Tips to Reach Peak Athleticism： Motivation, Consistency, More

We are back with today's checklist. So maybe you're watching the Olympic athletes going for gold and it's inspiring you to get in shape. Well, we want to tell you how to get started, but more importantly, how to stick with it. Here to help us, NBC News medical contributor, Dr. John Torres. Doc, good to see you. Good morning. Okay, so we don't have the motivation of an Olympic gold medal, but how do we kind of jumpstart some easier fitness? And you know, you mentioned this is the important thing to make sure you stay motivated because we all start working out. New Year's resolutions are a big thing. And at this time of the year, we start going, eh, well, the Olympics should motivate you and hopefully they do, but if they do, you need to identify why you are doing this and you can be doing it for a variety of reasons, health being one of them. And you can see the numbers here. We're talking about if you start working out and you consistently work out, you're going to keep your heart rate in that 60 to 100 resting heart rate, which is where you want it to be. Your blood pressure, 120 over 88, perhaps even lower, 120 over 80. And then you want to start out slowly because it's easy to try and start out real quickly and then you kind of lose motivation because you can't do it. And I used to tell my patients all the time, even if you can just walk one block, one block today, two blocks tomorrow, three blocks next week, just keep walking. So start five to 10 minutes a day and then shift your mentality. Say, you know, I'm going to, number one, I'm going to do this. I'm going to go out and do it. I'm also going to reward myself. But one big thing science has shown us is if you actually put your gym clothes on, you're more likely to work out. Even that act of putting them on, just do it. Yeah, because the working out naked really is, that's dangerous. Most people don't want to see that. And they call the cops. We don't need that visual. How do we make sure we stay consistent and how much should we even be exercising? And this is what the American Heart Association recommend, and I think it's a perfect place to start. You want to do 150 minutes of what they call moderate exercise. And that means you're not able to complete full paragraphs and maybe even sentences. You're breathing a little hard. So that's 30 minutes, five times a week. That's a lot. It is a lot, but you also want to incorporate some strength training in there. You want to do that a couple of days because as we get older, your muscle mass starts going down, your bone density starts going down. And so you want to make sure you do that a couple of times. The big thing is make a plan. Like you mentioned, it's a lot. Make a plan that you can do this. Say, okay, on these days, I'm going to wake up early or I'm going to stay late, depending whether you're an evening or a morning workout person. I'm going to plan meals ahead of time so that way I don't have to worry about doing meals. I have the time to do it. With kids, it's even harder, but incorporate them into your workouts as well. Especially if you have small kids, a stroller, get a running stroller and go running with them. Different things you can do. Be the role model. Different things you can do. Is it important to do various different types of exercises or can you do the same thing every day? You know, variety is the spice of life, to use that old cliche. And it's important because it does work out muscles differently. If you look at these athletes, these athletes, they start out doing a bunch of different things and then they specialize. Then they super specialize. And so they are honing in on one thing and they are making sure they are perfect and the best of that one thing. We don't do that. We are trying to get just to the point where we're in shape. You want to do a variety of different things. Everything you do is going to improve your fitness and you want to make sure that you're going back and forth. That helps with the motivation we talked with Al about. It also helps prevent injuries because you're not working the same muscles over and over again and it can keep you engaged because like I mentioned, it is the spice of life and you can look. Some people don't like to run. Some people don't like to lift weights, but if you lift weights and you like it and you want to run, you can do a little bit of that too. Find something you like. Dr. John, I mean, so, you know, all this training to be an Olympian, it can take a toll on your body. How do you know when it's time for a rest day? You know, if you look at the Olympians, even they take rest days because they need their body to recuperate. You need to build that muscle strength. Your muscles tear down when you're working out and then they repair themselves on those rest days. Granted, when they're peaking and they're getting towards the event they're going to do, they don't necessarily take one, but they will throughout workouts. You need to too. And so typically you want to work out five, six days a week and take that one day off and just make sure you recuperate so you can get the rest you need. And again, that helps strengthen your muscles. That helps everything. That helps your motivation too because you can say, okay, tomorrow's a rest day and then I'll pick it up again coming afterwards. You've inspired my friend Al to start training early. He's been there for the last five minutes. He's training for LA. What's going to be your event? Sitting. There you go. Master that. He got a gold medal in that. So, you know, you obviously can't operate at peak performance without eating the right stuff, drinking the right stuff. It's the fuel for everything. And this is just what they call the macronutrient diet. And it's essentially the overall diet you should be looking at. And it's 60% carbs. And by carbs, we mean fruits, vegetables, you know, those types of things that can really help build up the muscles. Not pasta. Not bread. Occasionally. At least moderation is the key to everything. So occasionally, okay, you know, 20% protein, 20% fats as well because those can help you build those muscles, help you recover from things, help support hormone levels and everything. And again, these are big guides, 60, 20, 20. If you're trying to build more muscle mass because you're about to get in an event, you might want to up your carbohydrates, you know, that kind of, or your proteins, you know, that kind of thing. The important part, again, is that stay motivated. Make sure that you use moderation in all these things, including the amount of exercise you do. Take rest days and keep an understanding of why you're doing this. It's for your health. All right. Thank you, Dr. John. Thanks.