Hello and welcome back to Body Mechanics. I have been MIA for the last few weeks due to being overwhelmed with school assignments and exams. I am happy to say that for now school is over and behind me, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I missed it already. As of right now, I don’t know if school will be in my future, but what I do know is that I would be happy to be back in school. I have recently completed a 2-year College program and would love nothing more than to work towards and receive a University degree in Health Sciences.
I had a topic in mind but participating in a 10k race on Sunday in Brantford inspired a completely different idea. Everyone that visits this site is committed to their health and well-being. We all have different hobbies and interests but a similar outcome, which is to become better tomorrow than today. As a student in the Health, Wellness, and Fitness program at Mohawk College, I was exposed to an array of individuals with different interests. My fellow peers were all exceptionally passionate and talented at what they did.
When it comes to fitness, we often think about weight lifting or running, which happens to be two of my favourite activities. Nothing wrong with that but to some this may be considered boring. I don’t blame those who feel this way because it can be quite mundane, especially if it is something you are only doing because your doctor told you to. As children we very seldom enjoyed what our parents told us to do, and as an adult nothing has changed in that regard. We have to like what we are doing. Change can be remarkably easy or remarkably hard depending on what we focus our energy on. The point is to find something that you are passionate about and have fun in the process. If you love what you’re doing then the process will seem less daunting and easier to adhere to.
Fitness has in the past few years become fairly trendy, or perhaps I was not as aware of it in the past. What I do know is that now more than ever with the help of the internet many activities, hobbies and sports are coming forward into the spotlight. This is great news for the overall health of many populations as there is bound to be something that everyone will enjoy.
A few weeks ago I was part if a group presenting the idea of adaptive training and this leads directly into what we are talking about. Adaptive training is the ability to modify exercise in order to accommodate individual need. This statement depicts a picture related to rehabilitative exercise or working with special populations and although this holds true it is not one hundred percent accurate. Adaptive training can relate to sport specific training or environmental adaptations. I believe the biggest incentive for those looking for a form of fitness they will enjoy is adaptations such as parkour, bar stars, crossfit, bootcamps, pole dancing, Yoga/Pilates and synergy training (think bar stars).
All of the aforementioned activities are not conventional methods of training, however they are good at piquing interest in various people. Training can be fun and creative, and the idea is to get people moving and for them to have fun in the process. Everyone has the perception that you have to spend countless hours in the gym to become active, healthy or fit. Although the gym is an important component of the process it is not absolutely necessary. You do not need a fancy gym membership to get into shape, but you do need to move!
The take home message here is that because we are all unique we have different preferences. Find something you can participate in that gets you moving. It may be as simple as Zumba, and if you like it go nuts! There is no right or wrong answer. It’s your life, your health and you’re the only one accountable for your actions. I have mentioned a few outside the box methods of training but there are hundreds more. Do whatever you like to do and do it well!
Happy Lifting!
