Question 1

One of the questions that I am asked a lot by my friends and loved ones is....  What workout is the best?  Or what workout is going to get me the results I want?  Where do I start when choosing a workout?  Ok, so that is three questions, but I think I can answer them all today.

Try anything, try biking, running, dvds, the elliptical, the arc trainer, playing outside.  The worst thing you can do is try nothing.  When you are just starting out working out is going to be hard.  No one ever said that working out is going to be easy.  Sitting is easy, working out is challenging.  In my opinion, it is challenging in a good way.

You have to be willing to put in the effort, sweat, embarrass yourself, and go so far out of you comfort zone that you are making a change.  As Jillian Michaels would say  "You can't phone it in."   It is so true, you cannot phone it in.  You want results you have to put the work in.  

There I was sweating into the carpet holding two eight pound dumbbells over my head I was holding myself in a squat that I had been holding for what felt like 5 straight minutes.  My quads are shaking, my arms are shaking, and my head is screaming at me that I cannot do it anymore, I will not make it through the next set.  I glance up at the tv to give Bob (Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser. I was doing his new cardio workout) a dirty look.   As I am looking up he so graciously reminds me that I have been surrounded by lies. "what is a ten minute workout?"  he challenges,  "That is not going to get you the results you want.  A ten minute workout is a warmup."  Forgive me because I did paraphrase him, but it really struck a cord.  I stopped giving him a dirty look and tried to focus.  So when Bob told me to take my shaking, sweating over worked legs and jump in that squat.  I did.

My conclusion: (ok let's pull a statistic out of my butt here)  90% of working out is sticking with it.   If you don't pick a workout you love you will never stick with it.   If you don't stick with it, you won't get results.  Simple enough.

Here are my guidelines for finding a workout and doing you love:

1.  Try, try, try.  There is no harm in trying a lot of different workouts until you find a few you like.  Be prepared to feel foolish until you learn the new skills you need.
2.  Pick a trainer who can motivate you even on your bad days.
3.  Just get up off the couch, and do it.