So You Want To Begin An Exercise Program

Good for you! You probably are aware of the benefits. Everything from mood to health can improve with regular exercise. Now you want to know how to begin.  Here are a few suggestions and guidelines that you can follow:

• Check with your physician first.
• Start out small: Recommendations for exercise vary, but moderate activity performed for at least an hour daily is a great goal to strive for. Formal exercise activities include weight training, spinning classes, stationary bike riding, walking, and so on.  But you can achieve benefits from other activities as well. Yoga, vigorous house cleaning, moving, and even gardening suffice as activity. Or simply get out and walk! The idea is to do something almost daily that gets you moving - and sweating is a plus!
• Do what you enjoy: You don't have to force yourself to join a gym and hit the cardio-kick boxing class three times a week. If you have responsibilities at home that make taking off to the gym a real chore, consider purchasing home exercise equipment. Walking, rollerblading and hiking are activities that you can do while including friends and family members. Or take up a sport: learn tennis, or join a football league is a great way to keep active for at least a few days out of the week. 
• Set the time aside: Schedule your activity time during the part of the day that you are least likely to be interrupted.
• Reinforce your behaviour:  Eat right and eliminate other unhealthy habits that might sabotage the benefits of your new activity habits.
• Reward yourself: You may see benefits rather quickly and you will probably feel them first. Reward yourself with a massage, shopping trip, vacation or something else that you find valuable when you reach your goal. (Never use food as a reward.)
• Prepare for setbacks: Travelling, holiday schedules, and changes in daily routines can upset your activity habit. Do all you can to preserve time to exercise, by substituting activities and adding activity to your day. For example, during holiday shopping, park away from the shops, and take the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator. Or, while on vacation, include walking tours instead of bus tours.
• Keep an activity journal: Recording your activity is a great way to not only become aware of how much physical activity you get in a day, but also what effect that activity has on your body. Record the activity, its duration, intensity and how it made you feel both during and after. You'd be amazed at the progress.

While exercise may not be your favourite activity, try to focus on the results to your health and overall well being.  Of the unlimited types of physical activity that are possible, find a few that you enjoy and get going!