A girl’s gotta have a fitness goal

Here’s a girl with a goal.

Kristen Seymour, a writer for That’s Fit, recently announced that she’s taking on the One hundred Push-ups Challenge. She’s now into week three and up to 50 push-ups in a row.

You go, girl! That’s totally cool!

I’ve written a series of posts on here before about the benefits of push-ups to women. Read them here, here and here.

Sometimes I don’t think we women challenge ourselves enough when it comes to fitness. We baby ourselves, sticking with comfortable weights and not going much beyond that. I’ve caught myself doing it, and my husband has accused me of doing it.

You’re not going to improve, get stronger or break into new territory if you don’t push yourself.

My current major fitness goal is to do unassisted pull-ups by the end of the year. I’m slightly beyond two-thirds of my body weight. I’m struggling a bit with a plateau right now that I can't seem to get past. But I hit the pull-up machine every time I’m at the gym, and I keep trying. (Here’s a hint: If you can’t make a 10-pound jump, try finding a five-pound weight to sit on top of the weight stack. That way, you can increase in smaller increments, but still increase.)

Having fitness goals gives us something to strive for, a road map as we try to make ourselves better. If you stick only with what’s comfortable, you won’t improve.

There’s a saying that I like: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” That’s true in fitness, and in life.

Maybe I’ll take on the 100 push-ups challenge next.

Girls, what’s your fitness goal?

Fitness doesn’t come in a pill

I saw an article the other day about a “fitness pill” being developed.

First reported in the online journal Cell, scientists are moving closer to developing a pill that could deliver some of the benefits of exercise -- even for those who don’t exercise. Researchers now have two possible pills that appear able to build muscle, increase stamina and even burn fat.

The very idea of this bothers me, and it should bother anyone who works for their body and their health.

The drug is controversial because of the possibility athletes could misuse it to enhance sports performance.

Yes, that’s bad enough, but that’s not what bothers me about it. I am bothered by what the lead researcher said in a BBC story about the drug.

“If you like exercise, you like the idea of getting 'more bang for your buck,’" Professor Ronald Evans said. "If you don't like exercise, you love the idea of getting the benefits from a pill.”

Getting the benefits from a pill. This is what worries me. I am afraid this will give the already lazy, obese couch potato license to say, “Well, I don’t have to exercise. I’ll just take a pill.” Such a thing would not urge them to make the healthy changes they need to make. They would rely on a pill instead.

If the work can be transferred to humans, Evans said it may have potential for treating people with certain muscle diseases, as well as helping hospital patients, veterans and people with obesity maintain a minimum fitness level.

“In our society there is an ever decreasing amount of time for either healthy food or exercise,” Evans said.

So his answer is to encourage obese people to continue to make their health and fitness a low priority by giving them a pill.

We all have the same 24 hours. It’s a matter of priority. If your health and fitness are important enough to you, you’ll find the time for it.

As of now, the drug has not been approved for use in humans, and it may never be. I hope it isn’t. Such an idea cheapens the hard work that I do, and other people who exercise do, to make our bodies stronger and healthier.

A pill will not give you the pride of achieving a new exercise goal. It can’t replace the ability to do push-ups, or put one more plate on the exercise machine, or pick up the next heaviest dumbbell.

What do you think of the ‘fitness pill’? Will such a thing be abused?