Welcome to May! I hope where you live the weather is warming nicely. Where I am located, we just had snow! Again. Because I am still recovering from my previously mentioned health issues (April issue of Aero Crew News Fitness column), I keep coming back to heeding the experts’, or even my own, advice to take it slowly. Sometimes when you are getting into fitness or coming back into it, you may want to go too fast, but you must put your plan into perspective. The following applies to dieting too.
Time
I am an advocate of setting both short-term (30-90-180 days) and long-term goals (think years). The time required for a proper fitness routine can be ambiguous. I believe most of us don’t have the desire, the need or have sufficient hours to become an elite athlete. But when it comes to exercising daily, a generally accepted target is somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes of exercise. Obviously, this depends on the type of fitness you are doing (weightlifting, cardio, yoga, etc.), but if you can consistently devote 45 minutes to a fitness routine, you are committing enough time. Remember, time is not only about your daily routine, but also the numbers of days, months and years you dedicate to the process.
Another aspect is time under tension. Simply, this means that when you are practicing yoga or strength training, it is in your interest to hold the pose or lift the weight slowly. This allows your body to activate the muscles which permits growth. Moving quickly through an exercise may save you time but doesn’t allow your body to absorb what is happening.
Distance
Beyond the normal time dedicated to fitness programs or routines, it is imperative that you try to walk more—get your steps in. This can also take the form of any cardio output (bicycling, swimming, etc.). How many steps should the average person complete daily? The number usually hovers around 10k steps. I am a firm believer that if you are around the 10k mark, or roughly three miles or more, you are probably living more than a sedentary lifestyle. My rationale for including distance or steps in my plan has to do with my job. We all know, aircrews sit stationary for long periods of time. Not only will walking those 10k steps per day help your cardio output but will also help you heart rate and blood flow.
Heading
This aspect means you must be cognizant of what you want and where you are going. It’s one thing to force yourself to work out, but you won’t sustain the lifestyle change or even proper nutrition without knowing where your motivation lies. Understand that you need to focus on the time you dedicate to working out and maintaining a proper diet. You also need to consider making adjustments when you are growing bored with what you are doing or not seeing results. Change is good, but you must stay focused on the result.
Continue to devote time to fitness with your goals in mind and keep an eye on where you are headed!
