DON’T SIT, GET FIT!

BY KYLA CARDONA, FAMILY & MWR GROUPFIT

Close your eyes.

Envision yourself with great health, moving everyday with ease in your daily activities. Envision yourself with your dream body, the best version of yourself.

Now open your eyes.

Yes, you’re not at the gym and you’re at home. But, you’re safe and sound and that’s important. Now take a deep breath and tell yourself, “I can do this.” Fitness at home is more possible than you think, but only as possible as you make it. I want you to put this into perspective — fitness is a lifelong journey and it should be customized to your needs, your body and your lifestyle. When inevitable situations arise and the safest place to be is at home, you adapt and overcome. Fort Bliss GroupFit is right there with you, guiding you every step of the way during this unprecedented time.

Fitness is not just about looks or your physical health — “mental health is just as important as physical health and exercise can heal both,” as one of our Certified Trainers, Tami Barnwell, has mentioned.

Exercise substantially improves our mental health by relieving stress, depression, and that negative mood you can easily fall into. It boosts our self-esteem giving people an enormous sense of well-being. When you do any kind of exercise, you’ll feel more energetic throughout the day, sleep better at night, have sharper, clearer memories, be more relaxed and have a more positive attitude.

You may be thinking how can exercise do this?

It’s simple — when you exercise, all kinds of changes occur within the brain such as neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that give you that calm feeling. Endorphins are also released and these are the powerful chemicals in your brain that energize your spirits and make you feel happy!

Fitness at home is as easy as 1-2-3.

Our team of Certified Trainers at Fort Bliss GroupFit have provided home-based workouts that are posted on our Facebook and Instagram page. These workouts vary from High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), dance fitness, upper body, lower body, core and so much more. We have made these routines easy to follow as our instructors have video demonstrations of the workout routines. If you don’t have dumbbells at home, don’t worry, all the equipment you’ll need are household goods such as laundry detergent or a backpack filled with items from your home. We are constantly updating and adding new workout routines to our social media platforms to help you stay fit at home while our facilities are closed.

Certified Instructor, Scott Smith stated, “you can lose weight without using weights.”

This can be achieved by performing regular exercise and having a caloric deficit. Choose an exercise routine that works for you and do it regularly throughout the week. Smith explains that you are at liberty to choose how you exercise in (1) 30-minute session, (2) fifteenminute sessions, (3) ten-minute sessions, or (6) fiveminute sessions, whatever fits your lifestyle.

If you fell out of your fitness routine, don’t worry. There’s this thing called the principle of reversibility that states that consistent training triggers long term adaptations that make it easier to restore fitness following periods of inactivity. This is because new satellite cells remain intact during the deconditioning period, but they activate quickly when training resumes!

When it comes to food, you need to be smart about your eating habits. It’s the way you choose the things you eat. Choose homemade meals over fast food or eat fruit and vegetables over chips and chocolate.

Don’t forget to take your vitamins! Eat every 2-4 hours to help boost your body’s fat burning potential and your metabolism. If you don’t eat enough, your body goes into starvation protection mode and conserves calories, stores fat and burns muscles.

A very important fitness tip that we want you to know is that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Office of the Surgeon General has stated that regular exercise is the single most important lifestyle practice people can undertake to enhance wellness.

It lowers the risk of premature death from all causes, including coronary artery disease, cancer and accidents. Yes, your body has a better sense of balance when you exercise, which can help prevent accidents of all sorts! The recommended amount of regular exercise for adults is at least 150 minutes per week.

When you do the math that amounts to 30 minutes a day. There are 1440 minutes per day — we challenge you to give up only 30 of them to increase your health, lifespan and well-being.

Regardless of your profession and your fitness or health goals, any physical activity is better than none. Go for a walk, take the stairs, or do one of our quick and easy athome workouts.

Close your eyes again.

Envision the best version of yourself — healthy, happy and fit.

Take control of your health, choose a workout routine that fits your lifestyle, and make it fun. It’s time to start giving 30 minutes of your day to start living better and living that dream!

TRY IT OUT

Try these sample workouts to do on your own based on your fitness abilities:

SAMPLE WARM-UP:

30 sec jumping jacks

30 sec high knees

30 sec front kick toe touches

30 sec rear glute kicks

SAMPLE WORKOUT 1: (High intensity, can be modified)

Exercise: Sprints or Jump Roping

Rounds: 10 Duration of each round: 20 sec

Rest after each round: 30 sec**

SAMPLE WORKOUT 2: (Bodyweight)

Rounds: 3-5 (Rest for 30 sec after each round**)

30 sec squats

30 sec push-ups

30 sec glute bridge to sit-up

30 sec burpees

30 sec rear lunges

30 sec mountain climbers

SAMPLE COOL DOWN:

Hold each stretch for 20 seconds

Standing hamstring stretch

Standing quadriceps stretch

Chest stretch

Side Bend stretch

Seated Groin stretch

Lower Back stretch

Upper Back stretch

**Rest longer to modify to your fitness capabilities**