Studies have shown that exercising for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week produces the most beneficial results. The point is, exercise can cover a wide range of activities as long as your heart rate rises to an age-appropriate level and stays at that level for most of the exercise period.
So what type of cardiovascular exercise should I do?
Here’s the fun part – pretty much everything, as long as it’s safe and follows the criteria for increasing your heart rate. I like to mix it up, one day alternating brisk walking with jogging in the park, another attending a folk dance class and so on. The simplest routine is one that is also highly effective – simply taking a brisk walk, pumping your arms at a sufficient rate will provide a low-impact route to remove excess fat from your body. It’s crucial to keep boredom at bay and constantly push yourself a little harder. For these reasons, I advocate a class or a new hobby that is both physical and fun. Some ideas include:
Tennis
Cycling
Football
Volleyball
Trekking
Dances of all kinds
Boxing
Rafting
Rowing
Skiing
Water skiing
Windsurfing
Surf
The possibilities are literally endless, and half the joy comes from mastering a new skill which, in turn, increases your newfound confidence. Ideally, you would divide your exercise routine into four or five sessions with one or two dedicated to your new hobby or sport per week. Create a fitness plan for 4 weeks of exercise in a journal. That’s about the time it takes for our bodies to truly absorb and begin to feel the benefits of new healthy habits.
Create a comment section to record your observations on how your exercise session went. This is where you can really work to increase your motivation by praising yourself when necessary and paying close attention to how YOU felt about your session.
It was fun? Easier than last time? A little more than you expected? Write it all down and you’ll start to see how you progress in the next few weeks. You can also create a space to suggest modifications or even just write down which particular exercises actually worked for you.
Remember, it’s about taking responsibility for your own body and the more you do this, the stronger your motivation to do the right thing for yourself.
