Have Fun with Fitness!

Summer is coming to an end. The kids are back in school, and soon the temperature will cool and the leaves will begin to change colors, welcoming the autumn season. With so many exciting changes around the corner, fall is the perfect time to start making little changes in your personal life to make a big impact on your health. Have fun with fitness and improve your health!

How to Start Exercising for Beginners - Easing into a Routine

Do you currently spend 30 minutes a day or less on moderate activity? If so, then your approach to how to start exercising is to work up to the workout by walking. Walk as much as you can comfortably, and then work toward increasing this a little bit every day. Start to incorporate other moderate activities into your day, and keep increasing the blocks daily until you come up to the recommended aerobic activity guidelines.

Don't overdo it. It's tempting to be overzealous at the beginning of a plan, when you're high energy and highly motivated, but it can actually be quite destructive. The more exercise you get in, the better you will start to feel. But if you push yourself too hard too soon, you run the risk of injury or backsliding. That's the key to how to start exercising in a way that is sustainable for the long-term.

Motivation is the Second Key to Beginning an Exercise Routine

Here are some tips:

• Get an exercise partner. Talk to each other about your plans on how to start exercising. Make your workouts dependent on each other; one suggestion I've heard is to swap shoes at the end of the workout, so that each of you has to show up the next time. Just make sure it happens!
• Go digital. With all of the technology out there, things can get a little overwhelming! Use today’s technology to your advantage. Watch free exercise videos online, download an app to your smart-phone to help you track your fitness, and find inspiration online through individuals who have had success through healthy eating and exercise.
• Consider how to start exercising by joining a gym and taking a class. Try a yoga, tai chi, or ballroom-dancing class and see what you like-you won't know until you try.
• Think of how to start exercising on vacations, or as part of a vacation. Plan vacation around beach football, skiing, cycling or hiking. Just because it's fun doesn't mean it's not good for you!
• Start to work on projects in and around the house that include lifting and moderately vigorous activities. Your housemates and neighbors may thank you for your efforts.
• Walk the dog more - you know Fido won't mind!
• Take your kid-or borrow one-and go play on the playground. Keeping up with an active 4-year-old can be a real eye-opener, and playground equipment is perfect for strength training; it's a great place to do chin ups.
• Put up a volleyball, basketball, or badminton net in your yard and challenge your kids and neighbors.

Taking several small steps can make a huge impact on the quality of your life. We're positive that you'll be on your way to a fun-filled fitness routine in no time by following the Gene Smart exercise principle. Remember, by choosing to make some changes in your life, you've already taken the first step to getting there! Congratulations - we can't wait to hear about your success!

Words of Wisdom

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain