A few lessons I have learnt

Over the years that I have been doing this whole fitness thing, there are quite a number of lessons that I have come to learn; here are some of them:

It doesn’t matter how far gone you think you are, you can always redeem yourself. Maybe you are the kind of person who runs out of breath after ascending a few flights of stairs or maybe when you step on the weighing scale, you realize that it just wasn’t meant for your weight category. It really does not matter how badly off you are; you have the power to turn it all around by the choices you make.

It’s never too late to start; this is closely related to the previous point. Here’s the thing, as long as you are breathing, you can always embark on the fitness journey. It doesn’t matter whether you are 50, 70 or even 80 you can take steps to improve your fitness and health in general. Maybe you think I’m exaggerating especially with that last figure, well I’m not. Fauja Singh also known as the ‘Turbaned Torpedo’ ran his first marathon at the age of 89 – yes you read that correctly – and continued participating in major events until the age of 102. He’s still alive and kicking and I believe that will continue to be the case for a while longer because of that one seemingly crazy decision he made when most people would be sitting back waiting for the grim reaper to come calling. So stop saying that you are too old simply because you recently retired; get out there and do something.

It’s going to suck sometimes; every fitness junkie out there who is honest enough will admit that there are those days when they just don’t feel like doing anything. And it may not just be one or two days; sometimes this feeling can last for weeks. You need to find strength from within to overcome this because if you succumb to it, you will have a very difficult time gathering enough will power to get back on track. This however does not mean that you should not take breaks from time to time, just make sure that you don’t go overboard.

Mix it up a little: I have said this before; it is important to cross-train otherwise the whole exercise routine will get very boring very fast. Don’t be afraid to try something new; if you are a runner, don’t dismiss cycling, swimming and lifting weights. As they say; variety is the spice of life; by mixing things up, your fitness journey will be more exciting and fruitful.

Food is good. This might offend some people but vegetarianism and restrictive diets suck. Yes I said it, I said it, I said it coz I caaaaan…sorry I was having a Bruno Mars moment. Seriously though, if you want to enjoy your fitness journey and life in general, you can’t place stiff restrictions on your diet. Of course this is not to say that you should eat hundreds of grams of meat, ice cream, fries etc every day of your life; moderation is the secret. This is my philosophy; you can eat whatever you want provided you burn it off later on. It might sound a bit controversial but it’s the truth.

Don’t be afraid to push. This is probably one of the most important fitness lessons I have learnt in the last five years. If you are currently running 20 KM or cycling 70 KM every week; make sure that three months down the line you are doing about 30KM and 120KM respectively. If you can bench a maximum of 80KG, try to work towards the 90KG mark within a month. It might hurt a little at first but eventually your body will adjust and you will have moved a step higher. Simply put, life is all about progress, if you are not making any then you are no better than that guy pushing daisies at the cemetery.