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Fit 4 Life | Lessons to learn from Fit in 5

Published:Wednesday | December 11, 2019 | 12:45 AMMarvin Gordon/Contributor
The Gleaner's Fit 4 Life Season 3's ‘Fit in 5’ Grand Finale at The Gleaner, 7 North Street, Kingston on Saturday, December 7, 2019.
The Gleaner's Fit 4 Life Season 3's ‘Fit in 5’ Grand Finale at The Gleaner, 7 North Street, Kingston on Saturday, December 7, 2019.

After three months of exciting workouts with some of the best fitness coaches around, Fit 4 Life Season Three: Fit in 5 is at an end. The 12 weeks since September have been a roller-coaster ride that saw us moving from high-intensity training at the Calabar High School track with Trainfit Club to relaxing with Jo-Hanna’s special brand of Taylor-Made yoga fitness.

And who could forget that gruelling team boot camp with Sweet Energy Fitness or dancing the morning away with Body By Kurt? We even had our first exciting beach workout at Little Copa in Bull Bay.

Even with all this excitement, however, there are certain lessons that the Fit in 5 concepts were designed to teach.

Here are the top five lessons to apply to your fitness programme:

1. FUN

This is one of the deciding factors when it comes to fitness. Are you enjoying your workouts? If you aren’t enjoying your current training regime, it might be time to try something new. It might not seem all that important at first glance, but it will be extremely difficult to stick to a workout programme that bores you. Having fun while training makes staying consistent a breeze because you will look forward to each training session.

2. SIMPLICITY

The KISS principle – ‘keep it simple, stupid’ - can be quite rewarding when it comes to fitness. In fact, KISS is the foundation of Fit in 5. It’s simple: if your training and nutrition plans are easy to follow, you are more likely to follow them.

3. VARIETY

One thing Fit 4 Lifers got a lot of in Fit in 5 was variety. And when it comes to your fitness, variety is the spice of life. Exposing yourself to many training and nutrition options allows you to choose the ones that work best for you. Whether you are looking for a challenge or fun or you just want to try something you saw on Instagram, trying new things will help keep you interested and motivated.

4. PERSEVERANCE

There were some tough workouts this season, as if it wasn’t already tough enough waking up early on a Saturday morning to go face a difficult task. Still, there are Fit 4 Lifers who didn’t miss a session. Learning to fight on through the uphill battle of fitness is an important lesson. The ‘use it or lose it’ principle is always at your back – when you miss workouts or mess up on nutrition, you start to lose the progress you made. So fight on.

5. TEAMWORK

Training with a group or a partner has its benefits. Working as part of a team provides motivation, accountability, fun, and support. Why miss out on all these benefits? Fit in 5 might be done, but all Fit 4 Life fitness partners – TrainFit Wellness Club, Sweet Energy Fitness Club, Body By Kurt and TaylorMade – provide exciting group fitness classes and events. If you prefer, you can grab a friend and head to the gym or hiking trail. Whatever you choose, having a team to build you up is the way to go.

- Marvin Gordon is a fitness coach. Email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com and marvin.gordon@physiqueandfunction@gmail.com