Art Walk Anyone?

Some of us just love running or lifting weights or swimming or dancing or whatever it is that we do for exercise.  The rest of us need a little extra motivation.  One technique that works for some folks is called Premacking (Premack is the guy who made up the term.  Modest fellow.).  Another term for it might be “bribery,” but of a specific kind.  Most of us would work out for cupcakes, but that might not exactly accomplish our goals.

Premacking involves tying something we enjoy, like getting coffee with a friend, to something we need to do, like walking.  We make a deal with ourselves that we can go for coffee as long as we walk there.  Other possible combinations might include podcasts and cardio machines, swimming and hot-tubbing, family time and ice skating.  The key is to piggyback what we need to do on something we want to do anyway without simply canceling out the gain with the reward.

Be creative!  And maybe go stroll down Christmas Tree Lane with a special someone!

Avoid the red ink...

Back in the day when I worked in office management and spent a lot of time with financial statements, I learned the basics of improving gross profit.  There are two choices, and both can be done at once:  reduce expenditure or increase revenue.  In fitness, gross profit is analogous to weight loss.  We can improve our weight loss through reducing the calories we take in and/or by increasing our activity level.

In business, the best way to know how things are going is to look at the reports.  When we track our calories and our activity, we are more likely to see the results on our bottom line.

This time of year has fitness challenges.  Treats are everywhere.  Parties!  Family gatherings!  Cold weather!  Steal a business tactic:  budget.  Plan for extra activity to offset the cookie.  Plan on limiting the cookies, so that extra activity actually fits in the available time.  Let’s get through the holidays with good physical responsibility.

It's Cold (Inside)

I spent the weekend having a cold.  It is getting to be that time of year.  I didn’t work out while I was sick, but I knew I was getting better when Cricket wanted to walk and I wanted to go, too.  Here are some thoughts to use when deciding when and how to work out after being sick:

• Go easy.  Do not make the first workout back just as hard as whatever you were doing before you got sick.  Recovery takes energy.

• Hydrate even more.  We all need more fluids when we are dying of colds.

• Stop when you are tired.  The Workout Police are not counting your reps.  They do not care if you were aiming for 45 minutes on the treadmill and you stopped at 20.  They do not hand out tickets to people who complete only one set of bench presses before hitting the showers.

• Focus on what makes you feel good.  For most people, this means light cardio, just enough to boost mood and improve sleep.

• If you work out in a gym, be careful about hygiene.  Wipe down the equipment.  Don’t forget your tissues.  No one wants your germs.