A new you for the New Year

Many people for New Years make resolutions on what they want to achieve within the next year. I didn't. Not that I don't desire improvement, but rather I know that I'm horrible at keeping them. Like many people though, my new year has already involved trips to the gym.

I have never been much interested in working out. I enjoy active recreation: sports, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, airsoft, and other outdoor activities, but I have never been much for going to the gym for the sake of health, purposeful exercise. The closest I ever got to a regular routine was when I took an aerobic kickboxing class my freshman year of college. I remember waking up one morning after class so sore that I couldn't feel my body and when I did all I could feel was how sore it was. I enjoyed myself and did feel pretty good. I also remember receiving my first ever candid compliment. At the end of the semester I went into my own work and a former colleague said that I was "looking great." So, you'd think that I would have kept it up, but I didn't. I took a physical education class ever semester after that, but they were activity based, not exercised based.

The last four months or so I have been taking advantage of a program at work that enables me to make use of the gym while I'm here. As I don't have anybody to play racquetball with (the activity I've done elsewhere to exercise) I found myself developing my own routine. I have to confess that A big part of it has been focused around my involvement in airsoft - an activity similar to paintball where people shoot each other with 6mm plastic BBs. The first couple of times I went I would find myself out of breath and the next day would be so sore I could barely walk. Those early workouts involved a mix of walking, running, and sprinting interspersed with sit ups and push ups. I would often motivate myself with thoughts of airsoft and how I wouldn't be totally flagged after the games.

Exercise is a pretty hot topic in society. The first lady, Michele Obama, initiated the Let's Move program to encourage kids and adults to have more physical activity. The Mayo Clinic, US News and World Report, and the Center of Disease Control, with a bunch of others, have reasons why exercise is beneficial including: natural stress relief, improved mental and physical health, to combat depression and dementia, and to improve self image. I can agree with all of the reasons give on that, as I have seen it in my own life. I do have to say that there are side effects to regular physical exercise - the biggest is that when you start you might feel like you are just going to have to live with being sore for the rest of your life. I am happy to say that that may pass in time, or at least lesson. Technically, if you're exercising right you will have something that is sore, but that is only because as your body grows you need to push it further to continue to receive benefits from exercise. If you only stay with the same level of intensity you will plateau and will not improve.

There are lots of exercises you can do. Aerobic activities include getting your heart rate up and is often used to lose or maintain weight. Flexibility training, such as yoga, is exactly what it sounds like and may be combined with meditation, but not always. Strength training uses resistance in the forms of everything from springs to weights to build muscle mass and increase muscle definition. There are lots of ways to combine the different forms into a single workout and everybody has a different preference. If you don't have access to a gym, there are still many ways to exercise. The trick, I've learned, is to find out the exercises that you enjoy doing. As you get more comfortable with exercising and come to enjoy different parts, you'll find yourself trying new things. Today I started into a lifting routine, something that I didn't think I would do four months ago.

So whether is for a New Years resolution or just because, get out and get active because it really is a great way to stay healthy and enjoy life.