Leibel Lifestyles Adventure Trips
It’s -30 degrees Celsius outside and snowing. It’s dark before you get home from work and you are slowly snowballing into hibernation. Swimsuit season is still a couple of months away and the novelty of having a new years resolution of "getting in shape" is starting to wear thin. It’s about this time when we start asking ourselves, "Why am I doing this again?"
You could continue to get up at 5:30 in the morning and run 5.2 km to burn 363 calories before work. Maybe every 3rd Monday you will work up the willpower to bounce on the stability ball for a bit, do 20 pushups, 20 (well 10 is good enough for now) situps before you decide to sit and watch a bit of tv first. There are times in EVERYONES workout regime when things start feeling a little dull and inconsequential. That’s why we must have something to work towards. We need something to train for. Something to keep us motivated. We all know of the plethora of health benefits associated with exercising, but sometimes these seem too distant and unquantifiable to continue to inspire us. Maybe you should compliment your workout regime with a much anticipated "adventure trip"!
What is adventure travel?
Well, really, it’s whatever you want it to be. We like to consider it a holiday that revolves around fitness. It can be a local activity relying on general fitness, such as the canoe trip we did down the North Saskatchewan River. Other than a few specific upper body exercises that were incorporated into our clients one-on-one training program, the preparation was very general for this activity. It was a great way to get out and enjoy the weather and everyone’s company, while at the same time having something to get active for.
Maybe you are interested in an event that is more training specific. It was a long time ago when I started with a class of 6 people who expressed an interest in learning to run. After months of training, we had prepared to complete the 5km Little Big Run held every June in Edmonton. It was a complete success, and our running group was growing. After a short rest period, it was decided that in order to keep us motivated to continue running, we would need another event. Next – the 8km run portion of the Royal Victoria Marathon in Victoria, B.C. Then another 10 km run in Edmonton. This last October, the same growing running group completed their first half marathon in Victoria! Keep in mind, the majority of this group starting running 15 second intervals not even a year and a half earlier. Constantly having a new event to work or train towards has continued to keep this group motivated. What’s next? Plans are in the works to compete in a triathlon in South America next year, as well as a bike trip in Southern Europe. We are also looking forward to taking a vacation to participate in the World Masters this October in Australia!
One of our most recent adventure trips was to a sunny beach resort in Honduras. This holiday didn’t focus on a specific training event, but had a general fitness theme. Not only did we have our own personal chef cooking all our meals, but some kind of optional fitness activity was planned for each day of the trip. Daily activities included bootcamp on the beach, hiking to waterfalls, ziplining, boogeyboarding, scuba diving and snorkelling. We also made sure to leave plenty of time to enjoy the pool and exotic drinks!
As you can see, just because it’s "exercising" doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! Just pick something that motivates you and have an exercise professional create an individual program designed to best suit your needs. The sooner you get training, the sooner you get to head out on a much anticipated adventure trip!
Published in winter 2009 Fitness Informer for Alberta CSEP HFP
Curtis Leibel, BSc Kinesiology, CSEP
Director of Leibel Lifestyles
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TRANSFORMATION PACKAGE
Combined with 2 or 3 training sessions a week for 12 weeks, this package includes 1 personal dietary assessment + 3 follow up sessions with our dietitian.
2 sessions / week: $1700 + GST
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