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...

A beautiful ride along the Caloosahatchee River (W. Riverside Drive, 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, air-conditioned lives, getting...

Incredible smells, from the Plumeria in Lakes Park, Fort Myers, Florida, on May 1, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

For those of us with busy and active lifestyles, it can be a real challenge to keep the body sufficiently fueled day after day.

Between work, working out and the rest of life, we can end up eating on the run more than we would like to.

Cue food preparation.

You’ve probably heard or read that you increase your chances of eating poorly if you are caught out without food and that advance meal prepping is absolutely the answer.

But not everyone wants to spend their Sunday afternoons chopping onions, weighing out chicken and adding just enough cheese to keep the food calculator happy.

For many, especially those who have only recently embarked on a training program, food prepping can be a source of stress.

Even the most hardcore food preppers would be pushed to admit they could do it forever.

Life eventually gets in the way.

Finding balance in our choices is...

Create time to walk, hike, run or bike, each day, outside.  Here's Friday, April 14's trail in Lakes Park, Fort Myers, Florida.  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...

Enjoy a fast-paced walk, stopping to do some Calisthenics (or body weight) training in a park!  A great well rounded exercise. Photo courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

With so many of us hunkered down and working from, it can be challenging to find a workout to fit your space and fit your needs.

Not to worry.

You already own the most versatile and potentially challenging piece of equipment available today...

Your body. 

If you’re not sold, think ‘Cirque Du Soleil’ meets ‘American Ninja Warrior’?

The unique combination of strength, stability, and control required to perform such acts is unlike anything else.

Visually, it’s one of the most eye-catching feats of strength possible, but being able to suspend yourself in mid-air is much more than just showing off your strength.

Training the body without the use of external resistance equipment, such as free weights, dumbbells or cables, is known as calisthenics. It’s been...

A gorgeous Florida summer day in Lakes Park to enjoy a walk, run or bike ride!  Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II

Bruce Springsteen was right in 1975 when he released his best selling song ‘Born to Run.’

The human body is designed to run.

An individual's running form impacts not only his or her run, but nearly all other fitness pursuits as well.
It is an inherent trait passed down from our ancestors.

It’s a method of transportation, a means for hunting and gathering and a natural weight management system.

Some people just do it better than others. An individual's running form impacts not only his or her run, but nearly all other fitness pursuits as well.

When we talk about running form, we’re referring to our posture, or more simply, the way we hold ourselves placing one foot in front of the other.

This sounds simple enough, but poor alignment or inconsistencies in form can lead to injury and inefficiency of movement.

While there is no one magic...

Be sure to enjoy everything nature has to offer - including smelling this delight - Sweet Almond! (This particular tree is in the Children's Garden in Lakes Park - Fort Myers, FL).

The management of shoulder injuries is one of the most challenging in physiotherapy.

With the complexity of the shoulder joint and the wide variety of injuries and conditions associated with the shoulder, it can make diagnosing shoulder pain tricky.

The shoulder joint is one of the most mobile joints in the body, which, unfortunately, also makes it one of the most unstable joints and therefore highly susceptible to injury.

Shoulder injuries make up a large proportion of the musculoskeletal injuries, with nearly everyone between the ages of 18-88 experiencing at least one shoulder injury in their lifetime. 

Regardless of whether the pain is felt directly in the shoulder, there are several different anatomical structures that can trigger pain.

In some cases, the source of pain may be referred from...

Cooling down after a summer 2022 run in beautiful Lakes Park. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Summer… Beaches… Picnic’s… There are many things that make a quintessential summer but swimming in the beautiful gulf waters is top of my list.

Not only does swimming cool you down, but it also exercises nearly every muscle in your body. 

Of course, while swimming is a fantastic exercise, as with any activity, if you do too much too soon, it is possible that injuries can occur.

Swim injuries vary depending on how the injury occurred, what stroke you were using, and where on your body you feel the pain.

Swimmers shoulder - the classic — 

Every style of swimming uses the arms, and therefore uses the rotator cuff muscle group. This is one of the reasons swimming can be such great exercise.

However, if you ask your rotator cuff to do more than it is ready for at a given time, injury is almost guaranteed.

Injury to the rotator cuff can feel...

Take or make time to exercise, then rest & reset - two couple of today's tips can happen on the beautiful beach!  Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

When life gets busy, it can be easy forget to take care of yourself.

This is especially true during the holidays. End of year deadlines can make work stressful, plus there are more family commitments and personal goals you are working to achieve.

You can be so focused on the end result that you don’t notice you’re burning your candle at both ends until the wick runs out.

Self-care refers to supporting your physical, mental, and emotional health through activities and practices.

These activities don’t have to be over-the-top or costly.

Some are simply nothing more than a few moments of your time.

However, these simple practices can help to keep you happy and healthy, through the holidays and beyond.

1. Take a moment to stop and reset.

The first step toward prioritizing self-care can be as easy as taking a...

Plumeria (above) and Gardenia's are in bloom in Lakes Park (Fort Myers), right now, for you to enjoy! They're smelling SOOO good!  Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

Most people have suffered the excruciatingly painful experience of a leg cramp at least once in their life, often in bed at night.

A cramp is a painful spasm or contraction (shortening) of the muscle, usually in the calf, but sometimes in the foot or thigh muscles.

Cramps are involuntary – you have no control over the muscle spasm.

Fortunately, cramps usually only last a few seconds or minutes and usually get better when you stretch the affected muscles.

Walking around often helps relieve foot cramps.

After a cramp, the affected muscles may be sore and tender for a few hours.

Sometimes there is even mild swelling afterwards. Although they are extremely painful, ordinary leg cramps are more of a nuisance than anything else and are not usually a sign of anything seriously wrong.

Leg cramps (especially night...