Well, it’s Labor Day and the unofficial end to summer. How did your summer go? Now that we are moving full steam ahead into everything pumpkin spice, take a moment to reflect on where your fitness journey started and where you currently find yourself.
I spent most of the last several months, not only buying a new home, but moving not one houseful of furniture, but two. Most of the move was done by me, my wife and on occasion, a couple of our adult kids. There was a lot of heavy lifting, long days of sweat, lack of water and proper nutrition, and of course stress. I had mentioned this a couple of times to my fearless editor, who was quick to point out, “How would the move have gone if you didn’t have a solid fitness foundation?”
I really did take a moment to think about that. I am over 50 and 12-14-hour days of strong manual labor hasn’t been my forte for quite a few years, not to mention not spending sufficient dedicated time to work on my own fitness in my own workout space. As I reflected on everything that has gone on in my personal and professional life, what I came up with is that it boils down to stability – a stable foundation of fitness. Like my new house’s foundation that is strong and in good repair, our foundations need to be stable ready to withstand whatever reasonable demands we undertake. Stability is more than just coasting along, not making waves, keeping an even keel, etc. You get the picture. Having a strong, stable foundation will afford you the opportunity to modify or implement fitness and nutrition in ways that allow you to exceed your norm.
I have always advocated that any fitness regime that you undertake, or nutrition plan you adopt, should allow you to live and function better in your world, i.e. make changes that enhance your life. Fitness and nutrition should help you perform everyday tasks, do better in your job, and of course, allow you to live a longer more fruitful life. Always seek out new ways to build your base of fitness to allow you to build muscle and increase your strength, which further helps you to prevent injury and do those manual labor jobs with greater ease.
As pilots, or airline crew members (or any aviation professional), we often find ourselves working long hours with limited time to work out, which is another reason to eat healthy when you can and do your best to maintain a certain level of fitness. I have always believed (with the help of my friends) that you are only one medical away from being grounded. Why not tweak the little things to decrease the odds you could lose flight status.
It comes down to this: be active, try to eat better, and build a foundation that affords you the chance to manipulate activities based on what you are doing and where you are!
As always, keep in mind that you can seek additional guidance from health professionals, wellness coaches and trainers. Come back to this column each month for more areas to examine. You can always reach out to me ([email protected]) for ideas on how to create a goal.
