Exercise recommittment

Exercise has been rather hit or miss lately for me. It’s time to recommit to exercise.

How can you recommit to exercise?

1. Really feel the importance of exercise to your health, your looks, and your energy. It’s one of the best things you can do for yourself.

2. Decide on which exercises you find the most fun. I vary mine a lot because I don’t like doing the same exercise over and over. My sister prefers to stick in a video and do the same routine most days. There are so many fun activities – swimming, biking, playing tennis, walking, hiking, kickboxing, dancing, gardening. And for strength – weight training, pilates, yoga.

3. Decide how many days a week you will exercise and for how long. If you are just starting out, 10 minutes a day 5 days a week is a great beginning. If you have any concerns, talk with your doctor about a program that is best for you.

4. Write your exercise in your calendar. For instance my planned exercise for this week is:
Sunday – 30 minutes of weight training, 20 minutes of dance and 10 minutes yoga at 2:00
Monday – 60 minutes of pool time with the kids at 7:00pm
Tuesday – 15 minutes of upper body exercises, 30 minute bike ride and 15 min yoga at 7am
Wednesday – rest day (plan healthy menu instead) 7am
Thursday – swim or tennis for one hour at 7:00pm
Friday – rest day
Saturday – 15 min of lower body pilates, 30 min Latin dance video, 15 min yoga at 9am

5. Ask yourself what you will need to change to become a committed exerciser. Will you need to change your wake up time? Will you need to get yourself some fun videos? Will you need to change your belief that exercise is too hard? Will you need to redefine your self-image to being someone that loves to move their body? What is your main obstacle and what is your solution?

6. Find someone or a place to check in with your exercise progress. An exercise buddy, an online forum, stars on the calendar or a fitness journal all work well.

7. Evaulate how you feel after certain exercises and which are the most fun. Keep checking what kind of schedule works best for you. Do mornings, afternoons or evenings work best. If something keeps getting in the way, work on a solution.

8. Now, don’t let circumstances keep you from your exercise. Most are just excuses. You won’t become healthy and energetic by using excuses. If you are finding you miss most of your exercise times, you can be sure you are using excuses. Exercise needs to become one of the highest priorities. You are not doing anyone any good if you are run down. Keep moving forward with your exercising. Remember you are committed to exercising!

Real Age has a couple of tips here:ÂÂ
http://www.realage.com/news_features/tip.aspx?v=2&cid=16876

And they say that the RealAge Benefit of exercising regularly can make your RealAge as much as 9 years younger.