A study conducted in 2007 found that 39% of log truck drivers were classified as obese or very obese when compared to 22% of New Zealand males of a similar age.
The good news is the Fit for the Road programme has been designed to help you increase your fitness and improve your nutrition.
Exercise Tips for Success
Swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, aerobic dancing, walking or any of dozens of other activities can help your heart. They all cause you to feel warm, perspire and breathe heavily without being out of breath and without feeling any burning sensation in your muscles. Whether it is a structured exercise program or just part of your daily routine, all exercise adds up to a healthier heart.
Here are some tips for exercise success:
- If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, are overweight, have a high risk of coronary heart disease or some other chronic health problem, see your doctor for a medical evaluation before beginning a physical activity program.
- Choose activities that are fun, not exhausting. Add variety. Develop a repertoire of several activities that you can enjoy. That way, exercise will never seem boring or routine.
- Wear comfortable, properly fitted footwear and comfortable, loose-fitting clothing appropriate for the weather and the activity.
- Find a convenient time and place to do activities. Try to make it a habit, but be flexible. If you miss an exercise opportunity, work activity into your day another way.
- Use music to keep you entertained.
- Surround yourself with supportive people. Decide what kind of support you need. Do you want them to remind you to exercise? Ask about your progress? Participate with you regularly or occasionally? Allow you time to exercise by yourself? Go with you to a special event, such as a 10K walk/run? Be understanding when you get up early to exercise? Spend time with the children while you exercise? Try not to ask you to change your exercise routine? Share your activity time with others. Make a date with a family member, friend or co-worker. Be an active role model for your children.
- Don’t overdo it. Do low- to moderate-level activities, especially at first. You can slowly increase the duration and intensity of your activities as you become more fit. Over time, work up to exercising on most days of the week for 30-60 minutes.
- Keep a record of your activities. Reward yourself at special milestones. Nothing motivates like success!
Benefits of Exercising
Want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. And the benefits of exercise are yours for the taking, regardless of your age, sex or physical ability. Need more convincing to exercise? Check out the ways exercise can improve your life below.
Exercise Controls Weight
Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity the more calories you burn. You don’t need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits. If you can’t do an actual workout, get more active throughout the day in simple ways – by going for a 15 minute walk during you half hour break, riding a bike or walking to work, or simply by revving up your household chores.
Exercise Promotes Better Sleep
Struggling to fall asleep? Or stay asleep? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to fall asleep.
The Bottom Line on Exercise
Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, gain health benefits and have fun. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals you may need to exercise more. Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise programme, especially if you have any health concerns.
Getting Started
Aim to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a minimum of three times per week. The main forms of physical activity reported by log truck drivers were hunting, fishing, mountain biking, playing with the family, mowing the lawns or swimming.
Motivation to Exercise
The hardest step of a training programme is definitely making a start, to continue on the training programme requires a lot of motivation and commitment. Keeping exercise commitments can be a challenge especially when you work long hours and have a family waiting at home for you. It is important that you take time out for yourself and you can do this by going for a run or going to the gym etc. Exercising can be time set aside just for you!
Motivation Tips
- Dont compare yourself to others.
- Accept that not every single training session can be a good one.
- Don’t think too much about it or you wont do it.
- Don’t be discouraged if you dont experience weight loss immediately.
- Remember that you will have plateaus in your progress and tough days along the way. It gets easier.
- Dont expect every session to be better than the last – some of them will hurt.
- Even a bad training session is better than training session at all.
- Use music to keep yourself entertained.
- Exercising is not an excuse to triple your food intake.
- Reward sessions completed not just weight loss – reward yourself by heading out to a movie, massage, something for the truck!
- Remember – exercise just as other aspect of the programme are abour forming habits
How to fit in 30 minutes of physical activity
| Hunting | Walking at a fast pace over rugged terrain for at least 20-25 minutes. |
| Cycle | Cycling to and from work is a great way to slot activity into your day. |
| Mowing The Lawns | Time yourself when you next mow your lawn. The next time you mow them you want to set a new record. Challenge your family to do better with the aim of improving your time. |
| Walking | Sometimes walking can get a bit boring so how about meeting a friend or group for some social interaction. Take the kids or dog for walk. Also, try walking to a lamp post then walking at a faster pace to the next lamp post, this will really get your ticker going and make time go by quicker. |
Time yourself when you next mow your lawn. The next time you mow them you want to set a new record. Challenge your family to do better with the aim of improving your time.
Walking
Sometimes walking can get a bit boring so how about meeting a friend or group for some social interaction. Take the kids or dog for walk. Also, try walking to a lamp post then walking at a faster pace to the next lamp post, this will really get your ticker going and make time go by quicker.
6 Week Training Programme
Your challenge is to complete a six week training programme. You have been sent three training programmes swimming, cycling and running. Each training programme has a beginner and intermediate level so you can choose which activity and the intensity. The aim of the training programme is to increase your level of fitness in preparation for the final challenge of the Fit for the Road Programme.
Tips for starting and sticking to a training programme
- Consult your doctor first
- Set small goals
- Reward yourself
- Pick a training programme that you enjoy
- Mix it up
- Exercise with family/friends
8 Week Training Programme
Your challenge it is to complete an eight week training programme that is designed to enable you to complete either a 5km run OR a 5km walk (your choice). Initially you will only be training a couple of days a week, but you will be building up to a fuller programme, so it’s important that you try to follow the programme closely right from the start!
See the downloadable PDF file for the 8 week training programme.
Still feeling unmotivated? Get on the phone to other Fit for the Road participants in your area, they’re in the same boat as you. Give The Fit for the Road team a call if you need some help finding other participants in your area.
Good luck with your eight week training programme