Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Even the best of us don’t manage to pull off a workout every time we want to — something comes up, we have to put it off, we just can’t seem to get out there. It happens.
But one of the biggest problems isn’t just “falling off the wagon” mentally, as it were — it’s physical, too.

Why Exercise is Different

This isn’t like adopting some good dietary habits, keeping them up, and then occasionally having a really lazy week where you eat terribly, before starting to cook well once again.
It may sound obvious, but it really bears repeating — there is no friction when it comes to getting back into eating well. Besides adjusting a bit for tastes you’re “used to”, nothing with your body will suddenly start protesting in a way you can’t deal with. You could change your diet — for the better — tomorrow, drastically, and you’d probably be pretty damn fine.
But with exercise it’s just not like that.

The Path

A lot of us are on a path towards complete fitness. I suppose you could think of it kind of like a mountain, only it’s really one that never ends — the peak is always up there in the clouds, just out of reach, but damn, is it ever nice towards the top.
Each time you put off working out, though, you increase the chances that you’ll take a step backward down that mountain. In our article introducing this “procrastination” series we said that just missing a day or two — or even longer, or a big stretch — shouldn’t be an impediment to starting again, that you won’t suddenly lose all those good results just because you’ve missed a workout.

What You Will Lose

But here’s the problem — what you will lose is that peak level of fitness you were cultivating, the one that let you track your body, pay attention to how well you were doing the workouts, the feeling that you could push things further, run harder, train with more intensity.
Every day you put off working out and procrastinate, is another day that getting back to that ‘peak’ level, where you really know what your body is capable of, becomes a little bit harder. And just like the old proverb goes — a stitch in time saves nine — if you really procrastinate and stop working out for months at a time, then getting back to that level is going to be a bigger mental & physical challenge than it needs to be.

Keeping Up Something, Anything

That’s why so much fitness advice, implores you to just get active, even if you’re “off the wagon”, so to speak. If you still manage a short run or a brisk walk or some sports, even in the funk of your exercise procrastination, you’ll be that little bit closer to re-starting that long, wonderful, lifetime climb up the mountain.

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Katie
Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand
Hi.. Im Katie. I am 20 years old. I am a student nurse. I love learning about healthy eating and living healthy lifestyles. There are so many lies and myths about the food we eat today and I am determined to spread the word. If you have any questions don't be shy to ask. Email me at k_rotgans@hotmail.com P.S I am not a doctor, I do not diagnose conditions. I am just hear to educate myself and others. Any symptoms I address please see your doctor.
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