Some initial thoughts on Mature Fitness

While I will still be speaking in generalities at this point I would like to emphasize a few things about getting started in this fitness thing. First, remember the ole saying that Rome was not built in a day(actually I don't have a clue how long it took to build Rome) and your physical condition did not get in its' present form in a day. Depending on your age it could have taken a matter a few short years or maybe it is a long term, up to 15 years, time frame. I do know of collegiate swimmers who come out of doing 10,000 yards of swimming a day to doing nothing and gain 40 pounds in just a few short years after finishing college. I know of many college athletes in all sports who do the same thing. The mistake they make is continuing to take in the huge amount of calories while they don't need this much caloric intake to make it through the day, in addition they don't have a coach pushing them. It has always been my feeling that we should picture in our minds(visualization exercises will be part of my program so be ready to shut your eyes and gaze) our body as a manufacturing plant. We take in the food to provide us with energy and fuel to get us through the day and night. Be thinking, burn baby burn, when you think of caloric input and the proper utilization of this fuel. Second, unless you are still an active athlete or have had a recent physical exam within the last 12 months I want you to take the time to go to your favorite doctor and have a complete exam. Also, I want you to tell him/her that you are planning on embarking on a fitness program and what your goals are for that. If your doctor says, no way should you be doing a fitness program then walk out of the office immediately and find another doctor. Third, after completing your exam with your old doctor or new doctor then continue to read this site, since I will start to go into specifics of what to do to get started. A number of years ago I was ask by a friend of mine who was a fellow officer with me in the US Army Reserves to help him lose some weight. While preparing to finish his PhD in biology he had let himself get way out of shape and over weight. He was so far gone that he was about to lose his officer commission. Of course I accepted his request to help him and the first thing I ask him to do was to go home after we were released from duty that day, strip off his clothes, stand in front of a full length mirror and see if he liked what he saw. If he did then we had a bigger job to do than I had bargained for, if not then we were on our way to success in saving his commission. Thankfully he came back the next day stating that he looked disgusting and what could we do to get him in some kind of shape and lose the extra pounds. I gave him the formula(you will get it later) and within 90 days he had lost 26 pounds and retained his rank and commission in the US Army Reserves. He later retired as a Lt. Colonel and I was really proud of him.

Now, go get that physical and we will talk some specifics in future posts.

Mike Greer