|
During the first 4-5 weeks of your program focus on
developing the habit or pattern of being physically active. Try to be active on a daily
basis, performing 12-20 minutes of physical activity. You get some health benefits from
exercising as little as 6-10 minutes. So, remember that some exercise is ALWAYS better
than none! You can also try two sessions of 10 minutes to accumulate (or add up) 20
minutes of physical activity. For example, try 10 minutes of walking in the morning and
another 10 minutes later in the day. You could easily accomplish this by just parking
farther away from the building that you work in and walking. Just think of it as merely
finding ways to add extra steps into your regular routine.
Increasing
During the next several months, you will want to
gradually increase your exercise intensity (or how hard you are working) and exercise
duration (how long you are exercising). Start by performing physical activity 3-5 times
per week at a moderate level for 20-30 minutes. A good rule of thumb is that walking 1
mile in 15 minutes is considered moderate physical activity. Remember you can still break
up your exercise workouts into 10-minute sessions. Your goal is to gradually increase
activity to 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity most days of the week, or
to burn 1500-2000 calories in physical activity per week. Again, if you are more
physically fit you can progress more quickly. However, remember that rapid progression may
increase the risk of injury.
During your conditioning program, it is a good idea to perform a variety of activities
that you enjoy. Cross training helps to prevent boredom and maintain motivation, and helps
reduce the risk of “overtraining” a specific muscle group and/or repetitive use
injuries.
Remember to re evaluate your fitness level and goals every so often (i.e., every 2-3
months).
Powerd by www.fitness.org
Page 1 2
3 4 5
|
