Making lifestyle adjustments takes time, so plan to begin slowly. When starting a new exercise program, you should check with your physician first. To succeed, you must have a plan. Schedule your exercise routine by writing it on your calendar, and make it a regular part of your life. Make exercise a priority or else it will get "crowded out"; don't skip exercise by making excuses that you are too busy. To begin, try to plan for exercise a minimum of three days per week. Per the American Heart Association, it is recommended to advance to six days of exercise for overall health.
Regular exercise helps to prepare you for so many activities of daily living . . . whether you are picking up a bag of groceries, vacuuming your home, or driving your car. If these activities have been painful or challenging for you, beginning a new exercise routine may help to increase your ability to move more normally and restore more confidence in your ability to function day to day.
An exercise program should include:
1. A Warm Up. This slowly increases the heart rate and directs the blood flow to the working muscles to help prevent injury.
2. Stretching. This helps maintain good range of motion of all joints and increases your balance and flexibility of muscles and ligaments.
3. Strength Training. This increases muscle strength, lessening the stress on joints while decreasing risk of injury. Also, it increases metabolism to burn more calories.
4. Aerobic Exercise. This benefits the heart, vascular system, lungs, and endurance. For people with back pain, low impact activity is recommended.
5. Cool Down. This is less intense activity to get the heart rate down under 100 beats per minute before stopping exercise.
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