Need a restart?

Men's Fitness, Feb, 1999 by Eric Olsen

It may still be winter, but this seven-step program will energize your workouts through spring and beyond

Pro athletes have it easy. There's nothing like the looming threat of a season of triple-A ball in Fresno to keep a guy training hard, even through a leisurely winter of golfing with ex-presidents in Arizona. And the prospect of a six-figure salary slice is all it takes to keep most pros on track during the months when their football or basketball skills aren't required. "Fact is, there is no offseason in the pros anymore," says Mark Letendre, head trainer of the San Francisco Giants. "Pros who are serious about staying pros stay in shape."

But if you're just a regular guy in the middle of February, it's hard to remember that beach-volleyball season is only a few months away. Not that anyone's blaming you for skipping a workout when there's 10 feet of snow on the ground and a wind-chill of 40 below. And maybe you overdid it around the holidays, but even big leaguers allow themselves a second helping of pie now and then.

No matter. The damage is done. So what now? Even though you don't face the threat of being sent back to the minors, you can still learn a lot about preseason motivation from the guys who prod the pros. Here's a seven-step program to motivate yourself into getting your butt back in gear. Then when it's time to hit the beach again, you won't feel like a beached whale.

1. Take stock. Figure out where you are now; then you can decide where you need to be. But don't rely on your own perceptions here, especially since you've probably been running around in body-hiding winter clothes. "W e tend to deny the unpleasant in ourselves, like not really seeing that extra fat that accumulates through the winter," says Thomas Tutko, a sports psychologist at San Jose State University. Ask a trusted friend for his opinion; that'll tell you what kind of program you need.

You may want to start with a check-up from your doctor, especially if you've been inactive for a while. And most good gyms will offer fitness evaluations complete with a weigh-in, a skin-fold test and maybe a blood-pressure check (often for free, if you don't count the sales pitch). But you don't really need a high-tech body-fat monitor to tell you what you already know - just try on the lightweight summer slacks you wore last year. How do they feel? Still comfy? (Hint: No, they haven't shrunk.)

2. Set goals. But be realistic, especially if you've already broken all your New Year's resolutions. While a pro's objective might be, say, keeping his Nike contract, what you aim for will depend on what it is you want: to lose weight, build strength and endurance, or develop a flat belly and bulging biceps by the time you trade in your down parka for swim trunks.

If you really want to succeed, you'll have the best chance of getting started in a program and sticking with it if you set both short- and long-term goals, says Mike Lahaie, a certified trainer who works with college athletes. Is your goal to drop those 15 pounds that sneaked on last winter? Most weight-loss experts advise combining exercise and better eating habits to create a slow, steady loss, a pound or two a week at most. If that's your short-term goal, your long-term objective could be 15 pounds off by Memorial Day.

This achievable goal will also keep you from overdoing your workouts and injuring yourself. "Review what you went through last year," Lahaie advises. "If you had a couple of bouts of tendinitis, keep that in mind. One of your goals will be to stay healthy this time."

You could also work toward specific events, perhaps a local fun-run or bike race. These provide a series of deadlines you can't change, so you'll have an additional spur to make steady progress. And be sure to remind yourself what a weenie you'll be if you chicken out and don't toe the starting line.

3. Begin slowly. No matter how excited you are to get going, remember to start up gradually and aim for consistency. Don't expect to pick up where you left off at the end of last summer. Make those first few workouts atrial period to find out how you feel. "If you finish a workout thinking, I'm hurting, then you pushed too hard," says Letendre. He strongly recommends flexibility training to avoid injury. "I'd suggest stretching before every workout, an overall body stretch," he says. "Then once a week during the cool-down, spend extra time on the lower body, and another day each week on the upper body. Stretch the larger muscles first, the quads and hamstrings, then the calves, or the shoulders on down."

4. Keep a record. It doesn't have to be fancy - just log your miles run or pounds hoisted. This will help you to improve gradually, and it has motivational benefits as well. When you keep a chart of all you've done, you soon begin to see how much time and energy you've invested in the project, and that makes it harder to stop. "It's like building two-thirds of a house," says Tutko. "Once you're that far into it, you'd be crazy to quit."