Of course the holidays are here and we are facing another couple of weeks of parties and gatherings followed by the start of the new year. This particular year we have had what seems to be an increased amount of inclement weather to add to the mix as well. Of course, with all this comes extra hurdles to overcome concerning getting to the gym, working out, motivation, diet, etc. etc. My thoughts on this are that in the grand scheme of things, a "slip up" or "slack" here and there is not going to ruin everything.
I have heard from several clients when speaking with them lately; "Well, I haven't been real good about my diet and am frustrated" or "I haven't been getting all my workouts like I am supposed to". They often say this with discouragement and seem to stop short of saying - but I feel like they are thinking - "So now everything is screwed up and I feel like I am making no or less progress".
I guess I have to define how I look at exercise and how I think people should look at it. It sounds corny but exercise and/or fitness should be a journey of sorts. But I don't think it is a journey where you reach a destination. I was reading in Newsweek the other day about these really old (like upper 90's) people and there lives and secrets for longevity. The one very common thread seemed to be regular exercise. Meaning, this doesn't end. We don't reach a point where our bodies reach some pinnacle and then it is like coasting from there. Exercise and training is a life long pursuit in one form or another.
I know where the mentality of my "disgruntled" clients comes from though. I deal with it personally all the time as well. You look at things short term. You think I have to lose such and such amount of pounds. Or I have to be currently maintaining such and such amount of weight. Or my waistline/figure needs to look like this in the near future. These are goals and short term goals due inevitably lead to reaching long term goals. However, I think we sometimes get lost seeing the trees instead of the forest. We forget that in the grand scheme of things, we are simply putting in our time towards the ultimate long term goal - A Healthy and High Quality of life. Aesthetic ideas and numbers are definite measuring marks to help up think about what we are doing/working for - but again, the ultimate goal is doing it every day to increase the likelihood that we are going to continue to be able to live long functional lives.
So when looking at what we are are are not doing during this time of year. Consider the idea that even though you may not feel like you are getting everything done the way you need to - the fact that you are in there making efforts and "participating" is time well spent. Also, I don't want to give excuses for "missing" the gym or exercise or "blowing" your diet - but again, in the grand scheme of things a miss or laxing up a bit is not going to set you back exponentially. Especially if you have been putting in your time for weeks, months, and even years. Our bodies adapt to change but not rapidly enough to make the occasional holiday "splurge" ruin all your hard earned work.
Finally, I just wanted to preface something I hope to talk about in future blogs. I think weight as in how much you weigh, has some relevance. But I think there is entirely too much emphasis placed on this as we age. We want to make sure that we are strong functional humans and that means carrying some muscle mass. Muscle weighs. So weight isn't always as important as we make it. Also, the idea that weight training is about functionality and strength seems to be a concept I am consistently hammering home lately. Weight training does a lot of good things but I have been really focused on emphasising to people lately that it is only through strength training and weights that we increase our bodies structural fortitude. Again, I hope to discuss this more in future blogs.
Thanks for reading,
Andy
