Nantucket Cycling & Fitness Studio and Crossfit Nantucket founder Lisa Wisentaner gives her top tips for kicking it into gear.
1. Start Where You Are
If you want to make a change, there is no better day than today. Waiting until you lose ten pounds before joining the gym or training for a 5k does nothing more than hold you back from the happiness and confidence that comes from just moving and believing in yourself. Set small goals and don’t look so far ahead that you get defeated. Epic journeys are taken one step at a time.
2. Train For Life
Find workouts that are relevant to the lifestyle you want to live now, ten years from now, twenty years from now and beyond. Training for a fitness event or a target weight is great, but it can be just as rewarding to train so that you can chase after your grandchildren, travel after you retire or to simply stand up and sit down without help when you are ninety years old. Appreciate that we only get this one body to live in through every stage of life.
3. Change It Up
People tend to feel loyal to one kind of workout or one particular gym or studio. Fitness has evolved so much and now most studios and gyms offer so many different pricing options that you don’t have to pick just one. Don’t be afraid to change it up.
4. Schedule In Your Workout
Prioritize your workout the same way you would if it were a meeting with someone important. You are your greatest investment. Working out helps with sleep, mood and self-esteem while also increasing motivation to stay on track toward health and wellness goals. When we let life get in the way of what makes us feel good, there is a ripple effect that goes beyond. Show up for you!
5. Prioritize Your Nutrition
There have never been so many fitness options in this country, and yet the obesity rate has never been so high. Working out is clearly not enough. When we abuse food, our workouts become our punishment, and then the reward for the workout is more food. The key to breaking this cycle is not in how you move, but in how you eat. You can’t out train a poor diet. Invest in a few appointments with a licensed nutritionist or dietician and come up with a plan that meets your needs and goals.
Lisa Wisentaner opened Nantucket Cycling & Fitness Studio and Crossfit Nantucket in 2011. She teaches nine classes a week, including House Ryde (fifty-minute spin class), Ryde, HIIT (thirty- minute spin/thirty-minute high intensity interval training) and CrossFit BURN (CrossFit without the heavy weights). Outside of Wisentaner’s, there are sixty to seventy other classes taught each week by fifteen other instructors.
