My Guide to Fitness (in my non-expert opinion): Lift heavy a couple times a week. Occasionally do some high intensity interval training (HIIT) but keep the length under 10 min. Focus on the bigger movements like pull ups, squats, sprints and deadlifts. Find ways to be active at a low intensity most days. Eat meat, vegetables, some nuts, some fruit, good amounts of sweet potatoes/yams etc. Make sure you get enough protein and fat. Limit your carbs. Avoid gluten at all cost. Eat to be healthy and all your aesthetic goals will follow suit. Losing weight is probably 99.5% diet. Actually, so is general health. Most women need to eat more, and most people need to eat better. Sleep 8-9 hours a night in a completely dark/quiet room. Limit light exposure as you’re winding down for bed. Find ways to minimize stress. The best training plan can be rendered useless without proper rest days and/or huge amounts of life stress. Mobilize your joints every day. You want to be mobile enough so your body doesn’t get in its own way. Mediate. Find a community of people to exercise with. Start with the basics and go back to them every training session. Kids need more general physical skills these days. Don’t give in to the peer pressure when it comes drinking, resting, training intensity, or nutrition choices. Copy what the greats do, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Try new things in and outside of the gym. Make training fun and interesting. Congratulate your friends on their accomplishments. Never say “I can’t do that”. You can, it just takes focus and dedication that most people don’t have. Listen to your coaches and educate yourself. Smile a lot. Injury prevention is probably the most overlooked part of fitness. Set some goals. We all know the endorphin high of long distance running feels good, but remember why the body puts out the endorphin high in the first place. Play more often. Focus on technical proficiency first, strength second, and don’t assume you didn’t get a good workout because you didn’t work up a huge sweat. Be wary of anyone that tells you to up the intensity past your comfort level. Enjoy your strengths and work on your weaknesses. “Compete” to be better today than you were yesterday. If it feels sketchy… it is. Competition workouts are nice but don’t get addicted to it, the reality of injury or things like adrenal fatigue aren’t worth it for 99.5% of the population. Remember you’re real goals in the gym, people seem to forget the goals when there is some sort of competition involved. Don’t hurt yourself trying to get “in shape”. Be proud of you accomplishments in the gym.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 23:03:26 +0000