I sometimes think of myself as being really unfit. I know that’s not true, but sometimes it’s how I feel. It can be when I haven’t been to the gym for a while, when I am really struggling in an exercise class, when I feel out of breath after walking up the escalators on my way to work, and when I compare myself to friends and others at the gym.
Then I remind myself that I ran a marathon.
26.2 miles of running.
And although I am not as fit as I was in April last year, I know that I can make myself fit again.
Overall fitness is said to consist of five elements;
- Cardio fitness
- Muscular strength
- Muscular endurance
- Flexibility
- Body composition (body fat %)
My particular weakness is my flexibility, although I don’t feel too confident about any of the other aspects of my ‘fitness makeup’.
Guidelines suggest that you should exercise for at least 2.5hours a week, at moderate intensity, spread over most days of the week. It should be a mix of cardio and weights.
Taking that into consideration, I think that my current routine is along the right lines. I don’t really have a set schedule week in, week out though, which I think I should do. It will help me be more organised about my exercise. Plus, I’ve signed up to run the Silverstone half in March and so will need to fit in some running training into my schedule.
I’m still working on what days of the week I will fit everything in, but I know I want my schedule to include; bikram yoga, Body Pump, Spinning, PowerPlates and half marathon training. I’d also like to keep some space open to try some other classes such as TRX, and slip in some classes that I’ve already tried and enjoy occasionally like
WillPower and Grace. I’m hoping that scheduling in exercise 5 or 6 times a week, I’ll be less likely to skip a workout. In order to keep losing weight and to improve my fitness, I need to ensure that exercise is a big part of my life throughout 2013 (and beyond!!)
I had my BMI measured yesterday and was told I was very normal, with a BMI between 23-24, however this is still the top end of healthy. I still want to lose another 5-6lbs (of body fat I hope!!)
How many hours a week do you exercise? Do you think you have a balance between all the aspects of being ‘fit’?
What a great question! After losing over 100 pounds and keeping it off for 4.5 years now, I can say I’m very fit. 🙂
My cardio is stellar, I attribute that to swimming. I can hike, bike, etc without feeling like I’m sucking wind and going to keel over.
I have the endurance to do long activities but I don’t have the specific TRAINING to like run a marathon or bike 100 miles. THis summer I biked a metric century and I spent all summer training for it.
Wow I am not surprised you had to train to bike 100 miles, I definitely would too- even after I had run that marathon! Congratulations on losing 100lbs, that’s awesome!! Thanks for reading!