So you’ve made the decision to start exercising and living a healthy lifestyle.
Great! The first step is always to make a conscious choice to modify your behaviors. Exercise, along with a change in nutrition, is the second most significant impediment to your success in losing weight and keeping it off. Fortunately, there are many various sorts of workouts that you may do anywhere, at any time, on any day! Best of all, after a while, you will begin to enjoy the sensation of exercise and wonder how you ever survived without it.
The possibilities are endless — whether it’s jogging, walking, dancing, sports, or simply doing chores around the house. It is essential to choose activities that you love performing since this will lead to the development of a healthier habit of regular exercise!
How much physical activity should I get?
It is suggested that you engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every day for heart health. If you are just starting out and are having difficulty attaining this number, don’t worry since you will still receive all of the perks.
What should I do first?
To begin, it is suggested that you visit your doctor before beginning a novice program. To be safe, if you have any severe health conditions or are above the age of 45, you should get medical counsel before commencing.
Following that, you should examine your current level of fitness and make objectives based on it. Are you willing to run 3 miles? Do you go to the gym three times every week? Can you stroll around your neighborhood without becoming out of breath?
It’s critical to create realistic objectives that you know you can attain and then tweak them from there. Setting unreasonable goals increases the likelihood of burnout and failure to adhere to a regimen, which is extremely typical in the beginning. So the aim is to start slowly and gradually add to it so that you may build a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.
Definitions and phrases related to fitness
There are a lot of different terms flying around among exercisers, and it’s difficult to know what they all imply. This is a collection of the most prevalent ones, which you will undoubtedly hear several times during your journey:
Aerobic/cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular activity is any exercise that causes your heart rate to rise and your breathing to quicken. This involves, among other things, walking, jogging, dancing, riding, and swimming.
Heart Rate Maximum
This is computed based on your age and is the maximum number of beats per minute (BPM) that your heart can achieve. The calculation is straightforward: simply subtract your age from 220. For example, if you are 20 years old, your maximum heart rate is 200 beats per minute.
Flexibility/Stretching
This exercise is typically used to improve joint flexibility. The older you become, the less flexible you are, because your muscles/ligaments/tendons shrink over time. Stretching can help you lengthen them and expand your range of motion. Stretching, contrary to popular belief, should not be used to warm up. When you stretch cold muscles, you actually make them more vulnerable to damage when you begin your physical activity.
Resistance/Strength Training
Weights, resistance bands, and bodyweight exercises are examples of this sort of exercise. It is a crucial element of exercising since it helps to develop the strength of various muscles. Bodyweight workouts include pushups and pull-ups, which use your own body weight as resistance.
Reps and Sets
This refers to the number of times you perform a specific exercise. A set is the number of times you do an exercise in a row, and a rep (repetitions) is the number of times you complete an exercise in a row. In the gym, for example, you may execute a set of 5 squats with a rep range of 10 squats each set.
Warm-up
This is a crucial component of exercising since it prepares your body for the primary activities you will be performing; every time you exercise, you should begin with a warm-up. Aerobic exercise is usually beneficial since it raises your heart rate, which helps to warm up your muscles and lubricate your joints, resulting in fewer injuries after you get started.
Cooldown
When you finish your activity, you should gradually lessen the intensity rather than stop abruptly when your heart is beating. This is similar to the warm-up in that it is an aerobic workout, such as running on the treadmill and gradually moving to walking as your heart rate and breathing slow. Furthermore, this is an excellent time to incorporate stretching and flexibility exercises.
A few novice workout suggestions
Now that we’ve gone over some of the terminologies, let’s look at establishing a routine that you can utilize. It is critical to remember to warm up before each activity and cool down afterward.
Following the warm-up, you are advised to engage in one of three forms of exercise. Of course, you don’t have to perform all of these at once but completing them on a regular basis is a wonderful approach to improve your general fitness.
Cardiovascular
Doing any form of aerobic activity for 30 minutes or so, depending on your fitness level, is an excellent place to start. This should be done four to five times a week, and you’ll be surprised at how much simpler it becomes after a few weeks. The intensity of this workout is difficult to describe, but you may attempt the singing test approach — if you can easily sing a song while doing this, you should increase the intensity! Running, walking, dancing or anything else that gets your heart rate up might be good activities for this.
Strengthening exercises
This entails focusing on your major muscle parts and is quite helpful for weight reduction since the larger your muscles are, the more calories your body burns. This workout should be done twice a week at first, then increased as you gain strength. When first starting out, be sure to utilize a lightweight and proper technique — you should aim for roughly 12 repetitions every set. As you gain strength, you may progressively increase the weight of these workouts. Remember that the muscles require time to heal after performing the same workout on the same body part two days in a row.
Training in Flexibility
This is simple to accomplish whenever you have some free time during the day. It should be done five to seven days a week and includes exercises like static stretches. For best effects, hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. Note: When learning new exercises, ask someone with expertise to demonstrate the proper form. If you can afford it, a personal trainer would be ideal; some gyms may provide a few free training sessions when you initially join.
Home exercise equipment
If you can’t go to the gym or prefer to work out at home, there is a plethora of accessible equipment to select from — much of it is worthless, so read the following carefully if you intend on purchasing anything. Some of this equipment is already in your possession since you can do a number of workouts with your own body weight!
Treadmill
One of the most recognizable pieces of exercise equipment, and one of the greatest for cardiovascular workouts. Today’s models feature a range of various choices for adjusting the intensity and doing things like measuring your heart rate. A treadmill is an excellent piece of equipment that will last a lifetime, and you should consider acquiring one if you intend to work out at home.
Weights are available for free.
When it comes to strength training equipment, dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells are all excellent options. Dumbbells are your greatest choice for starting as a novice. Look for dumbbells with adjustable weights so you can perform a variety of workouts with them.
Ball for exercise
These are entertaining pieces of equipment that are also functional in the long run. An exercise ball may be used for a variety of bodyweight exercises that are helpful for core strength and balance. You may even do various sorts of stretches with them; the possibilities are almost unlimited.
Bands of resistance
These are terrific pieces of inexpensive equipment that can be used for a number of activities. You may also add resistance by combining these with free weights. They may also be used to help you perform bodyweight workouts like chin-ups and pull-ups if you have difficulty executing them.
Video Workouts
Work-along exercise videos may be a terrific way to get an extra boost to keep you going when you need it. Before purchasing, make sure you have a solid knowledge of the program’s layout so you know if it will work for you or not.