People often ask me how I stay in shape. Now about three weeks before my 49th birthday, I think that the most honest answer to that question is that I listen to my body. In NLP we talk about the internal dialog, which is the voice in your head where you talk to yourself. It is important to know how that communication works for you.
Also, your body communicates with you, sending you signals of hunger, pain, heat and cold and if you are really listening it will tell you how to lead a healthy life.
I became a P.E teacher in 1994, we had a lot of theory, anatomy, physiology, teaching techniques etc. And then we learned by doing. We all had to dance, practice gymnastics, swim, participate in athletics and play football, basketball and volleyball.
Some things I was good at, others not so much and I would learn by doing and listening to my body. How strong I was, how strong could I get? How good was my cardiovascular system, how good could it get? How does it feel to be out of your comfort zone? How important it is what you drink and eat, what to have more of and what to have less of.
After that I have never really stopped working my body for the simple reason that it doesn’t feel very good to be in my body when I’m not doing some kind of workout.
I was never a super athlete; it has always been on a fitness level for me.
Before I had my daughter, 17 years ago, I would work with weights in a gym. I would train all my muscle groups on the same day, going 3-4 times a week, and I was in good shape. Later I switched to Yoga, Pilates and picked up horseback riding again.
It was all right for me at the time I was doing it.
Now I’m back at the gym training with personal trainer Paul Clough. I have trained with him for about a year. He has taught me that I can lift heavy weights as a women, that I will not get big as a man, for the simple reason that I don’t have enough testosterone.
I see many women at the gym who are not getting results, and I think one of the reasons is the way they train. Traditionally women who lift weights, lift lighter weights and have more repetitions, this builds resistance and is effective when you want to lose weight.
If you lift heavier weights and have fewer repetitions you are building muscle and you tone better. Very often you will not lose weight but create muscle tone, know that muscle weighs more than fat so you may weigh more but have less fat.
Research shows us that even if you weight train 3 times a week you will burn more calories everyday because weight training has been proven to increase your metabolism, even at rest.
Also older people lose fat and improve their functional performance and muscle strength, reducing risk of injuries and strengthen both muscle and bones.
A part from that working-out produces endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that produce a sensation of happiness and well-ness. Our own natural drug if you like.
Mens sana in corpore sano.
As I talked about limiting belief last week, I would also like to mention the word diet.
You see many people who want to loose weight go on a diet. The thing is the word diet often has a limiting belief attached to it and that is a time limit. If when you have finished your diet you go back to your old habits, guess what happens? So I would aim for a lifestyle change. (You can read the blog on limiting beliefs here)
And now that I began this blog answering the many people who ask me how I stay fit, I can tell you that right now I lift weights, I lift as much weight as I can doing 10-12 repetitions three times, when I can do 12 repetitions comfortably I up the weight and do 8 reps three times, until I reach 12 reps again.
I go 6 times a week for 45 min and work on a different muscle group every day. This way the muscle gets the rest they need to get stronger. I train with other people, it is motivating and if I have to meet someone at set time I find that I’m more committed.
I don’t have huge muscles but those muscles I do have are well toned. I train cardiovascular training using my electric bike whenever the weather permits while in Menorca and when in Bogota I walk everywhere when possible.
I hope you as well can find the workout that is good for you, treat your fitness as important as any meeting or doctor’s appointment, it is your health we are talking about here.
Please be as happy as you would like to be and remember it is free to be nice.
Best wishes,
Ivalo