Diversity In Training

Earlier this week I talked about HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and how it can improve your fitness and help you blast past a plateau.  Diversity in training is much the same.  Again, our bodies adapt to the demands placed on them.  Swimming everyday for cardio is awesome for your heart and lungs but again, if done every day for several months, your body will become accustom to that specific exercise.  Now, take someone who swims and tell them to pound the pavement and run a few miles…it is quite astounding how their body will respond.  Although cardio health does jump from one form of exercise to another, muscle condition does not.  Swimming is an amazing exercise, causing no strict resistance, it safe for most people, running, not so much.  However, for this example, I am comparing the two for muscle use.

A swimmer would have a hard time keeping up with a runner and vice versa.  That is the specificity of training.  Your body becomes complacent when it is called upon to do the same activity over and over again.  Change it up.  Challenge yourself in new ways.  You will be amazed at how your body will respond!

Hydration

Dehydration is no joke!  It is amazing how many of us walk around not properly hydrated, dare I say, even slightly dehydrated, if not very dehydrated.  Dehydration is the loss of water from the body and depletion of electrolyte levels (sodium and potassium).  Even being a teeny weeny bit dehydrated, your body will begin to slow down the elimination of water.  The restriction of fluid causes the body to retain water.  We all know how this feels…and looks!   Did you know, by the time you actually feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated!

Do you ever step on the scale in the morning and then again in the afternoon?  Do the number vary greatly?  The average person looses 2.5 percent of total body water each day.  If you add exercise to that or even some yard work, you will have a greater deficit.

It is recommended that every person drinks 16 ounces of water per pound during strenuous exercise.  Yes, PER pound!  Other drinks, like juice, soft drinks (anything sugary) actually increases your need form more water.

A great way to average how much water YOU should be drinking is as follows:

0.6 times your weight if you are a jogger or do light fitness.
0.7 times your weight if you do moderate training (3 x's per week).
0.8 times your weight if you do moderate daily weight training or aerobic training.
0.9 times your weight if you do heavy weight training daily.

Why Be Healthy?

We decided to take the kids on a special weekend!  For Christmas we purchased tickets for "Frozen on Ice".  Well, the weekend finally has come and gone and it was fabulous!  A little Christmas fun in March!  Frozen On Ice was a hit.  Fabulous!  It was amazing to watch the performers with their grace and power on the ice.  But what came after the performance is what I am most pleased with.  We found a facility that is full of trampolines!  Wow, what fun can a family have and what better was to encourage active children than to participate in healthy activities with them.  We spent an hour and a half jumping!  What a wonderful workout.  Giggles, laughs, falls and tricks, we did it all.  All four of us were a fun sweaty mess by time we finished.

This brings me to what I truly want to share.  Exercise to many feels like work and can be motivated by so many vain reasons and sometimes, those motivators can make it easy to waiver from our commitment to health.  I think it is important to really reflect on the true meaning of a healthy lifestyle and the benefits that it allows us.  At just shy of 40 years old, I was toe to toe with my girls.  Jump for jump.  I attribute this to my everyday choices.  It feels wonderful to be strong and fit.  I love having the stamina to run, play a game of tag, soccer or whatever activity I choose.  I want everyone to experience this feeling!

What is best about beginning a fitness regime or deciding to commit to a healthier, more active lifestyle?  You can start small!!  Everyone comes from a different beginning.  Decide to take the plunge.  Go for a walk…you don't have to get out there a kill yourself.  Progress is still progress.  This week, schedule 20 -30 minutes of a healthy activity.  Walk, ride a bike, swim, Yoga, Pilates, whatever you have available. You don't need a gym membership to get fit, you can do it right in your own house, no equipment needed!


A quick example of an in-house beginning cardio workout.  Walk in place, change it up a bit by stepping side to side, or big high-knee steps.  It is something everyone can do.  I want everyone to try it and post with (or without) a picture to my blog and share with us what your motivation was this week and what made you successful!  I can't wait to hear from you!!

Of course, if you are unsure of where or what is a healthy place for you to start, talk to your doctor before beginning anything new.