Starting at Zero

"How do I do it?" she asked, "How do I get fit again?"

She had been away from fitness for a long time. Years in fact, and she wanted to get started again, but she was afraid. Afraid of failure, afraid of injury, afraid of not knowing what to do. So she did something smart. She asked for help.

Sometimes, you have to start from zero. The problem with that is you may not know how to start. I've known people who would not start going to a gym because they were intimidated to be there. Intimidated by not knowing how to use the machines, or not knowing how to plan their workout, or just by the idea that they had been sedentary for so long that they might hurt themselves by trying too hard.

I've seen people who were afraid to go to a trainer. They had watched too much of "The Biggest Loser" and thought that personal training was all about the trainers screaming and cursing and pushing the client to the point of tears or vomit whichever came first.

There is a way to start from zero, without all the reality show drama.

1. Make a choice to work towards a healthy lifestyle.

Rather than goals like, "lose 20 pounds" or "go down three sizes", make your goal to start living a healthy lifestyle. Losing the weight can be a part of that goal, but the main goal should be a healthy lifestyle. Try this phrase out, "I am setting a goal of losing 20 pounds as a part of my larger goal to live a healthy lifestyle." If your goal is just to lose the 20 pounds, it is too easy to quit working after that goal is met. Guess what happens then, that's right, the 20 pounds come back, and usually brings some additional friends along as well.

2. Get a doctor's clearance.

If you have been injured, or if you are very unfit, or have been sedentary for a long time, always get advice from a doctor before you start a new exercise program.

3. Find a trainer.

Let them know what your goals are, let them know you are starting from zero. Let them know about your aches and pains and physical complaints. A good trainer will start you from zero. Even if that means your first session is lying on your back relearning how to engage your core musculature, a good trainer will start you with what you need instead of the workout he or she wants to see people doing.

4. Hold your trainer accountable.

If, during any workout, you ask your trainer, "How does this workout fit in with my specific goals." and your trainer can't answer, it is time to find a new trainer. I have a friend who has years of experience lifting weights. He does olympic lifts and can put more than 300 pounds over his head. On a trial session with a trainer, the trainer had him squatting 95 pounds. My friend was not happy. The trainer never bothered to find out where he was starting from. In this situation the result was a frustrated client who never came back for another session. If it were to go the other way and someone who was unfit was put under a bar with 95 pounds on it, the result would have been much worse. Your trainer is not the boss. You are.

Don't shy away, the benefits to exercise are huge, and the drawbacks to remaining sedentary are injurious to your health, costly when the medical bills start coming in, and can take years off your life.

Get up and get moving today.

Diana Nyad, Superhuman? Super Obsessed?

I am in absolute awe of Diana Nyad's recent success at swimming from Cuba to Florida. I look up to her as an example of what a person can do by setting goals and working towards them with passion and dedication. I would have been this impressed whether or not she ever succeeded because even the attempts are more than most people are willing to do.

I've heard a variety of reactions to this feat. Ranging from some who said she is superhuman and others who said, "Why would anyone even want to do that? Talk about obsessed."

To those who see this as superhuman. You have missed the whole point. If Nyad had believed this to be a superhuman feat she would either have had to delude herself into believing she was superhuman, or never tried. This was not a superhuman feat, it was a demonstration of what a human can do.

It was a rude awakening for me when I heard someone call her obsessed. It reminded me that there are people in the world who really and truly don't understand the desire some of us have to push the boundaries.

There is a choice to be made in life. A person could cruise through life doing what is necessary, getting by with what they have to do, approaching lifes struggles as a nuisance that must be avoided or tolerated until things get easy again.

Or,

Life can be viewed as an opportunity. Challenges can be seen as chances to prove oneself. Obstacles can be things that make us stronger instead of things that get in the way of a passive existence.

We can avoid struggles, or we can embrace them as strengthening exercises.

We can seek out comfort, or allow discomfort to cause us to grow better and stronger.

We can take the easy path or we can take the hard path.

The hard path doesn't have to be as extreme as it was for Nyad, it can be pushing oneself past one's own perceived limitations.

So don't settle, live, challenge yourself, get up, get fit, run a 5K, a 10K, a marathon, a triathlon, learn a new skill, master an art form, do something new, challenging, and outside your box.

You won't really know what your limits are unless you push yourself against your perceived limits. You won't know how strong you truly are or how strong you could become if you don't test yourself.

You won't know what you can achieve if you don't try and fail, and try again and fail again, and get up and try again and again.

So what are you waiting for.

Are You Chasing Numbers?

For many people, fitness goals are based on numbers. It might be pounds lost, or BMI. It could be running a certain distance or a certain pace. For some it is lifting a certain amount of weight.

Having measurable goals is important, but more vital than that is leading a certain lifestyle.

My overreaching goal is one that is very hard to measure. Mine is to lead a healthy lifestyle while making smart choices about my fitness, nutrition, educational pursuits, and emotional health. To help me define what that looks like, there are measurable goals tied up in that. Some of mine include running a 50K race, running a sub 20 minute 5K, and avoiding fast food. It is not a bad thing to have such goals, however it is important to remember the real goal behind all these things.

When it comes down to the end someday, and people are remembering my life, I doubt anyone will be discussing my 5K PR. They may however, remember that I was always striving toward some sort of accomplishment. My daughter will be less likely to tell stories about my first Half Iron distance triathlon than stories about how I had the energy to run next to her while she learned to ride her bike.

So, go ahead and push those numbers. They help measure your progress. Just remember what the real meaning behind it is.