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Father's Day and the Man with No Muscles
Michael Stefano
For 20 years Joe has shown up at the same job, faithfully
slaving away to support his rather large, but loving family.
He's a got a beautiful, hardworking wife, and four adoring
children, two of which are just about to reach college age.
Joe works hard every day, putting in 40, 50, and even 60
hours at the office some weeks to keep up with the family's
growing expenses. As Father's Day and summer approaches,
Joe is forced to contemplate the couple of pounds he gained
over the years. The last time he looked, his strapping physique had
faded -- as a matter of fact, his size 38 trousers were getting
kinda snug.
Joe's last physical revealed moderately high cholesterol levels,
and his blood pressure was beginning to sneak up on him. He
was huffing and puffing even after a short jog for a missed bus,
but Joe is not lazy --far from it. He's just a typical "forty
something" American male who is a victim of the computer age.
Work, to Joe, means sitting behind a desk. Fulfilling
his most important obligation of being a good father, providing
for his family, translates into Joe not budging from behind his desk
for over five thousand hours a year. Behind that desk his body is
losing muscle, storing fat, while Joe's heart forgets how to pump
blood effeciently.
When Joe's ancestors went out to do a day's work, I'll bet they
didn't sit down. Chances are, they used their physical bodies much
more than Joe does in their every day tasks. Whether they were
farmers or black smiths, hunters or skilled craftsman, they used their
muscles every day.
When Joe gets home from work, it's usually after dark, and picking
up and heading out to a gym to compensate for his lack of physical
activity seems about attractive as putting in extra time at the office.
Even though he's barely moved a muscle all day, Joe is wiped out,
drained from the 8 hours of mental stress and strain, processing
paperwork, creating sales proposals, running off countless memos,
along with the other thousand things Joe is responsible for.
After dinner Joe collapses in front of the TV and doesn't move.
The next morning, he crawls out of bed in the wee hours and does
it all over again. You can see the vicious cycle beginning.
So the question presents itself, without abandoning his obligation
to his family and himself, how can Joe find time to maintain his
body in a fit and healthy condition? --the kind of condition he needs
to be in if he has plans to continue to earn a good living and provide
for the financial needs of his family in the years to come.
Joe needs to tackle the challenge of getting in shape as he would any
business endeavor. He needs a plan of action -- a plan that takes
into account all the variables, and then works around them. Experts
need to be consulted in the form of reading and educating oneself,
compromises must be arrived at, schedules adjusted, while old
and outmoded thought patterns change.
This is where a certain amount of self-education comes into play.
Right off the bat, without wasting time or money on hype, Joe has to
get his hands on the right information while his motivational levels
are in high gear. Information offered at the right time (while Joe's
awareness is focused on his ever-increasing weight problem, possibly
after a recent checkup) will be more readily assimilated into his life
than something forced upon him.
Unfortunately, the INeffectiveness of the wrong instruction will have
the reverse effect and cause someone in Joe's situation to possibly
abandon exercise altogether. Through his reading, he'll learn just
what he needs to do to meet his individual requirements and current
capacity -- how much cardiovascular, how much strength, and how
much flexibility training to blend together to create the perfect
routine. Sensible guidelines will also ensure that Joe sees his physician
first and get clearance before making any major changes to his
exercise and dietary habits.
Joe must also learn how to stay motivated and monitor progress so
he can stay with what works, and drop what doesn't. But possibly the
most important thing Joe will learn is that he only needs a couple of
hours a week to accomplish all this.
Time (or lack of it) is Joe's biggest problem. He needs the gym to come
to him versus Joe going to the gym. Body weight, dumbbells, exercise
bands, and a small bench or step are a few of the low cost (or even free)
home or office equipment options available. This eliminates travel time
completely, puts a low cost gym at your finger tips, and allows you to
squeeze in a workout whenever you get the chance.
Exercise can also energize, if not overdone. While Joe may feel tired at
the start of each workout, 20 or 30 minutes of exercise will actually put
some pep in his step, as well as releasing much of the days tensions,
inducing a more restful night's sleep, a nice fringe benefit.
Man or woman, many of us in today's busy world are in exactly Joe's
situation. As a good spouse or parent we want to stay fit and healthy,
but barriers such as lack of time, energy, and know-how get in the way.
Our commitment to life that centers mostly on home and career sometimes
leaves little for taking care of you. But we can't ignore ourselves too long
before we encounter a problem.
Take care of everyone in your life by first taking care of yourself. Take
steps to learn how to exercise, then get started on a sensible workout
program today.
About the Author
Michael Stefano: New York City firefighter and author of
The Firefighter's Workout Book, The 30 Minute-a-day
Train-for-life Program for Men and Women
Special Offer: Lose weight and get in shape with the
FREE Train For Life Newsletter
Subscribe at: http://www.firefightersworkout.com
Email: ContactUs@...
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