Now That Football’s Over, It’s Time to Shape Up

It’s Monday morning, and that sinking feeling begins to settle in as you slowly realize that football season is over. The great Super Bowl party you attended last night has left you feeling bloated and tired. And you wonder how you are going to fill your Sundays and Monday nights. Adding to the despair is knowing that shorts weather is just around the corner, which means you might be thinking of a way to work off the beer-and-pizza gut you so easily acquired since September.

Don’t panic, because getting back into shape (or for some, just getting into shape, period) is much easier than you may think.

Some men begin by setting goals for what they want to accomplish through working out and eating better. A friend of mine, who likes to run, does this as each football season winds down: He sits down with a fitness magazine and decides which 5K or 1OK races he wants to run and then lays out a plan on how to prepare.

Another friend has decided that he wants to become an excellent dance partner; therefore, he has signed up for swing and salsa lessons.

There are myriad goals you can set for yourself. I have another friend who is turning 35 and has decided he doesn’t want to suffer from the heart disease and hypertension that his father had at 40. Setting fitness goals are a personal matter, but the important thing to remember is that they should be attainable and realistic for your lifestyle.

With your goals set, now what? Create a plan to accomplish what you want to accomplish. For example, what kind of plan will help you lose the beer gut? Or, how are you going to run and finish the L.A. Marathon? Create a training and nutrition plan. For many men, this seems to work because a having program can solidify goals and make them more achievable. Your plan may also involve developing a menu in which you map out the types of foods you need to eat or limit to help you meet your goals.

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One thing to keep in mind is that fitness does not have to be a chore. In my years as a fitness professional, I’ve seen many men burn out too fast at the gym, especially after the start of the new year and at the end of football season. The main reason seems to be that they either get injured or become fatigued after about a month of working out too hard and too fast. If you view fitness as a lifestyle change, you may realize that it takes time to achieve your goals; they cannot happen overnight or within a month’s time. My friend the salsa dancer seems to understand this--he’s made it a point to make getting into shape fun.

Thus, if going to the gym and putting in your 45 minutes a day becomes a chore, there are so many other things you can do to be active, especially in Southern California. One activity you might try is hiking. Los Angeles has a multitude of hiking trails in the Malibu / Topanga Canyon area as well as around the Griffith Park area.

Or try joining a running club. Doing so offers the chance to meet and work out with people at different levels of fitness. Or how about getting together with co-workers and organizing a weekly or bimonthly game of football? You can keep the football spirit alive and, at the same time, play the game instead of watch.

So, there you have it--your road map to fitness. Getting into shape doesn’t seem so difficult now, does it? Of course, one goal may be to stay on this road map once football season starts again, and then you won’t have to go through this process again next year.