- Fundamental Fitness
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- Week 1: Introduction to Fitness
Week 1: Introduction to Fitness
Starting with the basics, what is fitness, and different types of exercise
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing”
Hey friends,
Welcome to your first week with me in the fundamentals of fitness! Just being here (and actually reading it) will help you to start making progress on your fitness goals. As I mentioned briefly in your welcome email, we’ll be starting with the very basics, the core concepts that you need to know. Then, we’re gonna build on that information each week.
Now, I know some of you may not be complete beginners to fitness, so you might already know some of the information covered in the basics. And guess what, that’s ok!
I have been exercising consistently 5-6 days per week for around seven years and have worked with hundreds of clients as a personal trainer, and I still personally find a ton of value in consistent reminders about the basics.
Seeing information over and over again is the best way to make sure it sticks in your mind - and that you actually take action on the information. So if you fall into the category of person that has a good idea of what they are doing already, enjoy reinforcing your knowledge by looking through the basics again.
If you read something I’m telling you that you already know - awesome! A great mental exercise to put yourself through is to ask yourself “How am I currently putting this information into action in my own life?”. If you aren’t currently putting the info into action, just “knowing” about it is doing you … well, nothing.
No one ever got into the best shape of their life or made any progress at all for that matter by thinking about fitness information. Perhaps while I’m going through the basics of fitness you will come to the realization that you know a ton about fitness and yet are doing nothing about it - a very important realization towards beginning to make progress. The takeaway is this: whether you are a complete beginner, a seasoned pro, or somewhere in between, the basics that I talk about are extremely important to you! So don’t overlook them or think you are too good to take time on them.
What is fitness?
Since this whole newsletter is about fitness, I figured it was important to actually define what this whole “fitness” thing is. The simple definition if you google the word in a dictionary such as the oxford dictionary is: “the state of being physically healthy and strong.”
Ok, well that seems simple enough - though not really helpful at all. So I am going to define fitness in a more detailed way so that we all understand what I’m talking about when I use the word fitness. When most people think of fitness, they probably think of something like a cover of men’s health magazine. People think of the attainment of muscles and the abolishment of their love handles. In essence, when most people think about fitness, they think about characteristics that you can see in the mirror. But fitness is so much more than that, so I am going to define fitness by separating it into four different components:
Physical - Anything that goes into the physical component of your body: exercise, diet/nutrition, drugs/alcohol, muscle/fat, and body composition are a few examples of things that fall into this category.
Mental/Emotional - Are you happy? How are you managing the stress in your life? Are you fulfilled in your life? Are you a positive person? Are you excited to learn new things? These are all questions that are relevant to our mental/emotional fitness, and examples of how we might improve include meditation, yoga, or therapy.
Social - Anything that relates to our relationships with other people. Do we have a healthy and happy relationship with our significant other? How about our parents? Close friends? Co-workers and colleagues? We are extremely social creatures, so our interactions with others play a huge role in our own health and wellbeing
Sleep - Yes I gave sleep it’s own category in my definition of fitness, because that’s just how important it is. How much and how well we sleep plays a role into every aspect of our life. I’d argue that all of the above three categories suffer without proper sleep.
All four categories come together in order to create a holistic picture of my definition for fitness. They are all intertwined, meaning you can’t have one without the other. Going on a run for example could benefit physical, mental, and social health at the same time.
When I’m talking about fitness, I’m not just talking about having bigger muscles or a less flabby waistline. I’m talking about being the best version of yourself for the purpose of enhancing the quality of your life.
Different Types of Exercise
Strength
Definition: any type of resistance training deigned to improve muscular strength, size, or endurance. This could be dumbbells, cables, resistance bands, body weight, or anything that provides resistance to the muscles
Benefits: SOOOOOO MANY (that’s why strength training is my personal favorite form of exercise!). Visual appearance, body composition, stronger bones, improved metabolism, increased appetite, stress reduction, sleep improvement, enhanced cognitive function, and so many more. That’s right, weights do so much more for us than just making our biceps bigger.
Aerobic
Definition: Anything that has a goal of increasing your heart rate and breathing. This could be running, biking, swimming, walking, high intensity interval training (HIIT), rowing, jumping rope, or dancing among many others.
Benefits: Cardiovascular (heart) health, burning calories, immune system activation, boosting your mood
Flexibility
Definition: Anything that stretches your muscles or improves the mobility of joints
Benefits: Injury prevention, improved strength and aerobic performance, improved posture, enhanced overall function of the body
Balance
Definition: Anything that improves stability, especially in preventing falling
Benefits: improved longevity in quality of life, injury prevention, enhanced coordination
Ben’s Best
Meal prep for the week:
First time gym goers:
Weekly Action Points
Remember that this is the most important section of the whole newsletter! Actually do the things in this section EVERY SINGLE WEEK to help you move towards the results you want to see!!
Fill out the Get to Know You survey so that I can learn a little about you!
Take some time to think about what your definition of fitness is. Does it resemble mine, or look entirely different? Understanding what fitness means to you is an essential first step. If you want, respond to this email talking about your definition of fitness and the similarities/differences from mine! Responding to this email will force you to actually think about it.
Your exercise goal in week 1 is to take a 5 minute walk each day. 5 minutes, that’s all I’m asking for. And no, it can’t be just walking around doing things you normally do like going to the grocery store. I want it to be 5 intentional minutes in your day, set aside for going for a walk. Maybe it’s to the end of the street and back or on a treadmill. I don’t care where/how you do it, just do it. Seven days straight. Five minute walk. If you want to go farther, great! But five minutes is the minimum. The point isn’t that a five minute walk for a week will change your life. The point is to help you begin creating small habits to make intentional time for exercise, and we will build on this (very slowly) as we go
Know someone who is struggling to meet their fitness goals or just loves fitness content? Share this newsletter with them, it helps me out a ton!