FITNESS
Getting our walk on!
OUR APPROACH
At the GVWC, we want our members to be as healthy as they can for as long as they can. What is our philosophy to achieving and sustaining that objective? It is getting back to basics. It is taking advantage of the outdoors for fitness. It is creating great healthy habits—gradually. It is to keep moving our bodies.
Mobility, strength, balance, and mental acuity. These are things most of us take for granted today. But what about tomorrow? Next year? Next decade? At the GVWC, we want to help you be as healthy as you can for as long as you can. We want to help you develop daily healthy habits so that you can live a full, healthy life.
The outdoors is our gym. You don’t need an expensive gym membership, professional equipment, or perfect weather to be fit. You can go outside and get a great cardio workout by walking, breathing fresh air, maybe even dropping down to do a few pushups after every mile. If you’re really tough, tossing in some box jumps on a park bench to show off your urban toughness. No excuses.
The outdoors is our gym
Create healthy habits. Gradually. The best habits are ones that stick. And to make sure they stick, habits need to be attainable. Rather than wholesale lifestyle changes that become overwhelming, make one healthy change—just one small change. Do it for a month. Focus on that one thing—drinking more water, walking 15 minutes after dinner, doing 5 pushups every Tuesday, reducing your refined sugar intake, eliminating diet soda, adding an extra serving of fruit or vegetable. Make it one thing. Make it a habit. After a month, once it’s become a habit, add another small, healthy habit. Remember those 5 pushups on Tuesdays? How about adding 5 pushups on Thursdays? Can you imagine what you can accomplish in a year? Can you imagine incorporating 12 new small healthy habits? Those small changes will make a huge difference in your health: the way you feel, the way you look. The way you look at yourself. No excuses.
Create Healthy Habits -- for them and for you!
Move more. We all need to keep moving to maintain a long healthy life. For heart health, bone strength, joint mobility, and brain function. Walking is a terrific way to get fit and maintain fitness. When we walk for fitness, we want to walk with purpose. That is, walking as if we have somewhere to get to and soon. Walking with purpose is a great way to get our heart rate up, engage our arms as well as our legs for muscle strength, help ensure steady balance, and just clearing our heads by deeply breathing fresh air.