High School Flashbacks?

When I refer to taking a fitness test do you all immediately have horrible flashbacks to highschool gym class and having someone like this yelling at you?For those of you who aren't aware, I've started working out with a personal trainer a few times each week (NO he's nothing like the one above!). His name is Chad and he's actually really nice - in fact, I give him a hard time for not being hard enough on me sometimes.

Once each month I have a fitness test to see how much my strength and endurance has improved. This includes all the dreaded classics. I do the situps. I can't do pushups because of the cysts in my wrist, so I test on a verticle chest press machine. I do the pullups (on a sweet machine that helps by pulling part of your weight for you, so it's not quite like this picture).One of my favorite (that's sarcastic, by the way) is the plank. I was happy to find this picture on the internet because I didn't quite know how to explain it. Basically you just sit in this position and hang out - it's great for your core. If you feel like you're in pretty good shape, give this a try and see how long you can hold it without shooting your behind into the air or dropping your knees to the ground. (They had a contest at my gym a couple of months ago and the winner held this position for about 5 minutes.)This week, Chad added a new item to the test where you see how long you can sit against the wall at a ninety degree angle (as if you were in a chair). I have a feeling that one's gonna hurt tomorrow, too.

The last joyful piece of the dreaded fitness test is the mile. Each month I run it and he records my time. Each month gets better, but each month stinks just the same.For our weekly workouts, I've teamed up with a friend so we get longer sessions and have a stronger support system in place. We do both cardio and strength training...and watch what we eat throughout the week. This is the classic combination that is time-tested and proven again and again.

I hear over and over from friends that they don't have time to exercise or that they'd rather try some miracle diet - I've said it myself. BUT IF YOU WANT TO BE HEALTHY, YOU HAVE TO LIVE HEALTHILY! Regardless of anything else, a healthy lifestyle is going to include some form of exercise.

My friend Melissa is an inspiration to all who know her. She has lost a drastic amount of weight the last couple of years all on her own, through diet and exercise. She has more self-discipline than any other living human being I know. What an example! She's living proof that it's possible.

If you are one of those people who are telling yourself that you don't have the time or the willpower, you're lying to yourself! I still get a little bit of that sick feeling in my stomach when I realize it's time for my fitness test again, but it's so rewarding to see the improvement in the numbers, to look and fit better in my clothes, but more importantly to FEEL more healthy. I'm not there yet, but I know I can get there and that I'm headed the right direction. AND, if I can do it, SO CAN YOU!