Happy New Year and Resolutions

Happy New Year! We are back in the desert after a harrowing drive through an ice storm in west Texas. At one point we traveled just 280 miles in 8.5 hours, passing overturned pick-up trucks and tractor trailer rigs the whole way!! But slow and steady, we made it. It is great to be home.

I decided to write about resolutions today with the coming of 2015. It seems that this is the time of year that people resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, etc. It also seems that most of those people fail. I have found three things that have worked well for me to help with meeting my exercise and fitness goals: 1) Documentation. Write down everything that you do. For me, committing to writing this blog has made me feel accountable to write just about everyday. You can also keep track in a journal, excel spreadsheet, whatever format you like. 2) Having people that you are accountable to. Significant other, workout partner, whoever it may be. I have found that having someone that is counting on me and making sure I am staying on target is amazingly helpful. It also makes exercise fun. 3) Success. Sticking to a program through support and documentation helps me achieve my goals. Achieving my goals makes me feel good about myself and exercise. Feeling good about exercise keeps me coming back! Set achievable goals and get at it!!

Today I rode the spin bike and did some crunches. Tomorrow, I will bust out the weights from their holiday hibernation and get back to the heavy lifting!

Today's quote is from Abraham Lincoln:

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

Workout:
HIIT Spin Bike, 30 minutes
Abdominal Crunches, 100 repetitions

Have a Great Day!!!

Merry Christmas, A Workout to Get Started in the New Year and the WOD!

Merry Christmas to all that celebrate it!

Right around the corner is 2014 and with it comes New Year’s resolutions. One that often comes about during this time is a resolution to exercise more. The big box gyms out there are counting on people joining their facilities on January 1^st and then losing their motivation to workout soon thereafter. It is very hard to get started and stay with an exercise routine when you haven’t done it in a long time and you are flying solo. The trick for success is to start out getting a base line of fitness for free, have support from friends and family and then if you are still interested, get that gym membership or personal trainer.

I have a personal example. My oldest brother can stand to lose quite a few pounds to be at what anyone would consider a healthy weight. When I asked if he considered getting a personal trainer he explained that he had neither the time nor the money. Of course, this is the same brother that has the time and money to go to the bar 4-5 times a week. That is a whole other issue to address.

What my brother needed was two things: 1) An easy bodyweight workout he can do at home to get started and 2) A way to be held accountable. I sent him the following workout to do Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week to start off with. I am confident, based on his fitness level that this will be a routine that will tax him for a while:

March in Place, 1 minute.

Jumping Jacks, 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute

Calf Raises, 1 minute.

Squats, 1 minute.

Lunges in Place, 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute.

Crunches, 1 minute.

Planks, 1 minute

Rest, 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (arms out to the side), 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (arms straight up), 1 minute.

Shoulder circles (both arms straight out in front of you), 1 minute.

Rest, 1 minute

Push-ups, 1 minute.

Done. Make sure to drink water.

15 minutes every other day. That will get you started.

The second thing that my two brothers and I do is e-mail each other every day to check-in on daily physical activity. Part of me hopes that the good ol’ Catholic guilt will seep in to motivate my oldest brother when he sees what his two younger brothers are doing each day.

Speaking of daily activity, we have made it back to LEGS:

Dumbbell Squats

Walking Dumbbell Lunges

Glute, Hamstring Developer

Calf Raises

Weighted Step-Ups

Standing Broad Jumps for Distance

Abdominal Work

Have a Great Day!!