Low Impact Exercising
If you haven’t exercised in some time, you may want to start by engaging in low-impact activity. That is exercising in a way that doesn’t impact or jar your major joints. Activities like, walking, swimming, cycling, yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates are just a few I can mention. All are excellent ways to get started on your road to fitness.
In my view, you’d be hard pushed to find a better and more convenient low-impact exercise than walking, not to mention being pleasant, rewarding, and free! You don’t need specific sports kit or special equipment, just you, a decent pair of socks and foot housings and you’re ready to go!
Again, if you haven’t exercised in a while, take things easy to start with. A 20 or 30-minute walk each day is perfect if you can manage it. You could work out a route that takes 10 or 15 minutes to reach a bench or somewhere where you can relax for a minute or two to take in the fact that you made it there and then start your walk back home. As the walk gets easier for you, you can increase the time and distance you walk, or you could increase your pace over the same distance. Either way, always pay attention to what your body is telling you. Push yourself a little, but don’t go crazy. As before, keep track of your progress and successes.
Hydration
A quick word about hydration. It may be something you haven’t thought much about, but it is important. Whenever you exercise, you need to make sure you’re keeping yourself hydrated. We’re nearly 70% water; that alone should tell you how important it is for our daily functioning. When we sweat, we’re losing water, actually, even when we breathe, we’re losing water and it’s up to us to replace what we lose. If we don’t, we risk becoming dehydrated. Insufficient water intake can affect your exercise, make you feel more tired and unable to control your temperature properly, and also affects muscle performance. So, it’s always a good idea to take along a water bottle when you go walking and be sure to take a sip or two every few minutes. Also, make it a routine to stretch before your walk and stretch when you get back, just as you would before and after any other exercise session.
Exercise is for anyone of any age, but the older you are the more care should be taken. Joints can be a particular problem the older we get. The likes of osteoporosis can be a considerable issue for women in their 50’s and older. In such cases, supplements could help, but always remember to consult a doctor beforehand, just to be safe.
On a personal note, I’m not into gadgets, like pedometers, Fitbits and such. To me they are expensive and pointless – how did we manage before them? Having said that, I have a couple of friends who swear by them; so who am I to argue? If a gadget like that suits you and you don’t mind the expense, go for it. They certainly won’t do any harm and let’s face it, at the end of the day they’re just a tool, no matter how gimmicky. As such, they should be used to our best advantage and never overly relied upon. Remember to make your goals achievable. If you regularly fail to reach your set goals, that just takes a big bite out of your motivation, not to mention your confidence. Gauge what you’re capable of and make decisions from there. For instance, monitor yourself for a few days and see what your results are – no pressure. If you find you do 5,000 steps for example, without even trying each day, then you know you can set this as your baseline. So set your target at 6 or 7,000 steps, and add more as and when needed to suit. Of course, this is only an example, you may be surprised as to how few steps you might get through in a normal day, and to get in 10,000 steps, which is meant to be the healthy average, would require you to be at a certain level of fitness to achieve.
See you in Part 4
