Merry Fitness To All

by Paula Allia

Fitness is an interesting topic of conversation during this time of year. Two areas that help control your weight are staying active and watching your food and drink intake. The average person gains 1-3 pounds and many of these pounds never come off and accumulate year after year. Starting now can help ward off the few pounds that many gain during the festive season. During the holidays many people get too busy to fit exercise into their daily routines.

The kids are coming; you have to plan a dinner party; you have to buy gifts. So many rationalizations yet exercise should be like brushing your teeth. In some form, fitness activities should be done daily for your heart, your mind, and your overall well-being. The key is to participate in exercises that challenge you but are safe to perform with your particular body. What does fitness really mean? To be fit one encompasses a sound mind and physical body.

Each and every one of us needs to work on some level of fitness and the level can be drastically different for different ages as well as for people with physical limitations due to disease, arthritis or other handicaps. Children can get physically active by running and jumping in the schoolyard and with friends.

Educating children to understand the importance of exercise is a proponent to a healthy lifestyle if incorporated into their daily routine. Activities help to strengthen the muscles and joints just by using their own body weight. As a young adult, because the ligaments, muscles and joints are stronger and still fresh they can usually withstand more. Thus, many people in this age group like more aggressive programs.

What is a key component to a successful program is that the right exercises are chosen for the body type and biomechanical alignment of the joints. Some strain to the muscles is key for strengthening but you have to take into consideration the strain of the joints involved. Mild strain helps to strengthen the bones and ligaments but excessive strain will become cumulative and over time, wear down the joints.

Abnormal wear and tear over years can create arthritis and joint breakdown. For example, if a person runs and has knock knees or bowed legs, the knee joint will have abnormal wear and the knee and other leg joints may accommodate for the positioning which later can cause a physical handicap to continuing activities. Middle-aged adults start a program but life gets in the way a lot and they have periods where they can do really well in a program and then slack for so many reasons.

The weekend warrior can get hurt because their activity is usually all or none. Finally, the older adult is striving to stay young and needs to stay active each day because slacking only makes it harder to get back into shape at this stage. It is documented that trying to maintain the muscle fibers that you had becomes increasingly difficult, especially when you stop an exercise routine. It is never too late to get involved with an exercise program. This year, give the gift of fitness to yourself or other loved ones. Don’t wait until after the holidays. The beauty of exercise is there are many options.

The difficult part is choosing what is right for you. At Fitness Together, a free consult is being offered from now through Christmas to review your needs and goals so that an appropriate program can be designed and implemented. Isn’t the main goal for all of us to age gracefully, no matter what shape we are starting in? We can all improve so that our lives are active and our minds are crisper and all activities are fun instead of difficult. Take us up on our offer and come in for your free consultation today.

Fitness Together is going on its 10th year of service to the community. We have worked diligently on designing programs to focus on clients’ goals. We provide a unique concept with certified personal trainers that work one-on-one in private training suites with guidance from an experienced physical therapist. There is no waiting for equipment and the trainer focuses only on you. This tries to ensure that proper techniques are used to perform activities so that you have less chance of injury and get more out of your session.

In addition, physical therapy is also offered for those in need. In addition to injury care, this unique concept has been provided for wellness. Loosen what is too tight and strengthen what is too loose. Call us at 239.263.9348 for more information. Merry Fitness (Together)!

Fitness Together
335 14th Ave South
Naples, FL 34102
239.263.9348
FitnessTogether.com/Naples