No Plateau Cardio

Is your number one reason for hating winter because of your inability to get outside and stay outside? Let's face it, the biggest reason that we love summer is because we get to be outside. Whether it be going to the beach, eating on the back deck, taking a walk, going for a swim, inhaling the smell of freshly cut grass, hiking a scenic trail, or taking a long bike ride to the local ice cream stand, all of us love the time that we spend outside in the summer. Winter and early spring force us inside to the comforts of our couches, televisions, and fireplaces. 

Now there's nothing wrong with a little downtime with a good book while sitting by the wood stove, but who wants to do that year round? And what if we want to exercise? Ahhhh...enter the much-hated "dreadmill" (more commonly known as the treadmill, of course). The treadmill has to be one of the most boring pieces of exercise equipment that man has created, yet we tend to think that the one of the only ways to get our cardio work in during the winter is to climb aboard and thump away on it.     

Not anymore. Enter "No Plateau Cardio," a fitness class that I designed (and my lovely girlfriend so properly named) that turns makes indoor cardio actually somewhat fun. Gasp!  What?!  How can indoor cardio be fun?! It can be fun when your muscles, lungs, and brain are constantly adjusting to the variety of exercises that you are being exposed to.

For instance, there are typically five people in the Tuesday night class. Therefore, there is typically a total of 5 stations. Each station has 3 different exercises at it. Each exercise is 20 seconds long, totaling one minute spent at each station. The group will exercise at each station once before a water break, totaling 5 minutes of cardio exercise. So the class is doing a total of 15 exercises in 5 minutes. Oh the variety!

Cardio is obviously important. It's important not only for your body but for your brain as well. There are so many ways to get an effective cardio workout done (just get that heart rate up!) without using a treadmill or an elliptical that your head would spin if I listed them all here. Once spring and summer arrive we'll all be out walking and biking and swimming and running. But until then, try mixing up your cardio routine...your body and brain will love it!

Pets and Health

Four weeks ago, I adopted a dog. She is currently 7-months old and is an Australian Cattle Dog/black Lab mix named Lucy. Before adopting her, I did my homework on all the different breeds I might be interested in. I ultimately wanted a dog that had a decent amount of energy--but wasn't bouncing off the walls every second--so that we could go hiking and running together. Turns out that Cattle Dogs have lots of expendable energy--combine that with being only 7-months old and WOW!

Fast forward 2 weeks after adopting Lucy. I was on my fourth walk with Lucy when I started thinking about how good dogs are for us. Lucy may or may not have needed to have been walked a total of five times that day, but what would America look like if people went on five walks a day? So I did a little digging...

After doing a little poking around, it became crystal clear that pets are really, really, really good for us! They have been proven to control blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, improve your mood, and make us get out and exercise and even facilitate the development of social contacts (check these articles for more info Dog-owners 'lead healthier lives' and How Owning a Dog or Cat Can Reduce Stress). 

Going out and adopting a dog just because isn't what I'm saying here. People can easily be happy and healthy without pets. But if you're looking for an extra boost or reason to get out and breath some fresh air and get healthy, then grab your buddy's leash and go do it! Both you and your pal will benefit, guaranteed.

I've only had Lucy for 4 weeks now but I can't wait to get her out hiking on some mountainside in the White Mountains this summer. In the meantime, hour-long walks or five-fifteen minute walks a day will have to do!

Choices

Well here it is. My very first blog. This is something that I've been thinking about doing for quite some time now. The reason being that this took so long is because I'm not exactly technology-savvy and wasn't too sure where to start. However, with a little help and inspiration from a friend and a burning desire to help others, I decided that today is the day to start my journey of blogging, so you can start your journey of dreaming and succeeding.

You see, it all boils down to choices. Every single choice in every single minute of every since day results in a decision. That decision leads to having to make another choice, which results in another decision. It's a constant, endless cycle that will never end until we take our last breath. I made the choice to start a blog.  The choice to do so led me to a decision: which blog website do I go with? After deciding on Blogger, I was faced with another choice: topics. What do I write about? After deciding on writing about choices, I needed to figure out what the substance would be. See the cycle here?

Well, I didn't choose to start a fitness blog to write about blogs. I chose to start a fitness blog because I want to help you reach your goals, dreams, and aspirations. Everybody has dreams, but not everybody realizes that we get there by the choices we make. We all choose to get up and go to work in the morning (although sometimes we wish we didn't have to). We choose the outfits we're going to wear. We choose how our hair will look. We choose where to walk the dog. We choose what we want for breakfast. We choose our route to work. We choose whether or not to smile and say hello to people at work. All these choices lead to decisions...

By choosing to exercise, we have made a decision. Automatically. Done! Easy, huh?  We have decided to get healthier, even if by a tiny fraction of an amount, on that particular day. We've decided to lower our blood pressure, fight diabetes, fight obesity, get stronger, burn fat and calories, and just plain ole' feel better! All we have to do is choose to do this. This sounds simpler than it is, I know. But trust me, if you choose to have all of these positive things to happen to you on a day-in-day out basis, then you've already decided that you want the rest of your life to reward you with feeling great. And trust me, that is the best decision you can ever make. And look!--you've already started by choosing to read my blog.