Fitness is all about meeting new challenges and overcoming them. Whether you are faced with a challenge of losing 10 lbs or trying to lift 100 lbs, we step up and match ourselves against something that seems, at that moment, unmovable and sometimes daunting. You talk to yourself and you hear all the reasons why you can’t overcome this obstacle but there you are at the gym getting on a treadmill or picking up a weight.
We are all at different levels and face these challenges in different ways, but the appreciation here comes in knowing that while someone might be at a different level than you are, they are still striving to better themselves. Other times we have challenges that honestly we cannot face alone. We need a someone to teach us how to eat right so losing that 10 lbs becomes more manageable or we need a spotter to stand over and make sure when we try to lift that 100 lbs we don’t get stuck underneath it. It does not mean we are weak, it is just a place we are unable to manage by ourselves and this becomes an opportunity for others to share the challenge with you and help you get better.
I say all of that because a friend of mine has taken up a fitness challenge of her own. It is not a challenge so much focused on her, as it is a challenge to help others. She has committed to do the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. We have all known someone touched by cancer such as friends or family or even being challenged with it yourself, so we all know this is one of those challenges that people need a spotter, teacher or even more importantly a friend to help them through it all. This is challenge is greater than losing 10 lbs or trying to lift 100 lbs, this is life.
My friend, Christina, is not a marathon runner, she is not a bodybuilder, she is a single, working mom who wanted to help make a difference in lives by taking up a fitness challenge for a cause. Walking for three days in a row for a total of 60 miles is daunting if you have never done it. She will be sore, but she will push through because of her commitment of wanting to help. She will get tired but she will keep going because she knows the people she walks for are tired too and may not be able to walk right now.
My question and challenge to you is can you appreciate the commitment and effort that Christina is putting forth for others she knows are faced with life and death challenges.
Can you understand what it takes to make it through an hour in the gym doing what you do to maintain your fitness level and then translate that to walking 60 miles in three days…not for you, but for complete strangers. Let’s bring that home a bit…not a stranger but your sisters, cousins, aunts, mothers, grandmothers…what if they were stricken with the challenge of Breast Cancer? How much more would you appreciate what people do in these three days to raise money and awareness if it directly affected you or your family?
If you can appreciate and do appreciate the effort, the desire and the compassion, take a look at the following link: http://www.the3day.org/goto/christinagoodman. You will make your own choices from there but if you can, know that any support given is truly appreciated and helps us find a cure for breast cancer.
This challenge is not about losing 10 lbs or lifting enormous weights or trying to look like a fitness model it is about the over all well being and health we all get one shot at having. We are given the opportunity to promote our best health and this makes us all the more aware of what it is like for people struggling with their own health.
Help where you can and like my friend make a commitment to something beyond the gym and beyond you. Know what it means to be part of a real fitness community; one that supports not just your health but one that supports your family.
We are all at different levels and face these challenges in different ways, but the appreciation here comes in knowing that while someone might be at a different level than you are, they are still striving to better themselves. Other times we have challenges that honestly we cannot face alone. We need a someone to teach us how to eat right so losing that 10 lbs becomes more manageable or we need a spotter to stand over and make sure when we try to lift that 100 lbs we don’t get stuck underneath it. It does not mean we are weak, it is just a place we are unable to manage by ourselves and this becomes an opportunity for others to share the challenge with you and help you get better.
I say all of that because a friend of mine has taken up a fitness challenge of her own. It is not a challenge so much focused on her, as it is a challenge to help others. She has committed to do the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. We have all known someone touched by cancer such as friends or family or even being challenged with it yourself, so we all know this is one of those challenges that people need a spotter, teacher or even more importantly a friend to help them through it all. This is challenge is greater than losing 10 lbs or trying to lift 100 lbs, this is life.
My friend, Christina, is not a marathon runner, she is not a bodybuilder, she is a single, working mom who wanted to help make a difference in lives by taking up a fitness challenge for a cause. Walking for three days in a row for a total of 60 miles is daunting if you have never done it. She will be sore, but she will push through because of her commitment of wanting to help. She will get tired but she will keep going because she knows the people she walks for are tired too and may not be able to walk right now.
My question and challenge to you is can you appreciate the commitment and effort that Christina is putting forth for others she knows are faced with life and death challenges.
Can you understand what it takes to make it through an hour in the gym doing what you do to maintain your fitness level and then translate that to walking 60 miles in three days…not for you, but for complete strangers. Let’s bring that home a bit…not a stranger but your sisters, cousins, aunts, mothers, grandmothers…what if they were stricken with the challenge of Breast Cancer? How much more would you appreciate what people do in these three days to raise money and awareness if it directly affected you or your family?
If you can appreciate and do appreciate the effort, the desire and the compassion, take a look at the following link: http://www.the3day.org/goto/christinagoodman. You will make your own choices from there but if you can, know that any support given is truly appreciated and helps us find a cure for breast cancer.
This challenge is not about losing 10 lbs or lifting enormous weights or trying to look like a fitness model it is about the over all well being and health we all get one shot at having. We are given the opportunity to promote our best health and this makes us all the more aware of what it is like for people struggling with their own health.
Help where you can and like my friend make a commitment to something beyond the gym and beyond you. Know what it means to be part of a real fitness community; one that supports not just your health but one that supports your family.
Doing a steady cardio routine whether it is walking on a treadmill, running, using an elliptical machine, Stairmaster or whatever you do is great, but after a while can become stale. If you don’t vary the routine, your body adapts to what you do and it settles ‘in’ so to speak.