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Well with Spring now in the air, some regular riders are returning after their winter hibernation. Actually if was yesterday morning at our local cafe (part of the whole cycling culture thing) when I caught up with a few mates I haven’t seen since May this year.

The first thing they commented on before I could even say “hello” was about how they had stacked on 10-15kgs over winter.

Well there is one thing about lycra, it doesn’t hide even the smallest ounce of fat so that extra 10 – 15kgs gives you a side profile like, mmm, like Homer Simpson.

Fortunately for these guys, the 10 – 15kgs will disappear in 6 -8 weeks or less and their lean body mass will return.

I would consider these guys amateur athletes, riding 450-550kms per week, doing specific training programs and racing A grade at the cycling club level.

Well out came the reasons why these wasn’t much riding over winter, work was busy, had heaps of stuff on yet over the summer period the work commitments subside and all the other things that restrict training time disappear, very strange.

It’s all about consistency and maintaining a healthy weight range on a weekly rather than seasonal level.

While I cheekily suggested to take a profile shot so we can compare there bellies in 3 months time, there was a serious note to all of this.

Apart from maintaining consistency with any exercise program, it’s equally important to watch the size of your waist circumference as there is a direct link between cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes by having a girth over 100cm for men and 90cm for women.

While these guys will typically burn anywhere from 1000 – 1500 calories during a training session, the health risks cannot be over looked.

Today I had an enquiry from a 25 year old who was very concerned after her grandfather broke his pelvis, it gave her the motivation to start a fitness program.
After the usual gym membership with group fitness classes and a decline in motivation, she found that 12 months had elapsed.

However the vulnerability of her grandfather to breaking bones was enough to make a positive step to her health and well being future.

While there is a lot of literature on drinking calcium to avoid osteoporosis, there is nothing quite like regular exercise training to maintain bone density.

While in Italy I saw a group of men in their 80′s going on a morning walk around the lake in the beautiful Dolomites. By exercising regularly they are not only keeping healthy but reducing there risk of osteoporosis.

While we may not have such amazing surroundings within walking distance of our house, just finding 30 minutes a day will keep you healthy and fit into your golden years.

Struggling with exercise motivation? Well try to treat your exercise session like a business appointment.

It was interesting when I was at a business seminar chatting to another business owner about there exercise regime. Out came the usual preamble about why they are not exercising regularly, too busy, not enough time……, well you may be familiar with the other adjectives.

My next line of questions was something apparently unrelated, “so you have business meetings/appointments” Yes, “When do you arrive to the meeting, late, on time or 5 – 10 minutes before?” 5 minutes before, “have you EVER been late to a meeting”, NO.

So when we say we don’t have enough time, tooooo busy etc, what are we really saying?
Well it’s about priorities and what weighting we give to any given activity in out lives.
Appointments maybe = $$$$, or making a good impression, keeping your job, keeping the boss happy, making sure you get the deal, keeping the client happy.

So back to why we don’t exercise, we need to give exercise a higher priority in our life and remove the negatives about why we cannot exercise, maybe it’s about being lazy or can’t be bothered. Once again it’s down to priority, if your Doctor said if you don’t lose 20kgs or improve your fitness you are going to die, then the priorities change and suddenly there is time to exercise.

This example is more about showing how priorities can change, so we need to prioritise our exercise and treat it like a business appointment.

Today I noticed how running a boot camp rubs off in every day life.
While crossing the road, I noticed some freshly laid lines of liquid tar that had been dripped into the cracks on the road surface. Immediately I mentioned this to the person besides me, exactly as I do during the boot camps when pointing out possible hazards such as branches or holes in the ground.

Further on I noticed a courier across the road trying to save some time by not using a trolley to transport a heavy box to an office, maybe 60 seconds of extra work but multiplied over 1000′s of time, a lifetime of possible back pain could be avoided.

It’s funny how every day routines that we don’t think twice about actually have an exercise element, when you’re sitting down on a chair, it’s like performing a squat or getting into a car it’s a single leg lunge.

So you really never know when or where the trainer from within comes outside of our bootcamps.