Is Workout working out for you? : Part 1

Body is a temple and soul is a deity residing inside the temple. It is our duty to keep our temple, the body well maintained so that the soul radiates inside us. Body is also equivalent to a car that requires the maintenance and service to keep running at optimum performance.

“To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” -Buddha

Body can be energized and nourished in three ways. Firstly, one of the components for our body metabolism, oxygen is drawn from our respiratory system and circulated by the cardiovascular system. Secondly, nutrition in the form of food through the food pipe and finally our mental state of ‘feel  good’ factor that keeps our psycho immune system at high performance.  A balanced life style can be established when one balances all of these three energy components.

Exercise + Diet + Mental state.

Correct workout to muscles and joints gives the structural balance to the body. Right body movement of joints and muscles combined with proper oxygenation thro’ respiratory system activates the cardio system and optimizes the blood circulatory system. Optimum metabolism of our body can be obtained by well balanced hormonal system and good digestive system. Our nervous system activates the sensations such as pain & pleasure circuits so that it helps in keeping balance without overdoing or underperforming our daily exercise routine.

A great workout is the one which yields good movement of muscles and joints activating every fibers of your body, achieving good flexibility, good strength, great balance, endurance level and well toned up body.

Formats of workout vary from simple walking, jogging, running, gym workout, interval training, weight training, cardio metabolic workout, resistance exercises, TRX suspension training, Yoga flow exercises and so on. It is left to the preference of an individual to take up any exercise format that suits him the best.

 One sees the effectiveness of the workout when he notices good level of results in the body toning, flexibility, agility, etc, feeling replenished after the workout instead of draining out and finally a mental state of feeling good.

All of us try one or more of the above formats of the workouts. Some of us, we don’t see the effectiveness and the anticipated results in spite of our efforts. What are the reasons for such an effect? I found out some common problems based on my interaction with few hundred clients and further researching with them.

1.     

  Lack of Awareness:

a.       Body: Body is a complex and highly coordinated system with vast network of signals processing inside us every split of a second. Most of us do not have proper understanding of physiology of the body & the underneath functional psychological factors that govern the physiology of the body.

b.      Exercises: Lack of awareness on what types of exercises suit us, how to proceed with the exercises and how to apply to our body.

2.       Too many options & information: In today’s world, information and options are abundant and confusing many times. Because of this, we don’t get expected result when wrong selections of workouts are applied to our body.

3.       Great starter & poor finisher: We come with great motivation and strong will power at the start and as the days progress, the interest level declines and we finish off poorly or quit at the end.

4.       Quick fix: Some of us, out of ignorance fall to the marketing gimmick that proclaims a ‘quick fix’ solution. Body is highly intelligent and has the adaptability factor to it. Because of this, body can’t understand quick fix solution and in reality always body becomes the winner on long run.

“Whatever changes we try to do to the body, on the long run body always WIN& get back to equilibrium. So, just align to this higher intelligence that governs the body.”

5.       Start point & Enjoyment: Exercise becomes effective when we make it fun and enjoyable. If our entry point of exercise is due to some of the health issues then the effectiveness declines when our concentration is more on getting rid of the disease rather than enjoying the exercise. Is it not true that when we don’t enjoy the workouts, we often look at the clock to see the workout time instead of looking out the signals from the body?

6.       Desperation:  To reduce that extra flab’s and get rid of the nagging health issue, some of us try at the start with great intensity, giving it all and expecting result at once .When that does not happen, we tend to lose the interest to move further.

7.       Regularity & Discipline: How many times have we registered to a yearlong gym subscription and how many times have we really visited the gym in that particular year? When we don’t enjoy the exercise, we tend to give some lame excuses for not being regular to the exercises. This is a game between our intellect and our mind. Intellect asks the questions and mind comes out with some good excuses.

8.       Injury: Some time, we spoil ourselves in the name of affordability. For example, watching the TV in the gym instead of watching your muscles and joints during workout. When the concentration is not there at the time of exercises, we are bound to have injury.

9.       No Math but just Biology: Sometime, we are obsessed with in Maths with too many numbers as calories burned out, how many Kilograms of weight to lose etc.  Body understands Biology and not Maths. It is good to have targets but do not get obsessed with numbers.

When we have the health issue, it is certain that we can’t have a free mind and can’t enjoy the life. So, here is the MANTRA.  Do the exercises for the purpose of keeping the body machinery clean. Do not live in fears & worries.

Develop awareness, listen to the body, enjoy the exercises and maintain regularity & discipline. Give up ‘great start and poor finish’. Begin with a great start, be consistent in the middle and have a great finish. Perform workout as a daily ritual and make that as your habit.

It is impossible to come out with the solutions when we do not know our problems. Now, we know the problems and so it becomes easier to work on solutions. I will post a separate Blog on the possible solutions for the above factors that influence our progress.