If exercise is not enjoyable you will probably not keep up your motivation for the long run.
If you experience too much pain or sustain too many injuries you will tend to avoid exercise. Proper equipment, proper clothing, stretching, plenty of water, and warm ups and cool downs decrease the possibility of pain and injury.
Building your activity level slowly is good for your body, and will give you time to reorganize your life so that exercise is part of your lifestyle Sudden increases in activity level set you up to suddenly quit because you get overwhelmed.
Physical activity falls into three categories: Aerobic, Flexibility, and Strength. Including all three types for the best results and greatest level of health.
- Aerobic: Breathing hard, increased heart rate. Strengthens heart and lungs, stabilizes blood sugar, reduces stress, and a host of other benefits.
- Flexibility: Stretching, yoga, Tai Chi, etc. Keeps your body limber and able to perform a full range of motion.
- Strength training: Push ups, sit ups, squat thrusts, pull ups, free weights, weight machines. Builds lean muscle mass, tones body, increases strength for daily tasks, burns more calories when at rest.
Mixing up your activities can be beneficial. When you do the same thing every day/week your body gets used to it and becomes remarkably efficient, burning less calories.
Physical activity should not be seen primarily as a weight loss tactic; rather, it should be something that helps you feel better, live longer with less disease, and yes, actually be enjoyable! Viewing it primarily as a weight-loss strategy tends to be a short-term motivator only; to become a lifestyle it should mean more than that. Even if you walk for an hour, it is deceptively easy to eat those calories back in 5 minutes as a reward for your hard work (although it can result in short term depression of appetite).
Many people do better when other people are involved in their physical activities, such as buddys, trainers, or being part of a team. When other people are depending on you, you are less likely to skip the activity.
Daily activities certainly count as physical activity; anything that gets your body moving -shopping, lawn mowing, cleaning, gardening, parking farther from the entrance, taking the stairs, walking or biking to stores, vacuuming, etc. These are things that you can work into your everyday life in a way that doesn't seem overwhelming. Depending on the level of exertion and time spent these activities may count as one of your 3-5 activities for the week, or they may be considered frosting on the cake (so to speak!).
Attitude is key when it comes to physical activity. If you think of it as a necessary evil it will feel that way and you will dread it. If you think of it as a great privilege and a way to increase your health and enjoyment of life, you can actually look forward to it.
Realistically, if you're going to build up to 3-5 times per week you're going to need to start scheduling when you're going to do it. Waiting until the mood strikes you and you have plenty of free time available often degenerates into not doing it at all. Look at your weekly schedule and figure out the most opportune times for you to work it in. Then don't schedule other things on top of it. It's an important appointment you need to keep with yourself, just like any other appointment.You may find you will need to cut down on other activities. Fortunately, the activities you can cut down on are often sedentary ones. Practice good boundaries. Generally, if you develop a routine to your activity schedule you will be more likely to do it.
Some people find it easier to break up their activity into smaller increments. For example, three 15-minute walks instead of one 45-minute walk. If you have the time and opportunity to do that, go for it!
Customize your activity to your Personality, Style, and Lifestyle. These categories come from the Lose it for Life book by Steve Arterburn and Linda Mintle.
Personality
- Experimenter: Always trying something new
- Outdoors: Love nature and the fresh air
- Competitor: Love to compete with others
- Thinker: Uses the time to think and meditate or learn
- Social Butterfly: Uses the time to chat
- Gung Ho: Puts everything into it. 0-100 in 60 seconds!
- Leisurely: Takes their time. Enjoys the experience.
- Fun-loving: Wants to have a good time
- Morning Dove
- Midday Duck
- Night Owl
There are many other things that could be said about physical activity, but the main point is to live something other than a sedentary lifestyle!
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