You are
at an Airport, you bump on your school class-mate after almost two and half
decades, and your class-mate who is a professor, identifies (mistakenly ;)) you
as his student. Or how about your 12 year old kid’s friends, recognizing you as
her younger brother. Or even at
later point in life, you are at St. Paul's Cathedral London, and you are
climbing up the 528 steps easily than a bit younger friend accompanying you. Or quite recently in 2015, training
for about 1 month to complete a half
marathon (21K) without having any previous long distance running experience.
Incidentally
all of these have actually led to a lot of feel good factor about self.
Looking
back and trying to analyze the reasons for achieving this, were the activities,
habits and patterns which were very specifically adopted at various junctures
in life, and many of those have been consistently followed for last 12+ years, across areas involving food, fitness
and overall lifestyle.
I am
writing after almost 4 months, and altogether on a different topic (than usual movie thing) but which is
very close to my heart and something which I am thoroughly passionate about.
And while being said that I am just fitness enthusiastic not a Pro (neither these tips are very scientific), but wanted to share aspects which worked for me and which
helped in achieving basic to intermediate level of fitness.
I'll try
and keep this short and light for today. Also dividing it in 3 levels, for the
benefit of all of you, so that you can gauge the time & efforts required
and plan accordingly. Again this is based on the basic exposure I have on this
front. We'll talk on the exercise front first, followed by the food / diet.
Capsule:
I'll be
referring the levels / efforts in medical terms :-). 1) Capsule, 2) Small Shot
(not the 30 ML but the flue-wala shot;)) and the 3) Big Shot. Capsule is quick
daily dose of activities that you can start doing Instantaneously . ..like from today.
Small Shot:
One key
difference is you do lot more Suryanamaskars with only a tad more additional
time than earlier, making this around 40 minutes regime.
Big (Large) Shot:
Almost
similar to the Small Shot but you focus more on probably every aspect, and
requires @ 50-60 minutes. It could be more Suryanamaskars or even extended
breathing and more intense weights
Capsule
|
Small
Shot
|
Big
Shot
|
·
Few stretches (3-5 minutes)
·
Few sets of Dips / Squats (3-5 minutes)
·
12 Suryanamaskar (3-5 minutes)
·
Some Asanas (10-12 minutes)
·
Breathing exercises ( 5-7 minutes)
Total (25-30 Mins)
|
·
Few stretches (3-5 minutes)
·
Few sets of Dips / Squats (3-5 minutes)
·
50
Suryanamaskar (13-15 minutes)
·
Some Asanas (10-12 minutes)
·
Breathing exercises ( 5-7 minutes)
Total (35-40 Mins)
|
·
Few stretches (3-5 minutes)
·
Few sets of Dips / Squats (3-5 minutes)
·
50
Suryanamaskar (13-15 minutes)
·
Some Asanas (10-12 minutes)
·
Breathing exercises ( 10 minutes)
Total (50 – 60 Mins)
|
This
will need to be topped up by below:
·
Low intensity Cardio (15-20 minutes) OR Very
brisk walk (35 - 40 minutes)
·
Some stretches
|
This can
be topped up with below requiring another 45-50 Mins:
·
High intensity Cardio (25 minutes)
·
Weights for muscle toning (preferably free
weights dumbbells are perfect, 15 minutes)
·
Stretches (5-10 minutes)
|
Intent here
is to focus more on the building / training muscles requiring 50-60 Mins:
·
High intensity Cardio (15-20 minutes)
·
High intensity weight training (25-30 minutes)
·
Stretches (5-10 minutes)
|
The
important bit which actually will start working for you immediately is Suryanamaskars - Even if you can start
with 2 and make it to 12 from day 01 to day 07 (within a week, doubling the
number of Suryanamaskars every alternate day) and then keep it consistent for 2
weeks it’ll be an absolutely great start. Below are a few links on how to do
Suryanamskars. However I'm planning to devote an entire article on
Suryanamaskar sometime soon. It actually warrants a book J. Truly an amazing full-body
stretching and cardio exercise at one go, requires space of only 6 FT X 3 FT,
and no equipment whatsoever.
The next
most important aspect is Food.
However consistent and effective one is at exercising, if the food habits are
incorrect, the sweat at the gym absolutely doesn’t yield anything. I am not a
dietician and most of it I learnt and owe big-time to a book by Rujuta Diwekar
called - 'Don’t lose your mind, lose
your weight'. I came first read thw book sometime in 2011, and however clichéd it may sound it actually has worked for me. It used to be a stapled accessory on all my domestic
travels for a couple years and I used to read in bits, time and
again during the travel.
http://www.amazon.in/Dont-Lose-Your-Mind-Weight/dp/8184001053
A few
tips from the book, and otherwise based on what I’ve been practicing and felt
working for me:
- Be Disruptive – Challenge yourself
to get in to the groove of health and fitness!
- I
gifted myself a S size T while I was using L (12 years back when I
started on the fitness journey)
- After
4 months getting into S size T was unbelievably exciting feeling J: and still is!
- Helped
me reduce at least 14-15 KGs over a span of 6 months.
- Otherwise reducing 4 Kgs per month is absolutely healthy.
- Exercise 6 days a week, consistently! You should feel guilty if you skip one.
- Focus on 3 Cs on a very
consistent basis (per exercise / daily)
- Clock
every activity during your workout
- Count
calorie spend at least during exercises (and if possible count the
calorie intake as well across entire day)
- Calibrate (monitor and adjust) your weight / effort
- Daily workout should include
- Suryanamaskar
and additional high intensity cardio
- Some
easy but effective asanas (based on body type, ailments etc.) is must
- Brisk
walking for 30 minutes can give lots of joy
- Eat every 3-4 hours (This list is far
from complete… need to write separate article)
- At
least 5 meals. Early morning snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, light dinner
(7 am, 9 am, 12-1 PM, 4 -5 PM, 7.30-8.30 PM)
- Strict
NO to fried foods, sweets, carbonated drinks (even Diet 0 L).
- Plan
to have just one cheat day / week to binge on high calorie food
- Fruits, soups, greens and a lot of high fiber foods. It’s damn easy!
- Invest in Health:
- I
gifted myself 2 sets of dumbbells on the 40th Birthday J
- Get
a fitness band – Definitely is
a motivation for non-starters. Some basic but branded are available as low
as INR 2K. And worth it!
- Pick
up health, lifestyle books, fitness gadgets, new-edge shoes & accessories,
Gymwear is sexy and awesome
these days. Just go for it. Flaunting it in a perfectly toned body is an
amazing experience. Feel that!
- Be calorie conscious – Read the small font information on food items. Skip all those which are high on calories, potassium, sugar etc!
- Lifestyle change
- Morning 5-7 is great time
to exercise. 'Rise early' is not an idiom -Practice!
- Take
stairs always. Walk wherever possible. Avoid usage of 2 wheelers.
- Not
having a cable TV at home is a bliss!
- Make
friends in real life, FB, Twitter, Wapp who are fitness freak – Helps!
- Walk, Run, Swim, Trek, Play: Drench yourself in sweat - Daily!
I just tried scribbling a few things worked for me, but this could
have been a lot more organized. Also this is not one-size fits all. However
this is a humble attempt to share a few bits towards an healthy lifestyle. Benefits
are tremendous: for one, you can be called as the Milind Soman of your group J Enjoy!
Please switch to these shots for a while and feel the change. I am
sure, it will be quite rewarding!
No comments:
Post a Comment