Just Take That First Step ... Then Take Nine Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine More!

Close your eyes and think of the word "athlete" and see what image comes to mind.  Likely the image that appears is a favorite sports figure or a generalized picture of somebody in terrific physical condition.  Then ask yourself this, "what does everybody's image have in common with mine?"  Chances are the person in your mind's-eye is running!

Whether it is a football player or a basketball player or a baseball player or a soccer player or an Olympic athlete, there's a good chance they are running.  Sure, there are athletes who aren't known for running ... boxers, maybe Michael Phelps in the pool, a professional wrestler ... but I bet they CAN run and run pretty darn well.  Even Rocky put on his sweats and ran through the streets of Philadelphia.

So imagine my conundrum when I started to develop a fitness program that included minimal impact on the knees and other joints.  Who's going to take it seriously without the participant putting one foot in front of the other on a regular basis?  The answer is:  nobody!  Especially not me.

One of the points of putting 'Potamus Power together was to design a fitness regimen that I could do regularly, that I would enjoy often and that would cater to my fitness requirements and limitations.  Y'see, among all the other aches and pains I've developed in the past (near) forty-four years, I have bad knees.  I always have.

As a child I was diagnosed with Osgood–Schlatter disease.  It's not a disease really, and I wish it wasn't called that!  It's very common with young adolescents, especially boys, who are physically active and hit a growth spurt.  Osgood–Schlatter disease generally occurs in boys and girls aged 9-16 (I was probably 12 when it was first diagnosed) coinciding with periods of growth spurts. It occurs more frequently in boys than in girls (congrats, ladies!), with reports of a male-to-female ratio ranging from 3:1 to as high as 7:1.

The condition is usually self-limiting and is caused by stress on the patellar tendon that attaches the quadriceps muscle at the front of the thigh to the tibial tuberosity. Following an adolescent growth spurt, repeated stress from contraction of the quadriceps is transmitted through the patellar tendon to the immature tibial tuberosity. This can cause multiple subacute avulsion fractures along with inflammation of the tendon, leading to excess bone growth in the tuberosity and producing a visible lump which can be very painful, especially when hit.

Stubborn as I am, this didn't hold me back and I continued to participate in sports left and right.  It got so bad that, as a teenager, my doctor requested that I forgo all other sports and concentrate on swimming to reduce the stress to my knees.  I did him one better ... I just added competitive swimming to my already long list of activities.  I was forced to quit playing football (due to the knees and multiple concussions), but I sure as hell wasn't going to give up baseball and I wasn't crazy about giving up soccer.  Point is:  by the time I reached my early-20's, my knees were pretty much shot to hell.

So, with knees that had been damaged decades ago and with a touch of arthritis already starting to show in them, how do I develop a fitness program without travel-by-foot?  Simple answer:  I don't!  In fact, I make running / jogging / walking the backbone of the entire program!  Because, good knees or bad knees, so long as you can put one foot in front of the other, you can participate in 'Potamus Power!

One of the foundations of the program is to set a daily goal of taking 10,000 steps!  Walk, run, jog ... whatever! ... just make sure your body is moving some throughout the day.  Medical authorities around the world have agreed that 10,000 is a healthy number to aim for. The American Heart Association uses the 10,000 steps metric as a guideline to follow for improving health and decreasing risk of heart disease, the number one killer of men and women in America.

10,000 steps daily is approximately 5 miles.  Unless you have a very active lifestyle or profession, you probably don’t reach 10,000 steps on a given day without putting some effort into your activity – I know I sure as heck don't – but a simple lifestyle change such as walking to work, or the addition of an exercise routine to your day (say, for example, 'Potamus Power) or making a point to park in a spot far away from the grocery store's entrance can make a huge difference and yield excellent results.  The list of benefits includes:  lower BMI, reduced waist size, increased energy, and less risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease.  In fact, a recent study of the 10,000 steps a day method reported conclusive health benefits.

So start counting your steps!  In a later post, I will recommend fitness equipment that will make the 'Potamus Power program more successful for you, but the one piece of equipment I recommend right now is a pedometer.  You don't need to spend lavishly on one either ... a quick trip to Target, Wal-Mart or your local sporting goods store will yield a number of choices for you.  Some you clip on, some you wear as a watch (I prefer these, I'm less likely to lose it if it's attached to my wrist) and so forth.  Some estimate your calorie burn and some will do everything but get out of bed early and make pancakes for you.  Do a little shopping and find one that's right for your lifestyle.

Wear your pedometer for a week without engaging in any "out of the ordinary" activity to get an idea of how many steps you might need to add to your daily routine.  Then with that number in mind, make little changes to your routine ... take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk down the hall to communicate with a colleague at work instead of sending him an email and squeeze in some time to get out and take a walk ... if you can walk, then maybe you try jogging for a bit ... if you can jog, maybe you try running for bit ... do what you can do and don't feel the need to push yourself beyond your capability.  Right now just concentrate on adding steps!

'Potamus Power will never ask you to do something you can't do ... can't take the impact on your knees, then don't run ... but if you can take, say three to four thousand steps a day, then who's to say you can't take six or seven thousand?  Start adding steps and you will start subtracting inches, pounds and doubts!  The backbone of this fitness program is to simply get from place to place with your feet.