Yeah, I know.  You might think that’s a bit of an overstatement…but is it?

Here’s the deal…our bodies were meant to move, and move well.  I would love to sit down with someone who would argue otherwise.  They were not meant to feel lethargic, achy, toxic to the brim as many of us feel all the time.  Some of you might say that you were just not meant to “be an athlete”,  “it’s too late for me”, or “that’s just my life right now”.  So my focus here is to get you thinking about WHY you don’t feel like exercising.  To get you to start in motion some better habits that will make you actually FEEL like getting up and coming to boot camp or going to the gym.  Truth is, for many of you, all you are missing is one or two tweaks in your life.  For others, perhaps it will take a bit longer, but the point is if you don’t make an effort to get some of this stuff I am going to talk about in line (and I am very serious when I say this), you WILL NEVER find the time or the energy to be a regular exerciser.  And if slowly wasting away is the path you want to take, then hey, you reap what you sow or don’t sow.  I started writing this blog post and decided it was going to be waaay too long for one post, so I’m dividing it up into 6 or 7.  I’ll pepper them throughout the next few weeks.  Let’s dive in….

Sleep – Sounds obvious, right?  Not so much.  I have to be honest…I really just gave this a lot of lip service myself up until recently.  I’ve even discussed recently (the conversations spurned on by some recent research of mine) with some clients about what constitutes good sleep.  The reason…I’m 36 now and I think it matters more to me J  I think a baby will do that to you.  Somehow it just doesn’t mean as much when you are 26.  Your body recovers faster and you bounce back easier.  (duh)  Here’s what I know…most of you will say something to the effect of “sounds good in theory, but welcome to my life”, or “you try to sleep with a husband working on his laptop in bed, a dog who needs attention, and a kid with hives “ (Maddie had those recently so it’s fresh on my mind)

Okay, what’s wrong with this picture?  Why the hell is the dog sleeping in your bed?!  Why haven’t you kicked your husband out of the bed yet?! (I’m guilty too, so I’m not dissing the guys).  Did you really have a cocktail to actually help you sleep?  We cannot sleep, or sleep well with all of these distractions/stressors.  Our body will not physically allow us to.  Estimates vary a bit, but the ballpark of needed sleep for the average human is 6-7 hours (if you are in deep sleep..which most people are not), or 8-9 if the sleep is not as deep or restful.

In fact, if even a glimmer of artificial light (be it your alarm clock, phone, Vizio TV logo, etc) is on throughout the night, it throws off your Circadian rhythm.  Your Circadian rhythm is an internal mechanism that determines if you actually have any rhythm.  It comes from the part of your brain Circadia, and it’s somewhere between G Flat and E Minor.  Really it’s another way of naming your “biological clock”.  Not the “gotta have a baby” kind, but how your body reacts to day and night, sleep and wakey time.   I won’t go into a ton of detail as to how exactly Circadian rhythm works (it would bore you to death), but it would behoove you to try to get it closer to the point of what nature intended….sleep from sun down to sun up J

Yeah, I get it, some things you just can’t control.  Fine, I’ll buy in, but….you DVR’d 15 shows and need to catch up.  Necessary?  You complain the next day because you stayed up too late watching The Bachelor or CSI.  Not only did you stay up late, the very fact that these high drama adventures are just that got you all riled up.  That’s recipe for sound sleep (sarcastic).  Here’s another one…tonight when you actually “go to bed”…take a look around the room and count how many individual lights you see.  (I’d be interested to hear your feedback on this).  Is it possible to even turn off half of them?  I’d bet so.  Another thing you can generally control is putting into practice the art of going to bed and waking up at the same time so your body can get into a pattern that is conducive to good sleep.  A few others to consider…better/darker drapes/shades, limiting larger late meals and caffeine consumption, exercising earlier in the day (uh, actually exercising if you are not…hmm, which comes first?  The sleep or the exercise?), and try to get off those damn meds (they aint helping).

So, for the body to perform at its optimal level, it needs to be well rested.  Does it sound like with any of the above your body would be ready for a max bench press or 100 burpees?  Nay, “I’ll just walk the dogs instead”.   My challenge to you is in the next week make it your personal mission to not just sleep longer if need be, but to sleep better.  (that means soundly)  Minimize distractions to the best of your ability, and post your comments on this blog as to what steps you took to make your sleep better.  If you are still not motivated, know this….you will get fatter.  Won’t get into the exact science of it here, but you can get a lot of great information via this link about Circadian rhythms, sleep, stress, etc at….

http://search.mercola.com/search/Pages/results.aspx?k=circadian

(this website might very well be the scariest website on the internet in my opinion, but it could save your life…and I’m not joking).

Watch for my next blurb about why you don’t likey exercisey.

Happy Tuesday,

Chris

Chris Buckley, B.S. Exercise Science, is a certified Fitness Trainer and exercise physiologist, graduate of the University of Florida and fitness professional located in Roswell, GA. Buckley is the owner of BodyBack! Women’s Fitness Boot Camps…serving Roswell, Woodstock, Milton, and NE Marietta, and has posted more information on his website, www.RoswellBootCamps.com.  To try a trial week of his fat churning, calorie burning boot camp…click on the registration link at http://www.roswellbootcampsforwomen.com/roswell-boot-camp-registration.html

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