I sit here thinking about many things that impact on health and well-being. Health is an individual goal that each of us is required to travel alone. The people you bring along to help you are only there is assist; they cannot live your health for you. This means any doctor you choose to see is there to assist you but you must take and active role in your own health by asking questions and participating in your own recovery or rehabilitation.
The gym is whatever you want it to be – a place to improve, a place, to hide from others, a place to admire or be admired, or a place to learn. I think of the gym as the ultimate place to be selfish and I think you should also.
The gym should be your best place to “be selfish” – the place you take care of only one person: you. Selfish is best when it is used to improve yourself and not to harm others and the gym is the best place to do these things.
Men go to the gym to improve their musculature (we call this hypertrophy of muscles mass) and women go to keep their physique trim. Just so we get this part clear, women cannot create a male physique no matter how much they work out with weights. A woman with a male physique is adding something to her diet to create that effect.
To be honest, the best goal for everyone at the gym is to work their muscles and heart (“cardio”) so that they are working at their peak performance every time. The body works best when it is moving (“Motion is Health”, remember).
There is something that every gym has, someone there to help you with the machines, to answer questions, to be hired as a trainer to work with you one-on-one. The trainer idea is actually a good one if you are new to that gym and are unfamiliar with the equipment. Like all new things, ease into your gym by working with people who are more familiar with what your gym offers.
Every gym you join wants you to stay a member so they will do as much as possible to help you to enjoy the experience of being there. This is not unique to your gym; that is just good business!
So how do you get the most out of your gym? Start by doing a light or slow version of what you intend to do that day – NEVER go hard and heavy with any part of your workout or you will hurt yourself!
Do some light weights (I do the hand weights, we used to call them dumbbells but I don’t know if that is the term anymore) and throughout my workout ease up to larger amounts until I reach my peak for that day. Some days I reach a new peak, which is satisfying as an accomplishment.
I also do some stretching and yoga partway through my workout. As my patients know many of my routines that I apply to them, this is where I do them myself.
I put in 30 minutes of cardio using a machine called an elliptical. This machine measures my distance, time, and heartrate (pulse).
This is something you can measure that will tell you your “heart health” – a more efficient heart will be able to do more with less effort: you can make your heart (which is muscle) into a more efficient machine!
For example, when I started my gym routine many years ago, my heart rate when I did a hard cardio routine would hit a peak of around 160 beats per minute as I went through a 30 minute routine. It is now years later and my peak heart rate is around 140 beats per minute to do the same amount of work. What does that mean? I am doing the same amount of work and my heart is doing it more efficiently! This should be everyone’s goal!
Health time must be “selfish time” so get out there and “be selfish!”
via Blogger http://chiropractic-lane.blogspot.com/2013/07/be-selfish-its-good-for-your-health.html
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