General Exercise Recommendations
Keep your body moving! An object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest (Newton’s Law). It’s the old use it or lose it theory. Our bodies were meant to move.
Get in some form of exercise on most days. Try to work up to 40-60 minutes of cardiovascular activity at least 4 times per week with a perceived exertion of at least 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Find the time to strength train 2-3 times per week. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You can do push-ups, sit-ups, squats & lunges anywhere in only about 15 minutes. A great time to do these is at the end of a walk or run.
Always Warm-up before any workout. The warm-up should be a low-intensity version of the activity you are going to do. The warm-up should last 5-10 minutes. The purpose is to redistribute the blood flow of your body from the abdomen for digestion and normal body functions to the limbs and working muscles. This would be my choice for the best way to prevent injury.
Save the stretching for warm muscles. Do not use stretching as your warm-up. A great time to stretch is after the body of the workout, but before the cool down. Stretching may be a part of the cool down.
At the end of any work-out, take the time to cool down. It is the exact opposite as the warm-up and every bit as important. The blood needs to slowly redistribute. Stopping suddenly cause blood to pool and may result in dizziness or even fainting.
Find and activity that you like to do. There are so many choices and there really is something for everyone. If you don’t like one activity try another, and keep trying them until you have found something that will keep your interest.
FITT – Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. These are all important factors in achieving results from any fitness regime.
Frequency – at least 3-4 times per week
Intensity – Vary the intensity using a scale of 1-10. Work at different levels in intervals
Time – try for 30-60 minutes, start slow and build up to it
Type – the kind you like! But try to vary your routine a little
Overload principle – in order to achieve continuous results the body must be slightly overloaded (worked beyond what is only comfortable) This does not mean “no pain no gain”. Pain is not necessary, but slight overload is. Our bodies are smart and they adapt to what we do, thus over time if you do now change it, you will see diminishing results.
