Lets get it started !!!

Well now that we have gone through as to what needs to be done before you start working out…Lets get to the main part as to how it has to be done… Whenever you are gonna start an exercise routine after a stagnation period or if you have never worked out before, please start at a slow pace. You might feel that you are strong enough to go for a jog for an hour on your first day but your body might not be able to keep up to it.

** Before you begin with any kind of exercise, please do enough stretches. Coz your body needs to know that you are getting into the mode of exercise. This also helps your body to loosen up a little. Stretches have to be done before and after your workout.

For those who cannot afford the gym or just don’t like going to one…

1) Start with speed walking-20mins..You can increase the time after a week, and then it can come upto 45-60mins a day..

2) Those who do have a good fitness level can also go for jogging as it’s a good cardiovascular exercise. But remember to jog only on sand, mud or grass. Running on tar roads can cause many injuries to your back, knee and ankle.

3) To make your routine more interesting take up something that you enjoy doing, like swimming, tennis, badminton or even fun things like rock climbing,wall climing, trekking.. That will add more flavour and it won’t get boring. Another way to keep your exercise going, is to have a partner.. It helps when you are accountable to someone..and you have the added advantage of companionship:)

4) One of the most important things that go with exercise is your food intake. A lot of people have this wrong idea that as long as I exercise I can get away with eating right about everything. I am not saying that you gotta starve yourselves by surviving only on salads.. Will never recommend that. You have to get into living a healthy lifestyle. Will talk in detail about food intake in another post.

This is for those who would like to workout in the gym…

1) You have a lot of options too when you are working out in the gym.Cardio, weight training, group classes (like yoga, pilates, dance class, aerobics etc.) You can divide your days into cardio workouts and weight training workouts. Try not to mix these two.(3 days cardio, 3 days weight training)

2) On cardio days start with a warm up of 5-10 mins either on the treadmill/cycle/cross trainer. Stretch your body well after the warm up and then you can begin your workout.

3) The same principle applies to those who are going to be working out in the gym, start off with 20 mins and then progress to an hr’s workout gradually. 20 mins each can be given to the treadmill, cross trainer, and the cycle. Try as much not to have a long break between switching on from one machine to another. (If your gym has a variety of cardio machines, the time then can be equally divided).

4) Start with a 10min warm up. Weight training days can be segregated to upper body and lower body. Upper body can be further divided into 2-3 muscle groups like, back and biceps and chest-shoulder- triceps. You can also focus on one muscle group at a time.

5) Workout for your abs can be done on 3 days too. Do it after your back workout or cardio days. No hard and fast rules as such, just do it on the days that are convenient for you. It helps in strengthening your core muscles.

Hope this has thrown some light on how to begin your exercise routine. Will get into the details of it in my coming posts.. Till then live well and stay fit :)