The Physical Reaction Exerciser
(Which One Are You?)

Something happens. You're doing a bunch of cardio. On the treadmill or the elliptical. Or part of a group fitness class. At first, everything's fine. You're picking up speed. Raising your heart rate. Doing some cool moves. Then it happens.

Your toes go numb. You sweat. A lot. It's that face thing. Or after your workout you start to cough. It's frustrating. Embarrassing. Cause for concern.

Which Exerciser are you?

The Red Face.
When you exercise, your body produces a lot of heat. And only about 25 percent of that heat is used for movement. The rest is simply converted to, well, heat. If sweating doesn't cool the body, blood circulation will increase to the skin's surface so that heat can be radiated off. For some, this causes the red face. People around you asking if you're okay, if they can get you some water.

But despite the appearance of a red face, there is no reason to worry about heat exhaustion or stroke. In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine advises to simply "maintain fluid intake before, during and after exercise and pay attention to how you feel".

The key here is to exercise within your limits, which means if you haven't exercised for a while start slowly, work at your own pace. It may not be the best idea for a beginner to start with a fast-paced fitness class.

Be patient. Your body will cool down when it's ready. Using a spray bottle on your face to keep cool is more of a psychological lift than a physiological aid. Heat is removed from the body when sweat evaporates. This is why wiping off sweat is discouraged during exercise.

Adversely, on a more serious level, the red face could be Rosacea - a dermatological skin condition. For this, see a doctor.

The Success Track

My Expert insists that I log each and every workout completed on www.PlusOneActive.com. Some of the sessions are the same or change only slightly every week so I don't see a need to spend any of my time logging these similar sessions. If I have to I can just catch up at the end of the month and log all of my sessions. What is my Expert thinking when he insists that I log every workout as soon as possible?

It's clear that consistent, planned, intelligent, goal-oriented exercise is good for you. Now comes the hard part - getting it done. One of the most important aspects of any exercise program is creating a strategy and environment of support that will get you to do one, not-so-simple thing; workout on a regular basis. Changing your behavior so that you go from stumped to pumped is your Expert's mission in life. Getting you to log every workout on the way is part of what we at www.PlusOneActive.com are thinking when we insist on this process. Why?

Regular, weekly logging keeps your goals in sight. Goals should be specific, attainable and forgiving. Goal setting is a very important part of helping you set a realistic path to changing behavior that rewards you for getting closer to your goals but is not so stringent that it signals a relapse at any misstep. Life happens. The weather or dead battery can quickly squash the best workout. As you become intimately involved in the tracking of the weekly plan for success you keep the goal in front of you and increase the chances that success will be shaped one week at a time.

As a Group Fitness Director, I hear that phrase often.

I completely understand the sentiment. Why? Because I am the kind of person who frantically cleans the house before the housekeeper arrives.

When I was in training for my Black Belt it was not unusual for me to spend an hour or two beating out a form or a technique that I was having difficulty with before I spent another two hours in class. When I began my current job, taking classes in formats outside of my comfort zone became a regular part of my day. I am good at Karate, but put me in a Step Class and I look like a Looney Toon character on ice. I'm a Spin queen, give me a little Led Zepplin and I can push my bike up an endless imaginary fire trail like nobody's business. I can do Down Dog with the best of them, but ask me to Hip-Hop, or Ballroom Dance and I will be transported back to the life altering moment of my piano recital when I froze in front of a huge (or it seemed so, then) audience.

Other times my dis-ease may not be about doing something I don't feel "good" at. I might feel a little bulky from too much pizza with my kids over the weekend. Or I might just be crampy and cranky and not into having people see me work out when I'm not in fighting condition anymore.

Well, the truth is that no one is really paying attention. They really aren't. When I was pregnant, an actress friend convinced me to try a very hip, very happening prenatal Yoga class on the west side of Los Angeles. Cindy Crawford was taking class, and my initial insecure reaction was, "Oh, gosh, I'm sure she's better than me!" Of course, Cindy didn't appear to notice me at all, perhaps because she didn't know me, or because she was also eight months pregnant, or because she was there to work out. Most likely it was because she couldn't have cared less. Honestly, once the class started, I stopped paying attention to her as well and got down to the business at hand.