Woodstock Mixed Martial Arts - Week 1
The Exercise Habit
Ugh! Exercise. Do I have to?
Sound familiar? As a kid, I played all the games that kids used to play: throwing things, jumping and running around the neighborhood. These days I'm a certified Martial Arts Instructor and I've discovered a few things that will show you that exercise can still be part of your life... and still be a lot of fun!
We're going to develop an exercise strategy for your life. We're all a little different, we're all starting from different places - how can we create an exercise program that works for you? The trick is to start slowly and create habits.
What I will offer here over the next several weeks is information. Many exercise programs expect too much too fast. Leaping tall buildings in a single bound is an admirable goal... eventually! We're going to set a more reasonable target of firming, toning ...and learning how to make easy exercises work for you.
For once, it IS all about you. Nobody can exercise for you, no matter how much you're willing to pay ...or how much you beg!
Two Basic Rules
Here are some basic rules to help us on our way. Our goal is to develop a habit that we can stick with for the rest of our lives. That's a hefty demand. One way we can get there is to keep it short, sweet - and efficient.
#1. To lose weight, Calories Out must be greater than Calories In.
Our bodies are like cars, they need gas to go. But here's a big difference: Nobody will put extra gas in the car, overflowing the tank, in the hopes of creating a better driving experience. Extra donuts anyone?
To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat.
#2. There is no such thing as spot reduction.
Rule 2 is broken by almost every weight loss advertisement or exercise gimmick.
Our bodies are genetically programmed to store fat in specific places. Chances are, if your mom was a "pear", you'll be a pear, too. Dad had a large "bay window"? You will probably store most of your fat in your belly region, too. Doing 1000 sit-ups will NOT cause that belly to shrink faster than the rest of your body. Fat is lost evenly over the entire body. Sit-ups, unfortunately, don't actually use a lot of calories. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat.
Getting Started
The latest data shows that those who exercise in the morning tend to stick with it more than those who exercise later in the day. If you exercise at night and then go to bed, you basically shut down the plant for the evening. Rev up the metabolism in the morning and the muscle factory is running in high gear all day long - using up calories!
Ten minutes in the morning. Everyday. We need to create a habit. We've got to make exercise the same as brushing our teeth in the morning. Can't start the day with grungy teeth - or without our 10 Minutes.
This first week, we're going to do a basic movement, more to establish our habit than to really burn calories or build muscle. We want to begin with movements that either work several different muscles or target the largest muscles - or both!
The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body. That's the one we sit on, just in case you couldn't find it. The quadriceps muscles of the front thigh ("quads") are also one of the largest muscle groups so we're going to target them as well.
Repeat after me, "Form is Everything!". Exercises must be done correctly, not sloppily. It's safer. Do these a little wrong and you might get sore. Do them a lot wrong and you might get hurt. Bad form might just be a waste of your time... and that's nearly as bad as an injury!
Check with your doctor before starting any exercise program! If it hurts, STOP! The "No Pain No Gain" system is for cavemen.
Squats
Our first exercise is... squats. And when it comes to doing these correctly, many people don't know... um... squat. I once thought that these were the easiest way ever invented to trash your knees. Done wrong, they are! Done correctly, they can use plenty of calories and will create muscle factories that continue to burn calories even when were sitting on them!
Position Tips
1. Feet are placed slightly wider than the shoulders. Toes are straight ahead or even slightly out. Do NOT point the toes into the centerline.
2. Heels will remain on the floor throughout the exercise.
3. Do NOT bend forward if you can possibly avoid it. Keep the back straight.
4. When you start out, don't go deeper than thighs parallel to the floor. We're trying to strengthen the legs and behind, not destroy the knees! Depth will come as we strengthen the muscles and ligaments that support our knee joint.
In the early going, do not be afraid to "help" the legs by supporting some of your body weight with your arms by holding on to a counter or something sturdy. At the first sign of ANY sharp pains, STOP. If you haven't done this before - or at least for several years - do NOT push it. Pain means STOP.
Lower down and smoothly come back up. Go ahead and stick your behind out a bit. Keep those toes straight, heels down, don't go too far down too soon. Find a point where you can readily do 10 repetitions. Rest 60 seconds and do a second set of 10 more reps.
That's it! Remember, we're trying to form a 10 minute morning habit here. We're not trying to lose 100 pounds this week. Baby steps are important - but regular baby steps are the key to success! This first week may only take 5 minutes... great! Walk around the house for 5 more if you like, climb up and down the stairs.
As the squats get a little easier, try going a little deeper. If that's too tough, try going a little faster instead. Always give your body a bit of a challenge and those muscles will grow!
Remember: Create a daily morning habit.
Go on to Week 2Jump ahead for a peek at Week 3