Exercise for Beginners
August 10, 2009
It is good that you have decided to give exercise a shot and make a lifetime commitment. Make sure you start at the right note and don’t end up hurting yourself.
Getting Ready
Make sure you evaluate your fitness levels. Make sure you consult a physician and take their advice before you undertake any form of exercise.
Once your fitness level assessment and physician advice have been dealt with, set fitness goals for yourself. Make them realistic, clear and concise; break the bigger goal into smaller goals.
You should be cautious whenever you undertake your new form of exercise. Initiate slowly, don’t give up and remain steady. Most of us who initiate working out start on a very aggressive note and end up hurting themselves. This leaves some of them discouraged and even keeps them away from exercise for long.
Your aim should be giving exercise a lifetime commitment. So it is extremely important to start on the right note.
Aerobic/cardio: These include running, walking, cycling, swimming, dancing etc. These exercise are high on intensity level as they raise your heart rate for a small period of time.
Stretching: This enhances the motions of your joints, they add flexibility and boosts your exercise.
Strength training: This form of exercise improves your muscles. There are exercises which target specific muscle groups.
Warm up: This session prepares your body for a strenuous work out. A cool body can be warmed by light aerobic movements. These set of movements raise the level of blood flow in our body, and helps heating our cool muscles and joints.
Cool down: These are less intense set of exercise. This helps you to cool the body after an intense workout. Stretching often forms a part of the cool down session.
Beginner’s Workouts:
It is extremely important to warm your body up before starting an exercise session. Once you are through with your warm up, you should incorporate cardio, strength training, and stretching; if you want overall fitness. You don’t have to do all these in one go, but you should do it regularly.
Cardio: You can take up medium intensity cardio like walking, jogging, cycling or aerobics for a 20-30 minutes daily at least 4-5 times in a week. You should sweat, breath heavy but should be able to have a conversation while performing cardio.
Weight Training: You can start by a set of exercise which targets the major muscles. Choose a weight that you can lift 8-12 time in one set. As you move ahead you can raise the number of sets and weight.
Stretching: Stretch is not a waste of time, but helps your overall exercise. Make sure you hold a particular stretch for 20-30 seconds.
You don’t need to go for expensive gym membership, you can buy one or a set of these home exercise equipments:
Treadmill
Dumbbells
Other weight training equipments like flexible bands or rods
Exercise ball
Exercise DVDs
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