No Gadgets Needed - Don't Waste Your Money!

I'm watching the first round of the Northern Trust Open, and one of the advertisements being shown is for the "Perfect Situp." A plastic cradle type of thing that is supposed to make sure you do your situps correctly.

Please.

You don't need the "Perfect Situp." You don't need the "Perfect Pushup." You don't need the "Shaker Weight."

Even machines like the Bowflex...you don't really need it...although that admittedly would be nice to have...

But you need no equipment to do a situp. You just do it. You need no equipment to do a pushup. Paying 50 to a hundred dollars, whatever it is they are asking for it, is just a waste of money.

Here's the question - I've advised you to pick up 50 pounds worth of free weights and a bench with a leg exercise add on. Have you done so?

Good.

Now, are you using it every other day?

If you are not, then buying new toys like the shaker weight or the perfect situp are not going to magically cause you to want to start exercising. They will gather dust in your closet, also.

But you must exercise. Well, unless you have a physical job to begin with, so that you're just naturally getting weight training - if you're a farmer and carry heavy bags of seed around, or something of that nature. But if you have a desk job, or work from home, as I do, you must exercise.

"Yeah, but how?" you say in annoyed tones.

The solution is many-fold.

1. If you've exercised a few times, than missed every day for a month or even two or more, do not despair. Shrug your shoulders and say, "Okay, time to get on the stick."

2. You must exercise your willpower as well as your muscles. You can strengthen your willpower - but that takes effort, too.

3. Make exercising a habit. What part of the day do you have the most energy? In the morning when you first get up. During lunch. After you get home from work. At night? Choose one time - you must exercise at that time every other day. And when I say exercise, I mean lift weights.

4. It does not take 30 minutes a day to lift weights, For our purposes - which is to strengthen and tone, not pack on muscle - 15 minutes is adequate. You go through your reps once - for both arm and leg exercises, rest, then go through them again. It won't take more than 15 minutes.

Then drink some water as you move on to other things - no high calorie or caffeine laden drinks.

5. Realize that it's all a process. Try to analyze your feelings as you exercise - don't you feel good? When you can add an extra 5 reps to one set, or an extra 5 pounds...doesn't that give you a feeling of accomplishment?

Exercising is actually kind of fun. Do it for the sake of having fun, and you'll find out what I mean.