Quote of the week

"During the hard training phase never be afraid to take a day off. If your legs are feeling unduly stiff and sore, rest; if you are at all sluggish, rest; in fact, if in doubt, rest."
Bruce Fordyce - ultramarathon athlete

Cardio Boxing

Great for cardiovascular, co ordination and strength training, boxing is a great addition to your training repertoire. Ensure that your trainer adequately covers the biomechanics of safe boxing skills before you start on the conditioning phase of the workout. You want to get fit not injured.

A Query

How much regular physical activity are you getting? Ideally you are being active for a minimum of 30 minutes on most days. This does not mean you have to train hard everyday but it does mean that you should not always take the easy path.

Resting Heart Rate

The resting heart rate is an indicator of cardiovascular health and your body’s adaptation to exercise. It is generally taken in the morning before you get out of bed. Take your heart rate for one minute each morning for a week and divide the result by 7. You can use this as your base figure and as your resting heart rate changes with exercise, you can refer back to this figure.

Getting back into training

If it has been a while since you last trained, I suggest that you start back into training slowly. You do not have to try to do what you could do months or years ago, instead just make a commitment be more active and to do some gentle exercise three times per week. Ease your way into training – your body will thank you for it.

Some motivation tips

If you are having trouble staying motivated:
Find a training partner – you can keep each other motivated
Set goals – both short and medium term – and refer to them regularly
Keep a training log – it gives you concrete data on your progress

Variety

It is important to ensure that you have plenty of variety in your training schedule. If you are doing high level sport specific training, you may not have many options, but if you are training for health and fitness – add some variety – add some fun

Stretch after your workout

Stretching after the hard part of your workout is now considered the best time to incorporate stretching into a mixed training session. The other option is to do a dedicated stretching session at another time or on a different day

In case of injury – RICER

If any accidents happen during training, use RICER principles for the first 48 hours
Rest – no hard fast activity, although light movement is generally recommended
Ice – helps reduce inflammation and pain
Compression – helps reduce inflammation – ensure the compression is not too tight
Elevation - helps reduce inflammation and pain
Refer – medical advice doctor, physiotherapist etc

Try dancing

If you want a fun, active and social way of increasing your activity levels, try dancing. There are a wide variety of styles that you can try (I personally like Latin) and classes are run in most locations. Depending on the style, you can improve your aerobic fitness, coordination, balance and your social life.

Walking

Don't underestimate the value of going for a walk as a fitness activity. Walking is an excellent way to ease yourself into an exercise routine, gives you a cardiovascular workout and gives your legs a workout. If you add some hills to your walk, the resistance on your legs increases.

Bodyweight exercises

If you are pushed for time, and want a quick muscular workout, try some bodyweight exercises. Variations of the squat, pushup and chin can give you an excellent workout and you don’t even have to leave home.

Some thoughts

I do not think that there is one best exercise for everybody, primarily because if you don't like an exercise you are generally not going to do it no matter how good it is for you.

Just being active everyday and doing a variety of activities is a great way to get started on your way to fitness.

Having fun when training is important.

About me

As this is my first post to this blog, I thought that I would give you a little information about myself. I have over 20 years experience in the health and fitness industry: acupuncturist, massage therapist, gym instructor, personal trainer and martial arts instructor.In this blog, I will be discussing fitness strategies, techniques and tips for a vital healthy life.