When Fitness is a Lifestyle

Long Term Commitment - These very well may be the most frightening three words in the English language. I know that people get divorced after many years of marriage, companies let employees go after years of service to cut back on costs. So, when can agreeing to a long tem commitment be beneficial?

The obvious answer is the commitment of taking care of yourself. What makes my profession as a fitness trainer difficult is that too many people think they can undo years of abusing their bodies with a few days or weeks of exercise.

Many people already have a long term commitment with doing nothing. The latest statistic I have heard is that almost 70% of the American public does not get any exercise. That is pathetic! Who is to blame for our current epidemic? It is very easy to be lazy and eat like a pig. The hard part is hard to get your butt of the couch and do something about it. Not for a week or a month, but the rest of your life. It’s almost like people are waiting for some magic moment to arrive to motivate them to do something. I would think being diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes would be enough, but that is not always the case. Just because we have medications that are available to us, does not mean we are to continue with the same destructive path.

One of my favorite clients is Luke. He lives out by Southwest Plaza, and he has been coming in to see me for about two years now. When Luke began he was in the 54th percentile for overall fitness for men his age, and now he's in the 86th percentile. What makes Luke unique is that he does not have a driver’s license (he cannot pass the eye exam), and has to ride the bus to get here. Luke could use every excuse in the book why he cannot do his exercises or make his appointments. He works at Target and goes to school. So, he could use the old tried and true, “I don’t have time” excuse or the, “I work at Target and cannot afford to come in excuse”. Or, better yet,  "Functional Conditioning is too far for me to get to". Can you imagine riding the bus from Littleton to Westminster? At the end of June, Luke rode his bike from his house to Functional Conditioning. He rode more than 70 miles round trip and it took him over 6 hours. He has made working out and eating better a lifestyle change. I admire his hard work and dedication.

Think about how the tobacco companies make tons of money. Would you say that smoking cigarettes is a long term commitment with serious side affects? Of course it is! Why is it that people have a hard time sticking to an exercise program? I believe it has to do with priorities. EVERYBODY has time to take care of themselves. Or, are you someone that thinks it is not your responsibility? Someone else will take care of you.

Take a look at your life. What do you have a long term commitment with? Is it your job? Is it a relationship? One of the most important things to commit to is to taking care of yourself, because nobody else is going to do it for you. Look at the past month, past year. Have you been committed to watching TV and sitting on you butt? Or, have you committed to doing something worthwhile for yourself? If you started taking care of yourself and got off track, get back on track.

I have an autographed picture of Jack La Lanne and he wrote on it “To my friend Brian, here’s to your workouts, never, ever quit”, Your friend Jack La Lanne. I think that about sums it up.