• " I ' m not in good health:' This is a reason to begin slowly and proceed cautiously. An exercise program can be tailored to any condition, and even the frailest person can start at a level appropriate to his or her condition. If you still have the use of your limbs, you can exercise.
• " I ' m too lazy:' This is usually the real reason, and I can hardly criticize you with a straight face since, for much of my life, I ' ve been guilty myself. The solution for you may be what worked for me: Find an exercise you really like( in my case, tennis) and build your fitness program around that. I even find it easier to do some things I don ' t like at allsuch as jogging and weight-training-because I tell myself they ' ll help my tennis game. If you find the sport or activity you enjoy, you ' ll look forward to doing it instead of thinking of it as a chore.
===================================================================== Transforming Your Inner Couch Potato
Here are ten great tips to make being active an ever-present part of your life:
1. Park far from the entrance to the mall, grocery store, your office or friend ' s house. 2. Don ' t leave your shopping cart in the parking lot; return it to the store. 3. Contract and relax all your muscles when you sit down. 4. Use music to pep you up during exercise and household chores so you ' ll pick up the pace and get your blood pumping. 5. Lay out the next day ' s workout clothes every night before going to bed. 6. Keep a log of all your activity-including household chores and walking. 7. Have an exercise plan for rainy days and when traveling. 8. For the first few months, do less than you think you can. It will keep you coming back for more while also helping you avoid injury. 9. Get in the habit of taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. 10. Dance with your spouse, with your kids, with a friend-or even by yourself when you ' re alone in the house. =====================================================================
How Much Exercise Do You Need?
It may not be as much as you think. The Surgeon General ' s 1996 report on physical activity and health states: " Physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve health benefits." The report recommends that people of all ages get a minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity( such as brisk walking) on most, if not all, days of the week. The report also says that, for most people, it ' s even better to exercise harder and longer.
I recommend that your daily minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity take place all at once because it will get your fat-burning engine into a sustained mode. However, for those of you who absolutely cannot or will not do it all at once, the following provides some benefits, although results will take longer to achieve: Try three ten-minute sessions( or two fifteen-minute sessions) of moderately intense activity. For example, do ten minutes of sit-ups, leg lifts, stretching and arm exercises in the morning; take a brisk ten-minute walk at lunchtime; rake
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