An Introduction to a Health Lifestyle
A word to the wise:
The key ingredient to becoming healthy is not a pill you take or a special drink you buy from a supplement store. The key to becoming healthier is simple, you need to be consistent. No one is history has ever become a fitness model by using short cuts. So to get started pick a routine, and choose to cut out at least one unhealthy food you eat, swap it out for a healthy alternative and stay consistent.
Long Story:
This article will assume that you are new to the fitness world, and just looking for the basics to get you started. The first step is picking a workout you are comfortable with, a workout that will get you moving without leaving you so sore that you are discouraged from working out ever again. If you have a gym membership you will have a ton of tools at your disposal to get fit – awesome! Unfortunately, a lot of students cannot afford a gym membership. Have no fear!
College Word to the Wise has set up an example workout for you to get started.
Basic Body weight workout circuit:
Complete the prescribed repetitions of each exercise in order without taking any breaks in between exercises. If you are not able to finished the prescribed reps, take a second to catch your breath before finishing the exercise.
Once each exercise has been completed, take a 90 second break to grab a drink and repeat. To complete this workout, you will need to finish 3 sets of this circuit.
Jumping Jacks x 20
Body weight squats x 20
Push-ups x 20
Pull-ups or object row* x 5
Plank x 30 seconds
Mountain climbers x 10 (each leg)
*for those of you who don’t have access to a pull-up bar, grab an object in your house such as a milk jug or backpack full of books, and use this to do a bent over row. Pick up the weight, bend at the waist and pull the object towards your body. Don’t forget to keep your knees slightly bent throughout the exercise. Do this for 20 reps per arm before moving on to the plank.
Health & nutrition tip: There is absolutely no point in working out and exercising if you eat garbage every day. To kick start our healthy new lifestyle we will take our first step in the right direction by cleaning up our diet.
Now remember what we talked about earlier, consistency is key.
If you eat chips and dip consistently, you will gain fat. Switch out that bag of chips for a serving of broccoli and hummus. Right now, you’re probably thinking, “I’m not going to get fit just by eating broccoli!” And you are right, but everyone has to start somewhere.
The goal is this: Pick one bad eating habit and replace it with a good alternative.
- If you drink a coffee with 3 creams, 3 sugars every day, swap it out for a tea with honey.
- If you eat a chocolate bar every day, swap it out with a healthy low sugar protein or energy bar.
- If you have a bag of chips every night while watching TV, swap it out with vegetables, fruits, or nuts.
A lot of people try to jump on the latest diet trend that is going around and realize that it is EXTREMELY difficult to stay on track. Once they miss one day on their new diet, they deem it a failure and go back to eating poorly again. So, make it easy and just change the one thing about your diet that you know is setting you back the most.
