The Long-Term Benefits of Consistent Exercise
When it comes to health and fitness, we're often bombarded with stories of quick and dramatic transformations. While these "before-and-after" tales can be motivating, it's important to remember that lasting change takes time. In this blog post, I'm going to share with you the story of my own lifelong journey with exercise—a journey that started when I was just 13 years old and has continued uninterrupted for more than two decades. I hope my story will inspire you to stick with your own fitness goals, even when the going gets tough.
Anyone who has tried to maintain a workout routine knows that it can be challenging to stay motivated. There are days when you just don't feel like going to the gym, and it's easy to fall off the wagon. That's why at Blended Athletics we implemented the Myzone Heart Rate Technology. By wearing a myzone belt during my workouts, I have been able to track my progress since 2019. Let me tell you more about my results and if you are interested check out our our vlog where some of our coaches tackle the new STAMINA class at Blended Athletics. (linked below)
Myzone is a wearable heart rate monitor that allows users to see their real-time heart rate, calories burned, and some other cool data. Last year (2021) I tracked 251 workouts with a total calorie burn of 126,898! That’s an average of 505 calories per workout (2,437 calories burned on average per week). Now I know that this is a lot of numbers but stay with me here. In theory it takes 3500 calories burned to lose 1 pound. Which means I was keeping off or burning, depending on how you look at it, ¾ of a pound per week.
I maintained the same weight over the last year which was my goal, but in theory if I had not completed any fitness and maintained all other lifestyle and nutritional habits, I would have gained over 36lbs (126,898 cal /3500 = 36.25lbs )and would have gone from 180lbs to 216lbs of bodyweight.
The point I want to highlight here is consistency. In 2020 I did 228 workout (average of 4.4 workouts a week), in 2019 I did 199 workout (average of 3.8 workouts a week), and in 2022 year to date I’ve averaged 4.6 workouts a week. All in all I’ve been averaging 4.4 workouts a week since January 2019 when I began tracking the data. Although I don’t have data prior to this I’m confident that I’ve been averaging that for the last 2+ decades.
To conclude I want you to imagine how much healthier your life can become with a regular exercise routine. If you want to see results with your health and fitness you don’t have to track your progress, however I recommend it. What you need to do is stay consistent! Whether you're just starting out on your fitness journey or you've been at it for a while, I hope my story will inspire you to keep going.