TO YOUR HEALTH

Common Sense Fitness

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”

—C. E. Stowe

Information and education are critical in almost all endeavors (including your fitness aspirations), but common sense is always pivotal in success. So how do you begin to come up with a workable plan? (Trust me, you need a plan—a hit-or-miss approach will not get you where you need to be.) The place to start is with making an honest assessment of what your body is “telling” you.

HELLO?

Debbie Sheme, respected fitness professional and owner of Sanibel Pilates and Yoga and Sanibel Dance, offers sage advice: “Taking a therapeutic approach to fitness and wellness is so important for your personal health and wellness needs. Everyone is designed differently. What is your body saying to you? Is your back talking back? Are your knees bending with discomfort? Listen to your body and find a highly trained and passionate instructor or trainer who can help lead you in the right direction for the many different arrays of fitness that are offered.” That is a good place to start. This is where common sense

comes into play. Your body is almost certainly telling you something. If you get winded going up a flight of stairs or if you are so stiff in the morning that you practically have to crawl out of bed, each event can give you some direction as to what you need most— what to concentrate on at the start. Still, make no mistake: A truly effective program must address all the elements of fitness.

MISSING THE BOAT

If you leave out any one of the three elements of fitness (strength, cardio, flexibility), you are exposing yourself to potential problems. More so with age.

If you are an enthusiastic distance runner but do not have the strength to unscrew the top on a jar of organic almond

butter, you are very likely setting yourself up for an injury-induced layoff at some time in the future.

By the same token, if you are crazy strong from your berserk six-day-a-week weight training but cannot turn your head to check your blind spot when changing lanes, then you’ve missed the boat.

RECREATION VS. EXERCISE

Many times we pursue a single discipline ( just tennis, just ballroom dancing, etc.), almost strictly for the recreation value and exhilaration of it. You can get by with an unbalanced program for a while but the longer you stick to one single element of fitness, the riskier it gets. If, instead, you wish to have all of the benefits of fitness, go beyond just the single thing you prefer to do.

Next issue we will discuss how to build a program that includes all of the elements without requiring you to quit your day job.

TAKING A THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO FITNESS AND WELLNESS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS NEEDS. EVERYONE IS DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY.