Top tips for starting to exercise

The complete beginners guide to starting to exercise – a new year, a healthier and happier you!

It’s a new year and the perfect time to implement your resolution to get a new exercise plan underway.

It’s well known that, come February, gym attendance falls dramatically and the trainers get stowed away for another 11 months because many people start their exercise regime too hard and fast or set themselves unrealistic goals, quickly becoming discouraged and then giving up altogether.

The solution to this problem isn’t rocket science.

Set yourself realistic goals in achievable steps, start slowly & gently and seek some support and advice.

Exercise is the single most effective thing that you can do to positively influence your health but you need to stick with it for it to work.

Heart disease, high blood pressure, depression & cognitive impairment have all been shown to be dramatically improved by regular exercise.

Here are Camilla’s top tips for starting an exercise programme that you can maintain:

Start slowly. Set aside 5-10minutes on every other day to do moderate exercise with the aim of increasing this to 20 minutes at a time. Consider walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, running, gym work or doing some floor exercises to a dvd. Ideally, the exercise should be something that you enjoy so you are more inclined to stick with it.

If you can convince a friend to join you then there will be more incentive to keep the exercise up because your friend will hold you accountable.

Having small children doesn’t necessarily rule out exercise – pushing a buggy can make the walk or run that much more energetic.

Make sure that you stretch before  and after you exercise and that you adequately refuel after exercise with a good amount of rest between sessions.

Listen to your body and build up the duration and/or intensity of exercise gradually to minimise the risk of injury that could derail the exercise regime.

It is said that you need to repeat something for about a month before it becomes a habit so stick with it and you will see a positive difference.

You need to ensure that your expectations are realistic. Trying to lose a stone in one month is unlikely and unsustainable and it is not recommended that you increase distance or load by more than 10% from one session to the next. Be patient and you will reap the rewards.

If you have questions or niggles that are hindering your new routine, give Wokingham Chiropractic a ring on 0118 9787 466 or book online to schedule an appointment with Camilla Beavis who will be happy to help.