Forms of Exercise and the Motivation to Do It
So, what is exercise?
Well, it’s regular activity that requires physical effort for a specific purpose. That specific purpose is to improve your health and fitness. Pay attention to the part in bold above. Go ahead and read it again. Do I think that statement is important? Hell, yes. Why? Well I’ll tell you. We’re human, and when we hear the word exercise, we begin to see non-stop joggers in our minds, or muscle-clad folks sweating in the gym furiously pumping iron, and similar imagery that pops into our heads – we can’t help that. But that isn’t what exercise is – it’s a part of it, that’s for sure, but they’re not the only activities you can engage in to benefit. Even going up and down your stairs works well, depending on how you do it of course.
Virtually everything we do physically, involves the use of a muscle or groups of muscles, and that benefits us – even though we may not feel it at the time! A brief gentle walk down the street and back is beneficial to some degree. Even learning to dance is a great way to exercise. With an average person weighing in at 150 pounds, they could stand to burn up around 300 calories in an hour. Zumba appears to be one of the best forms of dance with a very high-calorie burn rate, so no wonder it’s popular!
Did you know you can burn up around 200 calories in a one-hour session of yoga? Okay, there are several forms of yoga and each one would differ as to the number of calories you would burn, but let’s not split hairs too much. Depending on what form of Yoga you indulge in, you could burn up to around 600 calories!
Now, even with a simple-sounding activity like dancing, there is still the danger of over-exerting yourself. Keep it sensible, keep it gradual. Always warm-up before you get into a dancing session, and warm down when you’re done, you’ll thank yourself for doing so in the long run. Believe me, it’s easy to tear a muscle with these activities, especially when you’re starting out and your muscles are somewhat under-developed, or simply not used to the sudden increase in activity. So if any of that happens, it’ll put you back a while until you can recover, which means you’re basically back to square one before you even get a good chance to get going. All forms of dance are good fun, and you can do it at home just as well as anywhere else.
Motivation
Hopefully, you will already have some idea of what you want to do to get you firmly on the road to fitness. So now, we need to find the motivation for doing it – our get up and go. Here would be a great opportunity to consider the reasons why you want to exercise. Are you hoping to lose a few extra pounds for Christmas? Maybe you’re looking to get trim and strengthen your body in general, or perhaps to help recover from an injury. Whatever the reasons are, pull them out and examine them, because they’re going to be a big part of your motivation. They are going to help you to make a start and help you set yourself some goals. If your main reason is to lose weight, you can start by setting yourself a goal to lose a couple of pounds to start with – doesn’t need to be drastic, just a target.
In my view, concentrating more on the exercise or activity, instead of constantly trying to count the pounds, yields better results and steers you away from becoming stressed unnecessarily; the idea is to get you used to the activity in the first place.
Whatever exercise activity you choose, do it for 10 or 15 minutes each day for 7 days, or even 14 days, taking the alternative day off if you feel you might struggle a little; remember that muscles ache and can become a little painful a day or two afterward. This is normal, so don’t get freaked out by it. Whether you do it every day for 7 days or every other day for 14, is up to you, it really doesn’t matter much as long as you make a start and stick to your decision for the duration.
Remember to continue to record everything. Get yourself a notepad or journal specifically for this and record what you eat and when, as well as your weight before you start, but don’t weigh yourself again until you have completed your first stage, (after 7 or 14 days, whichever you chose to do). We aren’t looking for massive differences here, there likely won’t be, but if your weight is even just a few ounces less than when you started, pat yourself on the back. Also, record any changes you notice along the way, such as your appetite, is it better? Are you sleeping better? Are you in a better mood more often, more awake? These changes won’t happen overnight of course, but they will.
Once you complete your first stage, you can consider upgrading your targets. If you decided on the easier 14-day route, reduce it to 10, or even 7 days and do your routines each day for 10 minutes. Then maybe 7 days at 15 minutes a day, then weigh yourself again at the end of that stage. Try to understand that it’s natural for most of us to fluctuate in weight a little from day to day, so try not to focus too much on that right now. What we really want here is a good, healthy routine that suits you, that helps to make your frame and muscles stronger and more durable, not necessarily to achieve massive weight loss. Your body will find its own balance, one that’s right for you. Also, your mind as well as your body is going to need time to adjust, so don’t rush things unnecessarily, remember what I said, sensible and moderate. If you’re a complete newbie to this kind of activity, then that’s very often the best way to start your regime. Let your mind and body get used to the new activities it’s experiencing. It’s also great if you can recruit a friend or family member to partner up with you; someone who can take brisk walks with you, or join you in your Zumba sessions. Whatever it is you choose to do, it’s always nice to have someone willing to share that with you. Not everyone is that way fortunate, but if you are, take advantage of it. However, don’t base your activities on a partner. You can’t expect that their schedule will always align with yours, so there will be times when they can’t exercise with you – this is no excuse not to continue with your regimen! It’s all down to mindset and motivation. Both of which you will need in order to overcome the lazy moments and the ‘I don’t feel like it’ days – we all have them.
