Okay - stop with the negotiating.
You know, the psychological torture you put yourself through about whether you should workout today, or tonight, or during lunch, or maybe you’ll work out tomorrow because you were out celebrating your dog’s birthday and your feeling under the weather. Or maybe you don’t have the time to trudge to your local health club and spend more time fiddling with your lock, sitting in the sauna or waiting for the leg lift machine than you do working out. Well just stop stressing about it because I’m about to tell you about an exercise that’s low impact, easy to do and you can do every day wherever you are (so stop worrying if the hotel has a gym). But first (you didn’t think it was going to be easy did you?) let’s you and me have a little talk...
We gotta talk about commitment because the fact is, no matter how easy or hard any fitness program is, you have to do it, do it regularly and keep doing it. Remember easy ain’t gonna get you anywhere if you don’t actually do the exercise. Preferably every day. And ideally - like now.
As Exercise Physiologist and VP of 24 Hour Fitness Kevin Steele likes to say: “Consistency is key.” Consistency and a mix of aerobic (running, swimming, etc.) and anaerobic (lifting weights).
And the exercise I’m going to tell you about incorporates both. As a matter of fact, you’ve probably did it already today. At the very least you’ve done it hundreds, if not thousands of times before. It’s called walking.
A hero of my dad’s when I he was a kid was a guy named Steve Reeves. You probably never heard of him but in the early part of the sixties, Steve Reeves was one of the biggest stars in the world all because of one part in one movie: Hercules. Steve Reeves had a physique that made Greek Gods say: “Dude, what’s your secret?” Steve Reeves invented the concept of “rest days” - days off between workouts to allow muscles to rebuild after being torn down by dynamic resistance (weight lifting). And after Steve Reeves suffered a devastating shoulder injury and couldn’t lift weights anymore he invented something else: Power Walking.
Power walking means imitating someone who’s in the chorus of a musical but really doesn’t know how to dance. So what do you do? You walk fast. Fast as you can. You swing your arms like a windmill. And you get super fit. So that covers aerobics. What about weight lifting? Start slow and low. Swing those arms carrying lightweight dumbbells. This will build the biceps and shoulders, and if you really get into it, the chest. Power walking is excellent for cardiovascular fitness, good for the heart and lungs, and weight control... plus you can do it no matter your age. (If it’s okay with your doctor of course.)
So how about taking a little power walk now?
Before you know it you’ll be doing it carrying an anvil. Just like Hercules.