As the New Year sets in, the usual suspects have made their resolutions. You probably have a few of your own, I’ve got a couple too. The difference is, a lot of people make the same one’s every year. Their intention is there, or else they would not have said anything. But, like I said, for most people it’s the same old thing and they just make a resolution for face value with their family or friends.
One of the biggest resolutions you hear is, “I am going to join a gym, I need to get into shape.” You and I know that most people never go through with it. We also know, well a good part of us do, that you don’t need a gym to get into shape, you just need some ambition. Defined by Merriam Webster, ambition is “the desire to achieve a particular end.”
I always thought the gym was the solution, but I am broke and can’t afford all the ritz that the gym offers. Sure I could join the chain store gym down the street for $10 bucks a month, but I have issues with commitment so that might not work out. What I never realized, and those making this resolution over and over need to realize, is that they are their own gym.
There are a variety of exercises one could do using the weight of their own body. Try a push up or two. Push ups are fantastic for your body, especially for the triceps, pectorals and deltoids. Sit ups are also great, your hip flexors and abs will thank you. You could grab a branch out in the backyard and start doing some pull ups. Pull ups, depending on what kind you are doing, work your lats and back, secondarily they also work out your biceps and shoulders. Go for a walk or a run next, just to start out if you are only now breaking the restraints from the couch. If you are brave enough, and don’t mind a little soreness in the morning, start doing lunges around your yard.
Now tell me, what muscle did we not just “work out”? Even if we didn’t hit every single muscle group, it’s a great start!
You don’t need to get a set of 50lb dumbbells and start pumping iron, you don’t need a stair master or a treadmill. Go take a walk around the yard, maybe in the woods, you’ll find plenty of weight out there. Whether it’s a 20lb rock, a 20lb log or a sack filled with 20lbs of sand, they all have one thing in common— they are all 20lbs.
The underlying factor this New Year is, to get yourself up, off the couch and to get to work on that goal. As the famous ballplayer, Ted Williams, said “A man has to have goals – for a day, for a lifetime – and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.”
How do you want to be remembered? Do you want people to remember you as just another guy/ gal making the same resolutions every year, or do you want to inspire and be that person that people say “wow, they did it!”
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Nate DeMontigny is the editor and author on the blog Precious Metal. He was ripped off the couch this past summer after being told his cholesterol was too high, he was out of shape, etc. He was also inspired by the Spartan Race and the athletes that are involved with the organization.
