Posts Tagged ‘Health & Fitness’

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

The quick and short answer to this question is YES…You are your own worst enemy but on the flip side you are also your very own best kept secret.

I was doing my rounds at my health club a few weeks ago and broke into a conversation with a polite middle aged man who looked a little lost and unsettled.  I introduced myself to him and got chatting away…This gentleman has decided to get back into the gym after having spent 10 years sitting on the sidelines doing NOTHING!

He did not play badminton once a week, he did not go for walks, he didn’t go swimming, he didn’t play 5 a side football….he was very upfront about it and said he has done NOTHING!

Wow…was my reaction…I have never met anyone that has claimed that they have done nothing…I always hear “I play badminton once a week, a play squash, I play 5 a side football once a week, I swim every now and then…..”

I was yet to hear, “I have done nothing in 10 years”…

I drilled a little deeper as to why!…and this is what I was told!  “I got married and then came my little boy and I was taking care of him, then I had a little girl….and they are a right handful and then this happened and then that happened…and I found I never had the time”

My first question was, ”What has changed?”…He is still married, he still has a boy and girl, he is still working!…”So what has changed?”… 

He didn’t have an answer and was struggling to find one…I had to tell him what had changed…It was simple, his mindset had shifted and is what caused this sudden change, I say sudden because he has gone from 10 years of no activity to joining a gym and now trying to lead an active lifestyle.

All the reasons above were just excuses for not exercising; he had convinced himself so well that he was too busy that he did not exercise for 10 YEARS!

Maintaining Your Motivation & Mindset

I knew straight away I had to help this new member become settled into a routine and make sure that no one, especially him, disturbs his new found mindset.

I instantly asked him if he had a training partner and suggested he gets one and fast because he never.  By having a training partner not only does it add instant value to the social aspect of exercising it creates another reason for having to continue exercising…you don’t want let your partner down!

If there is a day he does not feel like training but his training partner decides to go to the gym, it is more likely that he will make the effort of going, guilt is the only reason for going, but the object is met!

Once going to the gym becomes a regular habit and please bear in mind this habit can take only a few weeks to form it can be the difference between sustaining a very healthy lifestyle for you and your family or another 10 years of inactivity and poor health.

A week later I revisited this newly formed health fanatic and was happy to hear that he managed to convince his friend who has also not trained for 10 years to join and start leading a healthier lifestyle!  His gym visits increased from twice a week with no training partner to 4 times per week WITH a training partner!

Now that does not sound like a big jump, but in fitness years that’s brilliant, he is now doubling his activity resulting in twice the amount of calories being burnt in a week, his muscle tone, strength and endurance will increase at a much faster rate and best of all he will start seeing mental and physical results allot sooner!

Did you notice something?

There was something that my new member had said to me about his friend that had just joined.  He also hasn’t exercised for 10 years!  As I met more often with these two I also learned that they work together, that they always had a beer after work together, they both supported the same football team and were season ticket holders TOGETHER!

Whether you want to believe it or not, you will do what those closest to you do!  They were both happy not to exercise for 10 years and were both happy to eat, drink and go to sporting events together but none of them mentioned exercising together!

But somewhere along the lines one friend’s mindset had shifted and changed for whatever reason, it could be health reasons, to prolong life, for family etc…

But that shift in his mindset also infected and positively impacted the mindset of his close friend.  What was his friends motivation?…there wasn’t one there…he has decided to take part in exercise because his friend for his own his personal reasons had decided to. 

Imagine what these two can achieve if they now decided to start looking closely at their eating and drinking patterns, what impact will this have on their families if they also change their mindset and focus on health and fitness?

The possibilities are endless and the point I am trying to make is only YOU can restrict yourself from everything and anything and you also have the power to influence those closest to you to also change their mindset.

So stop pointing the fingers at scenario’s that you have made to be true for not exercising and start pointing those fingers back at Yourself…as for “You are Your Own Worst Enemy”…but as you now know, that doesn’t have to be true…

Heart Attack, Recovering & Exercise

Recovering from a Heart Attack

If you are recovering from heart attack or know of some that is, then it is important to ensure all professional guidelines are followed and that exercise becomes a regular habit once your GP/Doctor has declared you fit to do so.

Exercise

Exercise is part of the recovery process and should be treated as seriously as the medication and nutritional advice that has been prescribed to you.

When an individual has suffered a heart attack there is unfortunately some permanent damage that the heart muscle sustains as a result, so it is important when exercising that you start of slowly and stay within the guidelines that have been set for you. 

Exercise should be limited and your activities should or will consist of the following:

- Walking
- Stretching
- Very Light Resistance Exercise (Not in all cases)

The above list may seem very little but you have to protect your heart in the early stages and only expose it to as much stimulation as your GP/Doctor will allow you to do. 

Your hospital may also run exercise classes for you to attend, ensure you attend every visit as these classes will help determine the correct level of intensity you need to be working at and your heart can handle.

As you start exercising independantly and on a more frequent basis, you can with the authority of your GP/Doctor start building up the intensity of your workout routines.

Exercise will not only strengthen your heart but will also help you to lose weight thus reducing pressure on your heart, it will assist in lowering your blood pressure and also help reduce cholesterol levels.

(always consult your Dr or GP prior to starting ANY new physical activity)

Nutrition

As part of the recovery process you will have received a list of foods that should be consumed to help you while you are on the road to recovery.  Do not take this list lightly, ensure that you are following any meal plans prescribed to you and are consuming foods from the list only to help promote good eating habits.

There will also be a list of foods and possibly drink that you need to stop consuming as they can hinder the recovery process and get you back to your previous eating patterns which you need to avoid at all costs.

Preventing Another Heart Attack

After suffering a heart attack it is vital to ensure that you are not putting on weight as this can cause more stress and unecessary pressure on the heart.

It is just as important that you do not NOT suffer another attack to prevent further damage to your heart.  The list below shows you what precautions you can take to prevent another attack:

- Becoming Overweight
- Not Exercising
- Smoking
- Reducing and keeping your cholesterol down
- Reducing your blood pressure

The information is purely for guidance and SHOULD NOT be a used as a solution and or a replacement for any program that has been prescribed to you by your GP or Doctor.

Deepak Bhangu
Head of Operations
Musclemadness