Fitness in Costa Rica. Getting back on the horse.

Hola y saludos fellow movers! How has your progress been with moving 30 minutes a day?

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t do it, either because you forgot, couldn’t do it or simply don’t know what I am talking about.

The point is you are here now and that is step one to getting back on the horse. I have spent my life of fitness thus far “getting back on the horse” in some fashion or another.

Anything one does not want to do becomes a mission for finding a reason, any reason, to not do it. Some say it is half the battle, many argue it is the war entirely. One thing is for certain, if it were easy to stay on the horse, then the CDC would not report obesity rates in the US over 33%, and an overweight adult population estimated at 80%!

Whatever your fitness story is, and it is your story, here we are again so let’s saddle up.

The assignment last time was to move for more for 30 minutes a day, whatever that means for your story, for 21 days. If you are a 100% sitter, then it may have been just standing up for 30 minutes.

Standers move to walking and walkers pick up the pace. There was also the options offered to practice yoga, hike, or whatever you could dream up. We have only 21 days to make moving more a habit so if you slipped, please no self-abuse, acknowledge and get back on the horse.

The process for most when starting any kind of exercise program is a cycle. In the gym business we used to attempt to interrupt the cycle with things like classes, to try and build community, personal training for support, and member interaction to make people feel encouraged, but the end result tends to be about the same.

Here is how it goes: Generally around January 1st Jim gets excited to get in shape. He joins a gym and starts working out and eating better. First mistake as we discussed last time: Two major habit changes at one time is too much for 99% of us.

The next thing that happens is he starts getting muscle soreness from pushing too hard, not getting the right nutrition, or simply being dehydrated. Not accustomed to muscle soreness, many will drop off at this point. End of story for that member until next January.

If Jim makes it through the soreness without injury, he will start to notice some very fast strength gains, for reasons we will not cover today, and maybe even some weight loss, his goal most likely.

Friends and family will pay him compliments and he will go through a period of romance about his gym, maybe even force a few friends to sign up.

As time goes on, life stress, other distractions and a slowdown of gains (again, we will discuss why later), Jim is starting to unconsciously look for reasons to stop this thing.

Because he has made it a habit, it will take a little work but with some effort he knows he can find a reason to quit. Let’s be fair to the guy though, he has made it this far.

Jim starts to notice he is not only stopped with making gains in fitness, he is going backwards. He ups his 3 days per week to 4, maybe even 5. The soreness comes back and not the results. He can’t figure out why. His friends he made join gave up their first 2 weeks so he is all alone.

One day Jim comes into the gym and there is a problem. Either his card for the monthly fees declines, another member is rude to him or worse yet, the staff of the gym don’t make him feel welcome. Whatever it is, he has found his final straw and is off the camels back.

Or was it a horse? Nonetheless, he is done for this year.

This story plays itself out regularly every year and I share it with you so you can know what you are up against: you. Anything one does not want to becomes a mission for finding a reason, any reason, to not do it.

It could be homework, yard-work, cooking, cleaning, taxes, paying bills… whatever the task, we are looking for the story we will tell everybody so it sounds like we tried.

“Ugh, I tried to workout but it’s just not me.” Really? And heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer (CDC again) are “you?” My dear, how lovely that type 2 diabetes looks with your outfit tonight, how ever did you put that together?

Life is going to present us with, let’s call them challenges because I think the word “excuse” has developed a bad rap. To know what I mean by challenges, one only need watch the para-olympics to see what can be done with life’s challenges.

I know, I go through it too. I have two herniated discs, various joint pains and fancy for drinking too much on occasion. I like how Ryan Lochte the (regular) olympic swimmer put it: “If I am a man at night, then I am a man in the morning.” He meant that if he has a few too many the night before a race, he will not allow that to be the excuse for not showing up the next morning.

My point is not to condone excessive drinking by anyone, olympian, para or otherwise. Nor is my point to make our para-olympians into deities, although what they do is darn impressive.

My point is to insist that we make an agreement with ourselves as individuals (the Jim Q’s of the world) that there will be no challenge big enough to prevent us from keeping our promise; the promise of getting back on the horse.

Most of us would never trot off to bed without at least running the toothbrush over our teeth. I wouldn’t. It may not be the version I want my dentist to know about, but I brushed, ok?

Our agreement with ourselves sounds something like this:

1. Today is the best day to make a commitment to a new habit. We acknowledge that even poorly executed habits can be improved upon. There is no improving on non-habits.
2. We accept that falling off the horse is not just normal, it is to be expected. We do not allow challenges to stop us because we made a commitment beforehand that no challenge will be big enough to stand between us and our habits.
3. We will accept any effort as a contributor to the prime objective: lifestyle.

Good luck and keep moving!

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Daily, Damon runs on the beach in Playa Azul and keeps fit by doing calisthenics, using a TRX suspension trainer, stability ball and just about anything he can to create new and fun exercises.

You can email Damon here if there is anything specific about staying fit and healthy in Costa Rica you would like him to cover in his next article.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.