Getting
Motivated For Fitness
The
following is directly from a fitness expert at Indiana University. Hope is help
motivate a few more people out in South Georgia.
Science
Daily
—
Allison
Chopra, a fitness expert at Indiana University, encourages her personal training
clients to break their more ambiguous goals of say, feeling better or dropping a
few dress sizes, into smaller goals that can be achieved in three to four weeks.
She discourages weight-oriented goals because weight loss is a long-term process
and everyone loses weight at different rates. Instead, she wants to know how her
clients feel.
"I ask them, are you feeling better? How's your confidence, your energy
level? Are you feeling better about yourself?" said Chopra, the personal
training coordinator for IU Bloomington's Division of Campus Recreational
Sports. "But these are harder to track."
Chopra offers the following tips concerning goal-setting, encouraging people to
be SMART about their goals. The industry catch-phrase SMART stands for Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Reward (as in, give yourself
one when you've achieved a goal) and Time (set a time for reaching the goal):
- Wellness
goals should not be underestimated. People can feel a lot of satisfaction in
meeting them, building momentum for other goals. "One goal I set for
some of my clients is to get eight hours of sleep each night for a
week," Chopra said.
- Goals
need to be attainable and realistic. Challenging yourself to eat no fat for
a week could be setting yourself up for failure.
Chopra encourages some of her clients to eat breakfast every morning, or at
least do so for a week.
- Be
specific. A goal of "eating better," is an example of a worthwhile
but ambiguous goal. A more effective or specific goal might be to limit
sweets to one a day for the next week or to limit cookies to the weekend.
- Exercising
too much could be counter-productive. Adequate rest can result in better
workouts, Chopra said. "I tell people, more than you'd think, not to
exercise as much," Chopra said. "Our muscles need time to rest and
repair themselves. For a normal exerciser, not an athlete, three to five
days a week is good. When people start missing days, they can become
disappointed and start missing more."
- Keep
track. Write down your goals and progress, noting it in a journal, notebook
or other medium. Put goals in a visible spot. Fitness goals could include
performing some form of physical activity for a certain number of days each
week or a certain number of minutes. Energy (how do you feel?) can be
measured on a scale of one to 10 each day. Pedometers can be used to count
steps, increasing the number over time.
Chopra
is a big fan of small steps and a forgiving temperament. If a goal is not met,
she said, it should be reassessed to make sure it's reasonable and then sought
after again -- after a brief break.
"Getting
fit or feeling well is a long process," she said. "It doesn't happen
overnight."
Note:
This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Indiana University.
The
4th edition of the St John Road Race is being presented on October 27
at 8:30AM. People who have requested an application through email have already
started to register. Go to www.getactivevaldosta.com
and request your application today. Applications are also available throughout
the area in gyms, at the school, church and Get Active.
November 10th is the date set for the Great Strides walk to be held
at Wild Adventures. This event is a fund raiser for Cystic Fibrosis –
“adding tomorrows every day.” In the past, Valdosta’s event has been the
largest fund raiser event in the country with $200,000 raised last year. The
community of Tyler, Texas has their sights on raising more funds than Valdosta
can…but Tyler is not aware of the Winnersville attitude that Valdostan’s and
South Georgia hold so dear. Tyler will be surprised with the increased amount
raised by Valdosta’s event this November. Realize that the real winners are
the people with CF who benefit from the research done by the scientists courtesy
of the money raised by people just like you. Form a team of co-workers, friends
or family members, call 404-325-6973 or visit http://greatstrides.cff.org
to register. If you have questions,
write me an email and your questions will be answered.
There are weekly, FREE activities for the runners and cyclists in the area.
Runners can show up at Get Active on Saturday and Sunday morning at 7AM for runs
from 1.5 to 8 plus mile runs. Thursday morning is a women’s
ONLY run, and the other runs are all-comers. Cyclists can meet for rides on
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. For more information, check out
the web page at www.azaleacitycyclists.com.
Do you have results you want to share about yourself, a loved one or friend? Do
you want to share what motivates you to being active? Send an email to me at Get
Active – Running and more.
If you have questions about your walking, running or other training, drop me an
email and I will do my level best to answer your questions. Check out www.getactivevaldosta.com
to get connected. Listen to the Get Active South Georgia radio show on Wednesday
evenings from 6 to 7PM on NewsTalk 105.9 FM WVGA to receive additional
information or to ask questions.
Thank
you,
Todd
& Alice Smoot
GET
ACTIVE
Running
and more
GET
ACTIVE SOUTH GEORGIA
as
heard on
NewsTalk
105.9 FM WVGA
Wednesdays
6
to 7 PM - call into the show at 229-241-1059
GET
ACTIVE SOUTH GEORGIA
as read weekly in the Sunday VDT - look for us
www.getactivevaldosta.com
3200-C
North Ashley Street
Valdosta,
GA 31602
229-219-0010
229-219-0012
(F)
In
the long run, one must have goals to succeed.
"To
give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift" Steve
Prefontaine