Now onto some business...
I wanted to thank everyone who provided feedback on my Fitness post last Friday. There were a lot of good ideas and concerns in there and I'm going to do my best to address them. In an attempt to give myself some consistency and structure, I'm going to try to devote Fridays to Fitness posts. This may be every Friday, or every other Friday, and I plan on addressing everything from stretching to workout recaps to beginning a running program. Please feel free to contact me via comments or email (Jillyruns@yahoo.com) with any topics you'd like me to cover on Fridays, and I will respond!
My main point of that post was that I believe we need to start shifting the mindset in America that thinks fitness is a completely separate entity from good health and health care. As we saw, by the very definition of the word, fitness is an indicator of good health, and I don't believe you can be truly healthy if you do not have a baseline level of fitness. As far as 'baseline level', I'm still not sure how to quantify that, but I'm going to do some research and see if I can come up with something amalgamated from a variety of professional resources.
I think the hardest part for everyone is getting started, followed by sticking with it (when they don't see immediate results). I think many people feel that perhaps they are just not inherently athletic and so fitness is just something they'll never be 'good' at. But I don't think 'fitness' and 'athleticism' are interchangeable terms. You don't have to excel at sports or be born with natural gifts to be able to go for a walk or do simple exercises in the comfort of your own home. I don't think I'm particularly athletically gifted but I just love moving, playing, and trying new things. [This is probably the reason I love hanging out with kids so much; we are kindred spirits.] I like to run, but I am not particularly fast. I am a solid middle-of-the-pack runner and will never win any big races, but that doesn't stop me! I also mentioned that I played a lot of sports growing up and that's true, but what I didn't tell you is that I completely STUNK at a lot of them! Perhaps one day I'll do a post on a list of the sports I've tried over the years and the ones I've completely failed at! Haha Maybe that will give you some courage to get out there and Just Do It :)
Also, as I previously mentioned, you do not need a gym membership or fancy equipment to work out. Case in point: Calisthenics. Calisthenics are great for improving endurance and strength, and if you perform them in High Intensity Intervals, great for burning fat. They are also great cross-training/strength-training exercises for runners. I get a lot of my at-home workouts from Pinterest, and I'm going to share some of my favorites with you today (these were created by other Pinners, not me).
Most of them are short (15-30 mins) and can be easily modified to suit your needs. Just decrease the number of reps suggested or do modified moves (ie. pushups on your knees instead of standard pushups). For beginners who are unsure what some of the moves may be, I wish I could post photos of myself modeling them, but alas, I have no one to take pictures of me! There are mirrors at my gym, so maybe one day I'll just go in and selfie a bunch of moves so I have personal stock photos for you?! In the meantime, you'll have to Google/Youtube them, or just ask me.
Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite go-to workouts (all of these can be found on my Pinterest "I Work Out" board):
*Be careful - This one is more advanced*
If you're snowed in this weekend, or staying indoors because of the insane polar vortex, why not pick one of these and give it a try!
Also, I'd recommend you check out the FREE 7 Minute Workout app that I blogged about last year. A couple of years ago, the American College of Sports Medicine came out with a study stating the benefits of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and published the specific 12 moves in this program to be a scientifically excellent workout.
It is a Tabata style workout, in that you are performing moves at a high intensity for 30 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest (true Tabata is 20 secs on/10 secs off), and it is pretty intense and comprehensive. I usually run through the circuit 3 times for a total of 21 mins of work and that's plenty, but you can start out just doing it once and it will be worth your time! [There are a few of them in the App Store, but this is the one I use by Bytesize]
Well, that should be enough to keep you busy for the weekend! I hope you all have a great one!
*Disclaimer: I am not a personal trainer or medical professional; these are simply exercises I enjoy and recommend. If you have medical or health concerns, please consult a professional before beginning any exercise program.*
Ever done the 7 minute workout?
What are your weekend plans?!
