Endurance: 30-60 minutes of consistent movement like walking, cycling, or an aerobics class, most days of the week is recommended. The best way to do this is to start slow and gradually build up to this by breaking it up into smaller chunks of time. Try walking for 10 minutes after every meal and you will have 30 minutes of exercise. Be sure that whatever activities you engage in feel good to your body. You do not need to sweat or breathe hard. Find something fun like line dancing or kick-boxing!
Strength: 2-3 days a week of strength exercises, with a non-strength day in between, is recommended. These are movements that bring strength to your muscles like lifting weights or bodyweight exercises like push ups and crunches. Start slow by picking just a few exercises to do regularly to build up your muscles and then do more as your strength improves. A good starting point is to do one exercise 5-12 times and then gradually increase the number of times. Once you reach 15 times, then rest and add another set of 5-12 times or add an additional exercise. For beginners, try wall or counter push ups, arm circles in both directions, crunches, bridge pose and squats. The most important thing to keep in mind is to exhale with the effort move (when you lift your head off the floor for a crunch) and to inhale in the recovery move (when you bring your head back to the floor during a crunch). This will set the correct pace for the exercise and keep you from holding your breath.
Flexibility: After you exercise, it is important for you to gently stretch your muscles so they do not feel stiff or sore. You will have a greater range of motion in your joints and it will be a wonderful transition from doing exercise to moving on to the next part of your day. When you stretch, hold the stretch for 3-5 deep breaths in a position that feels the stretch but does not feel uncomfortable. If you are uncomfortable, you are stretching too far. During the stretch, pause, recognize, and feel good about what you have just accomplished. This will help with motivation to do it again in the future.
Take the time to document your workout plan, track your workouts and make the necessary adjustments so that you are seeing gradual progress. Documenting will not only show improvements but can be valuable to keep you focused on your physical activity desires.
Great ways to move:
- Watch MovingwithMichelleBradley on Youtube for Endurance, Strength and Flexibility workouts.
- Create a list of beautiful places to walk and check them off the list as you do them.
- Invite a friend to join you for a movement activity, turn it into a regular meet up.
- Find an app or an exercise program on your television that makes you want to move.
Your ideas for movement:
“Take it at your pace, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch!” – Unknown