Fit For Life: Fit For War

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

I have a couple of pieces of boxing equipment that I keep set up at home, and three or four times a week I put the gloves on and work up a sweat before I start my day. The other day I was thinking while throwing punches at the double end bag "what am I doing this for?’" Although boxing is great for fitness, it feels like I have been training for a fight for the last 18 years that never happened, nor probably ever will. So why am I training so hard for one? Back in the day, I had a trainer, and was working for a golden gloves competition, but now? At 47 years old? What fight am I anticipating? Then it hit me (no pun). I am not training to combat another person; the opponent I am facing is the same one you and everyone else faces....and that opponent is life. As fragile as it may be, life can also be tough, it can knock you down, and if you let it, it will knock you out. A couple things happened this week that both enlightened me and scared me at the same time. One was helplessly witnessing an elderly person fall, and another was reading a post on Facebook from a guy I went to high school with whose wife had cancer. The elderly person banged their head, got knocked out, but survived, and is fine. My classmate’s wife, sadly, passed away. His posts were sad, but then he turned his focus on the great life they had together, and how she made him a better man. Both uncontrollable battles life dished out.

Know thy self, know thy enemy.

Yes, you can control a fall if you walk around 24/7 with a walker or surround yourself with bubble wrap. And yes, you can lower your chances of getting sick, but we live in a toxic environment and cancer can strike the healthy-living people, too. These are battles that present themselves to us, and the only thing we can do is fight. We need to fight to recover, and fight even harder to survive. We are fighting a war, and we need to conquer one battle at a time. The only other option it to give up, and for most of us, that’s not an option. Some battles are impossible to conquer, but win or lose, you need to fight ‘til the end. Depression and sadness are also unavoidable battles that life dishes out that we need to fight and fight hard - or it will not only knock you down, but can easily knock you out. And life isn't whether you are going to get knocked down, because we all will from time to time, it's about getting back up one more time than you go down. A thousand battles…

As I stated earlier, some battles are a fight to the finish, but some are a battle to a new beginning. Like your health and fitness. In my expert opinion, this is a battle we all have the ability to win. Yes there are a lot of opponents, but if you are reading this, and are a member of Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, you have me on your side, and having strong allies here who will increase your chance for success. Together we will fight the big food industries that pump out this garbage food that tempts us, and makes us sick and overweight. After we win the battle of temptation by exercising discipline, then we eliminate the opponent known as the pharmaceutical industry. Because we won’t need their poison medications that make us sicker, and cause worse side effects than the symptoms being treated. The next two opponents we fight are your television, and your sofa, because when you come in for your workouts, you will be moving and exercising your muscles, and we will push you to succeed. This will help you on a physical, as well as a mental level. When you get your mind right your body becomes tight. We thrive on incorporating mindset, drive, desire, and discipline into our programs, so you will have the capacity to battle any opponent. A thousand victories…

In conclusion, we all need to fight. We are all fighting something every day, and some days we are going to get knocked down, even knocked out. The true definition of a warrior is someone who never gives up, and has the ability to keep getting up when life deals them a blow. So wake up every morning, put on those gloves, and prepare for battle. The harder you fight, the more successful you will be. Committed to your success, Matt

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!"

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android