The start of every new year fills us with a renewed sense of determination, enables a fresh start with a clean slate and prompts new goals. Among these goals, many would find “going to the gym more often” or “work out” to be listed. And for some of us, these goals might have been carried forward from the past few years.
Somehow that first step into working out can seem too intimidating for those stepping out of a sedentary lifestyle or otherwise too unsustainable. What can we do to ensure we are keeping fit while keeping in mind our level of physical fitness? Read on to find out how to take that first step into a healthy beginning, and how to achieve your health goals for 2020.
In order to better plan your goals, there is a need to know how much exercise you need to keep fit. The recommended minimum exercise per day is 20-30 minutes of moderate exercise or 12 minutes of high intensity exercise per day. It is important to start with a moderate intensity at a suitable pace so as to not overwhelm yourself physically or mentally. Start with 20 minutes a day before gradually increasing the time and intensity of exercise subsequently. If 20 minutes of continuous exercise seems too daunting or inconvenient for your schedule, even a 20 minutes walk spread out into four separate 5-minute walks is a start.
Not every type of exercise or sport is suitable for everyone. For instance, experts advice against plyometric training unless the individual is able to bench their body weight or squat 1.5 times their body weight! High impact sports are also not recommended for overweight individuals as the extra pressure on the knees with added impact can be detrimental. Careful consideration is needed when choosing a compatible exercise for your physical status. Therefore, do not hesitate to approach a professional for a more personalised guidance.
A safe exercise to start off is walking or cycling. You may warm up with a casual walk or cycle with low intensity, building up to a brisk walk or cycling with moderate intensity. For a great low impact resistance training, you can consider aqua walking/jogging where the impact on your knees is immensely reduced yet keeping the muscles engaged. This is an option highly pertinent to those with knee problems.
“Friends who workout together, stay together”, this new saying is not just relevant to maintaining a healthy relationship but a healthy lifestyle too. While it is best if one’s determination and self-discipline is enough motivation for a sustainable healthy lifestyle, a friend to hold you accountable is always a great help.
Working out together brings more exercising options to the table that can be both fun and rewarding. Sports like badminton or table tennis becomes possible with a partner and stepping into a new exercise becomes less intimidating as well like joining Zumba or a Line dancing club.
Joining exercise groups is also a great way to keep yourself motivated as building a community with like-minded people can be very fulfilling not to mention all the extra pairs of eyes to hold you accountable to your health goals! Having fun while exercising is one of the best ways to ensure you keep to it and your company or community contributes to that.
Starting a new exercise goal will not be a bed of roses as building up your fitness would consist of pushing your body to its safe limits every workout session. Therefore, apart from choosing your activity and company, it is most important to know your body’s limits and how to proceed from there. This is especially important for those whose body pain holds them back from exercising. It is possible to work around the pain in a safe way to build fitness or even bring relieve, and you will be guided on every step with our professional help at PhysioActive.
Through a physical assessment conducted by our experts, a greater understanding of your body can be reached to allow safe practice of exercises. These professionals will pick up detrimental habits, or physical weaknesses that can be worked on and corrected to improve your quality of life and set you on your way to fulfilling your new health goals.
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