Living Better

Because looking good is feeling good

DAILY EXERCISE

diet-Fall-Autumn-weighing-scales-mechanical-on-fallen-leaves-147kg-shown-diet-monitoring-weight-loss-program-programme-5-DHD

The great benefits I have received from exercising may not be persuasive enough, so why should you exercise? There are a great number of benefits that you can receive from exercise. Your muscle strength can be increased as well as your endurance, which leads to an increase in energy. Exercise can actually also decrease your chance of heart disease as well as increasing the heart’s size and strength and lower your cholesterol level as well as contribute to weight loss. Flexibility will increase and your sex life can turn around (I know mine did). Bone strength will increase, decreasing the chance of bone diseases such as osteoporosis. Exercise also relieves stress and anxiety, which are annoying as well as chemically linked in the brain to depression. If that’s not enough for you, you can read more about the benefits of exercise here.

The trick is to make a workout plan and stick to it. It is important to have a plan before you simply try to start working out. Most gyms have personal trainers who will help you create a schedule for a small fee, but there are also websites that can help you do that as well. Obviously you do not need to join a gym to work out. My personal favorite is to go for long walks through a nature preserve near my house. Parks and open space reserves are easy to find online, if you do not already know of one in your area.

Once you have an idea of where you would like to go to exercise, create a realistic goal. For example, set a goal to exercise for half an hour every day for a month, and then after the first month increase it to an hour per day. By setting goals, you will have something to strive towards and by making them realistic you will have the satisfaction of achieving what you set out to do. It is also important to make sure you know what you are doing. It is very easy to harm yourself while working out with large weights or machines if they are used wrong. If you are looking for some great exercises Bodybuilding.com has some great articles. This site is very helpful as well.

Choose exercises that will work on body parts that you would like to improve, but make sure not to neglect the others. The key is to find a balance between different muscle groups. To view a picture of the muscles go to this site or read about them here. It is also important to strengthen opposite muscles equally. For example, if you were to spend twenty minutes working out your biceps, do not neglect your triceps (top and bottom of the arm). It is also important to do it right. Warm up before working out. Take the time to stretch, and jog a little to warm up your lungs and muscles to avoid injury. Similarly, after working out, take the time to cool off, which will keep blood from pooling your muscles and gives your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure a chance to return to their normal rates.