Hey everyone, how is that paid gym subscription going for you? You ever buy a gym subscription? I know they're getting cheap now, but you buy one and you never go? Are you that person? I know I am. I've done that too; a lot of people do that.

As we're cranking through New Year New You I know you guys are hitting your New Year's resolutions, you're making your mark, you're losing weight. And you notice if you're reading my blogs for January I have not really talked about the exercise portion. The reason is because exercise only makes up about 25% of the game. 75%-80% of your physical health is nutrition in St. Petersburg FL.

So you notice we've been talking about that pretty steadily, but as we hit the end, at least for January, we want to build consistency for the rest of the year. Hopefully you worked through the Incremental Fasting stage. You got your Food Timing down. Now we're going to discuss the exercise portion.

Going to the Gym in St. Petersburg FL

Now, no one goes to the gym one time and looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. Just wanted you to know. And the other thing is most people, they're not trying to train for the Olympia. You know Arnold lifting weight getting huge like that was specifically for him trying to win Mr. Olympia like nine times or something. You know? Or Lance Armstrong, give or take some of the stuff that's come up in the media, he was training to win the Tour de France . When you look at athletes who a lot of people want to idolize, they're training for specific events. You guys are Athletes of Life. What you're training for is, this is what I train for, having fun with my kids, go for walks with my wife, be able to throw a football with my kids, be able to run around the yard without having a heart attack and dying.  So we're training to be Athletes of Life here.

So you got the nutrition, now I recommend you start working out early in the morning. Now, everyone is a little bit different, if you really like lifting weights like I do, do your weights but for most of the human population that I talk about, you don't need to join a gym membership for this. All you have to do is get up in the morning and go for a walk on an empty stomach.

First thing in the morning, when you first get up. Drink your glass of water, no coffee yet and just go for a nice walk for 20 minutes. If you enjoy riding a bike, ride your bike. Whatever you like to do go do it. I know with my wife and I, we walk the dog with the boys. It's an enjoyable thing. Exercising should be something you like. Go paddle boarding, do something you enjoy doing. You want to keep it up for 20 minutes. You want to keep your heart rate up pretty good while you're doing it. I'm not talking about dragging, I see people walking the dog while smoking a cigarette, that's not what we're talking about here. Talking about getting your metabolism going, getting your exercise thing going, but do something you like. 20 minutes every day and it'll be beneficial.

People say "Aw, you're supposed to exercise three days a week." But I've learned in my practice that if I say three days a week you're never going to do it. So, exercise every day. And then you'll get going and you'll do it 3-4 days a week, that's what we want. The reason I bring up the gym membership is because I see so many people spend money on that and then never use it. If you want to save some bucks, cancel that and just get up and start doing what you enjoy doing when you get up in the morning. 20 minutes every day.

Now some people say "oh I'll do it after work" but will you really do it after work? If you were going to do it after work you would use the gym. Life gets in the way. You have to pick the kids up from soccer practice, or there's an emergency or grandma needs help with something. I want you to do it first thing in the morning, give some time to yourself. The benefit of doing it first thing in the morning, if you exercise on an empty stomach when you first get up your metabolism is 15%-20% higher all day long. So then that initial hit where you get your heart rate up stays with you 15%-20%, so you continue to burn body fat throughout the day.

So, first thing in the morning or never, something you enjoy, stop wasting your money on a gym membership you're not going to use it because you're not trying to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. You're trying to be you for your family and for your kids. I just hope that this really fuels you as the year progresses and you really hit your goals for the year because your health is honestly your most important asset.

I'm Doctor Christopher Hood with Hood Chiropractic. It's all good in the Hood, God bless you guys.