Fitness Guide

SMART New Year Resolutions

Here we are in the first day of 2009! Time to reflect on how things went in the past year and make a few more resolutions for the new year.
Ever set too many resolutions with unrealistic goals that you never fulfill them that you gave up? “Ah! What the heck, it will never happen the way I wanted!” Sound familiar? It is to me!

Anything you wanted serious must be translatable into serious action. I read somewhere that you need to be SMART when setting New Year goals. It is based on the acronym and is a useful tool for evaluating and fulfilling promises

Be:
Specific: Vague or ambiguous goals are no use. Instead of saying “I want to lose weight” you need to be specific – for example,”I want to lose 7 lbs”;

Measurable: Work out how you are going to measure your success. So instead of saying I want to improve my health, set a measurable target – lowering blood pressure through diet and exercise under physician supervision;

Attainable: Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting goals that are too difficult. Set a goal or goals that are challenging but not unattainable;

Relevant: Goals should be relevant for you and not be made for other people or to meet social expectations;

Time-limited: Set a date so you will know when you should have reached your goal. Don’t set this too far in the future; otherwise it won’t be any motivation.

Why Is Physical Fitness Important

Why is physical fitness important is probably a question you won’t pay much attention to until your body starts to experience pains in the muscles and stiffness at the joints.

Why do you want to keep as fit physically as possible?  To be able to move around free of pain later in life. And “later” don’t necessary means in the 60’s or 70’s, some people develop ache and pains as early as in their 40’s.

As I have been doing work sitting behind a desk most of the time, I just recently discover the important of getting physical.  My shoulders start to lock, neck stiff, pain and numbness is running down the arms and the legs, my feet are always cold, shortness of breath climbing only one flight of stairs, all result from lack of physical activities.

The human body is a motion machine.  It is designed to move, so we need to physically move it in order to stay healthy. Aches and pains are from lack of movement designed for specific body parts.  Arms are designed for many other functions and movements besides just pecking away at the keyboard most of the time.  Legs are for running, walking besides just sitting.  Sitting for too long affects blood circulation, and you feel it on your feet and hands. Lack of motion or physical movement can lead to many other ailments.  Motion is very crucial to the body’s operation overall welfare.

Unfortunately, we are living in a modern environment when most works can be performed sitting down or standing in place.  While it provides us with many amenities, at the same time, it is ripping off our health.  We don’t use our body parts as they were intended.  We travel around by riding in cars or buses; even it is only 2 short blocks away, instead of walking.  We mow our lawn riding on the lawn mower, instead of pushing the cutter by arms.  We use the remote control to operate the TV or home theater set, so we don’t even have to get off the couch.  We are keeping touch with friends and family through the Internet or telephone rather than actually go to each other’s house and pay a visit.  We no longer walk or run sufficiently enough to stay in shape, or at least stay pain free. The more we move, the more we are capable of moving, and, obviously, the less we move, the less we are capable of moving.  When you feel the muscle or joint pain, it is simply a warning sign, signaling danger of acute motion starvation.  Muscle functions are retained only through enough use. Our body craves physical motion. There is no artificial replacement to movement.  You just have to do it yourself.

As I was learning about the important of physical fitness, I realize that no matter how busy your schedule is, you have to take time to exercise, do garden work, play with the kids, play a game of sport, dancing…. whatever that get you moving, if you want to enjoy life to the fullest, healthy, full of energy,  with no aches or pains.  It will pay off when you grow older, in a big way.  After all, who would enjoy an aching body, 24 hours a day?

Staying motivated on your physical fitness goals might be a problem or you simply call it quit.   Reading this  from the expert and testimonials from people who have transformed their fitness level  has helped me stay focus and steadily achieving my own goal of physical fitness.

Fitness For The Over 40s

I turned 47 earlier this month, and I feel much better today than I was almost 9 years ago. When I was turning 39, I suddenly felt my knees were hurting when I came up the stairs. “I can’t be getting old and deteriorating this fast?” I wonder myself. But didn’t do much about it. Just wishing the pain will some how go away, since it only bothered me when I climb the stairs. I mostly perform my duty at work sitting behind the desk, looking at the computer monitor and typing way, occasionally reaching for the telephone. By then my problems get worst. My eyes strained, my neck stiff, shoulders pain, arms and legs numb, feet are cold. Sound familiar? Then I started looking for health related information trying to pinpoint my problems. The findings? Years of not eating right and not much of physical exercising are the two most obvious suspects.

I researched online and offline, I found several interesting readings. The first e-book, written by Jon Benson and Tom Venuto, a book titled “Fit Over 40″. It’s me, it’s me. I can relate to the people who in their own words, describe how they transform their life, man or woman, mostly over 40s, are enjoying:

• A thin, lean waistline
• A better sex life
• Impressive muscularity
• Higher levels of naturally-released growth hormone and testosterone
• Remarkable energy and stamina
• Increased mental alertness
• A stronger heart
• Reduced biological age
• A powerful immune system
• More ZEST for life!

By reading what others your age can achieve motivated me to stay focus on what I want: all of the above and many more covered in the book.

Realizing the important of fitness is one thing, being able to commit to transform your own health is totally different. And this book provides enough motivation to keep me stayed focus. I definitely recommend this book.

With sitting too long and too little exercises, my mid section is secretly getting fuller too. Even though I’m not over weight, but would sure love to have my 20’s body back, or even look half that good would do. If you are my allies on this, then this is a good read on losing the stomach fat.

OK, now the offline. I bought this book called “Pain Free” by Pete Egoscue at a church organized acupuncture session for church members. The speaker recommended the book since it addresses the many chronic pains and how modern treatment won’t really treat the root cause of the problem. I don’t believe in medication or surgery for I have seen many unfortunate examples fall victims to surgery when there is no need for. Should be a must read if you are in constant pain.

I didn’t know that sex is actually the safest sport the adults can take up until I came across “Sex Helps You Stay Fit“. And I have always wondered why Napoleon Hills in his famous “Think and Grow Rich” considered having desires for sex is one of the secrets to success.