Personal Fitness Overview
Do you want to be healthy, happy, strong, and fit?
Personal fitness is a big part of all of those things. I’m no sports therapist or expert but I’ve been physically active in group sports and individually for at least half my life. Looking back, my best moments were those where I was using my body the most.
Why should you listen to me on the topic? Well, because I’m an amateur. I’m just a normal guy that likes to be healthy. Perhaps I’m like you.
Why would I want to stress my lack of qualifications or authority on the topic? Simply put, I want to reduce the barrier to entry and transform exercise from an intimidating idea to a natural reflex.
If you want to consult with a professional though, by all means, go ahead! Especially if you have an illness or concerns about how to exercise without hurting yourself.
Where should you start?
It doesn’t matter.
Really, it doesn’t. The most important thing is to start, and once started, to keep it up. You will notice changes in your body with as little as half an hour of exercise per day.
Nevertheless, there are some good questions to ask yourself before beginning a particular exercise regime. For example: What are the reasons you want to exercise?
- Are you trying to lose weight?
- Do you want to gain muscle?
- Are you just trying to stay healthy?
Running
Cost: ~$60 if you don’t already have running shoes.
Time and again, after a month or two without exercising this is the easiest way for me to get started again. You don’t need any fancy equipment or a particular space to run – although a new pair of running shoes is probably a good idea.
Of course, the price depends on where you live and what season you’re in.
Additional gear may be necessary; especially in winter. Gloves, hat, wind-cutting, or sweat-wicking running clothes may all improve your experience immensely.
One of my new favorite pieces of gear is the set of wireless earbuds my girlfriend got me for my last birthday. Now I can listen to podcasts and audiobooks on the go.
If you’re new to running, don’t focus on the gear. These all cost money and shopping around town before starting is just an expensive way to procrastinate.
Stretching is another personal fitness habit that should not be ignored when running. You’ll find countless opinions about the best ways and times to stretch. For me, I stretch after each run and I focus on the muscles and tendons of the calf, thigh, knee, ankle, and hip.
I focus on all of these areas because I’ve injured myself several times by ignoring one or several of them. About 15-20 minutes of stretching after each run seems to work.
Certainly do not fall asleep curled up on a couch after a long run!
Beyond running I’ve been tempted by various other exercise regimes, all of which I’ll describe below. Generally, they are low cost because they don’t involve a lot of equipment or expensive memberships.
Calisthenics
Cost: Free
So, what are calisthenics? They are exercises moving and using no more than the weight of your own body. You might have done this in gym class when you were little. It’s what you see the army doing with its recruits.
If it’s good enough for the army, shouldn’t it be good enough for you?
During the first confinement here in France, while living in a minuscule 26 square meter (280 square feet) apartment, I knew I would go crazy if I didn’t keep active.
I set about creating a workout regime where I focused on muscle groups that I wanted to improve. After a bit of research, I settled on a few exercises that would work those muscles and made a chart with the date and the number of sets I’d done. I didn’t have any particular goals beyond doing better than the day before.
The exercises I chose were:
Squats (and later single-leg squats,) Feet-Elevated Push-ups, Dips, Hand-stands, and Lower-ab Planks.
I ruthlessly restricted myself to a 30-35 minute exercise period because I often get too enthused by things at first and then quickly burn out.
Even these short bouts killed me every day.
Lifting
Cost: Whatever the cost of the gym you choose. Or the price of a set of free weights.
A few years ago I found Strong Lifts 5×5. Its workout plan resonated with me because of its simplicity. Rather than exercising specific muscles, Mehdi, the site’s founder, focuses on muscle groups. He emphasizes the biggest muscles because they are easier to train and offer the greatest boost to one’s strength hormones.
For the next six months, I went to the gym three to four times per week. I did squats, dead-lifts, barbell rows, overhand lifts, and bench presses.
I don’t think I’ve ever been stronger. Nor have I ever been more pleased with my body.
Walking home up a hill was a bit rough though.
From this lifting spell, I learned a bit about gym culture too. Enough to want to set up my own squat rack at home instead of waiting for the one other lifter in the gym to finish with his/her workout.
Others
I’ve been tempted by other fitness regimes too but they aren’t necessarily low-cost:
Yoga – Yes, a yoga mat is cheap but going to a yoga class is not. If you’re very disciplined you could watch youtube videos from home. That never worked for me, unfortunately.
For a while, I took a yoga class and it was quite fun but I didn’t enjoy being one of the few men in the room.
Speaking to the hesitancy of many men to do yoga, or even to take it seriously, I would say that flexibility and strength are two sides of the same coin. It is impossible to develop one without focusing on the other to some extent.
Being both strong and flexible, you will feel very at home in your own body.
As for the spiritual element of yoga, I am almost entirely ignorant and won’t try to speak about it here. From what I gather many of the spiritual aspects of yoga never made it to the ‘Western’ world anyway.
Crossfit – Crossfitters focus on varied movements and high-intensity workouts in a team environment and it just seems fun! There’s a gym near where I live but with the cost and the few hours they seem to be open it just doesn’t seem like it will work out for me.
Someday, when the stars align, I’ll join a gym and improve this section.
What are some fitness habits or disciplines that work for you? What would you recommend? Please leave a comment below.