Another exciting event for us in October is called General Conference. Twice a year, the prophet and his apostles (our church leaders) broadcast a two day conference, in which they give inspiring talks. In one of these talks, an apostle told a story about bicycle riding with his wife. This particular guy and wife were avid bike riders and quite enjoyed the sport. They were never in a hurry, they never entered into races, they never tried to see how fast they could go- they always just enjoyed the ride. One time, he made the mistake of suggesting to his wife that if they pushed themselves harder, they could go faster and make great time. His wife, gently but sternly turned around and said to him (I paraphrase), "It's not a race. Just enjoy the journey."
Well I don't know about you, but I can think of DOZENS of situations that applies to. But in this post, I'll be applying it to exercise. In the words of this great apostle's wife: It is not a race. Enjoy the journey. A big part of being happy and healthy is enjoying what you're doing to be healthy. I meet a lot of people that say, "I hate exercise so I don't do it" ...what? No no no no no no no no no no no- I could insert a lot more "no's" here, but I think I've made my point. Find some sort of exercise that you don't hate and I promise there will be at least one. So if you hate running, then don't run (this should be common sense). Do something else! Try swimming, walking, zumba, yoga, bike riding, weight lifting, dancing, roller blading, basketball, tennis etc. Go to Google and search "different types of exercise activities" and there will be enough ideas there to send your brain into over-stimulation mode. Now, don't get me wrong, all exercise requires work, so you don't get out of doing that. You can't be lazy and healthy at the same time. But at least get some enjoyment out of what your doing. At the end of an exercise activity, you should be saying, "I'm GLAD I did that"!
Now I turn the time over to Mr. Sean T for some words of advice about intense workouts.
Actually I decided he's a little biased and unrealistic, so I'll give the words of advice. When I say intense workouts, I mean things like P90X, Insanity, and any other programs similar to those. And you need to know that what I'm about to say is opinionated (so don't get mad!) but it comes from actually participating in the Insanity program.
I am going to preface this by saying that I know many people who have tried these programs and truly do love it. That is really great for them, I mean it. They have found an exercise activity that they enjoy. But if you are swayed by the "quick fix to weight loss" thought or by the killer abs on the people in those videos, then please listen to what I have to say! If you are the kind of person who usually struggles in discipline and motivation with exercise, has a significant amount of weight to lose, or hates to workout, think very carefully before wasting your $200 on this. These are very high-powered, high energy (and high sweat volume!) workouts. They. are. HARD. And this is coming from someone who ran for 5 hours straight. You may get excited when you first purchase it and promise to do all 60 days. But after the first week, I was so ready to quit. It's not a workout I enjoyed. Unless you've actually done these workouts, it will be impossible to tell you how incredibly difficult they are. But they are evil. And like I said, some people really enjoy constantly pushing themselves, having that sore muscle feeling, and dripping pools of sweat (that is no exaggeration). It's like adrenaline for some people, the best kind of adrenaline. :-) But be honest with yourself. If that doesn't sound like you, chances are you won't want to continue once you start.
Now, don't get me wrong. These programs work. I loved the results (I couldn't stop staring at my arms!). But I was so excited to just be done with it. I disliked every minute of those workouts and it wasn't worth my unhappiness, when I would rather run anyway. Also, these workouts are not for someone who has never exercised and wants to start. Please please please ask a doctor about this program before you dive into it. The workouts are all about constantly increasing your heart rate and if you've never exercised before, that's something your body will not be able to handle. Honestly, the ads may make it seem like this workout is perfect for quick weight loss, but that is false. These workouts are usually for people who are already fit and want to be more fit.
I do have some advice for those people who will enjoy these types of programs:
1) Listen to your body. If it's telling you it can't do anymore, PLEASE take a break. If you push your body way past it's limits, you're not being healthy, you're being harmful. I made the mistake of pushing myself too hard during one of the cardio workouts (when I knew I had low blood pressure) and passed out. What good did that do my body? Absolutely nothing.
2) Do it with a partner. Even for people who are incredibly self-motivated, you will at times want to quit. That's just how hard it is. So get someone to join you, who will encourage you (even make you) get up the next day and do it again. Partners are the best for any type of exercise. Chances are, the day you don't feel like exercising, he/she will. And vice versa. Get yourself a team and work together!
So overall, do what you love. Don't try to convince yourself into an activity that you'll hate and eventually will quit. Now that doesn't mean sit on the couch and get your enjoyment from watching TV. Get up, try different types of activities until you find one you like and want to stick with. Just freakin' ENJOY yourself and ENJOY the journey- the journey to a happier, healthier you.
By the way, no comments about how I'm a freak of nature because I love to run. Thank you ;-)
Boring scientific note: Your heart is a very special muscle and you have to take care of it. It is constantly working to pump blood to the rest of your body. And the reason it needs to pump blood is because your red blood cells carry oxygen, which your cells need to live. Without oxygen, cells die (and that's painful!) Your heart muscle also pumps blood and oxygen to itself, that's how cool it is! Because even if the heart can pump blood to other organs, if it doesn't get oxygen itself, it's cells will die. When you start any type of exercise, your heart requires more oxygen. Why? Because it's doing more work, so those heart cells need to stay kicking. If you begin exercising at a vigorous level that you are not used to, your brain tells your heart, "You need more oxygen!" The brain is kind of a bully that way. The heart freaks out, because it doesn't want to make the boss mad. So it starts pumping faster. But even though it pumps faster, that doesn't mean its pumping better. The insanely fast heartbeat, means that the heart is pumping too fast for it to efficiently get enough blood out to the body, and to itself. It's like when you're under pressure and you try to do a task quickly, but it ends up being sloppy. So that's why if your heart suddenly is thrown into a high-intensity workout, it can't keep up. Eventually, it can't pump the blood right, so oxygen doesn't get to the heart cells, and that causes chest pain. By the way, that's a signal to STOP! So it is really important to start workouts at a low or moderate intensity, before you try a vigorous activity. It will build up your heart muscle so that it can pump fast, but efficiently. Nobody just woke up and decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. They had to work up to it. And so do you.
We are being the same thing for Halloween!! Hahaha!
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