E X E R C I S E G U I D E L I N E S
Always consult your physician before beginning an exercise programme.
HOW OFTEN
The American
eart Association recommends that ou e ercise at least
to
da s per
ee to maintain cardiovascular fitness. If ou have other goals such as
eight or fat
loss
ou
ill achieve our goal faster
ith more frequent e ercise.
hether it s
da s or
da s remember that our ultimate goal should be to ma e e ercise a lifetime habit.
an people are successful sta ing
ith a fitness programme if the set aside a specific
time of da
to e ercise. It doesn t matter
hether it s in the morning before
our
sho er during
our lunch hour or
hile
atching the evening ne s.
hat s more
important is that it s a time that allo s ou to eep a schedule and a time
hen ou
on t be interrupted. If ou are to be successful
ith our fitness programme
ou have
to ma e it a priorit in our life. So decide on a time pull out our da planner and
pencil in our e ercise times for the ne t month
HOW LONG
or aerobic e ercise benefits it s recommended that ou e ercise from bet een
and
minutes per session.
ut start slo l and graduall increase our e ercise times. If
ou ve been sedentar during the past ear it ma be a good idea to eep our e ercise
times to as little as five minutes initiall . ou bod
ill need time to ad ust to the ne
activit . If our goal is
eight loss a longer e ercise session at lo er intensities has been
found to be most effective. A
or out time of
minutes or more is recommended for
best
eight loss results.
HOW HARD
o
hard ou
or out is also determined b
our goals. If ou use our ori on itness
Upright i e to prepare for a
run
ou
ill probabl
or out at a higher intensit than
if our goal is general fitness. Regardless of our long term goals al a s begin an
e ercise programme at lo
intensit . Aerobic e ercise doesn t have to be painful to be
beneficial
There are t o
a s to measure
our e ercise intensit . The first is b
monitoring our heart rate see page
and the second is b evaluating our perceived
e ertion level this is simpler than it sounds .
Note:
Al a s consult our ph sician before beginning an e ercise programme.
PERCEIVED EXERTION LEVEL
The second and simpler
a to gauge our e ercise intensit is to evaluate our perceived
e ertion level.
hile e ercising if ou are too
inded to maintain a conversation
ithout
gasping
ou are
or ing out too hard. A good rule of thumb is to
or to the point of
e hilaration not e haustion. If ou cannot catch our breath it s time to slo
do n.
Al a s be a are of other
arning signs of overe ertion.
