Today, in honor of lists (who doesn't love lists?) here are
seven tips to help make starting a new exercise routine
easier.
1. The obligatory "consult your doctor first." This one
is particularly for if you're not normally physically
active. Before you begin a new exercise program it is
really important to make sure you're physically up for it.
Make sure you don't have anything serious that needs to be
addressed.
Find a doctor that is familiar with exercise and physical
fitness. This is important because one doctor told me that
women should never lift weights, they should stick to
aerobics. Doctors generally do not get any formal training
in physical fitness or nutrition, find one who did and you
are better off. Take home lesson: don't be afraid to
question your doctor about exercise. Lecture over, let's
get to the fun stuff.
2. Set small goals. While it may be really exciting to
set a large goal like running a marathon or going to the
gym every day, the motivation fades fast if you don't have
smaller goals for positive feedback. Without the feedback
of accomplishing smaller victories it gets difficult to
motivate yourself to achieve the grander goal. Then you
risk a blind-date with feeling overwhelmed.
Think in terms of breaking the larger goal into smaller
chunks like running 1 mile a day for the first week, then 2
miles a day for the next, then 3 miles and so on. You will
find yourself going from the couch to the Boston Marathon
sooner than you think.
3. Reward yourself. Achieving your goals is supposed to
be fun. When you reach a goal, whether it is a little one
or a big one, reward yourself. This is key to keep you
moving forward. Pick your reward and then keep working
until you've earned it. It will make the reward much more
satisfying and keep you in the game.
4. Do something fun. Exercising doesn't have to be
running around a track until you can't breathe anymore.
Find a sport that you enjoy, and reaching your goals will
become easy and fun. This will keep you from a blind-date
with overwhelmed's uglier cousin burnout. If you think
that sitting on an Abdominizer for hours on end in front of
your television is fun you don't need tips, you need an
intervention.
5. Mix it up. It's easy to get into a rut when you're
beginning a new workout routine. In order to keep things
interesting and maintain your motivation, change up the
exercises or sports you do. This will make it easier on
your body as well as your mind. For example, if you're
running two or three times a week, consider riding your
bike on the other days. Weight lifting? Add mobility
drills to keep your muscles strong and flexible.
6. Exercise with friends. Friends motivate you to get to
the gym, friends make it fun, and friends can challenge you
to push yourself just a little bit farther than you might
if you were working out alone. Nothing is more powerful
than a friendly "she is NOT going to do more push ups than
me!" Just remember that this is not social time and if you
can easily talk while you exercise you aren't working hard
enough to get fit.
7. Exercise during your best time of day. Are you a
morning person? I'd wager that the morning is when you
will get your best workouts. If you're a night person,
then try working out in the evening. You will need to
experiment with this until you find your sweet spot.
Like any good list you have to draw the line somewhere and
end it. There are many more that could have made this list
but information overload won't help you get started. These
are enough to get you going and once you have these under
your belt then you can start to worry about the finer
details.
Congratulations on your decision to get into shape. Your
body is designed for movement and exercise is vital to your
health. Now go get moving!
----------------------------------------------------
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