Get Your Self in Shape!

"All men are created equal.... but some keep a better maintenance plan."  It is never too early or too late to improve your fitness!  Above all, remember that fitness is not an all-or-nothing endeavor.  Whatever you can do to help your body stay healthy today will save you hardship later in life.

If you don't make time for your health, eventually you will HAVE to make time for your illness.

First of all, what the heck IS "fitness", anyway?  Is it HEALTH, is it LOOKS, is it function?

in a word, YEP.  It is whatever it means to YOU.  Are you "fit" to go where you want to go, do what you want to do, and look the way you want to look?   And can you expect to do those things to a ripe old age?   THAT is what it means to be Fit, so as people are different, so does their definition of Fitness.

So, FIND YOUR FIT.  Then make it happen.  Here are some examples:

Rob is 16.  He wants to play school sports and look good for the girls.  He wants to be lean but not skinny... and he is trying to regain command of this awkward body of his that just grew 5 inches taller over the summer.

Wendy is 52. she wants to hike the local trails, keep her cholesterol down and her bone density up... so she can still hike at 62 and 72.

Both of these folks need weight training... Full-body lifts that increase their body awareness while building muscle, strength, cardiovascular endurance and bone density.

In a nutshell, they should pick up something heavy and put it over their heads.  NOTHING else will work as well or as quickly for all the above benefits.

A NEW/OLD WAY TO LOOK AT EXERCISE

Historical standards of physical beauty shows the ideal "fitness" look dealt with the challenges of the times. During times of scarce food supply, the more robust "well fed" woman was revered. During times of plenty, (as is the case now) lean, smaller bodies are considered more attractive. Unfortunately, in this day of ultra-plenty, the fashion has become ultra-lean, going too far and creating the Waif look that has taken over the fashion and fitness industry. So now instead of exercising for strength and ability, everyone spends their "workout" on a gerbil-cage treadmill doing nothing more than steaming off calories in an unending drive to keep their weight down.

REAL athletes still exist, and they know better. Olympic gymnasts are so busy working on their ABILITIES, on their PERFORMANCE, they just don't have time to stand in front of a mirror wondering, "are my calves defined enough?"

Look in an average competitive team's weightroom and you will see real athletes doing full body lifts, big weights, sprints.. Look in your average commercial or college "fitness center" and you will see 140 pound males doing supersets of six arm exercises, striving to define their inner and outer biceps while 90 pound women tiptoe up miles of virtual stairs watching Grey's Anatomy on the overhead TV, hoping to burn off the three mini-carrots they ate for lunch (having religiously skipped breakfast)

So why does the supposed "Fitness" industry focus on fashion instead of fitness? because REAL fitness is not profitable. There is no big profit in REAL food- meat, eggs, fruits, veggies and water; There is on big profit in REAL exercise- Barbell, iron weights and hard work. All the BIG money is in processed protein bars, drinks and shakes, fat-burner pills and a new "miracle" gadget machine every six months.

Real Fitness doesn't have to be so complicated, so expensive or so freakish.

Real fitness may not be "easy"; it still takes real effort, but since the HARDEST part of fitness is just doing SOMETHING, it can be made easy-ER by making it convenient, cheap, and keeping the returns high for the effort invested.

Convenient - at home, at work, or at least close to your normal routes, so it is easy to fit into a schedule and spontaneous play.

cheap - avoid the "industry" at all costs. It is profit-driven, not fitness driven. Buy (or make) things that are durable,versatile and that you will not outgrow. In a nutshell, "free-weights."

High return on effort - all work performed and equipment used should apply directly toward your needs and address as many of those needs at the same time as possible. Why would a middle aged woman, trying to lose 80 pounds, ever do seated 10 pound bicep curl? If someone shows up to wash your car with a toothbrush and thimble of water, and wants to charge you an hourly rate, you would be a fool to accept- but this is how many people "exercise", and wonder why their payoff is so small after years of diligence. If you want big body changes, you must do big body exercises.

.SO... Free weights. at home. lifted by your full body! Pretty simple! In this age of the Internet, quality information has never been easier to attain! So get a few dumbells, a barbell set, download or buy some coaching videos, (maybe even attain some live coaching in your area - now THERE'S an idea!) and learn to pick something up from the ground and put it over your head. You will get all the "cardio" you could ever wish for with that one simple exercise, your bone density will skyrocket, your posture will improve.. and on top of it all, you will get STRONG!!!!!

Then if you want to gain weight, lose weight, get lean, ripped or whatever, just monitor the amount of good, real food you put in your mouth. That's it.

Want to look like the actors in the movie 300? Here is the most relevent "300 workout" you can do:

1. Go to the local sporting goods store and buy their standard "300 pound olympic bar set" it costs about 120 bucks.

2. Load the bar and plates in your car, take them home to your garage, basement, back porch.

3. Learn how to put that bar overhead, and do so regularly. light with lots of reps, heavy with few reps.

Do that, (and watch your food intake) and you WILL look like a Spartan.  Except for the whole "Died in 480 B.C." thing...

Here are some great links to places that have MUCH more info than I could put here!

Crossfit - Cross Training to the fullest; Great fitness info source.

Dan John's Lifting and Throwing Page - Excellent articles on training strength and power for sports.

Stumptuous: Focused primarily on women's training issues, but good info for any-body! - Great info de-bunking of the mainstream waif-look fitness industry.