I love promoting lifestyles that are full of healthy living, energizing and heart-pumping exercise, and nourishing nutritional habits. Some of us are already converted, but many of us are still non-believers. And I’m probably only preaching to the already converted when I say that upon engaging in a holistic health routine, our lives are instantly enriched, our immunity and longevity is boosted, and we are just generally enhancing our overall happiness, both physically and emotionally.
What is perhaps stalling the conversion of more people onto the healthy living band-wagon is the belief that they are indeed already healthy and that they do plenty of exercise. I so often hear ‘I’m on my feet all day at work’, ‘I do lots of gardening in the weekend’, or ‘I run around after the kids all day.’ These kinds of excuses come from people who believe that this is, indeed, exercise. I’m afraid, to put it blunty, it doesn’t.
Our bodies are made to move. Our feet are meant to be stood on. Our legs are meant to walk. So, unless you’re recovering from a major injury or physical trauma and currently undergoing extensive therapy to walk or stand again, then these things alone are by no means remarkable and should not be referred to as exercise. This is just simply using your body the way it was meant to be moved. You’ll certainly be keeping your joints mobile, your joints somewhat flexible, and your muscles supple, but you won’t be enhancing your strength or cardiovascular fitness. Unless you have a purpose, a plan, and progress, then in no way will you be experiencing the wonderful benefits that exercise has to offer.
For you to experience the abundance of benefits that regular exercise can generate it must be purposeful. The correct amount and intensity of exercise has innumerable benefits including: improving your muscle and bone strength, increasing the efficiency of your heart and lungs, enhancing your metabolism, boosting your immunity, aiding in weight loss, improving your mood and your energy, combating gazillions of diseases and medical conditions, promoting better sleep, and just generally improves your life.
But to actually experience these benefits your exercise sessions need to have a purpose, and the purpose must be a derivative of an overall goal or plan. Heading out for a run whenever you can find the time isn’t going to cut the mustard. Just as one salad isn’t going to make you slim, one run isn’t going to make you fit.
Make a plan, set a goal. Be it to lose x number of kilograms, run 5km in half an hour, or to complete 50 press-ups non-stop, it needs to be quantifiable. Make it personal, make it achievable, and ensure it’s something you are passionate about. Once there is a plan in place and a goal to achieve, only then can your exercise sessions have a true and realistic purpose. It is only once you start embarking in purposeful exercise that is following a structured plan that you will begin to see progress. And we all like progress don’t we? Progress means success, and the more we achieve success the more motivated we become. The more motivated we become the better the results we will experience. It’s an awesome cycle of greatness!
So to sum it up – plan, engage in purposeful exercise, and experience the thrill of progress. Then watch your life transform.
For comments email corinne@fitfixnz.co.nz
