Why Now Is The Time To Get Back Into Shape

It's 9:17 on a Wednesday evening, and you feel exhausted, you have body pains, and you've just returned from Dairy Queen with two Peanut Buster Parfaits, and they're both for you. You're sleeping in later and later each morning, because you can't sleep properly at night. Shovelling the film of snow off your driveway spikes your heart rate like a hospital stress-test, walking up your stairs causes wheezing, and carrying your groceries from car to fridge results in muscle and joint pain. This is when you know you need to get back into shape.


There's really no better time than now. Working out doesn't have to be a time-consuming thing like the times you were a teen ager working your angst out on the weight bench in your garage for several hours a day. It can be very simple, stress-free, convenient, and efficient.

The most important thing to know right now is that you can do it. You haven't been to a gym since you were in university--25 years ago? No problem--just do it. You can join a gym or get some second-hand equipment for your home. I have a friend who has a few free-weights and an old exercise bike circa 1970s, and that's all he needs. 

Another way to go are cave man exercises: push-ups, sit ups, and a chin-up bar you can buy at Walmart for about $20 that stretches between both sides of a door frame. Go on YouTube and find some simple Pilates videos and work on stretching. Take the dog out more times per day and for longer distances. Find some stairs at a local park and climb them, up and down, as many times as you can.

The key is to take it slow: If you're in your 40s and haven't been active for the past several years, you're not going to be able to perform like you did at 21. Work at doing it as consistently as you can and without burning yourself out. 

Gyms are another good place to get on the road to recovery, with some offering initiation programs in which you spend some time with a trainer going over your physical history and the kinds of outcomes you'd like to achieve. And if you haven't been to a gym before and you feel it's all 20-somethings with bodies of olympic athletes, it's not. You'll see all kinds of people at a gym: young and old, ripped and rolled. The most important thing is that you do it. 

Finding a local swimming pool is another good way to go. Getting out before or after work for a good swim will get you in fine shape--and who doesn't like a warm indoor swimming pool in the dead-cold of winter?

With getting back into cardiovascular and muscular shape comes greater concern about what you put in your body. When you aren't sweating like crazy on the treadmill or trying to get your muscles toned as close as possible to the body you had in university, you're more likely to eat things that are unhealthy. However, when you are taking the time to care for your body, you begin to desire putting healthy things into it. There is often a connection between working out and eating well.

So if you feel tired, sluggish, depressed, and have spent every evening this week watching Friends re-runs with bags of Frito-Lays, and you desire to change your life, now's the time to do it--and you can! Make a commitment to begin: Uncover the bike or treadmill in your basement and hop on it; do some mild stretches; get out for a walk; Google-search the nearest YMCA or gym from your house and plan in the next 24 hours to go and sign up. You'll love yourself for it, and you'll be back on track to health. 

There's no better time than now!