After over a decade, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, once more, is requiring its special agents to take a physical fitness test, according to an article published at the New York Times. Each of them has until October to take and complete it.
It is composed of four sets of challenges, namely the one-minute push-up, one-minute sit-ups, 300 meters of sprint and 1.5 miles of run, with five minutes of rest between every part. The scores of the participants are based on the participant’s age and gender, but they don’t have to meet height, weight and all other body composition metrics.
James Cooney, FBI director, reinstated fitness tests at end of last year. He said that the lives of the agent’s colleagues and the people they protect might depend on his ability in running, fighting and shooting, no matter the job assigned to him (*in an internal memo).
Now you don’t have to be an NBI agent to test your fitness, but all you need is to do your workouts and stick with them for results. Gradually, fitness (top shape, improved muscle tone or developed endurance), if not present now, can be achieved by being consistent in training. As a beginner in exercise, though, it may be hard to keep your focus, so here are some tips for you.
Make specific, achievable goals and devise an action plan. You should ensure your goals could show how much energy and time you can allot for working out, your equipment and your finances. As a tip, you can make a home gym if you cannot go to a community gym, or go to the gym before work if you don’t have enough energy to train in the gym after work. You should also make specific plans so that you will have your expectations set from the start.
Prepare for training by writing it down as a part of your daily appointment. And because you won’t want to cancel an appointment, you wouldn’t also want to cancel your very own exercise appointment. Remember that you are also important. To avoid feeling lazy and having all those excuses to exercise, you can start slowly. First, you can exercise less than what you can do. For instance, only take a couple of minutes of walk, even if you don’t feel it’s enough.
You can also have your family and friends involved. Perhaps, you can take a training partner with you. You can also run while your kid is riding a bike, or you can run with your husband. In addition to these, you can sign up for a marathon, or walk with your dog. The secret is making sure you do even the simplest of exercises, even for a couple of minutes per day.
You should also learn from yourself and from others by reflecting on what you did well and what areas you have to work on. You can find out how you can be able to reproduce your good health choices and find solutions before a problem arises. You can also learn from your friends who have adapted a healthy lifestyle.
According to studies published in a 2005 article at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there are four components shared by exercisers who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight and keep an ideal weight for at least a year. Those include exercising daily, being diligent in monitoring their diet, weight and calorie intake, eating breakfast and not cheating on the holidays or on the weekends.
Aside from that, you should also aspire of having healthy habits, which you can keep and follow, but remember not to put pressure on yourself by trying to establish healthy eating habits overnight. Instead, you should give yourself some time in enjoying exercise and developing the habit of eating only healthy food.
More so, you should be willing to sweat, a tip from Jennifer Lopez from an article published at Pop Sugar on January 12, 2015. In 2008, she signed up for a sprint triathlon, helping her lose her baby weight, and she became a devoted student of Tracy Anderson, helping her stay in shape. She revealed that she is like a fighter going into a ring and she does her workouts using the Tracy Anderson Method. She is just one of the committed exercisers, apart from being a top celebrity, who is willing to break a sweat in order to reach her goals.
Don’t engage in fad or trend diets that your friends are using and do not let yourself be influenced by their food choices when you go out with them, meaning you have to be your own boss. Stay in your lane and always surround yourself with the people who can support a healthier, new you.
Don’t be tempted to try quick fixes as well as extreme weight loss solutions because they might only cause issues, such as the weakening of your heart muscles, dangerous drop in electrolytes and irregular heartbeat.
As you see, the solution to being or staying in shape is not with the quick fix and short term but with safe and long-term fitness solutions. The idea, therefore, is to lose weight and stay with that weight. And for it to happen, you need to develop daily health habits. As good news, when you have successfully maintained an ideal weight for at least two years, you are more likely, by at least 50 percent, to keep the weight off.
Achieving fitness is a job, so you have to work out and to watch what you eat. You should also dedicate yourself into it and stick with your workout. You have to do your best by putting in hard work. But before going into any types of exercise or diet program, you should consult your doctor, especially if you have not exercised for a long time, you are 40+ or you are pregnant. Definitely, keeping yourself on top shape also depends on how you set your mind for it, as only in this manner you can avoid the negatives that might get into it when trying to lose weight or to keep it off.
