Are you Fitness Fit?

Fitness is not about being macho, it's more about using your body smoothly and efficiently with proper breathing.

For people who practice fitness regularly, manage their stress, eat healthy food, and are close to their target weight, the answer to this question is an easy one. "Yes, I am fitness fit."

A working assessment for being "fitness fit" is contained in the next several paragraphs. Your internal organs and genetic and medical conditions are best addressed by a medical practitioner. Here we are addressing fitness levels and practices. Your medical advisors should be consulted on a regular basis to monitor your medical wellness. This test is not designed to assess the fitness levels of people with special conditions or disabilities. This test is also not designed for kids or seniors. They will be addressed in specific exercise programs catering to their specific conditions.

- You can run 3-5 miles, cycle for 40 minutes, or can swim for 20 minutes:

all at a reasonable pace. (If you are a yoga practitioner who lives in the mountains and bikes everywhere, you qualify as fit. You get the point.)

Generally the fit runner (under age 50) covers each mile in less than 10 minutes, but people's paces will vary. The idea is that if you are running 13-minute miles, you will not pass the running part of the fitness test. Also part of this fitness test: the pace and distance you do are good for you and do you no harm. This is assessing the fitness level of your common sense. And that's what should be stressed more than anything.

- You can do reasonable amounts of following exercises comfortably and you do something that keeps the body parts involved in these movements exercised on a regular basis.

People who lack natural strength and aging people may do chin-ups and push-ups in more effort-appropriate ways. Chin-ups may be done using a lower bar (say 3'-4' high). Feet can be placed far past the bar so that body is now on a 45-degree angle to the ground. Push-ups may be done with hands resting on a park bench or a 3'-4' high wall to lighten the load. Now you are doing incline push-ups.

- chin-ups

- push-ups

- unweighted squats

- sit-ups

- back and neck exercises

- stretching

You don't have too much excess baggage in the love handle or buttocks area.

You are reasonably close to your reasonable target weight.

The idea is that if you were 160-lbs as a 23-yr.-old Green Beret, and now are a 50-something person who has kids, grandkids, a busy job, and a spouse who cooks pasta with extra meat sauce, your reasonable target weight may no longer be 160. But it's certainly not 230. Let common sense reign.

Natural Strength is wonderful, but having that doesn't mean you are fitness fit. Many people lift heavy objects and bend their bodies (like gardeners and tile setters). But if someone has a stiff neck, or doesn't train their body for flexibility, posture, cardio, etc., they are not fitness fit. Fitness is not about being macho, it's more about using your body smoothly and efficiently with proper breathing.

So, if you are fit, that's great! How are your workouts going?

Is time a factor for you? Are you not getting in your fitness as regularly as you would like? Would you like to do something every day: even mixing in a mini workout 1-3 days per week?

If you answered "yes," then the Maintenance Program is for you.