In the Phoenician scenery, it’s about as easy to find beautiful physiques as it is to view beautiful landscapes. What if fitness was not about the vanity aspect? What if we were actually able to see ourselves through how invigorated we feel? As a personal trainer, nutritionist and fitness model, I ask my clients/fans such questions on a daily basis.
I like to get people thinking about how they can become “phenoms” through fitness, rather than encouraging them to share monotonous goals of aesthetics they wish to achieve in their exercise/meal strategies.
It is my professional and personal opinion that most commercial facilities capitalize on people’s insecurities rather than empowering them through fitness. This being my stance, it is important to me to empower my business through empowering others. You always hear, “Come to us! We can help you re-create yourself!” Blah, blah, blah… Time for a reality check folks!
I always say: “Fitness is not about creating a ‘new’ you, it’s about discovering the ‘true’ you.”
Discover the gymhidden in your office:
Often, within the executive/administrative community, there are many people who need workouts that are more tailored for outside the gym due to time constraints.
One of the best exercises for your heart is good old-fashioned walking with moderate intensity. I recommend that people bring supportive exercise shoes to work and hit those stairwells! Keep your chest up and shoulders back, and march up and down multiple flights of stairs. Make it fun! Bring your I-Pod or your Walkman and listen to something that gets you excited and keeps you moving. On top of the cardio-vascular benefits, walking stairs can also strengthen your legs, increase circulation and flexibility and help relieve stress.
You can also relieve stress and burn calories by walking outdoors when weather permits, or you can bring sweats to work and take a nice run. Push-ups are another great exercise. In fact, in my professional opinion, there is no other standalone exercise as strengthening for the total upper body as push-ups.
Walking lunges and doing squats while holding onto your chair or desk are some great suggestions for inner-office lower-body workouts as well.
No matter what, just be active. Enjoy your body and you will enjoy life because living active makes you less stressed.
Battling stress with exercise:
Stress-relief from exercise helps because stress in the mind (often built up at work) can cause the body to produce excessive amounts of the hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol (resulting from stress) can increase the body’s propensities to store fat and retain water. Cortisol can also promote other metabolic inefficiencies which ultimately affect overall cardiovascular health.
I invite you to enjoy the gall and grit it takes to get fit. In all honesty, the gall is truly what you are made of. You are not inferior.
The grit is the time in the gym and the will to eat effectively for your fitness. It may sound hard, but so is being out of shape. Get fit, get happy. It is a really simple equation.
For those of you who know you are worth the work, let’s talk grit…
Grit in the kitchen:
Whether you eat out a lot or you like to make food, you can always be prepared. For instance, eating out, you can go to fast rice bowl joints and order the chicken with brown rice and no sauce, and maybe throw on some Tabasco. Another option to eating on the run is to go through a drive-thru or au-natural Southwestern spot and get shrimp tacos, grilled fish or chicken tacos, and ask them to wrap them in one corn tortilla as opposed to the traditional double-tortilla taco. Salad with chicken or fish or eggs with salsa or lemon instead of dressing can save you a load (in more ways than one.)
If you don’t care for other people’s food, prepare nutrient/fiber-rich meals with oats, apples, or raw mixed veggies like carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Also include a protein such as fish, chicken or lean beef. Another benefit to not eating out is that it takes less time to grab an easy-open can of tuna and an apple in the grocery store than going into quick-stop restaurants.
Either way you look at it, if you just keep protein in every meal, that’s a start. I could tell you the obvious (cutting out bad fats and sugary foods), but you already know that, and my telling you won’t force you to do it if you are already defying it.
Grit in the gym:
Above all things, be safe and consult a qualified doctor or trainer before beginning any exercise program. No one was ever efficient when they were hurt.
Know that you can hit the gym while making your time minimal but effective. Here are a few impact maximizing and time minimizing workouts that can be done during the week. Total time is less than one hour for each one.
Day 1: Hit the treadmill at more than a mild walking pace for about 25 minutes. Do six sets of lifting weights on your biceps and six sets on your triceps. Stretch after you are done.
Total time: About 45 minutes, if you keep your set interim rests between 30 and 60 seconds.
Day 2: Hit the treadmill walking rapidly for two minutes and then jog or even sprint for 30 to 60 seconds. This is called an interval. Repeat your intervals four times before cooling down for a 5-minute brisk walk. (You may enjoy kicking out fat with this hi/low intensity interval workout on the Stepmill or the Stairmaster or the elliptical also!) Stretch to complete the workout.
Total time: About 20 minutes.
Bonus: Depending on the intensity of your intervals, you can burn as many calories with a 20-minute interval workout as you do in 60 minutes of cardio at a constant low/medium-intensity pace.
Day 3: Hit the cardio of your choice for a 5-minute warm-up at medium intensity. Head on over to the leg section of your gym, and belt out three sets of leg extensions, three sets of lunges, three sets of hamstring curls (seated or upright), two sets of leg press at moderate to heavy weight, and two sets of walking lunges to finish resistance training. Stretch to complete your leg workout.
Total time: About 50 minutes.
Day 4: Cardio or interval train to your heart’s content!
Suggested time: 45-60 minutes of cardio or 20 minutes of hi/low-intensity intervals.
Nita Marquez is a Phoenix-based fitness model and competitor, nutrition consultant, personal trainer and mental conditioning coach. She trains individuals, couples and groups in downtown Phoenix. She can be reached at (602) FOR-NITA (367-6482), at www.nitasworld.com or by e-mail at fitnita@hotmail.com.