23
Jan

CROSSFIT SUFFOLK  ** Forging Elite Fitness

Rest Day

FITNESS…..Not A Part Time Gig

By Lee

Most professional athletes know that in order to be at the top of their game there are a few elements that must be maintained and must compliment each other.  Skill Development, practice, proper nutrition, proper rest and conditioning all factor in on how they'll perform.

The same applies to the ordinary "Joe" or "Jane" only for us mere mortals it's more of a challenge as we don't get paid to workout, we have other responsibilities other than working out and we don't have a coach for every aspect of our "sport" or conditioning.  We don't have a team of health professionals, a nutritionist, a chiropractor, a message therapist and separate coach for every aspect of our "game".  We usually don't have the time a pro athlete does as we have careers, family, school or a combination of things going on.

Now that we got that out of the way I'm here to tell you that fitness should be a way of life not just something you do when you can find the the time and it's convenient or you have nothing else going on.  It should be part of your "normal" routine like showering and brushing your teeth.  No, not because I say so or because it works for me, but because the benefits far outweigh being a "weekend warrior".  Fitness should be a part of your culture, something that needs to be done.

Amongst people we speak to or train with we find:

The Dedicated

The Convenient

The "Should"

The Dedicated have embraced the fitness lifestyle and the only thing we need to occassionally do for them is save them from themselves.  Sometimes they try to bite off more than they can chew and we have to reign them in.  This "problem" is easily corrected and if you have to have a training problem this is the one to have.

The Convenient will workout when the mood strikes.  When they have run out of excuses.  They know they should train on a consistent basis, but life gets in the way.  Somehow life gets in the way regularly.

The "Should" crowd understands, on some level, that they should work out and make more of a commitment to take care of themselves, but they often lack any real desire to do so.  They know they should, but they don't push themselves.  Sometimes they fall into the "Should" group after guilt gets the better of them, they train and then the reality sets in.  They feel a bit sore or they actually sweated and breathed heavy without sex being involved.  Some people just don't like that sort of thing. They complain.  They just want to get it over with.  Some people just don't want to work hard.

Each group requires different treatment.  The dedicated only need to be tempered for safety.  The Convenient need focus and understanding of their fitness goals, and the "Should" group may need a boost in confidence as well as a reminder that however they function, working on fitness will help them function better.  Working on fitness will keep them functioning…period.

For the athletes other than the Dedicated the points of a tough conditioning program must be demonstrated constantly.  We emphasize running, squatting, bending , lifting and carrying objects in everyday life.  Then we move onto the things most don't think about.  Last week, in upstate New York a taxi was pulled over on the highway and the passenger began firing at the officer with a rifle.  Other motorists stopped heard the gunshots and abandoned their cars.  The motorists, some say about 100, ran down the highway.  Now imagine having to run for your life and not being in any condition to do so while the madman heads your way.  Imagine the trooper needed help.  Imagine having to fight for your life.  How about the plane that had to land in the Hudson River.  Imagine having to tread water for a while or having to swim without ever doing a tough workout routine.  Imagine having to walk down stairs from the 87th floor of a building that is on fire.

It doesn't have to be quite that dangerous. Imagine poor shape turns into dysfunction as you grow old.  Imagine having to use hand rails to get off the toilet because your ability to effectively squat has ceased to exist.  Imagine dropping something important that you cannot get close enough to the floor to retrieve.  Imagine being completely winded from walking a flight of stairs. 

Of course some folks will read this and enter a completely different category, a topic for another day—DENIAL.

How about training for the sake of training.  To have a better quality of life.  To reduce stress.  To feel the thrill of competition.  To feel the victorious feeling of accomplishing something that is difficult to do and knowing that it took everything you had.

Fitness has to be perceived as a positive, not negative investment of time and effort.  It should be as important as the most important things in life.  We're confused by people who spend hour after hour working on their homes, lawns and cars, but are badly overweight, totally unfit and eat crap at every meal and whenever they feel like getting something in their stomachs.  What is it about their living space, car and the grass in front of the house that these things are given time, commitment and dedication?  They plan how to fix and maintain inanimate objects but don't have time to plan and carry out a workout and don't have the time to eat properlyl?

We really owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to be fit.  Since we have to be fit we may as well train as if we are athletes and be highly fit and high functioning.  We were not made for the sedentary lifestyle.  We were built to move and be involved in our own adventures.  Be prepared now and for a long time to come.

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