Category: Health & Fitness

Do you remember when vanity gyms were all the rage? Complete with bars onsite serving alcoholic beverages? There was an adage at that time, “Build it up so you can knock it down,” referring to working out then drinking. Thankfully, we gym rats and pool puppies either learned or inherently knew that just wasn’t the way.

 

There was another adage too: “No pain, no gain.” 

Unexpectedly, this was about as worthless as the first axiom, and it took people a while to figure it out. They mistook the pain for the desired “burn” and the gain was bragging rights. Many shoulder and knee surgeons made a whole lot of money off that attitude and I hope you weren’t one of the people supplementing their paychecks.

Occasionally, I still see it or hear about it today. “Man, I felt that workout, I can’t move.” Or “I exercised so hard that I couldn’t walk the next day.” Oh, and the one that makes me hurt, “I haven’t worked out in a while. I will kick my own butt today”, and then they do. 

 

Here’s the bulletin: That’s Not What We Want To Do to our bodies!! Don’t Do It! Be Kind.

The truth is, we need to Stop When It Hurts. Or sometimes even better, If It Hurts, Don’t Do It. I am a survivor of end-stage alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, and I know from my year in the hospital that no one knows your body like you do. So, what should you do? Listen to it. It will tell you how much exercise is enough, or that you’re pushing too hard, or that you shouldn’t do a particular exercise. Don’t just listen, heed your own advice.

Some people will still tell you differently, that pain is good, even if they don’t say it in so many words. God gave you a brain that has no ears; you’re supposed to think for yourself, not listen to other people. Do you see a pattern emerging here?

How do I not over exert, especially when I’m first starting out or I’m starting over after a long absence?

To answer that, let’s get down to workout basics.

• Sit down with a qualified instructor and put together a workout just for you. Most gyms and pools will be happy to do this for their members. The benefit of working one on one with an instructor is that they take your goals, specific level of ability, past and current level of activity, status of your health, your weight, and many other relevant concerns into consideration. They will also probably lead you through the workout to make sure it’s right for you.

 

• But if they don’t or this service is not available, join a class or two and develop a workout for yourself. Going to class is great, but you also need to have the exercises in mind that you can do on your own.

 

• No instructor or class available, but I have a pool I can work out in. If this is your situation, there are still options. Talk to friends, search for someone who can teach you, or go online. There are plenty of videos available showing different exercises including aerobics and isometrics. Then, try out the exercises you’ve found and develop your own workout, making sure it fits your needs. Take it slow and easy at first.

 

• If you’re pool-bound, have your workout laminated (the staff may do this for you as well).

 

Okay, my personal workout – check. What’s next?

 

• Write down your goals. If you want to lose 20 pounds, or firm up your bat wings, flatten your tummy, develop biceps/triceps/abs, write it down! This is separate from your laminated workout. This is for you to look at, especially on those days when you really don’t want to go to the pool. 

 

Goals, done. And now?

• Now you make a schedule for your workout. You decide when you want to go and for how long. Many people start out twice a week and build up from there. That’s okay, if you’re doing your custom workout in full on both days. Then consider spending at least one day doing an alternate exercise. 

A couple of notes: Let’s say you want to do water aerobics two times a week to begin, Monday and Thursday. Then, fill in with 15 minutes of walking on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. When 15 minutes doesn’t feel like a challenge anymore, up it to 30 minutes. I would not extend it any further than an hour though, because then you’re creating a new workout. We want to stay focused.

It’s usually pretty easy to build in steps to your average day. Park further away from your office or the store, take the steps instead of the elevator, take a short walk the long way after lunch on your way back to the office.

Contrary to the once popular myth, you don’t need to aim for 10,000 steps a day. Seven to eight thousand steps a day is just fine. You can buy an inexpensive tracker to wear on your wrist, or use your phone to count your steps.

Okay, back to your workout schedule. How do you keep it?

Here’s the key. You treat it just like an appointment or a business meeting. You write it on your calendar, block out time in your schedule, and tell your partner, spouse, kids, and friends that this is what you’re doing. (You may or may not want to tell your boss. That’s your call, lol).

You prepare for it just like you would any other meeting. You pull together your gear the night before or earlier in the day and have it with you. This is going to become a regular part of your life. A habit takes repetition. You are building a brand new life-changing habit.

My prediction is that if your workout is tailored to your needs, it feels good when you do it, you can move pretty well the next day, and you start seeing some progress, you’ll begin to want to hit the pool more often. Extend your workout time slowly, don’t rush a two day per week schedule into a sudden five day per week schedule. If you do that, you’ll burn out in a hurry and whatever work you’ve put in will be for nothing.

 

Thanks for reading. I’ll see ya’ in the water!