Go green by enjoying the Fitness Stations in your local park (this photo is from Lakes Park in Fort Myers). Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Go green, minimize your carbon imprint, recycle are common words and phrases we often here in relation to the environment.

But have you ever considered going green with your workouts too?

Nature has very powerful well-being benefits.

Whether you’re going for a run, riding your bike, taking a personal training session in the park or doing boot camp on the beach, there are countless opportunities for Floridians to get outside and exercise.

More than just a popular training environment, it turns out that people who exercise outdoors in their natural settings are benefiting from more than just their sweat efforts.

Research has repeatedly shown that time spent in nature has numerous well-being benefits, including everything from reduced blood pressure readings to heightened immunity and improve mood.

Despite our largely indoors,...

A 4th of July 2024 celebration walk/run in Lakes Park - hydrating along the way! Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Participation in sports have long been recognized as an effective way to stay in shape, and a great start on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

However, organized sports and individual activities can also sometimes result in injury.

The American College of Sports Medicine has identified the most common sporting activities leading to injury, more specifically, heat-injuries.

These included:

• football
• basketball
• soccer, and
• cycling.

Individual activities, such as running may also lead to a range of injuries while rollerblading and skateboarding spearhead the way in injury-causing culprits among children.

Of additional concern is the research warning that people who experience sports injuries (especially children) are at a higher risk of suffering from re-injury later.

Therefore, it’s important to take some sensible precautions to avoid injury in the first place.

...

A beautiful early summer sunset - June 2024 - in Lakes Park where I've run with many from our beautiful GearedUp family. Photo courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Sometimes life is just plain busy.

Some people work long hours while others do shift work or travel often.

Regardless of your situation, your health and fitness training don’t need to suffer, nor should they.

As one who has the tendency to work more than I probably should, I know how hard it can get to find the energy for a workout, never mind the time to get outside and go for a ride or a run.

However, I always find time. 

How?

With the proper intention, anything is possible.

Be purposeful with each practice

Often we see people who want to do it all – golf, tennis, bike, run, yoga, weight train – and with the inability to fit everything in, they end up doing nothing. Instead of trying to do everything, focus your attention on your goals and purposefully spend the time you do have directed at achieving...

Gorgeous late spring view from the Lakes Park running, walking & biking trail - June 2024. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

It is in everyone’s best interests to prevent injuries.

The more we can stay injury free, the greater our opportunity for consistent, uninterrupted training and consistency breeds better results.

Injuries are impossible to predict. It’s also impossible to know when an injury has been prevented (after all, it never happened).

There are many things we can do, however, to significantly reduce our injury risk.

One of the most effective, and arguably simplest, things we can do is to monitor our training volumes and intensities.

There has been a clear trend in recent years towards higher intensities of class-based exercise for everyday exercisers, and that’s not a bad thing.

When people train on their own, research shows they usually select exercise intensities that are too low to elicit the training response they want.

With fitness...

One of the many workout areas in Lakes Park, Fort Myers, Florida. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Classes such as Yoga and Pilates are fantastic because they incorporate strength and stretching into each pose.

Our lifestyles involve more sitting than ever.

The less we move, the tighter our muscles become, and as a result, many people suffer from pain and dysfunction, commonly associated with office based work and a generally sedentary lifestyle.

Often those in pain turn to physical therapy and massage which offers much needed relief, until old patterns begin to repeat themselves again and the pain or muscle tension inevitably returns.

Enter your daily stretching routine!

Stretching is a cost free, self-empowering, time efficient and simple way to maintain healthy muscles.

A comprehensive five-minute stretching routine could potentially change posture, reduce pain, promote tissue repair, lubricate stiff joints and improve training recovery.

The physical benefits of safe...

2024's first Plumeria bloom in Lakes Park Botanical Garden in April! Photo courtesy of Charly Caldwell II

Is there ever enough time in a single day?

Like the U2 song from 1987, “ Race Against Time,” each day is a constant effort to get as much done in 24 hours and still find time for sleep.

When we become overburdened, our health and well-being get pushed to the back burner.

The trick isn’t needing more time, but rather being able to get the most out of time you do have without burning yourself out so you can maintain your health and well-being.

First, create a to-do list.

If something needs to get done, write it down.

The stress of carrying chores around in your head will only keep you awake at night and there is a good probability that you will forget them while focusing on other tasks.

Keeping a notebook handy is a great way to track and prioritize tasks so they get done, leaving more time for you and your bike ride after work.

This is a great technique I...

Beautiful Plumeria on the Naples Botanical Garden Walking Trail - April 2024.
Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II

Is it fair to say that when you feel better, you perform better?

And is it also fair to say that when you feel better, you treat other people better?

If you agree, it should come as no surprise that our physical health and performance are directly related to our mental well-being.

This means keeping your focus in the right direction and being mentally aware of sabotaging behaviors that can negatively affect your body. If your head isn’t in the right place, your body certainly won’t be either.

After all, as Tony Robbins says -> “Where focus goes, energy flows.”

1. Spreading gossip is one of the top poor behaviors that can sabotage your fitness.
   We’ve all been there – dealing with rude customers or irritating employees. But talking about them behind their backs is asking for trouble. This kind of behavior becomes a habit, and you soon...

Take time to smell the flowers each day (like this delightfully fragrant Plumeria in Lakes Park). Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Maintaining a change in behavior is often more difficult than making the initial change itself because:

• Of a ‘race to the finish’ mentality where there is a ‘start’ and ‘end’ to achieving your goal. This approach doesn’t work long-term because at some point you’re going to get tired and burnout.
• Out of sight out of mind. Once a target is reached, people often take that as a reason to relax and celebrate.
• Setting large goals without setting smaller, intermediate goals trips us up. Big long-range goals work best if you have also set smaller intermediate goals to help encourage you through your journey.

Fit people often don’t think of themselves as ‘motivated’...

They think of themselves as ‘consistent.’

The trick is to keep doing something so long that it feels unnatural...

Enjoying an end of March 2024 bike ride along Summerlin by Lakes Park, Fort Myers.
Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II

With more than 25 years of experience working in the health and fitness industry, I have had countless clients, friends, and family members tell me about their fitness goals.

Some want to lift more weights, others want to improve their marathon time and of course, the old classic – everyone is trying to lose weight.

One thing they all share is that they are outcome focused.

Unfortunately, despite the best intentions, I rarely see enough people ever achieve their goals. 

I often end up in a conversation with someone about where they went wrong.

Was their goal too ambitious?
Were they lazy?
Did something outside of their control derail them?

Of course, it could be a combination of these factors, but I believe the real issue lies in poor planning. 

Statistically speaking, only a whopping 3% of people ever actually achieve their fitness...

A beautiful late winter sunset from Lakes Park, Fort Myers, Florida - March 17, 2024. Photo courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

It is widely accepted that setting goals is a successful way to encourage adherence to long term-exercise.

Ask any athlete and they will tell you that goal setting enables them to track their achievements and maintain activity levels, particularly when training becomes more challenging.

Choosing the most effective goal setting approach; be it outcome, process or performance based goals depends on each individual and personal motivation factors.

Before you make any lifestyle changes, you should know why you want to change your fitness and you should be consciously making that decision for yourself.

Write down 3 goals you want to achieve, why you want to achieve them and what it will mean to you once you do.

Also, recognize what it would mean if you don’t reach those goals.

Now post your goals some where you can see and review them every day. Having a...