by Kathy Olevsky
This blog comes out of a place in my life that I don’t talk about much. I was a top level athlete up until age 50. I became very ill at 50 with a disease that has no cure. I was on multiple forms of chemotherapy and steroids for 6 years. My ability to function as an 8th Degree Black Belt instructor was pretty much gone.
But, as a fitness professional my whole life, when I was in recovery, I decided to start taking my own advice. I hired a strength training coach to train me two days a week. I continued with him for two years until I felt like I could get myself back to some level of fitness.
As an adult, and a parent, I have found that many of my friends, have placed everything in their lives before their own health and fitness goals.
- Parents do have to juggle so much to keep their kids on a great track for success in life.
- Most adults also juggle work schedules that make them so tired, it too hard to even think about training in martial arts.
- There are other adults who are working around previous injuries and find it just crazy hard to get the motivation to fight through to being fit.
- So many adults, don’t start or start and step away, because they cannot train 4-5 days a week like they did at another time in their life.
At Karate International, we have developed all kinds of things to help you step towards your goals while managing the rest of your life. Take a look and see if we can help somehow!
Parents – we get it, you want them to have time to do karate, but we want you to have time too. Maybe just start with Saturdays, when you can both do a class at the same time if you are both beginners. If your child is already in our intermediate classes, ask Josh for a private lesson to get started….maybe he can get it done, during your child’s class.
Adult Work Schedules – We have all kinds of classes for beginner adults. We have Karate at night and at lunchtime. We have other programs (Kendo, Iaido, Judo) that are at night and on Saturdays if you are not sure Karate is your thing. At the very least….and I mean the very least….please use our free weight training/cardio area in the back of the dojo while your child is in class. But…I want to say also, we all allow time to go to the doctor, to go to the grocery store, to do the laundry, to mow the lawn….we need to allow 2 hours a week to start a program that can help us live longer and give us stress reduction.
Injuries – These are the biggest deterrents to getting some fitness training underway. As an adult, we will almost always be dealing with one or another. The issue here is, life is not better when you are inactive. Aches and pains don’t go away when you are inactive. Karate International designed a program called “Transitions” that is meant to help any adult, in any physical condition, to begin training in the martial arts. We will give you private lessons with a Black Belt who is also a Personal trainer. They will guide you through the first few weeks (or longer if necessary) to help you avoid the things that will stop you or slow you down. If you’ve just had surgery, you need to wait until you are cleared. Other than that, let us help you start somewhere.
Not Committing, because 2 days is not serious enough – Okay, this one is the worst excuse of all, but we all use this one. Everyone Has To Start Somewhere. We just can’t always jump into an activity, full throttle. Sometimes, you have to start to build up to a place when you can make more time for it. Also, doing nothing, is NOT better. When you are ready, we have classes 5 days a week.
My message today is don’t wait. Please don’t wait until a time in your life when you know you will have time. Make some time now. I’m sure you’ve heard this before….but tomorrow is never promised.