Selena Deleon – THE WORKOUT AT SOME point, every dedicated fitness fan will, for one reason or another, fall off the bandwagon. As we all know too well, life has a way of interrupting our schedules, and healthy intentions sometimes get sidelined. Before you know it, you've lost your get-up-and go, and as more time passes, you feel more and more intimidated to get back on your programme. We are good at convincing ourselves that our busy schedules are unable to accommodate exercise anymore, all because of a psychological intimidation that we create, all in fear of starting from scratch.
A common self-defeating belief is that the more out of shape you are, the longer it will take to see results from your exercise programme. However, percentage-wise, the greatest gains in fitness come in the first few weeks and months of any exercise programme and, the less fit you are, the greater the relative improvement will be.
There are some fitness myths that are more intimidating than factual, if they are not fully understood. In my experience, I have heard some pretty far out excuses as to how people justify not getting back into the game. Recently, someone told me that it would be impossible for them to burn fat on a renewed exercise attempt because they had only just gained a few pounds. They reasoned that since heavier people have a harder time burning calories when they're exercising, then they were doomed to failure.
In fact, the more you weigh, the more calories per minute you will burn when you're doing weight-bearing exercises. It's a simple law of physics you're doing more work, because you're propelling a greater mass (yourself). For example, someone who weighs 110 pounds will burn about 5 calories per minute during a leisurely 10 mph bike ride; the 220-pounder riding alongside is burning twice that amount - an impressive 10 calories per minute!
First time exercisers, or those who have undergone a significant lapse in training, frequently experience soreness when starting back on their programmes. Also known as 'delayed muscle soreness', it peaks between 24 to 48 hours after an offending workout and then, generally disappears on its own. What it really means is that you've damaged and torn the microscopic connective tissue that surrounds your muscle fibre. (To speed the healing process, apply ice to the sore areas for 20 minutes, several times a day).
The good news is that when your muscles are sore, it means they're getting stronger. Gradual progression and conservative increases in intensity, frequency or duration is a recommended approach to preventing muscle soreness. Once you induce delayed onset muscle soreness at a specific exercise intensity, you shouldn't experience that sensation again until the intensity is increased. This is because delayed muscle soreness has been shown to produce a rapid adaptation response. This means that the muscles adapt to an exercise intensity very readily. Until it is changed, soreness will not recur.
The fact that the initial phase of starting any exercise programme is the most difficult is not very encouraging. But what is encouraging is that once you start and begin to make improvement, this knowledge will keep you from disturbing your progress again. It is easier, both physically and psychologically, to continue to strive for your fitness goals than it is to stop and start again. If your fitness endeavours have been derailed and you are feeling demotivated, don't let your mind discourage you. Stop thinking and start moving because every day makes a difference!
Selena DeLeon is a certified professional trainer.
