As a certain politician likes to say "the debate is settled" when it comes to the total benefits of a healthy, consistent fitness regimen. The body of research on the life- extending (or life-saving, in some instances) attributes of daily exercise is overwhelming, so, for this post, we will dispense with listing all of the physiological and psychological benefits that accrue to those who faithfully pursue optimal fitness. Anyone who isn't fully versed on the advantages of fitness is either in denial or has willfully accepted the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle and they're probably not reading this post anyway.
Granted, beginning and maintaining a daily fitness regimen is challenging, however, it's no more challenging than developing any other habit - which is an acquired pattern of behavior that occurs automatically, without thought. Once it becomes a habit, we tend to break through walls for a "fix" - think golf, coffee, cigarettes, chocolate, or any other habit, good or bad, that controls your life. Soon, it becomes an addiction, which your mind and your body will crave to the point of punishing you with illness or depression when it is deprived.
Dawn of the Home Workout Plan
This is the reason why I was compelled to find an at-home, or at-office workout regimen that enabled me to get my fitness fix when I could not get to the gym. I found, early on, that, when I felt I needed to manufacture a reason (a.k.a excuse) for not getting to the gym, it became easier the next time to do the same thing. I began to manufacture rationalizations along with promises to "make it up" by beasting my way through double workouts which seemed like a good idea until I actually tried them.
The home workout plan is essential for building the habit and feeding the addiction. We can't always get to the gym but we can always find 30 minutes at home or at the office. It's also ideal for mixing it up to avoid mental and physical boredom creep that many gym rats experience when they get locked into routines.
I learned fairly quickly that a well constructed home workout, comprised of body weight routines as well as cardio exercises, can be just as effective as a gym workout. With minimal equipment - a couple of dumbbells, an exercise ball, a jump rope, some resistance bands and, maybe, a chin-up bar - I have the essentials for a complete, challenging full body workout. There isn't a muscle I can't rip at home.
The key to any exercise regimen is variety. It avoids boredom and ensures that your brain and your muscles don't become complacent which leads to plateaus (generally, no further improvements in fitness of muscular growth). I spent hours combing through fitness magazines, fitness web-sites and talking with trainers in order to develop a library of home exercise regimens. Then I spent more hours cut and pasting exercises together to form the perfect exercise sets. Not a total waste of time, but, since I discovered FitDeck - I now know that I could have spent more time doing things I actually like.
The $15 Home Workout Plan
FitDeck is a home-based exercise and fitness program developed by a former US Navy Seal instructor and fitness trainer. It consists of a deck of 56 playing cards containing illustrations and instructions describing over 50 different exercises, stretches and movements. These 'no-equipment' FitDecks contain exercises that require only your bodyweight to perform.
Simple as: shuffle the deck, turn the card, perform the exercise and then turn another card. Depending on your goals and level of fitness, it can be a 3 minute workout or a 30 minute workout. The variety of exercises ensures that your mind and your body will stay challenged which is the key to both motivation and fitness growth.
Since I originally bought my own FitDeck, which goes with me everywhere, they have since created programs for Seniors, Juniors, Pilates, Yoga, Expectant Moms, among others. They also have "booster" sets of cards to add more variety and challenges to your FitDeck. These FitDecks can be used on their own -- or they can be mixed together to create hundreds of interesting cross-training opportunities.
Now, there is absolutely no reason or excuse not to be able to maintain the habit and feed the addiction. In fact, since establishing my home workout plan, I've been able to increase my overall level of fitness and break through several plateaus. Heck, they even have downloadable apps for iPhones and PDAs. No more excuses.
For more information on FitDeck go to my website at best-liferesources.com and look for the FitDeck icon.
Author Rich Best, a management consultant, has written extensively on health, fitness and wellness issues and brings the best ideas, tips, and articles together in his blog site, Best-LifeResources.com to provide the Best that Life has to offer for those seeking to achieve Health and Wealth wisely. Read more at [http://best-liferesources.com]
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