For many of us, getting in shape in the number 1 New Year’s Resolution. Not having enough time to exercise is the most common excuse but please note that a healthy lifestyle may be more critical to your climb up the corporate ladder that you thought.
Sacrificing your health and fitness so you can spend more hours at the office might actually be counterproductive as even the most devoted employees will experience diminished health if they are totally consumed with work. Being fit and healthy gives you the stamina and the resiliency needed to perform at your best.
If you have, or have had any medical condition, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue recommends that you obtain physician clearance before pursuing an exercise program. In the beginning of the year, it is common for our department to receive an increase in calls from residents that try to lose weight too fast with extreme diets or workout regimes. Exercising three times a week should be enough. The aim is spending at least 2 hours and 30 minutes performing moderate intensity aerobic activity. Don’t forget to add some muscle training activities and to stay hydrated.
Walking, running, and lifting weights are ideal but if you are like me and love to dance, Zumba may be your preferred way to lose weight and stay in shape. This aerobic workout blends choreographed footwork and body movements from Salsa, Meringue, Flamenco and other dances to sculpt your body and burn fat. When you’re grooving to the spicy Latin beats during a Zumba class, you won’t even realize that you’re toning your abs, thighs, glutes, and arms.
Indoor rock climbing is an anaerobic workout that builds strength, balance and can burn up to 800 calories an hour – you work muscles you didn’t know you had. At indoor climbing gyms, beginners usually start with bouldering (climbing shorter walls without a rope or harness) and top roping (climbing with an instructor or spotter using a harness or rope). It’s actually lots of fun!
If you are on a budget after the holiday shopping, rope jumping could be your chosen path as it is a full-body cardiovascular workout that will make you feel like a kid again while strengthening your muscles and bones, as well as, improving your coordination. Just 15 minutes of jumping rope burns about 200 calories. Please be mindful that you’ll need a good pair of sneakers and always start with a short warm-up.
Sometimes going back to our roots becomes healing. For example, if there’s a sport you enjoyed as a child or have always wanted to try, find a local league and join a team. You’ll be move motivated to exercise while you’ve got teammates waiting on you for practices and games. You will also get so focused on the game and social aspects of playing on a team that it won’t feel like exercise.
For me, going back to my roots means skating, which is an alternative to running because it’s easier on the joints; this is actually my New Year’s Resolution. I love skating because it tones the lower body and builds leg strength. Additionally, both ice and inline skating are good calorie burners – a 143-pound women burns about 330 calories during one hour of continuous skating.
Happy Healthy New Year!