Most trainers and gyms will tell you how the mid to late summer months can be pretty slow. For whatever reason it seems that the average American feels an urgent need to “get in shape” for certain seasons, then let themselves go for others.

Wouldn’t it be great if you were always fit, always, healthy, and always looked great?

Forget New Year’s resolutions, why not start now? It really is much easier than you might think to improve your health. For example, just choose an area you would like to see change, then pick one small thing that you can perform on a regular basis to achieve your goal.

Make sure that whatever step you take, that it is doable. If fat loss is a goal, then choose something small like exchanging half your starchy carbohydrates for veggies at dinner. If your goal is to increase your punching speed, then commit to throwing ten or twenty extra high speed punches per day. Just make sure that the feeling you get when choosing your new habit is “Yeah, I can do that,” instead of “Ugh.  I really don’t wan to do that.”

One of my recent goals, for example, is to develop the ability to perform a full side split. I’m fairly flexible, but I have not been able to complete a side split since I was 10 years old and it’s a crowd pleaser that I have been wanting to develop for a few years now. In any case, my new habit will be to spend ten minutes every day performing strength and flexibility exercises for side splits.

So, once you get started with your new habit make sure to keep it up religiously for at least a month; by then the habit should be pretty well set and you can add another.

If you think about it, you can have 12 new healthy habits every year. At that rate, you will be at your best in no time!

As an added measure of accountability, let people know what you are doing. In fact, feel free to post your goal and new habit here or better yet, start your own blog and document your journey to better health.

Let me know how it goes!

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Health and fitness should be interesting and enjoyable.

It always amazes me how this aura of suffering and discipline combined with large doses of blood and sweat seems to have encased the fitness industry.

There are tons of new programs out there that are upbeat, innovative, and exciting, yet the default images that come to mind still seem to be grueling and bleak where only the strong survive.

I have to admire the self discipline that the people must develop who go to the gym everyday to pump iron and run on the treadmill.  I did it for a few years until I realized that I could utilize all the time spent, on my rat on a wheel routine, to learn something and develop usable skills, or at least have fun.  So, instead of spending hours per week strapped into a machine repeating two dimensional motions, I focused on sports, martial arts, and just trying new things.

Since I made the switch, I enjoy working out much more, my body is more defined, my strength is more functional, my martial arts skill level has increased significantly, and I know a lot more about how the body works.

Now, if you’re a competitive athlete or even just a weekend warrior who wants to improve his/her game, then a sport specific conditioning routine outside of game play would be appropriate.  Keep in mind that this still does not mean hitting the gym with the old “C’mon, c’mon . . . one more rep!” routine, it should be a varied and dynamic series of holistic movements that are specifically designed to increase, your speed, strength, agility, flexibility, etc.  What I mean by holistic is multi-planar, multi-joint, and utilizing a rate of movement and control that would be needed in real life.

In any case, if you’ve reached the stage where you want to improve your game, then you have probably already incorporated a level of regularly performed exercise that you enjoy.

For those of you who are still challenged by the “regular exercise” stage, I recommend getting out there and trying something new.  Go for a Yoga or Pilates class.  Try swimming, or a team sport.  Learn Boxing.  Go hiking or rock climbing. Go kayaking or learn to surf.  Join a bootcamp (they’re tough but fun!).  Landscape your yard.  The possibilities are endless.  In my case, I like honing my martial arts and self defense skills.  I also enjoy boxing, kickboxing, and submission wrestling among other less combative things like racquetball, hiking, ocean kayaking, body surfing, mountain biking, etc.

It’s true that classes tend to be more expensive than gym memberships, but here is a little known fact that I found out as a personal trainer:  most people sign two or three year contracts at large chain gym, then quit within the first three months.  Basically, the gym is making money over the course of three years despite the fact that their facilities were only used for a few months.  If your gym offers classes, that’s great!  It has been my experience, however, that class instructors at large gyms tend to be overworked, underpaid, and rather unenthusiastic about what they are teaching.

Most fitness studios that offer classes, on the other hand, charge monthly tuition without contracts, will often times give you a degree of personal attention that is largely absent of commercial gyms, and are generally passionate about their craft.

The take home message:  If you want a change from the traditional gym routine, go shop around for an interesting class and just do it.  If you’re on a budget, just get some friends together, go to the park, and use your imagination!

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Here’s a great article that lists some compelling reasons to start getting physically active.

I would like to add that incorporating fitness via a self defense training program does wonders for self confidence and can be a very powerful tool for stress relief.

In any case, one of the best ways to get on an exercise program and stay on it, is to choose an activity that you enjoy . . . and better yet, take a friend.

Happy training!

The greatest challenge in developing a permanent exercise habit is finding motivation that lasts. It’s easy to get to the gym when you’re preparing for that big beach vacation or want to look great for your high school reunion. But what about the rest of the time?

For much of my life I followed a pretty consistent pattern:

• Get a bit fat.
• Start to hate the way I look.
• Hit the gym with a vengeance for a few weeks.
• Start to look noticeably better.
• Smugly enjoy my new found vanity.
• Lose motivation and stop working out for a few weeks.
• Repeat from beginning.

Vanity, it turns out, isn’t a great longterm motivator for most people. It wasn’t until I associated exercise with rewards beyond physical appearance that I was able to get myself to the gym 5-6 times a week without any lapses.

To help you bring consistency and enthusiasm to your exercise schedule, here are some powerful reasons to work out that have nothing to do with looking good.

Read the full article here: 10 Reasons to Work Out That Have Nothing to Do With a Sexy Bod

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com