Make 2011 the year you achieve your wellness goals

Among those of us who work in the health-fitness industry it is no secret that January brings new members out of the woodwork.  Here in New England the ranks are swelled by outdoor enthusiasts finally forced indoors as the ice and cold take hold.  We also see members who had a good routine going up until Thanksgiving when the crush of the holiday season and the short, dark days wreaked havoc on their discipline.  And then there are the true January Joiners—those hopeful souls who have, once again, resolved to become more fit in the new year.

If you are a January Joiner—welcome!  As the Taoist proverb says, “The longest journey begins with a single step.”  Congratulations on taking the first step towards improving your health and fitness.  If you’ve tried to get fit before you may be haunted by the ghost of January past.  Don’t let his rattling chains undermine your resolve.  Just place one foot after the other and soon you will find yourself walking the wellness path.  Here are some tips to guide you on your journey:       

Take baby steps. A psychotherapist recently told me that when she recommends an exercise program to her clients, the first step she gives them is to drive to the gym.  They don’t even need to go in the door!  After a few trips she encourages them to pack a gym bag and have it in the car, just in case they feel like going in.   Tiny steps are the building blocks of enormous change.  What baby step will you take today?

Read More...

Recently the New York Times covered the new military fitness protocols for incoming recruits.  The program innovations bring modern exercise science to the challenge of recruiting from a generation notoriously inactive and less fit than their predecessors.  Gone is the “one size fits all” mentality, replaced by slower progressions and a focus on building soldiers’ functional capacity for the actual demands of their jobs. 

Among this generation of recruits the military is observing low bone density (leading to bone fractures), overweight, and inability to meet basic fitness standards.  The Times writes,

“The new fitness regime tries to deal with all these problems by incorporating more stretching, more exercises for the abdomen and lower back, instead of the traditional situps, and more agility and balance training. It increases in difficulty more gradually. And it sets up a multiweek course of linked exercises, rather than offering discrete drills.”

Read More...

For all of you busy mamas and papas who struggle to find time for your workouts, I want to share this link with you. Kara at Mama Sweat is raising four--count 'em, four!--kids under six while remaining committed to her own wellness. Her path isn't easy and she's honest about the pitfalls and obstacles. But her determination to prioritize her own health and to think creatively about how she can fit in fitness inspires me all the time. I especially like today's post about what she learned from her very active vacation.

If you're a new or expectant mama, be sure to check out Kara's posts on fit pregnancy and postpartum fitness too. She's right on the money.