A Beautiful Run in Lakes Park - July 2024!  Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

When life gets busy, it can be easy forget to take care of yourself.

This is especially true during the holidays. End of year deadlines can make work stressful, plus there are more family commitments and personal goals you are working to achieve.

You can be so focused on the end result that you don’t notice you’re burning your candle at both ends until the wick runs out.

Self-care refers to supporting your physical, mental, and emotional health through activities and practices.

These activities don’t have to be over-the-top or costly.

Some are simply nothing more than a few moments of your time.

However, these simple practices can help to keep you happy and healthy, through the holidays and beyond.

1. Take a moment to stop and reset.

The first step toward prioritizing self-care can be as easy as taking a few moments each day to pause. Take a few slow, deep breaths – being...

Gorgeous late spring view from the Lakes Park running, walking & biking trail - June 2024. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

It is in everyone’s best interests to prevent injuries.

The more we can stay injury free, the greater our opportunity for consistent, uninterrupted training and consistency breeds better results.

Injuries are impossible to predict. It’s also impossible to know when an injury has been prevented (after all, it never happened).

There are many things we can do, however, to significantly reduce our injury risk.

One of the most effective, and arguably simplest, things we can do is to monitor our training volumes and intensities.

There has been a clear trend in recent years towards higher intensities of class-based exercise for everyday exercisers, and that’s not a bad thing.

When people train on their own, research shows they usually select exercise intensities that are too low to elicit the training response they want.

With fitness...

An incredible walk on beautiful Naples Beach - November 2022. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

If you haven’t exercised in a while, or are looking for something easy you can do every single day, give walking a try.

It’s easy to do, there is no equipment required and anyone can start regardless of their fitness level.

If it’s been a while since you exercised, start by going for a 10-minute walk around the neighborhood and gradually build from there.

Maybe your doctor suggested that you move more, or maybe you just want to be proactive about your health and well-being. In either case, walking is the perfect way to start.

Begin by finding a pair of comfortable shoes, put them on and go for a stroll through your neighborhood.

You could also find a local park with a nice path or head to the beach. If the weather doesn’t permit walking outside, head to the mall to walk or hop on a treadmill.

No treadmill? No problem.

You can even walk in place at home in front...

Last Friday's Southwest Florida sunset on Naples Beach was gorgeous!  Enjoy exercise wherever and whenever you can, even walking the beach!  Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

How often do you incorporate balance work into your training sessions?

I’m going to hedge a guess at not much. Most people don’t even think about our body’s ability to balance.

After all, that’s just a concern for the elderly, right?

Well, no. 

Balance training is important for everyone.

It is as important a factor in fitness as cardiovascular, resistance and flexibility training.

In fact, without good balance, your ability to perform the other components smoothly and with efficiency is compromised.  

Good balance not only plays a significant role in strengthening and stabilizing joints but it also increases proprioception, or the body’s ability to recognize where it is in space and to help control movements.

With increased proprioception, the body is able...