FORT MYERS, Fla. – With the end of Daylight Saving last week it’s time to “Fall Back” into your workout routine. We’ve all set our clocks back an hour, changed our smoke alarm batteries, but it’s also a great time to switch up your workout and take advantage of the extra hour we gained in the mornings. Wink news Fitness Expert Mike Drumm is here today with his “Fall Fitness Tips” and he says the most important things to focus on are the lifestyle numbers that can truly impact your health. Weighing (Measuring) Every Day To measure something that changes in small ways on a daily basis is mostly pointless. But then also attaching high emotional value to the outcome makes things go from pointless to dangerous. Would you measure the height of your children every day? Of course not, because it would be silly to do that since it changes so little every day. And if you flipped out because they weren’t noticeably taller from one day to the next people would think you were crazy J The big problem is our desire to categorize and standardize everything. But some things, like quality of life, cannot be quantified. Speaking of standardization, I dislike the BMI too. BMI = Bad Number The BMI associates a higher mass with negative connotations. As an example of how skewed the BMI is, I went to Publix yesterday and got on their HIGI machine to check my blood pressure and weight and it read my BMI (accurately) at 25.1 and classified me as “overweight”. I am 5’9 170lbs and less than 10% body fat, I am definitely not over weight. But the BMI is just one of the many bad numbers people focus on. Body Composition = Good Number Muscle is denser than fat and healthy and athletic individuals will have a higher proportion of muscle mass than someone who is sedentary. The extra muscle will obviously make the number on the scale higher. A 140lb woman @ 15% body fat will look a lot different than a 140lb woman @ 27% BF. The scale says they both weigh 140 pounds despite the fact they look nothing alike. Unfortunately, people forget this and allow the scale to ruin them. They stop lifting weights, stop eating properly, and start obsessing when they aren’t getting the “scale results” they want. More Good Numbers 120/80: Your blood pressure rises with each heartbeat and falls when your heart relaxes between beats. While BP can change from minute to minute with changes in posture, exercise, stress or sleep, it should normally be less than 120/80 (less than 120 systolic AND less than 80 diastolic) 7 to 9: The number of hours of sleep required by the average adult. Sleep deprivation increases your risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, headaches, depression, and memory problems. 150: The minutes of moderate exercise the average adult should get each week. 5 (30) minute workouts. Benefits include weight control and decreased risk of illness and disease, as well as improved mood, and more energy! 8. Drink 8 (8oz) glasses of water a day. Water is not just a thirst quencher, it has no calories, so it helps you lose weight when its substituted for high calorie sugary drinks and sodas! 28. Days it takes to form a habit. Start today and you can have a new healthy habit BEFORE Jan *Motivation helps get you started, habit helps keeps you going Conclusion People usually have an easier time adjusting to the time change in the Fall when we gain an extra hour, as opposed to the Spring when we lose one. We’ve turned back time and gained an EXTRA hour in the morning, so why not use it as an excuse to incorporate exercise into your morning routine while your body is still waking up before the alarm goes off? What’s Your Why? One of my best friends is working out to manage his Multiple Sclerosis so he can take care of himself and not be a burden to anyone else. To be able to walk around Disney with the kids or Grandkids To be able to live an active and athletic lifestyle full of energy and prevent injury