Is it important for a conservative to get in shape?

Okay, but how? Well, for 95 percent of us (i.e., everyone who isn’t already an elite athlete or some sort of gym rat), the best thing to do is, first, get stronger. If you’re overweight, first, get stronger. If you’re a skinny twig, first, get stronger. If you’re kind of pudgy or “skinny fat,” first, get stronger. If you’re a pretty decent endurance athlete, say a runner who does a couple of 5Ks and maybe a half-marathon in the summer, it’d probably do you a lot of good to get stronger, too. Male or female, young or old, fit or not or somewhere in between, you probably need to get stronger. The best way to do that is Wichita Falls, Texas, strength-training coach Mark Rippeotoe’s Starting Strength barbell program. The Rippetoe program is built on an absolute-bedrock fundamental difference between it and what you’re probably doing right now: the difference between exercise and training. Most people think, “I need to get more exercise” or “I need to work out more often.” So they go to the gym and walk around and do a couple of the machines for 60 minutes, and then they go home. Or maybe they go on a jog around the neighborhood. Or maybe they take a Zumba class. Or maybe they go on a bike ride on Saturday morning. They do this a couple of times, even regularly a few times per week for several months, and then they wonder why they’re not losing weight or getting that beach bod in time for summer. But see, they’re exercising. You need to train.