Total Lifetime Fitness Manifesto
August 3rd, 2008 Posted by David Lemberg
We all want to be healthy and well and we want this for our kids, too. We also want our parents to be healthy and well, so our kids can enjoy being with their grandparents for a very long time.
How to get there? How to reach the holy grail of fitness, health, and wellness?
The first step is to be honest and straight with ourselves. Is health a goal I truly want to attain for myself and my extended family? Of course, each individual can only make this decision for herself, but in the case of parents and younger children, the parents are the ones who will generally be the decision-makers.
If the answer is “yes, I want to be a person who is physically healthy, one who enjoys a vibrant, healthy, rewarding lifestyle, and I want my family to be healthy and well, too”, then there are necessary action steps needed to achieve these goals.
Before I describe these basic action steps, I’d like to take a minute for full disclosure. I’ve been lucky - I’ve always been one of those active people. I’ve always been fit. I’ve always been thin. And, mostly I’ve enjoyed good physical health.
I played organized baseball when I was a kid and during the week we played flag football and stickball. I ran track when I was a teenager. As an adult, I’ve been running (more on than off) for 20 years and lifting weights (more on than off) for 25 years. I did aerobics classes in the 1980s when that was big, and I’ve even been a ballroom dancer!
So, I have long experience in the worlds of exercise and fitness. And, I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve never had to “catch-up” to get fit. That said, I have a profound appreciation for all TOTAL LIFETIME FITNESS readers who are engaged in the fitness-health-wellness journey, wherever their starting place and whatever their current levels of health and fitness.
In other words, we’re all starting now, right where we are. The very good news is that we can all improve our health, we can all improve our levels of fitness, we can all approach our ideal weight, if we just get started. That is truly very good news.
Now, in this Manifesto, I’m not telling you anything that’s really new. We’re just outlining an overall strategy. And, there’s nothing here you don’t already know. How do you become healthy and achieve increasing levels of wellness? The two time-tested keys are
- Regular exercise
- Excellent daily nutrition
No surprises. But is anyone really paying attention? Despite enjoying one of the world’s highest per capita incomes, Americans rank poorly among developed nations in terms of health - the United States is not even in the Top 10 in terms of life expectancy.
And, the statistics regarding overweight and obesity in the United States are well-known. More than one-third of American adults and one-third of American children are overweight or obese.
Most national medical organizations (including the American College of Sports Medicine), the American Heart Association), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services all recommend 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week, for all adults. But, national studies show 40% of American adults do no exercise whatsoever.
So, even though we all know about the benefits of regular exercise and good nutrition, not too many of us are actually walking the talk.
TOTAL LIFETIME FITNESS is all about making the critical shift from merely knowing stuff to really taking action - action that’s in our best interest and the best interests of all our family members.
If you’re a “yes”, new habits will need to be developed. The wonderful secret is that once healthy habits related to exercise and nutrition take hold, you want to keep going. You and your family start to feel so much better, you start to feel so much more energetic. You find you need less sleep. You’re not dragging when you wake up in the morning. Your skin takes on a healthy glow. Many medical problems clear up, just because you’ve developed new healthy ways of living.
It’s really quite amazing.
And, as I mentioned, the beauty part is that everyone can begin to gain these benefits. You start right where you are.
In the coming days, weeks, and months we’ll be talking about exercise, nutrition, and wellness from many points of view.
We’ll explore real exercises for real people -
- Weight-training - upper body, lower body, and everything in between
- Aerobic training - running, walking, biking, elliptical, interval training, the works
- Core fitness - the core is the basis of everything we do
- Plyometrics - special jumping exercises that enhance overall fitness
- And much more
We’ll explore nutrition and food plans that really work long-term -
- Weight loss that stays lost
- Adding lean muscle mass and burning fat
- Food groups, total calories, and food combining
- Individual food plans that are specifically targeted for you
- Delicious, nutritious, easy recipes - main dishes, sides, AND deserts!
We’ll explore sound strategies for injury prevention and proven methods for coming back stronger when an injury does happen.
Get fit! Be fit! Stay fit! That’s what we’re all about. Let’s get started. 
