Exercise
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Exercise Basics
Exercise is a vital part of maintaining and improving your physical and mental health; it can help you: feel more energetic; lose weight; reduce anxiety, depression and stress; sleep better.
The average healthy person should aim to do some sort of exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
The 30 minute, 5 days a week target applies to beginners and experienced health enthusiasts alike; the difference coming in the intensity of those sessions.
Ease into regular exercise, starting slowly and building up as you feel your body’s capabilities increasing; trying to do too much when your body isn’t used to it may lead to an injury.
Prepare for exercising by eating healthily and regularly throughout the day and by staying hydrated.
Get enough rest before exercising; you need eight hours sleep a night if you want your body to be at its best.
Thoroughly warm up / down before and after each workout; failing to do so seriously increases the chances of you incurring an injury.
Warming up / down should include some light jogging on the spot and stretching; take your time and do each stretch 2-4 times, holding each for about 20 seconds.
You should breath out while performing the hardest part of an exercise and breath in while performing the easy part.
Types Of Exercise
Different exercise programs are available to fit your individual needs; the best one for you is the one you'll actually do, not the one you think you should do.
If your aim is to improve your general fitness you should concentrate more on cardiovascular exercises.
If you want to get stronger, strength training should take up the majority of your exercise timetable.
If your goal is to lose weight you should focus on both strength and fitness exercises.
Cardiovascular exercise is any rhythmic activity performed continuously; it's the most popular type of exercise.
Cardiovascular workouts include brisk walking, aerobics, running, swimming, bike riding, or anything that elevates your heart rate.
With strength training, you lift or move weights to strengthen the muscles, bones and connective tissue.
Strength training can be performed with free weights (such as dumbbells or barbells) or on machines.
Strength training will increase your muscle mass and / or tone lean muscle and is thought to be more effective than cardiovascular exercise at changing body shape.
A bulking up strength training regime should include fewer reps and more weight, whereas a program for toning should include more reps and less weight.
Non gym-related types of physical activity include: jogging; cycling; swimming; sports; dancing; gardening; house chores; playing with children.
Sports that you can choose from include; archery; athletics; basketball; badminton; bowls; boxing; canoeing; caving; cycling; climbing; cricket; croquet; fencing; football; golf; hiking; hockey; horse riding; ice hockey; martial arts; netball; paintball; roller skating; rowing; rugby; sailing; scuba diving; skiing; snowboarding; squash; surfing; swimming; table tennis; tennis; volleyball.
Exercises / Routines
The concept of sets and repetitions (reps) is a fundamental part of exercising.
A repetition is one complete exercise e.g. one chin-up or one push-up; each one should take 4-5 seconds, though this may vary slightly between exercises.
A set is a complete series of reps; it’s however many you perform between starting an exercise and resting.
Beginners should start with 5-20 reps per set and gradually increase the number as they feel fitter.
To increase intensity, reduce the amount of rest time between sets rather than the speed of the repetitions.
Don’t train until exhaustion (i.e. don’t continue performing reps until you physically can’t do anymore) and this significantly increases the risk of injury.
A circuit routine is a series of different exercises performed one after the other and is typically made up of around 8 exercises; you should aim to complete it without resting between the different exercises.
A round the clock routine requires you to do a different exercise every minute, on the minute e.g. 15 different exercises in 15 minutes, 25 different exercises in 25 minutes etc.
There are a huge amount of exercises to choose from; most of them work on different parts / muscles of the body.
Don’t always perform the same exercises; you should try to do as many different ones as you can.
Push / Press Up: Lie face down; lift body from ground using palms and toes; bend elbows; raise and lower body. More Information
Sit up: Lie on back; place hands next to (not behind) head; bring feet closer to body so that knees are raised; slowly raise and lower upper body off the ground. More Information
Squat Thrust: Stand with feet at least shoulder-width apart (toes facing slightly outwards); place hands across chest; bend knees (keeping back straight) until thighs are parallel with the floor; straighten legs and stand up. More Information
Lunge: Stand upright; step forward with one leg; bend knee on extended leg (don’t allow knee to come further forward than foot); straighten leg and step back. More Information
Dip: Sit directly in front of (facing away from) a step; place hands behind on step; bend elbows a few inches; raise and lower body. More Information
Front Raise: Stand with feet hip-width apart and torso upright; hold weights / dumbbells in hands; rest hands (palms downwards) in front of thighs; keep elbows slightly bent; lift arms to shoulder level. More Information
Burpee: Stand upright; bend knees; place palms on floor; kick legs back to assume a press up position; bring knees back in; stand up. More Information
Calf Raise: Stand on a step with both feet; balance so that both feet are only half on the step; raise and lower body by curling and straightening feet. More Information
Dorsal Raise: Lie face down; place hands next to head; use lower back muscles to lift upper body off the ground; hold for 5 seconds. More Information
Knee to Chest: Lie on back; cross arms over chest; bring knees up towards chest, whilst curling chest forward (so that they nearly meet touch). More Information
Plank: Lie face down; lift yourself up to only your toes and forearms as touching the floor; keep back flat; hold for 45 seconds. More Information
Bear Walk: Take up a press up position; walk around on hands and feet. More Information
Crab Walk: Take up a reverse press up position; walk around on hands and feet. More Information
Some exercises require very little room and can be done effectively on the spot e.g. jogging, skipping, star jumps, etc.
Organization / Motivation
The toughest part about developing and keeping an exercise regime is motivation.
Know exactly what you expect of yourself and have definite targets to achieve within a specific (realistic) timescale; writing down your goals / targets, and the steps to achieve them, will help to keep you focused.
Decide at the start of the week on what days and at which times you’ll be exercising and create an exercise timetable; if you’ve set time aside for an activity, you'll be more likely to do it.
Change your exercise timetable at least every 4-6 weeks; you can do this by adding a new activity, increasing the pace / intensity and / or increasing the amount of time you exercise.
Remember that each and every workout is important; every missed one puts you further away from where you want to be.
Begin with increasing the frequency of your exercising (for example, add a day to your program), rather than increasing the intensity.
Consider joining a gym and getting an exercise friend (you’ll be more likely to show up for planned exercise meetings when another person expects you there); see exercising as a social, rather than a solo, activity.
If you join a gym, go there straight after work; you'll be less inclined to come up with an excuse not to workout if you don't go home first.
Exercise equipment for your house can be a worthwhile investment; it means that you can fit in short busts of exercise when you have juts a little free time.
Second hand exercise equipment will often still be in good condition because it’s likely the previous owner is selling it because they never use it; look in local papers and on eBay.
If you are finding it difficult to get motivated, find a personal trainer; they’re often worth the money because they improve the rate at which you’ll start to see results.