Chronicle Editor
Innocent Choga Fitness —
The year 2016 has come to an end. Well organised companies and responsible individuals have reviewed their activities during the past year, they have set new goals and formulated new strategies for the coming year.
Focused school children are also analysing what they did wrong or right and how best they can attain or maintain good grades in 2017. Some plans will come to fruition and others will fail due to bad implementation. We need to make comprehensive budget plans that include fitness in terms of time and money.
We can only achieve what we planned when we are healthy and fit. As the saying goes, failure to plan means planning to fail, fitness lifestyles require planning as well.
Accidents happen, illnesses attack us but we cannot belittle exercising and eating well just because we shall die. We go to church and pray to the Almighty requesting for good health and fitness but we also need to play our part.
They say in order for us to be lifted up we must stand on higher ground. Most companies hold regular seminars teaching workers about etiquette and dressing well, but do the agendas on the seminars include subjects on the importance of keeping fit?
The ability of workers to contribute significantly to company goals, their ability to carry out daily chores safely and easily depends on their fitness levels.
They do not just have to be academically fit for the role but they also have to be physically and mentally fit to carry out the role. Therefore it pays dividends to engage fitness consultants who can assist workers determine their fitness needs and help make plans to attain the needed fitness levels.
At times we do not know that we have fitness needs. It takes certain incidences for us to realise we have fitness needs. It is very difficult for other people to point out our fitness needs because the body is a natural thing and one cannot tell whether the fitness needs are due to lifestyles or genetics.
Therefore it just seems improper to point that out unless you are closely related.
But when we wear the wrong outfit or display bad etiquette people will easily point that out and they might even laugh at us.A fitness consultant can easily point out our fitness needs as an evaluation exercise after carrying out tests and measurements.
For example, being fit helps expands our span of attention. When we are fit we can sit, listen attentively and participate energetically during meetings. When we lack muscular endurance we feel pain here and there. This in turn affects our mental endurance and we wish the meeting would end quickly.
Our daily chores also extend beyond our workplace; we also have a lot of duties to carry out at home. But do our annual budget plans at home include fitness activities for the whole family?
Is it part of our goals to create peaceful environments at home and in the community that will ensure that children are fit? Mental fitness will enable them to perform to their maximum abilities in both academic and physical activities.
Disturbances in the homes negatively affect children’s mental fitness and this extends to school and sport performances. Setting fitness goals is a way of giving ourselves direction and ensuring we stay focused throughout the year.
The SMART principle applies also applies here. A good plan has to be short, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. My short plan includes a specific target, which is to lose 5kg in 2017. Losing 0,42kg per month is attainable. I will definitely have to do things differently to achieve the change that I seek. I will return to the gym, lift moderate weights while maintaining my aerobic activities.
But before I start, I need to do some tests and measurements for evaluation when assessing my progress. Weight training will ensure that I build some small muscles and lose fat. Since muscle weighs less and takes less space than fat I will keep some flesh on without looking and feeling bulky. I have a large frame, so it is logical that I have to keep a relative amount of meat on me to look healthy and be able to move the medium sized bones on my large frame.
My goal is out of the realisation that I have to shed a bit of weight. This occurred after I lost a walking race to a certain fit and ultra lean lady who carried her weight as if she was made of paper. I just do not need excess weight that weighs down my ageing frame; I need to move around comfortably.
To be realistic I cannot be ultra lean and look healthy. This reminds me of what one Physical Education and Sport guru told me, that a large individual like me may finish marathon races but will not win a marathon race.
A marathon runner has to be ultra lean and very light. So my goals have to be realistic and attainable. You can look and feel the way you want, within reasonable boundaries of course. Planned goals should be realistic.
Do not set out to achieve what you cannot or should not achieve because such goals are discouraging. Christmas time is a time to give the physiques a rest, especially for those who have been exercising throughout the year.
This is the time to relax a bit and eat whatever we want and enjoy the physical fitness attained. It is a time to visit those beautiful places around the country and elsewhere in order to relax those stressed minds ,thereby working on our emotional and mental fitness.
This is a time to work on our social fitness by spending time with family and friends. It is a time to embrace the spiritual fitness that comes with Christmas. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Email:[email protected] Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport.
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