Having a hard time committing to exercise?

It takes a lot of effort to make time to exercise. Working out is just one of those things that you make a priority in your life or it won’t happen. It seems like the main reason why people have a hard time committing to it is because it is thought of mostly as an obligation and then we don’t stick with it long enough to realize how exercise will enhance our life, especially as we grow older. Exercising is a life choice, a conscious decision to lead a healthy life style and putting the effort forward.  The advance in technology, and the fact that everything is done at such a fast pace, has provided us with a distorted sense of time related to results in general. We want answers and results fast and with the minimum amount of effort possible. This is in utter contrast to results gained through exercise. Getting in physical shape and staying in shape takes time, commitment and focus on the goal. The goal is to be healthy and enjoy life at its fullest as long as possible. NLF can help you with this choice. We will support your effort, make it fun and worth your time while you get in shape to lead a healthy life.

Request your travel workout!

If you are going out of town, send me an email and I will include you in the daily Travel Workout email list. You will receive a daily morning workout via email with the same workout we did here in town! It will keep you on track for your return.  If you don’t have a jump rope and a resistance band, these are 2 items you want to purchase and take with you on trips – they are easy to store in your bag and we often use them at workouts.

Thought you could make it but didn’t?

If  you didn’t make it to the workout  . . . please do some exercises at home.  Even if you don’t own a treadmill, you can still boost your cardio with several exercises: sprinting in place while you keep the arms moving and bring your knees up to your hips; 8-count body builders, mountain climbers, push-ups, jumping jacks (yes, the real one of course!)  Don’t forget to do some abs and a few planks as well for good measure!  Move from one exercise to the next without stopping. This will help to keep you going and will make your next appearance at a workout less painful.  Oh . . . . keep it engaged while you are at it!

Are push-ups hard for you?

To help you get to the point where you can easily do a push-up, you have to build up the right muscles.  Remember to engage the core and imagine you have a rod running from the back of your head to your heels – the only moving part is the elbow bending to bring your body up and down.   Strengthening the core is the key to keeping your spine and neck aligned to help prevent injury.

A great way to build up for push-ups is to do them in an inclined position like on a bench of a picnic table or on a railing – this way you are not having to lift your entire body weight and it will help to build up the same muscles used for push-ups.  If this position is still too hard for you, try doing it against a wall.  The less of an incline you position your body into the less weight you have to push up.

If you have a resistance tube a good building exercise is to use it to perform chest presses, which will help to strengthen up the chest muscles which are used during push-ups.

Once push-ups in the inclined position is no longer a challenge, try doing them on your knees to continue to build up the muscles.

When you graduate to doing push-ups on the ground instead of the inclined position, don’t forget to engage the core and look about 2 feet ahead of you on the ground. This will align your neck and spine and together with engaging the core will stabilize your back. 

Running & core strengthening:

If you are training for longer races such as a half or full marathon make sure you are including core strengthening exercises in your program.  This will help you during those long runs by keeping your core stable, keeping good posture and will help increase your endurance.

Some times on these long runs, surprisingly enough, the legs are not what give out first!  The legs are always well trained with all the miles you are logging.  The rest of the body is what has a hard time keeping up with the rigors of running itself and holding yourself upright while running for extended periods of time.  Adding planks, abdominal exercises and push-ups into your routine will help to strengthen the core and stabilize the spine.  Also, remember to include some backwards running every now and then – this helps to balance out the body a little since we are always doing forward motions, like running.

Working out while traveling:

Don’t like to use the hotel gym? Get yourself a resistance tube. They are easy to pack and don’t require any extra space to use it in your hotel room. Most of the tubes you purchase will have an instruction guide. Feel free to ask me to show you a few exercises. These tubes are also easy to carry with you on a run so you can use them outdoors as well.