Are You Ready for Spring?

I know, it is the dead of winter. Most people spend their none working time in two locations. The couch or the refrigerator. This is an excellent time to get ready for spring.

The Honesty check:
I know of a mother who claims her young son is "Solid." The kid is obese just like both his parents. They are in complete denial that there choice of nutrition and activities they have made for themselves is sentencing there son to a childhood of being teased and teenage years without a girlfriend. Honesty goes a long way in living a healthy life.

Stand in front of the mirror in your Birthday Suit. Look from the front, sides and back if you can. Be honest. Do you have a body others would wish they had or one that you declared "Top Secrete" and only may be seen by those with a "need to know?" Now all of us have a blemish of some sort that we cannot hid. I have a long surgical scare behind my left knee I cannot do anything about, but I can do something about my mid section.

Here in Indiana, we are only 60 days from our normal first 70 degree day. A lot can be done in 60 days.

What can you do?

New Years resolution were made to be broken. Do not wait until 2011 to try again. Do not wait until Monday or the first of next month. This is about as worthless as the smoker who says he will quit when he turns 30....then 40....then 50............Get the picture? A gym membership is an investment that has a huge ROI (Return On Investment) potential. For those of you who know me, I'm still suffering from a knee injury in August. I finally stopped being ticked off about it two weeks ago and went to the gym. I've been doing exercises to try and strengthen my knee. In the past two weeks I've gone from being able to do nothing to running on the elliptical at drill this last weekend. What a difference the gym has made in the quality of my life in just two weeks.

Need a little help?

A personal trainer can help you get started. If you have had no formal training on how to get fit or are not motivated, spending a little extra money can give you that motivation and faster results that you need. I hit a motivational problem once. Once I committed to the entery fee, air fare, hotel, and meal cost of running in the Marine Corps Marathon, I did not miss a day of training for lack of motivation. It was so much fun for this Sailor to finish a marathon and then to watch Marines finishing over an hour later. For my current injury, I will be working with a personal trainer next month to try and get back into my running shoes, and my active lifestyle.

Reasonable Goals:

Set reasonable goals for yourself. "The body I had at 18" is not reasonable. "Get off my high blood pressure medication" is a reasonable goal. Another one could be to not have my gut hanging over my belt. Or maybe, to feel 20 years younger.

Look for motivation:

Motivation can come from a variety of places. This can be a personal goal like running your first 5K. It can be to fit in your uniform. Think of your chief in a dress uniform with buttons that are about to pop off. Don't be that guy. You could get in better shape to live a more fulfilling life with your spouse. You could do it so you will be there to walk your daughter down the aisle. For me, this last drill weekend I watched my shipmates play field hockey on the drill deck. Instead of participating, I was on the side lines felling like an old man. That is a feeling that I intend never to have again.

Exercise: Knee Raise

Here is one for the abs. Knee raises can be done in different positions. I suggest trying them all. By working the muscles in different ways, you are going to stress them more and cause them to grow. Don’t forget that you can do both sides at once, or alternate. Here are a few examples:

Hanging with straps

To get into this position with less potential injury, place a chair or stepping apparatus behind under you.

Hanging from a bar


Incline Bench
For this one just go to the decline bench that you would normal do crunches on. Instead of wrapping your knees around the grips on the high end, lay on your back and hold the with your hands. You are now shoulder up. Raise your knees and tri to touch your chest.

Exercise: Crunch

Yep, this is similar to the sit-up of the PFA. The differnece is you will be less likely to injure your back ith crunches then with a sit up. Take a look at the sailors below.

They are doing situps. The difference with crunches are:

• You keep your hands behind your head, but do not use them to pull yourself up.
• Your lower back stays on the ground.
• You do not touch your knees or legs.

To do a crunch

• Pause breifly in the up position.
• Do not jerk yourself up. Keep control of your movement.
• Try it with your feet together, and apart.