Healthy Living For Smart People
Over at my other blog, equally happy, I wrote that I had a little revelation the other day. I realized that I had compromised my own goals and allowed myself to retreat from the dreams I had once set myself. Rather than focusing on reaching the dream, I compromised and said “well, this is good enough”. In that post I talked about my career goals and aspirations but the same is true of fitness as well. [Read more...]
Last week I charted by weight by age and came up with some interesting thoughts on what really influences health. Based on that conversation, I thought I would add in additional information in the form of my workout results.
I am representing average workout performance in two ways. First by showing you how far I would run in an hour. That’s the bar marked speed and the lowest point on it is 4 while the highest is 6.5 miles. The second is by showing average weight in my bench press set. That’s the blue bar with the lowest being 45 and the highest being 275.
So now that we’ve gone over the whole healthy life pyramid, where do we go? Even for those of us who are relatively healthy, what’s the next step? How do we get from the here of not so healthy to the there of being healthy?
There are two answers to this:
Big Bang Theory – No, this isn’t just a sitcom about nerds. The big bang theory essentially says that you turn your whole way of living upside down in one day. You commit to a radically different life and go after it 100% from day one. You’re going to start exercising, eat healthier and be more active starting and all of it will start TODAY!
The Gradual Theory – Take it easy. Implement small changes, one or two at a time. Stick with these changes until they become a habit and then move on the next change.
So, What To Focus On?
If you’re just now starting on the gradual approach, I would recommend picking 1 or 2 of the following suggestions and then trying to stick with it for 30 days. See if it works for you over that period of time. If it does, stick with it and pick up another little habit. That’s all you need to do over the first 2 to 3 months, make little changes that together will add up to a lot. Remember that the specific item you pick depends on your own lifestyle. For example, if you currently don’t drink a lot of soda then picking the item that says “no drinking soda” is pretty silly, don’t you think?
Any of these habits is a great start towards a healthy life. Just keep in mind that these are not an excuse to do worse in other parts of your life. For example, just because you didn’t eat meat today doesn’t mean you can eat a whole bag of Lindt chocolate truffles. The point here is not to do something good which is outweighed by something bad. The point is to keep the rest of your life the same while slowly improving one specific aspect.
So there you have it, pick one of these and get started!
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By the way, for those of you who are already living a relatively healthy life, this approach works just as well. Figure out a small change and implement it. Make it a habit and then move on to the next small thing. As for me, this month I’m working on improving my running speed.
I’ve spoken about cardio before, many times in fact, but since this is a reboot of the site I would like to mention it one more time as the groundwork for a healthy life. Cardio means doing some physical activity that challenges your cardio vascular system. That’s the part of your body in charge of moving oxygen around and includes some pretty important organs, like your heart. Cardio exercise means anything that increases your heart rate to a certain level. A good goal for cardio is usually between 60 to 80 percent of your max heart rate which is calculated as 220 minus 30. I emphasize that this is a very imprecise method and, when in doubt, you should consult with your doctor.
The benefits of cardio are improved health, lower blood pressure, lower risk of heart attack and lower weight (cardio burns a lot of energy). For optimal performance, you should plan on doing cardio exercise for at least 15 to 30 minutes at a time but even shorter intervals can be fine. In fact, Mark over at Mark’s Daily Apple is a big fan of sprints as opposed to long runs. I don’t have a problem with that as long as you do some kind of exercise on a regular basis that leaves you out of breath.
I will say that cardio is probably the lowest bang for the buck you’ll get in your quest to become healthy. As you can see in previous posts, it’s really the last 10% or so of being healthy, and yet it takes a lot of effort. Still, if you intend to be healthy, you can’t really avoid this.
Common Types
Running – I’m guessing this is the most common type of cardio exercise out there. Joggers out on the road, the track or the trail, running until they’re sweaty and out of breath. Seems a little intimidating but it can actually be quite fun if you do it right. Running is a great way to burn calories but it’s a bit hard on your feet. Anyone with a health issue of some kind would be better off trying other forms of cardio exercise.
Biking – Another common type of cardio exercise, biking isn’t as hard on your feet but it can be hard on your back and your wallet. A good bike and a helmet will set you back a few bucks but you can make most of those back by replacing some of your car commutes with biking.
Swimming – I would call this the perfect cardio exercise except that I find it incredibly boring. Swimming back and forth and back and forth and back and forth without being able to talk to a friend, listen to music or watch the scenery drives me insane. However, you merfolk out there can enjoy this cardio exercise that gives your whole body a workout while eliminating any harmful impacts.
Rock Climbing – Challenging, adrenaline filled, cardio based with a lot of resistance elements thrown in. This would be the other perfect cardio except for that whole falling thing plus the fact that rock climbing equipment and gyms tend to be horribly expensive.
Aerobics – This includes everything from Jazzercise to Zoomba or whatever the heck they’re teaching down at the gym these days. These are basically classes or videos that you can follow, usually to very loud music, as they guide you through a variety of movements at a rapid pace. Excellent all around exercise with the possible exception of the damage to my self esteem done through watching little old ladies dance around while I fall down like a klutz. If you have no rhythm, you may want to skip this one. Also, not as convenient as some of the others since it usually requires a gym and scheduled classes.
Martial Arts – Traditionally, martial arts practice was about form and accuracy, not speed and sweat. However, western civilization has turned martial arts from zen practice to something like jazzercise with a lot more kicking. Now you can get a great workout while also learning how to pound the crap out of the person in front of you. My favorites are boxing and krav maga but try them all and see which one you like. (Personal recommendation for you guys, wear a cup!)
Others – There are an infinite number of ways to get your heart rate up. From stair climbing and rowing to dancing and energetic sex. I’m going to cover a bunch of them in the future (except maybe the energetic sex one) but I’ll leave you with this. Two to three times a week, you should be doing something that leaves you short on breath and high on heart rate for at least 20 minutes. That’s an hour total every week for something that could stave off that heart attack for years. Even if it is just the last 10% of a healthy life, isn’t that worth it?
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Thank you to On A Mission From Goddess for including my post on your health tool kit in their latest carnival of healing.
Anyone watched TV lately? I hope the answer is no, but if it’s yes, then you’ve probably seen the same things I have, endless commercials for sports equipment. Forget all the ads for diets, meal replacements shakes and eating plans, just look at the advertisements for sports equipment! From $1000 bowflexes to $100 ab machines, there is an endless amount of gear for you to buy. All of which will promptly be forgotten and left to collect dust in your garage. So forget those ads and read on for the best exercise gear your money will ever buy.
I Love Running
I never in my life thought I would say that, but I really do enjoy running. There’s a point about 10 to 20 minutes into a good run where I just zone into this great place. My head is clear, my thoughts are flowing and my body feels like it could go on forever. It’s a unique feeling and one which I greatly enjoy. It’s also one of the reasons why I’ve stuck with long distance jogging despite quite a few people trying to convince me that sprints and intervals are better. There may or may not be something to what they say, but I know there’s a difference in my enjoyment level of jogging vs. sprints, which tells me I should stick with what I enjoy.
Here’s The Problem
For the past few months, I’ve been having issues with my running. My legs were hurting, my feet were hurting and I was experiencing odd joint pains for the first time in my life. I tried to figure out a cause. I tried sleeping in a different position, which helped a little bit. I also tried changing the way my desk is set up at work, which also helped a little. Still, my legs were in pain and I wasn’t enjoying running as much as I had before. And then I remembered…
I’m An Idiot!
When I first started running, a trainer friend of mine gave me a bit of very important advice. She said, “your shoes are the most important things about running. Replace them every 6 months and don’t use them for anything other than running”. Well, I took that advice and used it for a few years but I forgot all about it last year. That means I’ve been using the same pair of running shoes for a year now and not just for running. I go hiking in them, walking, work in the yard and so on. I didn’t think this would be an issue, after all, they’re just shoes, right? Oh, how wrong I was.
New Shoes
As part of my efforts to fix my leg pains I resolved to buy a new pair of shoes. So I marched on over to Sports Basement and spent an hour talking to one of their very knowledgeable sales people. She went over my stride, examined how I run and made several recommendations on shoes I should pick out. I tried on quite a few until I finally settled on a new pair of New Balance running shoes. Yesterday was my first run with these new shoes and WOW, what a difference! I felt like I was gliding on air. My legs felt great and I didn’t even notice the passage of time. Within 10 minutes I was back in that runner’s high and having a great time. I ran for 40 minutes but I could have easily run for an hour.
So here it is, my advice to you on the best investment you can make when it comes to sports gear, shoes. Buy a new pair every 6 months and don’t use them for anything other than your workout. Stay away from ab machines and home gyms, they’re a waste of time, space and money. Just get a good pair of solid foot gear. If you can, go to a store with qualified sales people who can help analyze your stride and make good recommendations.
By the way, the shoes ended up costing me around $60. Not too bad for something so valuable. So thank you Sports Basement for your help and great prices. Thank you New Balance for such a great product and thank you Chris for your invaluable advice. I won’t forget it again 
NOTE – I have no affiliation with either Sports Basement or New Balance. I don’t get paid for endorsing them or mentioning them on this website. I just happen to like their products and so I don’t mind giving them free publicity.
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Thank you also to the Rich Life Blog for including a 60 in 3 post in their latest blog carnival.
