10 Tips When Introducing Exercise Into Your Daily Routine

Exercise is a fundamental part of healthy living, but we must be diligent about how we approach it. These tips can allow you to introduce it in the most effective way possible and always protect your health.

1. Decide upon a routine: As you think about exercise in your life be sure that you consider what sort of routine you would like. This can include a variety of classes, visits to the gym, activities that you can do at home or even outdoors. Be sure that you incorporate a variety of activities and decide upon a routine that will work well for you individually.
2. Set a schedule for yourself and make your workouts appointments that you can’t miss: Your workouts need to become a regular fixture in your life. The only way that is going to happen is if you allow yourself to schedule them into your calendar as any other type of appointment. You must put emphasis on the regularity and therefore the exercise needs to be part of your regular schedule.
3. Learn to create a well balanced regimen for yourself: Though you may think that focusing on cardio or strength training individually can help, you do want to mix it up. Challenge your body and keep it guessing by incorporating a balanced regimen that will pull in all types of exercise regularly.
4. Allow yourself time to make regular exercise a habit for you: They say that to develop or get rid of any habit you need to give it about a month. Be patient with yourself as you work through the aches and pains and try to accomplish what you want to. It will become habit but you have to be dedicated and diligent about your approach.
5. Try new exercises and learn to incorporate a wide array of types: Don’t limit yourself to just the treadmill. Try a class that you have never done before or hit the weights to try something new. There are so many different types of exercise out there and if you want the best results then you need to mix it up a bit.
6. Take it slow when trying new things: Don’t try to jump right into something and then get frustrated if you don’t pick it up. Take it slow and though you do want to work to your level, you need to give yourself time to master new things before you get frustrated.
7. Challenge yourself but in a smart way: Be smart about it but don’t rest on your laurels when it comes to exercise. You do want to challenge yourself and ensure that you are working as hard as you can for results. You do also want to be certain that you are being smart about your approach though and never work so hard that you get injured.
8. Set goals for yourself and push for results: The best ways to get results is to set goals for yourself and then push to get them. This isn’t always easy and it does take time and diligence, but it can be done. Set up goals of where you want to be in the short and the long term so that you have something to work towards.
9. Allow yourself to celebrate victories: As you work towards your goals be sure that you celebrate your victories along the way. This can really help with your motivation and provide great incentive to keep on going. Though you want to keep pushing, take the time to celebrate when you have accomplished something great.
10.  Get advice from a trainer or experienced friend: When you approach exercise be sure that you are getting advice from somebody that knows what they are doing. This can help with form and it can ensure that you do the exercises the right way and avoid injury in the process.

The idea of exercise can be overwhelming to some people, but don’t let it be. Though you do want to exercise regularly, you want to approach it in the right way as well.

Mary M.M. Frederick is passionate about health and wellness and enjoys blogging about various colleges that offer exercise science degrees online.