You don’t have to go fast to get fit
This week, there’s a great opportunity for me to churn out some really cheesy phrases. Like, ‘It’s the journey, not the destination’ or ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ or ‘Slow and steady wins the race’. We live in a culture where the faster something is or the more corners we can cut, the more we feel we’ve achieved. But let’s look at the topic of fitness in a different light.
Exercise is one of the seven pillars of health, something which we must all embrace, cherish and be grateful for (excuse my slightly evangelical tone). So while others around you might be pounding pavements for marathon training or pedalling up hills for a cycle challenge, don’t be lured into thinking that hard, painful graft is the only way to get fit. The body is a wonderful thing and it adapts beautifully to whatever you throw at it.
Imagine Pam. The only exercise Pam does is walking to the train station each day, which takes her all of eight minutes. Including the return trip, that’s 16 minutes – and during this time, Pam’s heart rate barely stirs. Now, if Pam was to walk faster, so that each trip only takes her six-and-a-half minutes, she may find her breathing rate increases and she can only just hold a conversation with her neighbour, who joins her two minutes in. But over a couple of weeks, Pam’s heart and lungs adapt to that change and soon the six-and-a-halfminute walk becomes a breeze, and she even adds on some distance – doing a loop of the park before getting on her train. She hasn’t jogged a single step (yet), she doesn’t find it unpleasant and it isn’t taking over her life. The words ‘training schedule’ haven’t crossed her lips, but Pam’s fitness is on the up. The most important thing is her motivation.
So many throw themselves into impossible challenges, only to be faced with injury and expensive physio bills, but our Pam feels good. She could soon be ready for more!
✱ Annie is a fitness coach and creator of The Blast Plan, a 28-day nutrition and fat-loss programme aimed at motivating women towards health and confidence. Visit theblastplan. com to find out more