New Year's Resolutions
The month of January marks the beginning of New Year's resolutions.
The most common is “working out”, “getting fit” or
“getting into shape.” In the past 3 days the Rec Center had over 5,000 people
working out or taking part of our other activities. Roughly 35%-40% percent of
these patrons are newbies trying to fulfill their New Year's resolutions. The
idea of New Year's resolutions is a little troubling, considering the majority
of people quit after the first month. They want to do or change something, but
lack the plan or resources to complete it. Today I’m going to try to help some
of these people. The first thing you have to do is define exactly what you want.
If your New Year's resolution is to get fit, you have to define
what "getting fit" exactly is. Personally, getting fit for me has nothing to do
with weight or how much someone weighs. It’s
all about feeling good. If you can physically do the things you want to do and
feel good while doing it, you’re in good shape. I’m not a weight room junkie,
but if I get invited to a pick-up game or a hike, I can hang with group. I’m
not going to fall out and die of exhaustion. That’s what’s important. Another
thing to keep in mind is if you’re trying to lose weight, go by measurements
and not by the scale. Scales can be misleading. Since muscle weighs more than
fat, you could be gaining weight while getting into good shape. Muscle is denser,
so it takes up less space.
After you define what you want, the next thing to do is to
create plan. Working out isn’t something
you just decided to pick up and expect results right away. It takes effort and
commitment. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Sarah Drake wrote a great blog
about planning your resolutions and making them realistic. In her blog Reasonable Resolutions she talks about the
SMART guideline system. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic
and Time based. Here is a link to the blog if you want to go more into depth: http://sfadiningrd.blogspot.com/
It’s a good idea to schedule exact times in your day for
workouts. Getting into a routine will help you transition into this new life
style. It’s also important to do
research before hand. Here are some things to look into:
Nutrition
Nutrition plays a big part into getting fit and getting
healthy. It’s important to get the right building blocks and tools like Carbs,
Sugars and Protein into your body to maximize your efforts. Sarah Drake is again
a great resource for answering questions you may have on nutrition. The SFA
Dining site suggest to:
1.) Don’t
skip breakfast – it’s important for jump starting your metabolism
2.) Have
several servings of fruits and veggies daily – The more colorful the plate the
better
3.) Buy
lean meats and low fat percentages
4.) Drink
plenty of water
Workouts
Workouts depend on what you’re trying to accomplish. A rule
of thumb is to do more reps/less weight for muscle endurance and weight loss,
and less reps/more weight for building muscle. Break up your workout sessions
into different body parts. Monday could be arms and shoulders, Tuesday upper
leg, Wednesday chest and back, Thursday lower leg, and Friday could be a flex
day where you could do something outside or do abs. At the beginning of every
workout could be a warm up like jogging on the track and at the end of the work
out could be a cool down like stretching or yoga. It’s important to give your
body rest days. Do NOT work out the same area everyday. You don’t want to
overwork your muscles. Sleep is another valuable thing to get. If you’re
not getting enough sleep at night, your workouts are useless.
Whatever you decide to do, you want to make sure that it
fits your goals. Don’t do a body building routine if you’re not trying to build
muscle mass. There are plenty of resources at the Rec to get you started with
your own personalized routine. You could ask any of the fitness staff here, or
you could attend the Lady Jack Barbellas events. They can help you develop good
technique, and answer questions you may have about working out. For more
information on that, visit the Admin desk at the Rec Center.
Well I hope this was informative. Hopefully with the right
plan, drive, and resources, you can reach your goals and achieve greatness.
-
Just a thought Devonte Hill
Resources:
1.) Fitness Staff at Rec Center (Rachel, Clayton, Miranda)
2.) http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSSW/StephenFAustin/Nutrition/
3.)Sarah Drake
Phone: 936-468-1022
drake-sarah@aramark.com
