Taking Baby Steps
All of your changes cannot be accomplished at once. At first, you want to take baby steps. You still need to live your life: go to work, sleep and eat. We'll guide you making sure you don't bite off more than you can chew. It's important to integrate your new activities so they quickly become a part of your everyday ritual. It's also essential that you don't feel overloaded at this or any stage of your journey. Your current stress levels are probably high enough; we don't need to add fuel to the fire. Striking a good balance between removing the old habits and introducing the newer, healthier ones is important to your long term success.
Making Physical Activty FUN
Becoming physically active and getting moving are both strong metaphors for taking a healthy step forward and approaching your body and your life differently. Establishing strong, physical activity habits early-on is the best place for you to start and here's why. Regular, FUN physical activity has almost magical qualities on your body and mind. Forget the long term health benefits for a moment and just focus on the immediate changes that you will see.
Here is what FUN physical activity can do for you:
- Put you in a better mood
- Increase your circulation bringing more oxygen to your brain
- Build self esteem and confidence
- Allows you to socialize
- Reduces stress and revs-up your metabolism
Over the next several weeks pay close attention to how you feel. If you listen carefully, you'll sense the positive shift in mental attitude I am talking about. The sheer decision to move forward, making physical changes with a well devised plan literally takes a huge load off your shoulders. You are now moving forward.
Maximize Your Fitness Time
An efficient activity program is as important as an effective one. At Sequoia we approach your fitness from both a FUN and Effective mindset. Many people declare they can't get active; their primary reason being they don't have enough time. To my ears those are code words for "Woody, it's really boring and I am not going to do it no matter what you say." I agree with the BORING part of that statement.
Most fitness is boring. Good health requires mental and physical stimulation. Like it or not, our bodies are designed and need to move. We can't live successfully without it. You also may have noticed that I've been highlighting the word FUN. Fun is the missing ingredient for most people when it comes to getting active. My job is simple... prove to you that fitness training and cardiovascular conditioning CAN BE FUN if you attempt them with a different mindset.
Functional Strength Training
Strength training is critical to continued good health so you might as well get the very best training money can buy. Both the muscles and bones in your body require constant stimulation to effectively do their jobs. Strong muscles are essential for supporting joints, balance and maintaining freedom of movement as you mature. Keeping your bones strong prevents osteoporosis and the resultant spine and hip fractures; the leading cause of disability and death in the elderly. Balance is crucial in preventing falls and broken bones as we age.
Functional Strength Training (FST) mimics the movement patterns of your body both in work and play. Incorporating a wide variety of exercises that increase strength, balance, stamina and flexibility, FST is an excellent general conditioning, performance and rehabilitation tool. Because the calories burned per session are 50% higher than a typical workout, FST is an essential component to any successful healthy weight loss program. The bottom line... greater benefits for less time spent exercising... burn more calories per hour of exercise... stabilize joints... increase bone density... condition your core... improve muscular strength... develop a stronger heart...eliminate the need for boring treadmill time for cardiovascular conditioning.
Cardio-FUN-Time
Regular cardiovascular exercise is crucial to sustained good health. It is essential in keeping the heart, lungs and blood vessels in strong working order. Cardio fitness, as it is called, is also responsible for a myriad of health benefits including lowering high blood pressure; reducing high cholesterol; increasing bone density; preventing heart attacks and maintaining normal weight.
Everybody agrees on two things; how important and how boring cardiovascular exercise can be. You just stand on those treadmills walking, walking, walking and end up going nowhere fast. It's important to have a healthy heart but if you can't have fun in the process you just won't get it done. Rethinking the traditional approach to cardiovascular fitness has brought us to the solution...
Cardio-FUN-Time.
Cardio-FUN-Time is:
- Fun because you challenge yourselves, your friends or neighbors to a fun game of TotalTennis, Indoor Soccer, Whack-it, Wallyball or Pickleball
- Efficient because the whole family improves their cardiovascular fitness together. This way Mom and Dad don't have to 'take turns'
- Healthy because you reduce stress, lower cholesterol, increase bone density and strengthen the heart and lungs
- Physical because you improve balance, body control, eye hand coordination and sportsmanship
Compared to getting your cardio on a treadmill or stationary bike, Cardio-FUN-Time saves time and benefits your body more. Your ActionPlan includes an outline of all your weekly Cardio-FUN-Time activities. You'll look forward to meeting your friends, neighbors or family playing a fun game of Wallyball, Whack-it or Indoor soccer. When you are having fun, you'll be amazed at how quickly the time passes in your Cardio FUN-Time hour.
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