Weekend thoughts

While I know you haven't had the time to get that physical I recommended in the previous post possibly I can give you some pointers for the up coming New Years weekend. While I know it doesn't happen until Monday night at midnight I have the feeling that with it being on Tuesday it may really start this weekend. So, my suggestion would be to take it easy, float in moderation and enjoy the whole 4 days. This would be a case of pacing yourself and not getting too carried away right in the beginning by drinking and eating way too much. Of course I realize you will have the New Years resolution(very wasteful energy in my opinion, unless it really works for you) thing you can pull out of the hat and wave the magic wand and feel good about it. But, really just drink in moderation(if you consume alcohol), eat in moderation(I know you eat), dance in moderation, exercise in moderation, and then take the time to relax. This will put you on the right path for entering the New Year, with a great attitude and feeling about your self.

Remember the 3-4-20 formula that I mentioned in the initial post. Also remember that I am talking to people who have not exercised in a while, not the hard core marathon or triathlon type. I want you to think, 3-4 times per week, 20 minutes, sustaining a 75% of maximum heart rate. What is your maximum heart rate question can be answered in a simple way by taking your age, let's say 55 from 220 would be 165 x .75 for a target heart rate of 124(rounded off). So, to maximize the 20 minutes of exercise you must keep within this zone. See what I meant about how easy this can be if you set your mind to it. Trust me, this is the way all beginners should start out. About 8 years ago I had a young lady contact me wanting to know how to get started in the sport of triathlon. I told her to get a bike(she borrowed one of my old ones), find a pool(not hard for her to do since she was from swimming to start with), and get some good running shoes(the part she dreaded the most). I then told her to do each event 3 times per week, no less than 30 minutes per event. Then I told her that when she got bored with that extend the time to 45 minutes, then when she got bored with that, consult a professional coach since she was probably going past my expertise. Since she was a very natural athlete she took to this sport like fish in water and started doing sprint triathlons. Within 3 years she was doing Ironman trathlons and this past November she won the Ultra-Man triathlon(371 total miles in Kona, HI) plus the Race Across America(RAAM), 3200 miles on the bicycle, solo race. Needless to say this is not typical and I am not even advocating this type of exercise I am just saying do not sell yourself short on this exercise thing. But, I do emphasize the moderation thing and after you get the feel for it do whatever is comfortable.

Have a great weekend, and stay tuned!

Mike Greer