Well, their research results surprisingly suggest that using significantly lighter weights, those that were 30% of one rep max, while performing a higher number of repetitions (known as low-load, high volume training), was actually more effective at building muscle than the traditional high-load, low volume resistance training method. Their study findings are equivalent to the world turning upside down, at least the fitness world. Okay, I exaggerate, but only a little.

Why are these study findings important? For one, the ability to build muscle with this type of training protocol has the potential to reach a wider population. In particular, the low-load, high volume training will become practical for "people with compromised skeletal muscle mass, such as the elderly, patients with cancer, or those who are recovering from trauma, surgery or even stroke" (McMaster Univ.). As we move into the second decade of the new millennium, it's exciting to see scientific research underscoring a training protocol that is suitable for a larger, more diverse group of people.  It will be interesting to see where this paradigm shift in resistance training leads. After all, this is a small initial study in this area of research. In the meantime, I'm still going to train smarter not harder. Now let's go pump some, er, lighter iron? 

Sources
American College of Sports Medicine - http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About_ACSM&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=1273
Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/growingstronger/motivation/define.html
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html
McMaster University - http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6908