How to Get Fit
Regular exercise is essential for good health and physical fitness. It reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity and some types of cancer. Exercise is also beneficial for psychological health.
How Much Exercise Should You Do?
The Chief Medical Officer recommends adults do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day, at least five days a week. Unfortunately many people would rather sit and listen to their kettles boiling than enthusiastically jump out of their armchairs for a quick sprint around the block.
In fact, the Health Survey for England showed that just 35 percent of men and 24 percent of women met the physical activity targets in 2003.
Moderate Intensity Physical Activity
Moderate intensity physical activity means exercising at a level which increases your heart and breathing rate. This is somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of your maximum heart rate.
You should feel warm, possibly breaking out in a sweat depending on the ambient temperature and your level of fitness. You should be able to exercise for many minutes without becoming fatigued, yet still able to hold a conversation. Good examples of moderate intensity activities include brisk walking, cycling, swimming, gardening, housework and mowing the lawn.
Exercise Motivation
How can you motivate yourself to make a commitment to regular exercise for the rest of your life and improve your fitness, without perceiving it as a chore? Think about the advantages of being physically active. Aside from greatly reducing your risk of chronic diseases, there are benefits to being physically fit that will quickly become apparent.
You will notice both psychological and physical changes as you get fitter, such as improved mood and self-esteem, reduced anxiety, better muscle strength and weight loss. Your overall physical condition will improve as your heart and lungs become more efficient – you will be able to climb stairs briskly with ease.
Structured Exercise
Many people enjoy and are able to stick to a structured fitness programme at a gym or health club, but it's not for everyone. Drop out rates from gyms are high, with about half the people joining them quitting within a year.
It can be difficult to fit regular gym visits into your daily routine, and membership is expensive. If you sign up and don't go you will end up feeling worse than you did before!
Enjoyable Exercise
Contrary to popular belief, exercise does not have to involve trekking to the gym and it does not have to be boring. Enjoyable activities include running, walking, hiking, bicycling, aerobics, bowling, lifting weights, golf, tennis, table tennis, badminton, swimming, dancing, ice skating, roller skating, karate, boxing, rowing, football, netball, hockey, skiing and rock climbing.
Not everyone enjoys the same activities. Just because your neighbour goes to the gym every night after work come rain or shine doesn't mean you should follow suit. If you feel uncomfortable working out with complete strangers or you just don’t have the time, it probably isn't the right thing for you.
Take the time to find something that suits you. There are plenty of options. If you try an activity and don't like it, try something else. If you find something you enjoy doing, you’ll be more likely to stick at it.
Short Exercise Sessions
You don't have to meet your daily target for physical activity in one session. You don't have to launch yourself into an intense aerobic and strength-training regime if you don’t want to. The total time you spend being physically active each day is more important than the actual length of each exercise session.
Short exercise sessions lasting 10 to 15 minutes can have significant health benefits, as long they accumulate to at least 30 minutes each day. This is an excellent way to ease yourself back into exercise if you have been inactive for a while, or lack of time is an issue.
Many activities are not typically perceived as exercise, yet they are of moderate physical intensity. Examples include walking, gardening, housework, decorating, washing the car and climbing stairs. Twenty minutes of vigorous housework will help get your house clean, give you a great work out, and leave you feeling fitter. Use stairs instead of the escalator. Walk instead of taking the car.
Exercise as a Lifestyle Choice
Like all our achievements in life, it's great if we can get family and friends to support our efforts to become fitter. However, making a commitment to exercise requires self-motivation; you can't rely on someone else to keep pushing you.
If you can find someone to 'get fit with' it can be very encouraging, but you never know when he or she will be unavailable and you will be left on your own to motivate yourself.
The key to long-term physical fitness is to embrace exercise as a significant aspect of your life, rather than something you just fit in as a matter of necessity. Learn to view exercise as something you enjoy, not just something you have to endure. Exercise should be approached as an essential part of your lifestyle – it’s more than just an option.
The copyright of this article is owned by Sharon Kirby. Permission to republish this work must be granted by the author.