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Innocent Choga Fitness
School holidays are around the corner and these are happy times for boys and girls as they get to unwind and relax.I strongly urge the boys and girls to be physically active during this period. This is the time to change the ratio between physical activities and studying. But this does not mean completely neglecting the studies.

These are also happy times for sports and fitness club owners as well as mid-morning and mid-afternoon sessions are busy with the bubbling young participants. Although this class of clients pay discounted fees, at least there are some activities during these usually quiet periods. I am assuming the trend is still the same as it used to be in the years gone by.

Most school gyms are ill equipped; some athletes take this opportunity to join the commercial gyms that are well equipped in order to work on weaknesses and condition for the coming season.

For the young athletes seriously involved in particular sporting disciplines, this is a time to switch sporting activities completely or change the ratio of participation.

Engaging in different sporting and fitness activities allows you to benefit maximally by enhancing your skills through stimulation of different muscle groups and fitness components in a various ways. This is also a way staying in shape while avoiding routine and boredom.

If you have been spending your exercise or sporting time in the green grounds, it’s time to sweat it out in the iron house more frequently. If you have been spending more time in the iron house, it is time to catch a breather in the green grounds.

But this depends on your core sport you may not want to abandon your area of specialty completely or else you will lose the skills you have acquired or become rusty.

If you are a goal keeper in judo they teach you how to fall and land. Bowling in cricket will help the goal keeper or basket ball player throw the ball accurately and with speed. If you are a karateka, dancing will assist you in your moves and balance. Bruce Lee was said to have been an accomplished and skilful dancer.

Running is considered a basic cardiovascular exercise for all sports .Its aerobic benefits are unparalleled; running assists in increasing your capacity to perform even if your core sport does not competitively require aerobic endurance.

Cardio respiratory fitness will make performance easier even for weightlifters. If you are a bodybuilder running will help build the legs and reduce fat levels. Swimming will give you a strong back and dancing or karate can assist with your presentation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and his bodybuilding training partner Franco Columbu were assisted with their posing routines by a ballet dancer. A soccer player might want to retain agility and reaction time by playing badminton.

Weight training is the main discipline for strength. It can also be used to increase power, flexibility, muscular endurance and for injury prevention. Any athlete will develop muscular endurance by lifting lighter weights for many repetitions.

Runners and cyclists can work their upper bodies for muscular endurance as a way of curbing early fatigue of supporting muscles like the arms. You have to analyse the requirements of your sporting discipline and tailor your workouts to suit your needs.

I also urge the nerds, the book worms and those intellectuals whose parents who think that sport and physical activities are not mentally stimulating; those who think such activities are for the brawny only , to seriously reconsider their stance.

The increase of people with non communicable diseases is not a joke ,it should be taken seriously .We need the professors and professionals to contribute to the maximum of their abilities. Although we cannot exercise the skull ,the brains benefit from the pumping of blood during exercise ,so we can exercise for study purposes as well.

Even chess players will benefit from exercise, they need to relax and concentrate. It was whilst he was working in a seemingly less intellectually demanding capacity and environment that Albert Einstein took the opportunity of the idle moments to come up with his first scientific formulas .

It is necessary to eat well so that the muscles will fully recover, but remember eating too much is gluttony. Don’t make sport an excuse to sin by eating too much. Eating more is not always better; make the most out of the least. Be scientific about it; don’t be too hardcore and crude.

When we say avoid junk we don’t mean do not ever eat it but we mean do not live on it. Stay on a good diet for most of the time but have a few days when you indulge.

Just the other day, on my off –diet day somebody asked me; “But why do you eat the food you say is bad, the food you advise us not to eat?”

I replied; “I never said I don’t like it, but the truth is I love it so much that I eat it less frequently. I know if I eat it every day there will come a time it will make me sick and the doctor will order me to stop eating it for good. So I would rather not live on it for a short while but enjoy it occasionally forever.”

Buy supplements from reputable sources and let your parents know who your supplier is. Do not buy expired supplements they no longer work the way they were intended to and they might be harmful, you may find yourself developing unusual features .

Our bodies are largely made of water so a lot of water cannot be bad for us, of course you are not going to spend the day with your mouth on the under the tap. You need to drink sensibly enough to make the nutrients circulate to the organs.

No water, no circulation of nutrients to muscles and organs and no waste collection from cells. Get your water from different sources; pure water with no nutrients and from fruits and vegetables loaded with nutrients like natural sugar, vitamins and minerals.

It is necessary to avoid regular over-training as this puts the body into negative states. It is imperative to get adequate rest so that the body will recuperate from the workouts and it is necessary to eliminate stress as it will negatively affect the mind.

It is therefore necessary for parents to understand this so that they do not overload you with work because this will negatively affect both your athletic pursuits and the quality of your studies as you will tend to lose focus and be forgetful.

There are so many cases of bullying in schools, do not be one. Abraham Lincoln once said; “If you want to test a man’s character give him power.” Health and fitness is a form of empowerment, use your strength and skills for the right purposes. Do not be tormentors, but be protectors of the young and the weak.

Iron pumping Pastor Lysias “Last” Sithole gives us more teachings; “Being a bully is being notorious not famous. Be the best student as you can be, be an inspiration not a stumbling block. Train to look good, be fit for health and self defence, not for the inconvenience of the public.”

Make it stylish; don’t just lift and eat without a plan. Planned workouts are enjoyable especially when everything is going according to plan. When you encounter challenges you just have to make adjustments to keep on track.

Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport. Email: [email protected]