Don’t call it a rut. Call it a routine.

Struggling to make it back to the gym on a regular weekly basis isn’t uncommon. It takes more than repetitions to create rock hard biceps and abs of steel.

Consistency is the No. 1 habit on a list seven necessary for a successful health regimen and that is all about the mind-over-matter issue. I’m the queen of finding an excuse not to push myself to improve.

To maintain a fitness routine, you have to be mentally strong. Strong enough to know when to push your body, when to rest your body and when to feed your body. The brain is probably the most important human “muscle” in this process. To create those Mr. Universe muscles or at least the hot bod you want to show off at the beach, use the mind to guide the body.

In a list of the seven essential habits needed to create a successful fitness program, the mind plays a role in most of them. Whether it’s planning a healthy, tasty nutritional plan, finding the motivation necessary to push through and continue the hard work needed to create a new you, understanding when the body needs a break and even meditating to find the focus and dedication required, the brain has to be worked out too.

In building a successful fitness routines, it’s not a matter of brains vs. brawn. It’s a combination of the two.

Tags: fitness routine, body building, workouts, successful health regimen

Rachel Christie is quite an accomplished young woman.  Or she was, anyway.  At age 21, not only is she in training for the 2012 London Olympics as a heptathlete, she also found some time on her days off to become the first black winner of the Miss England competition.  However, while she might still represent […]

The 2009 inductees for the National Toy Hall of Fame have been announced, and this year’s class of honorees is the direct opposite of last year’s class.  Where the 2008 version required a lot of imagination to wring the most fun out of them, 2009’s hall of fame class requires a lot less thinking and […]

After 13 years on the police force, Terry Ashe has seen and experienced a lot of crazy things.  However, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, or his ability to tell an appropriately lurid tale.  When his police cruiser was bitten by an angry alligator (apparently this is a common problem in Florida), he could’ve […]

Any time a baby goes missing, a big manhunt breaks out.  Fortunately for 7-month-old Shannon Lea Dedrick, her story has a happy ending.  Unfortunately for Shannon’s mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, and babysitter, Susan Elizabeth Brown, the baby’s happy ending will probably get them both jail time.  Shannon was reported missing on Saturday, and was discovered […]

It was a scene worthy of the great Mark Twain; indeed, it was a crucial moment in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!  A case of mistaken identity allowed a Brazilian man named Ademir Jorge Goncalves to make an appearance at a very unlikely event:  his own funeral.  It’s like something out of a Coffin Joe […]

The champagne is drying in the locker room, and the Bronx is celebrating this morning as the New York Yankees have claimed their 27th World Series championship as the best team in Major League Baseball.  To the victors go the spoils, like rings, a trophy, and a ticker-tape parade through New York’s Canyon Of Heroes.  […]

There’s one thing that’s fun about slot machines.  You put money into them, lights flash and bells ring, and if you’re lucky, you’re a winner and money clinks noisily into the winnings slot.  Most of the time, you don’t get anything but the lights and noise, but Bill Seebeck hit the jackpot.  Literally and figuratively.  […]