Exercise - getting started

Exercising is synonymous with having more energy and energy for everyday life, feeling healthy and gaining self-confidence. But as we all know, it can be difficult to get started. If you want your new leisure activity to bring you well-being, good experiences and better health for many years to come, start with the amount of exercise that fits your life and your temperament. In the beginning, it's about how little you need to get started, not how much.

Why should you exercise at all?

The main argument for starting and continuing to exercise should be the noticeable difference in physical and mental well-being that exercise makes. Exercise can prevent and, more importantly, treat a wide range of welfare diseases. These include cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, a number of cancers, high blood pressure, low back pain, headaches, stress, depression and reduced work capacity. And it's never too late to start. Even older people who exercise have a longer life span with an improved quality of life. In fact, a recently published study showed that old people

People (80-90 years old) who did strength training three times a week had impressive results. They became more mobile, they had fewer sick days and they did not fall as much - with an increased risk of leg fractures. All in all, they had a better quality of life.

How often?

A single one-hour bout of moderate-intensity exercise lasts up to more than two days, but less than five days. So, to maintain the positive effects of physical activity, it is necessary to exercise at least two to three times a week. And as shown in the figure here, a few times a week is enough to dramatically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, while exercising many times a week does not provide much extra benefit. The yellow bar shows the risk of developing cardiovascular disease if you are of normal weight and inactive. The green bar shows the risk of developing cardiovascular disease if you are of normal weight and moderately active. The red bar shows the risk of developing cardiovascular disease if you are of normal weight and fit. So you don't gain much more by being fit than by being physically active three times a week. So it's not a question of how much, but how little exercise is needed to improve health. Or to put it another way. It's not about how much...but how little you can get away with!

Making exercise a habit takes time

The hard part is not actually doing exercise, but rather sticking with it and making it a regular part of your daily life. As a general rule, it is only after about 3 months that you actually start to enjoy enjoying exercise. Of course, this can vary from person to person. But expect the first three months to be part of the program that leads to a life with more energy and a greater sense of well-being. Expect many days when motivation is lacking, the weather is dreary or time is short. If you anticipate these days, it is much easier to overcome the lack of motivation.

What type of exercise?

The choice of exercise is not entirely equal. The most important thing is that it involves a sufficiently large muscle mass, as in running, cycling or rowing, for example, where the large leg muscles are used. If the muscle mass involved is too small, the pumping capacity of the heart is not sufficiently trained. And then you get neither health nor fitness from all your efforts. Strength training has been shown to be effective against a wide range of health conditions, but cardiovascular training is better. As for the softer forms of exercise, such as yoga, Pilates, etc., the benefits will be more therapeutic mental in nature. And, as we all know, health comes in many forms, so even if one type of exercise may not give full value on fitness, the mind will be exercised.

The hidden exercise

If you pay attention to it, you can easily sneak a lot more exercise into your everyday life without it having to be a scheduled and organized workout. Exercise is more than just sweat-dripping workouts in sportswear. Consider, for example, that exercise can also be cycling to work - and it doesn't have to be every day. Exercise can also be taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Or cleaning, energetically and thoroughly. Or walking to work and then taking the bus home. Or walking the dog an extra time, doing the garden or inviting your best friend for a long bike ride next weekend.

Exercise at work

Incorporating exercise and movement in the workplace will automatically lead to a healthier and more active life. For example, you can set up a running club with your colleagues to make exercise in the workplace a reality. Exercise and movement during working hours with colleagues also increases workplace cohesion, so physical activity in the workplace can help both physical and mental health. Studies have shown, among other things, that exercise during working hours pays off. Exercise in the workplace not only improves individual health, but also reduces short-term sickness absence and increases productivity. Therefore, exercise and movement during working hours is a good investment for both employees and companies.

Training partners

Finding someone to exercise with can be a very good idea. There will be a period in most people's lives when, because of work and children, exercise is a very low priority. You could try taking it in turns to give each other time off once or twice a week - even if it's just to go running or cycling for half an hour. You can motivate each other on the slow days and praise each other on the good days. It's also nice to share experiences with someone else, especially the first weight loss or completing your first running competition. You can also go for a long walk with the kids in the stroller or go for a bike ride with the kids in the bike seat.

How hard does it have to be!

While exercising: ask yourself how hard it feels on a scale of 1-10. It should feel like 7-8 to be most effective. This means that you should feel so out of breath that you can only speak in single sentences. Exercising at a lower intensity (6-7) will give you a lot of wellbeing and health benefits, but less on fitness. In general, the higher the intensity of exercise, the shorter the time you need to exercise to get all the positive effects.

For those working with a heart rate monitor, an intensity of 50% of your maximum fitness (or maximum heart rate?) can provide a number of health benefits, but very little fitness benefit. Fitness-enhancing exercise should be on the positive side of 75%.

When you, as an untrained person, want to start improving your physical fitness, it is initially especially important that you do not push yourself too hard. If you exercise above the pain threshold every time, it usually takes a lot of overcoming to get started with the next workout. Exercise should not become a negative experience. It can destroy your motivation, mood and the good habit you had started. In the worst case scenario, you stop exercising and, as it wasn't enjoyable last time, it becomes even harder to start again.

Obesity

If you are overweight, you should choose your form of exercise carefully. For example, when you run, you put three times your body weight on your legs and are therefore more prone to injury when you are overweight. Therefore, you need to be extra careful when stepping up your exercise. If you are very overweight, you may want to start by walking a few times a week, e.g. 3 times a week for 30 minutes, at a speed that makes you feel out of breath. Swimming, cycling (spinning) or hard gardening are other good forms of exercise if you are overweight. When you feel you are ready, you can start a beginner's running program. Running is one of the most effective forms of exercise that is also free, easy and time-saving.

10 good habits that last:

1. Habit: Make exercise part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth, reading the newspaper or taking out the trash.
2. Get ready: Pack your clothes the night before so they're ready for the next day! Then you have no excuses and you are mentally prepared
3. Type of exercise: Choose the type of exercise you like best to start with. No one type of exercise is exciting every day, so alternate between different types.
4. Move more: Be active in everyday life; bike to work, walk go shopping, take the stairs, exercise at work etc.
5. Alternatives: Do activities other than the gym: ice skating, skiing, bowling, golf.
6. Exercise partner: Get an exercise partner to support and motivate each other.
7. Digital exercise partner: Many people are motivated by using an exercise gadget
8. Be realistic: Set realistic goals. Don't be too ambitious.
9. Dog: A dog that needs to be walked three times a day is great exercise
10. Just do it! Don't think about it, just do it!