Physical resilience and you in 2022

By Andy Munsterman, USAG Stuttgart Resiliency Integrator

It’s 2022, and even though January is already behind us, it’s not too late to reignite the fitness spark. Whether we are trying to lose our holiday weight or shed our COVID-19 “fifteen(x2)”, we all face challenges in the quest to become leaner and healthier.

The Community Strengths and Themes Survey Assessment (CSTA) conducted last year in Stuttgart identified the top three challenges in physical health as overweight/obesity, poor diet, and lack of fitness.

Most of us know the well-known benefits of exercise: energy, weight loss, and lowered mortality risk. But new research shows that moderate to vigorous activity can also reduce the risk of dementia, improve cognitive function, improve sleep, and reduce the feelings of anxiety and depression for those with existing clinical syndromes and those without.

Therefore, exercise will not only help your physical health, but it can help your mental health as well!

So how do we get started with exercise? The good news is that many things we can do to get fit canbe done from home, at work, or on base. No matter where you are, the possibility of eating better, losing weight, and improving your fitness is always possible.

Based on the American College of Sports Medicine’s fitness trends for 2022, some of the things you can do on your own are: Body Weight Training: Uses minimal equipment. Not limited to just push-ups, pull-ups, and situps, but hundreds of exercises working every muscle group.

Body weight training helps people to get “back to the basics” without having to go to a crowded gym.

Home Exercise Gyms: Can use equipment like treadmills, bikes and barbell set, but can also use less costly items like kettlebells, bands, jump ropes and other home workout devices.

Wearable Technology: Uses fitness trackers, smartwatches and heart rate monitors to monitor vitals, count steps and track calories, and can even help provide motivation with friendly push notifications to get those extra steps.

But working out on your own is not for everyone. Sometimes we need the personal touch via a buddy or personal trainer to step things up a notch.

“In addition to endorphins and exercise gains, participating in a fitness program offers an opportunity to interact with others, form friendships, and enjoy the social support that comes with exercising in a group,” said Anne Marie Harcrow, fitness coordinator for USAG Stuttgart’s Family Moral, Welfare and Recreation.

Currently at the garrison there are several opportunities to get fit. For those brand new to yoga, FMWR is kicking off a Beginner’s Yoga series at the Kelley Fitness Center on Feb. 11. If your interest is in body composition and re-composition, the garrison is hosting a Competition Preparation Workshop on Feb. 26 – open to burgeoning bodybuilders or people who just want a better shape.

If you are looking for a more individualized fitness experience, FMWR has personal training, private yoga, and yoga therapy offerings. For our runners, it is time to dust off the running shoes and start preparing for our first run of 2022: the Be a Hero 5K Fun Run at Kelley Barracks, April 9.

Don’t wait for the perfect time to get fit. The strategy that you stick with is more important than how you choose to do it. Whether it’s outside, in your home gym, living room,with a personal trainer or a group event, all forms of fitness lead to a healthier, happier, and fitter you for 2022!

For information on these events and many other fitness activities, you can visit https://stuttgart. armymwr.com/ or stop by one of the four USAG Stuttgart Fitness Centers.