Fitness in your life and for life!

I will be attempting my first triathlon next month.  A feet I said I would NEVER do (along with a marathon - which I completed in March).  So why am I doing it?  Well somewhere in my brain I convinced myself that I couldn't  - for numerous reasons.  But that didn't sit well with my type A, first-born personality.  Then a friend of mine reminded me of a well known verse that I had been omitting from my list of inspirational verses:  "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength," Philippians 4:13.  I think I avoided this verse because I didn't WANT to do all things.  I've spent a large portion of my adult life doing things that others wanted me to do, all the while having a nagging sensation that I was missing out on some of life's fun , wonder and adventure.  I've come to the decision this year that it's time to see what I am capable of when I leave myself open to the opportunity.

Making a fitness overhaul can be a daunting task, and trying new things can be even more scary.  But making small changes and incorporating new activities into our lives is what keeps us motivated to push through.  We my feel like messing with the status quo of our fitness routine is asking for trouble, but your body can actually reach a level of fitness where you do not see any more gains in strength or cardiovascular fitness.  In the trainer world we call it muscle adaptation; you can think of it as a plateau.  It's the point at which you will see little to no physiological change because your muscle fibers have adapted to the same repetitive exercise (Karp, PhD, 2011).  The solution:  change up your routine, try new things, and then make trying new things, part of the routine!  This is where the Hot Mama Passport to Fitness comes in.  This summer I challenge you to try new things.  Not just activities that you do for a month or a season, but rather a sampling of some of the new and fun things you can do always, at many stages of your life!  You'll be rewarded just for being active and introducing an active lifestyle to your family.  Follow the link for all of the details and to sign up for the challenge.  I can't wait to see you stretch your limits!    

Blessings,

            Lei

Karp, PhD, J. (2011). Busting through training plateaus.IDEA Fitness Journal, 8(5), np. Retrieved from http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/busting-through-training-plateaus