Taking a proactive approach to fitness with daily exercise enables us to manage, postpone and even prevent many medical conditions. Unfortunately too many of us don’t give enough thought to exercising and its effectiveness in preventing the onset of illness and loss of quality in living.
The evidence points towards prevention rather than cure, for lifelong health and well-being. We don’t have to be sick and frail in our 60s, 70s and beyond.
Safe Exercise
Fear of injury with exercise is a significant barrier for many people. However, unless there is a serious medical condition that exercise will worsen, the benefits far outweigh the injury risk.
Therefore, rather than avoiding exercise, take steps to reduce the risk for injury. Even if you haven’t exercised for a long time, you can start very gently – but start you must!
Here are some tips to help you start exercising safely:
- Always warm-up and cool down properly. A warm-up should consist of 5-10 mins of dynamic movement involving your whole body. A cool-down should last a minimum of 5 mins and include sustained stretches of all major muscle groups.
- Stay within your current fitness level and don’t compare yourself to others.
- Try not to exercise when you’re exhausted. Prepare yourself with adequate rest, giving the body the opportunity to repair.
- Work on exercise technique to make your exercise time more efficient and safe.
- Keep your muscles and joints flexible with a program that includes mobility, perhaps try a yoga class.
- Listen to your body, if exercise causes sharp pains then stop. Exercise should be hard, but pain free.
If we want to give ourselves the best chance of living well with fitness, we need to take responsibility for our own health. We can’t subcontract this job to a personal trainer, doctor or the government.
Our health is in our control; fitness does improve WELLth with as little as 9 minutes of daily exercise. Get your 4-week free program and start today!
Live well with Health and WELLth!
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