Exercise program start

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If you are unsure whether you are healthy enough to begin an exercise program, discuss this with your health care provider first. Choose activities that you enjoy. This will make it much easier to stick with the program. Vary your activities to avoid boredom or burnout.

Start low and go slow. Begin with small amounts of low intensity exercise. For example, an inactive person could start by walking at a regular pace for 5 minutes twice a day, 5 days per week. Slowly increase the amount of time and intensity. Once you can easily complete low intensity activity, you are ready to increase your effort.

Moderate intensity activity rates 5 or 6. You can talk comfortably but not sing. You can only speak a few words before taking a breath. This isn't a must, but tracking your progress has many benefits, especially if your goal is to lose weight. In addition to keeping you accountable to yourself and committed to achieving your goals, it makes it more likely you'll reach—and even surpass—them.

Weighing yourself and keeping an exercise journal are two ways to track your progress, but taking your measurements chest, arms, waist, hips will give you a little more information.

For example, you may be losing inches even if your scale weight doesn't change. In that case, monitoring your measurements every few weeks can reassure you that you are, in fact, making progress. Choose any cardio machine, set it on a manual mode versus pre-set programs , and find your warm-up pace. For the bulk of the workout, you'll change the settings including incline, speed, and resistance every few minutes to work at a moderate level , ending with a cooldown.

Throughout, you'll use the perceived exertion PE scale , which gauges the intensity at which you're exercising from 1 to 10, to work at the suggested levels. This minute workout is really designed just to get an idea of how cardio feels to your body.

Feel free to change the settings to adjust to your ability. Cardio and strength training may be the cornerstones of any solid workout program, but you don't want to end your workout without stretching. Stretching when your muscles are warm has a number of benefits, from building greater flexibility to offering relaxation and stress relief. The great thing about stretching is that you don't have to spend a lot of time to get the benefits.

This total-body flexibility workout , which includes eight stretches, can be done in as little as 2 minutes. Now that you've completed your first workout, it's time to plan your first week of workouts. Here's an idea of how to schedule your cardio and strength-training activity. Perform the minute cardio routine outlined above. For this basic strength-training workout, you'll do 1 set of 15 reps of each of the nine exercises listed below, resting briefly between exercises as needed.

The workout targets all the muscles in the body, including the chest, shoulders, arms, back, hips, glutes, and thighs. It's short and simple—a great way for beginners to get started with strength training.

It's normal to be sore after lifting weights for the first time, or if it's been a long time since you've pumped iron. If you find you're very sore the next day, you might need to take an extra rest day and back off of your strength workout the next time. Today you'll do the same minute cardio routine as Day 1, followed by the 10 lower-body stretches included in this lower-body stretching workout.

For today's workout, you'll go through the following eight yoga poses , holding each for 3 to 5 breaths. Do the workout anytime you like—it will refresh you in the morning and help you unwind before bed.

Take your time when performing each exercise and focus on your breath: Breathe in and out through the nose, taking the air in through the back of your throat. Do each pose at least once. Today's workout involves the basic strength-training workout you did on Day 2. As before, perform 1 set of 15 reps for each exercise, resting briefly between moves as needed.

If you feel that's too easy, you can always add another set or use heavier weights. Today's cardio workout involves interval training , which is when you alternate work sets working at a higher intensity with rest sets using the perceived exertion scale to monitor your intensity.

This workout can be done on any cardio machine. On Day 1, you completed your first workout. During week 1, you got through a full week of cardio, strength, and flexibility workouts. Now you're ready to build on that success with progressively more challenging workouts. Keep in mind that the schedules are only suggestions. You may want less cardio, more rest days, or to stick with the same workouts for more than a week.

Use this program as a place to start and adjust the schedule so that it works for you. You'll continue with the same schedule as last week but progress with a few small changes to keep you challenged.

For cardio, you'll do the same workouts with an added 5 minutes to build endurance and increase your exercise time. Activities that engage both your arms and legs—such as walking especially in sand , running, swimming, weight training, rock climbing, skiing, or dancing—are great choices for practicing mindfulness. Look at your daily routine and consider ways to sneak in activity here and there.

Even very small activities can add up over the course of a day. Make chores count. House and yard work can be quite a workout, especially when done at a brisk pace. Scrub, vacuum, sweep, dust, mow, and weed—it all counts. Look for ways to add extra steps. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Park farther from a building entrance, rather than right out front. Get off your train or bus one stop early. The extra walking adds up.

Ditch the car whenever possible. Instead of driving everywhere, walk or bike instead when the distance is doable. Move at work. Get up to talk to co-workers, rather than phoning or sending an email or IM. Take a walk during your coffee and lunch breaks. Use the bathroom on another floor. Exercise during commercial breaks. Make your TV less sedentary by exercising every time commercials come on or during the credits. Options include jumping jacks, sit-ups, or arm exercises using weights.

Owning a dog leads to a more active lifestyle. Playing with a dog and taking him for a walk, hike, or run are fun and rewarding ways to fit exercise into your schedule.

Studies have shown that dog owners are far more likely to meet their daily exercise requirements than non-owners. One year-long study found that walking an overweight dog helped both the animals and their owners lose weight 11 to 15 pounds. Researchers found that the dogs provided support in similar ways to a human exercise buddy, but with greater consistency and without any negative influence. In another study, public housing residents who walked therapy dogs for up to 20 minutes, five days a week, lost an average of No matter how much you enjoy an exercise routine, you may find that you eventually lose interest in it.

Pair your workout with a treat. For example, you can listen to an audiobook or watch your favorite TV show while on the treadmill or stationary bike. Log your activity. Keep a record of your workouts and fitness progress. Writing things down or tracking them on an app increases commitment and holds you accountable to your routine. Later on, it will also be encouraging to look back at where you began. Harness the power of the community. Having others rooting for us and supporting us through exercise ups and downs helps to keep motivation strong.

There are numerous online fitness communities you can join. You can also try working out with friends either in person or remotely using fitness apps that let you track and compare your progress with each other.

Get inspired. Read a health and fitness magazine or visit an exercise website and get inspired with photos of people being active. Sometimes reading about and looking at images of people who are healthy and fit can motivate you to move your body. Guide to Physical Activity — Examples of physical activity that you might not have considered exercise. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Exercise: How to Get Started — Exercise basics including stretches. Fitness Basics — Including how to overcome barriers, creative ways to exercise, and types of exercise. Mayo Clinic. Cookie Policy. These tips can show you how. Excuses for not exercising Making excuses for not exercising? How much exercise do you need? How hard do I need to exercise? As a general guideline, though: Low-intensity activity: You can easily talk in full sentences, or sing.

Moderate intensity: You can speak in full sentences, but not sing.