How to Exercise Effectively

Summarized by Robert W. Griffith, MD
June 19, 2006

Summary

It takes motivation to exercise consistently; this article contains ten tips to help you maintain your initial momentum.

Introduction

Physical fitness is one of the two main pillars of a healthy lifestyle. And it's generally recognized that 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 or more days a week is the ideal. The trouble is, half the people who start an exercise program give up in the first 3 to 6 months. Now Consumer Reports on Health has produced a useful set of tips that will help you can succeed in exercising consistently and stay motivated. Here's a digest.

1. Make it Fun

Find some form of exercise that is fun to do. For some, this will be competitive, for others, a matter of skill, or again, something social, like dancing. If you're a long-time exerciser, try a new class - yoga, Pilates, spin class, and so on. Or turn a specific exercise into a hobby; this could be cycling, skiing, or hiking.

2. Match Your Personality

A gregarious person will prefer group classes or activities, while an introvert will hate them. On the other hand, quiet personalities can enjoy matching themselves against a machine, while the extrovert is soon bored.

3. Get Motivated!

Motivation will help you stick with it through those periods of boredom. Here are some motivating reasons to keep up you program:

• Fitness prolongs life
• It protects your heart
• It protects against some cancers - colon, breast, prostate
• It reduces the risk of Alzheimer's
• Fight depression with exercise
• Fitness helps you sleep well
• It can reduce menopausal symptoms
• It helps prevent prostatism and ED
• Fitness reduces falls and fracture in old folk
• It can energize people with chronic diseases

4. Make Your Workouts Convenient

Convenience encourages consistency. Use a facility that's nearby. If not, walk to one, or, if it's too far, just walk and walk.

5. Keep Your Options Open

Having a choice of activities means you're not disabled when the weather turns bad, so that you keep going even when it's too cold or wet. Remember the consistency factor! You can mix up aerobic and weight work-outs for variety as long as you maintain your overall exercise regime.

6. Strategize to Find the Time

Maybe the early morning is best for your timetable; or the lunch hour. Whatever works best, write it into your schedule, so that you don't let anything trample on it. If you really are pressed for time, you can always break your daily routine down from, say, 30 minute at one session to 3 sessions of 10 minutes each. The benefits are almost the same, although your motivation may need to be higher.

7. Develop the Exercise Habit

People who get to the 6-month milestone have a better chance of making their exercise habit permanent. Keeping records of such things as weight, times, and so on can help you remember and give you encouragement. If necessary, sign a 'contract' with someone else to complete a given amount of exercise in a given period.

8. And Then, Reward Yourself

If you've reached your goal, buy yourself something - a DVD, a massage, a dinner - to mark the occasion. You can also make your exercise routine into a private pleasure - watching your favorite DVD or TV show. Anything to keep motivated!

9. Don't Worry About Occasional Lapses

You can't do the same routine when you're on vacation or sick, but don't worry about it - you'll get back to your schedule soon enough, provide you've laid the groundwork. If you can't maintain your usual program for any reason, try to keep up 30 minute a week each of weight training and aerobic exercise, and you'll maintain your health status for quite a while.

10. Do You Need a Trainer?

Sometimes people get stuck in a rut - exercise seems boring, or you don't know what to do for the best result. Then it may be time to seek out a personal trainer, though they can be expensive. Maybe you can just use one for a short period to get you on the right track again - or a new track; either way, it should improve your motivation and hence your consistency.

We'd like to use this opportunity to put in a good word for Consumer Reports on Health, the source of this article. This monthly publication does an excellent job in bringing you expert, independent, health information written in an easy-to-understand way. And a subscription - US $24 for a year - includes unlimited use of their website, which contains searchable archives on just about every health topic you can imagine. See the first link below. Robert Griffith, Editor

Source

• Consumer Reports on Health. 10 ways to make exercise a lasting part of your life. 2006;18(3):1,4-6

Related Links
Consumer Reports on Health
Women's-Health-Fitness.com
Men's Health and Fitness

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