My wife and I are ready to start out on our trip and I have packed the car, but my wife has not returned from the seemingly endless errands that she has to do before we depart each time . I honestly have no idea what she does on these errands and it hasn’t paid off in the past to ask her. I guess she just feels the need to shop and attend to details.
One of the questions I always get from people is: What kind of exercise should I do? Which is always followed by: How much exercise is enough?
So, first question first.
The first thing to remember is not to overexert yourself, especially if you have been sedentary or are not used to regular exercise. Many people, with good intentions, start off with an exercise program that is too intense for their fitness level and therefore incur pain or injury. This is really your body’s way of telling you that it’s just not ready for what you are trying to attempt.
When pain or injuries happen, people tend to get dejected and will stop their exercise program. Of course, this is not the desired outcome and won’t help you in the least.
If you haven’t been off the couch or your favorite chair for a while…you need to ease in. I always recommend you start by walking, and you can start with ten minutes a day. Do that for a week, then go to fifteen minutes. Then the next week, go to twenty, and so on.
This strategy is easier on your body because it gives it time to acclimate to the new routine and you have time for recuperation. If you follow the plan you will be up to thirty minutes of walking per day in one month, and that’s definitely an accomplishment for someone who has been out of shape.
Work up to forty five minutes of walking a day, and then you can add things to your routine. I like bodyweight exercises, and I’ll tell you more about those in the future.
The great thing about bodyweight exercises is that you don’t need to go to the gym, use any special equipment, or buy any special clothing. You can do the exercises right in your own home and get very fit in less time than you may think.
Increasing your workout time and adding other types of exercise is best done slowly. Listen to your body — it knows and will tell you when it’s time to rev up and enhance your routine.
How do you know how much exercise is enough for you?
Basically, it’s all about doing some type of exercise each day. It doesn’t have to be grueling — we’re talking about doing a little something every day to keep yourself fit. Walking can be the exercise that you do every day, and then you can supplement your routine on other days with activities that you enjoy, such as swimming or yoga. Choose something you like and remember to pay attention to what your body is telling you so that you don’t overexert.
Never work out when you are experiencing pain. Don’t ignore it — it’s an indicator that something is not right. Go see your health practitioner and when you get the okay, resume your workouts.
Just last week I talked to a woman who had knee pain. It turns out she went from not exercising for a number of years to jumping on the treadmill for an hour a day. Quite naturally, her body rebelled. I slowed her training program way down, and presto chango! Her knee pain improved, and then stopped.
She is also on an ultra pure, enteric coated pharmaceutical grade fish oil, and not only is her knee pain gone, but her elbow and wrist pain has almost vanished, too.
The lessening of her knee pain is definitely a result of slowing down her exercise routine, but the decrease in the pain she was experiencing in her wrist and elbow is certainly due to her ingestion of the pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. In due time, probably after six weeks or so, she will be feeling much better — all due to the gradual increase in her workout routine combined with the intake of the pharmaceutical-grade fish oil.
So the answers to the questions that people ask me most frequently are this: exercise is vitally important, but it’s equally important to start slowly and build your way up. Don’t expect miracle results in a short period of time. Your brain and body will work together to help you, but you have to be a bit patient. Additionally, taking the pharmaceutical grade fish oil will bring everything together to achieve the level of fitness you want, all while “lubing” your joints and muscles at the same time.
