How Do I Start to Exercise?

Step 1.

Book yourself in for an MOT. Get a health check from your GP before you start exercising.

Step 2.

Define your goals. What do you want to achieve and why? Having an aim will focus your efforts. Ensure that your goals are healthy and realistic. Looking like a super model or running like Paula Radcliffe are not achievable ambitions for most of us.

Step 3.

Write your aims down and commit to them. To achieve your exercise objectives you have to make them a priority. Do you really need to watch 3 hours of television every night?

Step 4.

Gradually increase your daily levels of activity: walk more, drive less and take the stairs not the lift. It might seem like a token gesture initially but being a little more active every day of your life is significantly more beneficial than being very active once every 2 weeks!

Step 5.

Challenge your body and get active! If it’s not a challenge it isn’t exercise.

Exercise should raise your pulse and feel like hard work but it shouldn’t hurt. There’s nothing wrong with having sore muscles the day after you have exercised as long as it doesn’t prevent you from getting on with your day. After all, you are exercising to live not living to exercise.

Most of all you should enjoy exercising. If you don’t enjoy it then you’ll give it up almost as quickly as you’ve started it.

Chose activities that fit in with your lifestyle and that you find fun. I like to run and I have a dog, so I coordinate dog walking and exercising by running with my dog. Another way to make exercise more enjoyable is to exercise with friends and family. As well as being more sociable, you will be able to motivate each other when one of you loses momentum. Finally, eat ahealthy balanced diet to support your active lifestyle.