Physical Wellness

Ok, remember back on my post The Five Components of Wellness? I said stay tuned for more on physical wellness. In a nutshell physical wellness is really all about what your eating and what your doing. If you eat potato chips and soda pop all day, you will be on the heavy side, getting bigger every day. If you eat organic fruits and veggies with water, then your body will reward you with glowing skin, energy, and better health.

The American Council on Exercise teaches that their are 12 components to physical fitness as far as exercise goes. (We will go over these twelve in a minute) This is much more in depth than the classic formula (Aerobic fitness, muscular strength/ endurance, and flexibility) Maybe for some of you, your workout only consists of one of these groups and you don't cross train.
I highly encourage runners to lift weights and do their stretching. This will keep your muscles in balance and help prevent common running injuries like shin splints, IT band syndrome, and knee issues. Same goes for weight lifters. Guys especially, you need to spend time doing cardio. I see it all the time, boys lifting heavy weights and taking protein. In the long run you will develop injuries, gain weight (as in fat) and stunt your growth. Then you have your yogies, those who swear by yoga and Pilate's, not that I don't love my yoga (I practice it regally) but unless you spend time lifting more than your body weight and strengthening your heart. You will develop over flexibility and imbalance problems. I know several die hard yogies who only do yoga, then once they try hot room yoga or need to do something physical, they pass out because they are not adapted to a dynamic movement.

So if you haven't gotten your major 3 into your routine yet, you really should talk to a trainer or friend who studies fitness and get some cross training in your routine. It is very common for NFL players to take ballet classes as part of their training to improve their game. Swimmers spend time lifting weighs, and its common for rock climbers to do yoga.

Now back to the big 12, if you followed this then your workout would consist of; Postural kinetic chain stability, kinetic chain mobility, movement efficiency, core conditioning, balance, cardiorespiratory aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, metabolic markers (ventilatory thresholds), agility/ coordination/ reactivity, and finally speed/power.

This is where it will be easy for me to go off on a tangent on all these different components, but I will try to post on each of these later. For now I want to leave you with the thought of breaking out of a humdrum routine and getting serious about fully dedicating yourself to your workout. Ya a 5 minute walk a day has been extensively proven to increase health benefits in overweight and obese individuals. However if you want to loose any weigh you need to be putting some sweat in the gym.

Physical fitness is SO much more than the classic crunches and push ups. Its time you take your time very seriously when it comes to your hour or half hour you dedicate daily to your routine. The next following 6 weeks (starting September 18th ) we are going to go through a routine that covers all twelve of the ACE components of fitness. Please join me in a dedication to you. Feel free to leave a comment or question at the very bottom of the blog. And as always, stay positive and enjoy the journey.